I think she was physically in her mid- to late-twenties when she joined.

I have no doubt that she was trained in the Red Room, that's always been part of Natasha for me. But the speech she gives to Loki in the cell involves selling her services to independent agencies, and being good enough to get on SHIELD's radar. And considered enough of a threat to be killed.

No matter how good you are, that doesn't happen quickly. My head has her with the Red Room (as their best, but not only) until she was 20-22, and then 5 years or so of freelancing until Clint snagged her.

I also give them about three years of working together (which makes Natasha conveniently my age, hmmm) because as we saw when she jumped off of Cap's shield - she can WORK with anyone. It's the intimacy of being partners that makes her love Clint, and makes them a unit. That would have started when he saved her life and she started "owing" him, and it would have taken him time to get under her skin, but I don't see either of them as all that clueless at other people - just at themselves. (She knew Clint wanted her, she had no idea what she wanted, and vice versa.) Once the tension broke, it was rocky, but they got there.

I feel she was between 23-25 when she started working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Marvel Movies Wiki says her career with them has been short, so I'm thinking 3-5 years with S.H.I.E.L.D., maybe. Still a short amount of time, but long enough to maybe forge her bond with Clint.

Edit:
Her S.H.I.E.L.D. file apparently says she was born November 22, 1984 ( which is also Scarlett's birthday ;) ).

Edited 2012-10-19 02:19 am (UTC)

Oh god I'm older that Scarlett Johansson. Not cool, universe.

Yeah, so am I. Not by much, but still...

My youngest sister's birthday is Sept. 16, 1984. I helped raise this sister. Because I am TWELVE YEARS older than she is.

*facepalm*

But hey, Jeremy Renner and I? He's actually a year a half OLDER than I am.

::cough::

(Yes, ONLY a year and a half. What?) :p

I think she left the Red Room around 18 and joined S.H.I.E.L.D in her early twenties (if we're going with the she's as old as she looks headcanon).

Well, Marvel Movieverse has her in her 20s. Marvel comicverse has her being in her 70s (for real), a product of the Russian supersoldier program. That's how she knows Bucky/The Winter Soldier. They trained together and were lovers. Comic canon has Nat originally being one of the bad guys, and she seduced Clint to be her sidekick, when she was off hunting Tony Stark.

So.

Y'know.

You get to choose. :D The canon's pretty cracked out.

Honestly? You do whatever suits your story. I personally have leaving the Red Room at 21, working has a contract-killer and information-thief for several years, the SHIELD stopped her, a year later - aged 28 - she joins SHIELD. In Avengers, she's 34, 35, depending on when you place canon.

I personally can't see her being a teenager and working for SHIELD, but that's my own reading of how they operate.

But, seriously, you don't have to follow anything except the movie, and what's on screen can be viewed differently depending how you want to spin it.

The age I finally put Natasha at is also going to depend on how dark I want to go with this story. I was liking the idea of them being partners for 13 years, but that also feels a bit excessive... I'm going to have to think on it some more.

Well, if she's a youthful looking mid-thirties who uses make-up and other tells to appear early/mid-twenties, 13 years is still early twenties for joining shield. So, yeah, it depends on what you want to do.

In comic!verse she was born in 1928 I think, but I think everyone basically has their own head!canon at this point ;)

Add me to the early to mid twenties bandwagon.
I have to say, even though some of the Marvel info has them as the same age, I kinda feel that Natasha is actually one two three years older than Scarlett (and I feel that Scarlett actually plays her that way too).
That's of no importance really just my own personal little feeling and observation.
The early mid twenties works IMO. She could have left Red Room at around 18-20, had a few years as a freelancer and then had about 5 years on SHIELD by the time Avengers came about.

*shrug* well, I have Natasha as being the same age as Scarlett, with Clint being ten years older than her - knocking a few years of Jeremy's age, mostly to give him longer in the field, & he DOES look quite a bit younger than he is. He really did look in his late twenties, in my eyes, right up until the Hurt Locker (which was what, three years ago?). Hell, when I saw Avengers, I picked him as 35, tops, & I nearly dropped when I found out how old he really was!

So at the time of Avengers, she's 28 & he's 37/38. Exactly how long they've been together, as work-partners & life-partners, varies for me from story to story. But it's usually between five to ten years.

At least, I get the impression from them that they've been together for a fairly long time, as these things go - there's a sense of casual familiarity between them that you just don't get without a decent amount of history (as in 'time' not 'experience', I mean); in fact, Jeremy manages to give the impression of having the same with Phil Coulson in about two lines in Thor.

In my head!canon, I have Natasha leaving the Red Room at late teens (although in one of my stories it was even earlier), & joining SHIELD soon after that. It's not just a cliche that cream rises to the top; the best are always in demand. When you're as good as Natasha is, word of you gets around quickly. SHIELD would keep an eagle eye out for talent like her. I really don't think she was freelance for more than three years.

I will admit, though, that in forming my opinion of this, I've been heavily influenced by another fandom. Has anyone ever seen or heard of 'Full Metal Panic!'? It's a series of japanese light novels & short stories, that were adapted for anime & manga. One of the two main characters, Sousuke Sagara, actually has a fairly similar background to Natasha's. (it might not be a complete coincidence, either; the authour is a major pop-culture fan, of both East and West)

At the age of 3, Sousuke was taken into the KGB Nozh (knife) program, which trained children as spies (often as sleepers). When he was seven, Sousuke was sent to Afghanistan to assasinate a leader of the Muhadjeen rebels against Soviet control. He failed, but the leader was impressed enough that he not only spared Sousuke's life, but more or less adopted him. Sousuke stayed a member of the Muhadjeen until he was twelve, when his nemesis Gauron wiped out the encampment. Sousuke became a freelance mercenary after that, & at the age of 15/16 signed an exclusive contract with the 'mercenaries for justice' group Mithril (the equivalent of SHIELD in the FMP! universe), despite the fact that according to the FMP! official fanbook, Mithril doesn't take applicants younger than 21. By the time the series opens, Sousuke is a highly-regarded member of a Special Response Team... at the age of 16.

(I'm currently I'm working on a fusion fanfic, "War Child" where the Muhadjeen find Tony after he escapes the Ten Rings in the IM suit 1.0, & Sousuke instead leaves Afghanistan as Tony's adopted son. Just in case anyone's interested.)