Why Does Black Widow Side With Iron Man In 'Captain America: Civil War'?

The last few Marvel movies have invested a good amount of time in building Natasha Romanoff's (Scarlett Johansson) relationships with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in particular, wisely made the film a bit of a two-hander between Rogers and Romanoff. In the trailer for Captain America: Civil War, it looks as if she's turning her back on her two pals, but that's not quite the case. Black Widow in Civil War, according to Scarlett Johansson, is a mediator.

Learn Romanoff's motivation in the sequel after the jump.

Black Widow, of course, is on the side of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), but apparently she's not only on his team because she believes in the registration act. Here's what Johansson had to say about the character's motivation to Entertainment Weekly:

I think she understands where everyone is coming from. And none of it really matters to her, you know? There's a bigger problem at hand and she's, I think, strangely, kind of the mediator. Which is not exactly how you would imagine her to be. But I think she really does see both sides of the coin and I think her strength is that she's not personally involved.

It's odd to read she's not personally involved, because you could argue the war is a bit of a personal dispute, but it sounds like that's because Black Widow has a much different motivation compared to her fellow Avengers:

I don't think she's ever aspired to become an Avenger. That's not really a choice that she made. It's kind of like the events in her life led her to that point and when we see her [in Civil War], she's finally capable of making a choice for herself. Which is kind of a milestone in someone's life when they've not really participated in the decisions that were made for them. She's finally at a place where she's going, 'Okay, I actually kind of know what I want. And I think I kind of deserve it.'

Some fans aren't happy Black Widow is going up against Cap and Hawkeye. Based on the past Marvel films, is it completely believable? Friends don't always agree, and Black Widow taking on her pals creates room for more drama, so the decision makes sense. Johansson is delighted to hear the character's choice has already proven to be divisive:

You know, I'm happy that people scrutinize the Widow's storylines and care about it and are invested. I'd much rather it be like that than have a kind of 'meh' reaction. For me to have people say that would be, ouch, you know? Everything that I've done with the Widow, to me makes sense. It's in line with active decisions that I've made for the character. I've been able to develop this character very closely with Joss and [Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo].

Captain America: Civil War opens in theaters May 6th, 2016.