Admit it: When you saw the first clip last week from director Joss Whedon's The Avengers, featuring Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow mopping up the floor with her captors, you thought of a certain Vampire Slayer. And if you're nerdy enough, you may have even wondered who would win in a fight between Buffy Summers and Natasha Romanoff.

Luckily for all of us, USA Today's Whitney Matheson is that nerdy, so she posed the question to Whedon. While he's spent the past year or so with Black Widow and the rest of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, it's clear from his response that Whedon's heart lies in Sunnydale.

"Buffy would go easy at first, but as soon as Natasha popped her with a Widow Sting, she'd start bringing some slayer brawn to the fray," he told Matheson. "Natasha's fast, but a couple of good connects and she's wobbling, possibly something broken -- she whips out her glock and now Buffy's dodging -- right where Natasha wants her. Natasha shoots the cable holding the steel barrels and they tumble onto Buffy, nearly burying her -- Buffy just arcs out of the way, grabbing the splintered cable and swinging directly onto Natasha, a bullet grazing her cheek as her feet land hard on the Russian's shoulders, sending her back flat -- crack! -- on the floor, Buffy wrenching the gun away and tossing it, fist ready for the final strike. Natasha, struggling to stay conscious, says the fight's over. Buffy agrees, but Natasha explains: She poisoned Buffy hours ago. That waitress that brought her salad …? Natasha smiles. The poison is dormant -- 'til it's activated by adrenaline. Buffy's eyes narrow. 'Too bad I didn't use any.' Wham! Natasha's out for the count, and Buffy's heading -- slowly -- to Willow for a mystical cleanse.

"That'd be my first guess."

Opening May 4, Marvel’s The Avengers also stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as the Incredible Hulk, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Clark Gregg as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson, Cobie Smulders as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill and Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Selvig.