How The MCU Mirrors Scarlett Johansson And Chris Evans' Real-Life Friendship

Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans are two of the longest serving Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the former debuting as Black Widow back in "Iron Man 2" opposite Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark. The entire franchise has come a long way since then, with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige pushing the boundaries of long-form cinematic storytelling across 23 films and counting. And while Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers formed a great bond during "The Avengers" and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson have been friends for much longer.

During a recent interview on The Jess Cagle podcast for Sirius XM, Scarlett Johansson told the host just how long she's known her fellow "Avengers" co-star. She recalled that they first worked together on 2004's "The Perfect Score," calling it "the closest thing I ever had to a college experience because we were a group of us there just kind of staying in the same hotel and working and going out."

Obviously, Johansson can next be seen as Natasha Romanoff in the highly anticipated "Black Widow" after plenty of delays due to the ongoing pandemic. But the star also thinks her character's dynamic with Captain America mirrors her own friendship with Chris Evans.

Natasha and Steve's friendship was forged in "The Winter Soldier" when they went on the run together after notorious Marvel villains Hydra were found operating in secret under the guise of S.H.I.E.L.D. And although they briefly flirted with that awkward kiss on the escalator which hid them in plain sight from Hydra agents, the pair quickly established that they were just friends. Cute. They bantered about relationships and trying to get Steve a date after waking up from his icy nap in the Arctic.

On The Jess Cagle podcast, Scarlett Johansson explained that she and Chris Evans have a similar sense of humor, but they also talk about similar things that their characters do. "We spend a lot of time talking about relationships. We spend a lot of time talking about our families, other people's relationships," she said. "We could talk for hours, and about all kinds of stuff."

The star also noted that although Evans is a few years older than her, she has "the sort of big sister relationship that Nat has sometimes with Steve" — which is kind of funny, since Cap is also much older than Black Widow in the MCU. Johansson even joked that all of her friendships "are mirrored in the Avengers universe," which shows just how much of the star's persona has helped shape her brilliant role as Natasha Romanoff.