Как пишется черная вдова на английском

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать разговорную лексику.

Перевод «Черная Вдова» на английский

Черная вдова способствует балансу экосистемы, потребляя насекомых: комаров и мух.

The redback contributes to the balance of the ecosystem by consuming insects such as flies and mosquitoes.

Я бросила его год назад, когда он стал называть себя «Черная вдова«.

I threw him out last year when he started calling himself the Widowmaker.

Как и все представители паукообразных, черная вдова имеет 8 ног.

Like all spiders, orb weavers have eight legs.

Черная вдова имеет клыки, которые немного короче, чем у других пауков, однако достаточно длинные, чтобы проколоть кожу человека.

They have fangs that are a little shorter than those of other spiders, yet still long enough to penetrate human skin.

«Я убила его, потому что он дал другим женщинам десятки миллионов иен, а мне — ни копейки», — сообщила «черная вдова«.

«I killed him… because he gave other women tens of millions of yen but did not give me even a penny,» she told the court, according to Jiji Press.

Хотя есть несколько опасных с медицинской точки зрения видов, таких как «черная вдова» и паук-отшельник, даже их укусы — весьма необычное явление, и оно редко приводит к серьезным проблемам.

Although there are a few medically important species like widow spiders and recluses, even their bites are uncommon and rarely cause serious issues.

Паук ложная черная вдова, Steatoda nobilis, уроженка Мадейры и Канарских островов, стала стремительно распространяться по всему миру, чем вызвала тревогу ученых.

The noble false widow spider, Steatoda nobilis, native to Madeira and the Canary Islands, has been introduced accidentally to countries around the globe, causing considerable concerns.

Фильм «Черная вдова» может раскрыть некоторые секреты прошлого MCU

25 марта 2005 года Дефо женился на итальянской актрисе Джаде Колангранде, с которой снялся в лентах «Черная вдова» (2005), «Женщина» (2010) и «Пазолини»(2014).

On March 25, 2005, Dafoe married the Italian actress Giada Colagrande with whom he starred in «Before It Had a Name» (2005), «A Woman» (2010), and «Pasolini» (2014).

В конце концов Черная Вдова приступила к прибыльной внештатной карьере шпиона, которая завершилась ее проникновением Латвериское посольство в Нью-Йорке.

She eventually embarked on a lucrative freelance spy career, which culminated in her infiltration of New York City’s Latverian Embassy.

Впервые же «Черная вдова» появилась на экранах в 2010 году в «Железном человеке-2».

The character first appeared on the screen in 2010 in «Iron Man 2».

Как было видно, Черная вдова успела увернуться.[З] Дальнейшая ее судьба осталась неизвестной.

Kelly was then hauled away by his men. His further fate remains unknown.

Бэлла Соренсон Гинесс (Черная вдова) убила 42 человека.

Belle Sorenson Guinness was said to have killed 49 people.

В 2005 году Колагранде написала сценарий и исполнила роль в своем втором фильме «Черная вдова» вместе с актером Уиллемом Дефо, с которым она продолжила сотрудничество и в своем третьем фильме «Женщина».

In 2005, Colagrande wrote and starred in her second feature film Before It Had a Name alongside actor Willem Dafoe with whom she also collaborates in her third film A Woman.

Ничего не найдено для этого значения.

Результатов: 14. Точных совпадений: 14. Затраченное время: 25 мс

Documents

Корпоративные решения

Спряжение

Синонимы

Корректор

Справка и о нас

Индекс слова: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900

Индекс выражения: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Индекс фразы: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Ваш текст переведен частично.
Вы можете переводить не более 999 символов за один раз.

Войдите или зарегистрируйтесь бесплатно на PROMT.One и переводите еще больше!

<>

black widow

существительное

мн.
black widows

черная вдова

ж.р.

Black widow of Bel Air

Черная вдова Бел Эйр

Контексты

Black widow of Bel Air
Черная вдова Бел Эйр

So, you’re telling me Calista Raines is some kind of black widow?
Вы полагаете, что Калиста Рейнс — черная вдова?

To give you an idea of what a spider silk protein looks like, this is a dragline silk protein, it’s just a portion of it, from the black widow spider.
Чтобы вы знали, как выглядит белок паучего шелка, вот белок шелка для перемещений, точнее всего лишь его часть, от черной вдовы.

Both suicide bombers apparently were so-called “Black Widows,” whose militant husbands had been killed by Russian security forces.
Обе террористки-смертницы принадлежали к так называемым «черным вдовам» – женщинам, чьи мужья погибли от рук российских сил безопасности.

The “black widows” – wives of Islamist fighters killed in the Kremlin’s “pacification” campaign – are believed to be preparing retaliatory suicide missions at airports, train stations, and on buses.
Полагается, что «черные вдовы» — жены исламистских боевиков, убитых в проекте «умиротворения» Кремля – работают над подготовкой ответных миссий самоубийц в аэропортах, на вокзалах, а также в автобусах.

Бесплатный переводчик онлайн с английского на русский

Хотите общаться в чатах с собеседниками со всего мира, понимать, о чем поет Билли Айлиш, читать английские сайты на русском? PROMT.One мгновенно переведет ваш текст с английского на русский и еще на 20+ языков.

Точный перевод с транскрипцией

С помощью PROMT.One наслаждайтесь точным переводом с английского на русский, а для слов и фраз смотрите английскую транскрипцию, произношение и варианты переводов с примерами употребления в разных контекстах. Бесплатный онлайн-переводчик PROMT.One — достойная альтернатива Google Translate и другим сервисам, предоставляющим перевод с английского на русский и с русского на английский.

Нужно больше языков?

PROMT.One бесплатно переводит онлайн с английского на азербайджанский, арабский, греческий, иврит, испанский, итальянский, казахский, китайский, корейский, немецкий, португальский, татарский, турецкий, туркменский, узбекский, украинский, финский, французский, эстонский и японский.

Перевод по словам

Предложения с «black widow»

Do you know the difference between a black widow and a brown recluse?	Знаешь в чем разница между черной вдовой и коричневым пауком — отшельником?
You’re a black widow hitwoman.	Ты убийца типа чёрной вдовы .
black widow spiders bite their mate’s heads off when it’s over.	Самка паука Четной Вдовы откусывает голову самцу после спаривания.
The butterflies were easy to brush off, sir, but this one’s a black widow .	Лекго избавляться от бабочек, но это же паук! Черная вдова !
For instance, the one in the lab… she’s basically black widow — reclusive, sneaky- she stayed behind while the others broke out.	Например, тот что в лаборатории… это в основном Чёрная вдова … затворница, труслива… она осталась на месте, в то время как другие вырвались и убежали.
Okay, so Johnny’s ex-wife is a nasty little black widow spider monkey named Julie.	У Джонни есть бывшая жена. Противная чёрная паукообразная обезьяна Джули.
Soon the Black Widow is hungry again, hungry for cash, hungry for love.	Вскоре Черная вдова голодна вновь. Ей нужны деньги, ей нужна любовь.
They think because of you, now we have Black Widow .	Они думают, что из — за тебя у нас теперь есть Черная вдова .
But Daddy’s about to let Shelby move in, and for all we know, she could be a black widow or a Russian spy.	Но папочка уже собрался позволить Шелби переехать к нам, а она может оказаться черной вдовой или русской шпионкой.
Johansson will reprise her role as Black Widow in her own upcoming solo prequel film directed by Cate Shortland.	Йоханссон повторит свою роль Черной Вдовы в ее собственном предстоящем сольном приквеле режиссера Кейт Шортленд.
Also, four rarely used treatments for pit viper, coral snake, and black widow venom still contain thiomersal.	Кроме того, четыре редко используемых метода лечения яда гадюки, коралловой змеи и черной вдовы все еще содержат тиомерсал.
Harley-Davidson partnered with Marvel to provide their first electric motorcycle, Project LiveWire, for use by Black Widow in the film.	Harley — Davidson сотрудничал с Marvel, чтобы предоставить свой первый электрический мотоцикл Project LiveWire для использования черной вдовой в фильме.
I have removed the external links in P-61 Black Widow during the recent tidy up of that article.	Я удалил внешние ссылки в P — 61 Black Widow во время недавней очистки этой статьи.
Priapism is also known to occur from bites of the Brazilian wandering spider and the black widow spider.	Известно также, что приапизм возникает от укусов бразильского блуждающего паука и черной вдовы — паука.
This is the opposite of the black widow , where it’s the female that is dangerous.	Это полная противоположность черной вдове , где опасна только самка.
Similar multiple gland architecture exists in the black widow spider.	Аналогичная архитектура множественных желез существует и у паука Черная вдова .
Created by writer George Kapitan and artist Harry Sahle, she is unrelated to Marvel’s later superspy character called Black Widow .	Созданный писателем Джорджем капитан и художник Гарри Сахле, она не имеет отношения к позже Марвел суперагента персонаж по имени Черная Вдова .
You’ve heard of the black widow spider — that evil creature whose bite spells doom.	Вы слышали о Черной вдове — пауке — злом существе, чей укус навлекает гибель.
Now start the adventures of another black widow — a human tool of Satan whose very touch means death.	Теперь начинаются приключения еще одной черной вдовы — человеческого орудия Сатаны, само прикосновение которого означает смерть.
Voyant’s soul goes to Hell, where Satan dresses her in her Black Widow costume.	Душа воянта отправляется в ад, где сатана одевает ее в костюм Черной Вдовы .
You, the Black Widow , will bring their evil souls to me!	Ты, Черная Вдова , приведешь ко мне их злые души!
In The Twelve, Claire Voyant is retconned as becoming the Black Widow in 1928 after her sister is murdered.	В двенадцати Клэр Воянт снова становится черной вдовой в 1928 году, после того как ее сестра была убита.
Within the context of The Twelve when Claire Voyant becomes the Black Widow in 1928 she appears to be in her mid-20s.	В контексте двенадцати, когда Клэр Воянт становится черной вдовой в 1928 году, ей кажется, что ей уже за двадцать.
He later wrote All-New, All-Different Avengers, Black Widow , and The Avengers.	Позже он написал совершенно новые, совершенно разные Мстители, Черная Вдова и Мстители.
Wolfman promptly introduced the lively but emotionally fragile Heather Glenn to replace the Black Widow as Daredevil’s love interest.	Человек — волк быстро представил живую, но эмоционально хрупкую Хизер Гленн, чтобы заменить Черную Вдову в качестве любовного интереса Сорвиголовы.
Black Widow is on the run, as she helped Captain America and Winter Soldier escape.	Черная Вдова находится в бегах, так как она помогла Капитану Америке и Зимнему солдату сбежать.
He fights Spider-Man, Black Widow and Silver Sable and is defeated by Spider-Man’s electrical webbing.	Он сражается с Человеком — Пауком, Черной Вдовой и Серебряным Соболем и побежден электрической паутиной Человека — Паука.
It was also revealed by the Black Widow that Elektra is now the leader of The Hand.	Черная Вдова также сообщила, что Электра теперь является предводительницей Десницы.
While Elektra and Black Widow fight, The Hand heals Matt Murdock.	Пока Электра и Черная Вдова сражаются, рука исцеляет Мэтта Мердока.
The A-10 Thunderbolt II was a nod to the P-47, the YF-23 Black Widow II was a tribute to the P-61 and now this tribute to the P-38.	A — 10 Thunderbolt II был кивком в сторону P — 47, YF — 23 Black Widow II был данью уважения P — 61, а теперь эта дань — P — 38.
I spent a while playing the unmerry widow but the black wore thin.	Какое — то время я изображала безутешную вдову .
We’re talking about a black ops widow .	Мы говорим о черной вдове .
Am I to marry any one, maid or widow , black or white, whom this invisible person chooses to propose?	Это значит, что я должен жениться на вдове или девице, черной или белой, на ком угодно, кого только ни вздумает предложить мне эта невидимая личность?
Shortly after his death, his widow , Helen Chavez, donated his black nylon union jacket to the National Museum of American History, a branch of the Smithsonian.	Вскоре после его смерти вдова , Хелен Чавес, пожертвовала его черную нейлоновую куртку в Национальный музей американской истории, филиал Смитсоновского института.
Black’s widow sold Bob Tucker and Larry Rogers the rights to use the name Bill Black’s Combo.	Вдова Блэка продала Бобу Такеру и Ларри Роджерсу права на использование названия Bill Black’s Combo.
The Widow reveals where the Black Fortress will be at sunrise.	Вдова показывает, где будет находиться черная крепость на рассвете.
William Black died of cancer in 2003, aged 51. He was survived by his widow , twin children, parents and sister.	Уильям Блэк умер от рака в 2003 году в возрасте 51 года. У него остались вдова , дети — близнецы, родители и сестра.

Black Widow
Textless variant cover of Black Widow #1 (April 2010) Art by Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964)
Created by	Stan Lee Don Rico Don Heck
In-story information
Alter ego	Natalia Alianovna Romanova
Species	Human mutate
Team affiliations	Avengers The Champions Daughters of Liberty Heroes for Hire KGB Marvel Knights Mighty Avengers Lady Liberators Secret Avengers S.H.I.E.L.D. Thunderbolts
Partnerships	Captain America Winter Soldier Hawkeye Daredevil
Notable aliases	Natalia Shostakova Natasha Romanoff Natalie Rushman Laura Matthers Mary Farrell Oktober Yelena Belova
Abilities	Expert marksman and mastery of various weapons Master martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant Slowed aging, and enhanced immune system Skilled hypnotist Expert tactician Expert spy Equipment via gauntlets : Radio transmitter Tear gas pellets Grappling hook Knock out gas Explosives Taser

Black Widow (Natalia Alianovna «Natasha» Romanova; Russian: Наталья Альяновна «Наташа» Романова)^[1] is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by editor and plotter Stan Lee, scripter Don Rico, and artist Don Heck, the character debuted in Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964). The character was introduced as a Russian spy, an antagonist of the superhero Iron Man. She later defected to the United States, becoming an agent of the fictional spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and a member of the superhero team the Avengers.

The character has appeared in numerous forms of media, such as animated television series, video games, and films.

Scarlett Johansson portrayed Natasha Romanoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Widow (2021), with Lake Bell voicing the character in the animated series What If…? (2021).

Publication history[edit]

The Black Widow’s first appearances were as a recurring, non-costumed, Russian-spy antagonist in the feature «Iron Man», beginning in Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964). Five issues later, she recruits the besotted costumed archer and later superhero Hawkeye to her cause. Her government later supplies her with her first Black Widow costume and high-tech weaponry, but she eventually defects to the United States after appearing, temporarily brainwashed against the U.S., in the superhero-team series The Avengers #29 (July 1966). The Widow later becomes a recurring ally of the team before officially becoming its 16th member many years later.

The Black Widow was visually updated in 1970: The Amazing Spider-Man #86 (July 1970) reintroduced her with shoulder-length red hair (instead of her former short black hair), a skintight black costume, and wristbands which fired spider threads.^[2]

John Romita, the artist responsible for the redesign elaborated on how the character was updated. «I did the costume on the Black Widow. One of my favorite strips from when I was a kid was Miss Fury. They had done a Miss Fury book at Marvel, and when I found out they had the rights to her, I said I’d love to do a Miss Fury book sometime. I had done an updated drawing of Miss Fury, and Stan said, «Why don’t we redesign the Black Widow costume based on Miss Fury?» So I took the mask off her face, and made the Black Widow, the one in the patent leather jumpsuit.»^[3]

In short order, The Black Widow starred in her own series in Amazing Adventures #1–8 (Aug. 1970–Sept. 1971), sharing that split book with the feature Inhumans. The Black Widow feature was dropped after only eight issues (the Inhumans feature followed soon, ending with issue #10).^[2]

Immediately after her initial solo feature ended, the Black Widow co-starred in Daredevil #81–124 (Nov. 1971–Aug. 1975), of which #92-107 were cover titled Daredevil and the Black Widow. Daredevil writer Gerry Conway recounted, «It was my idea to team up Daredevil and the Black Widow, mainly because I was a fan of Natasha, and thought she and Daredevil would have interesting chemistry.»^[2] Succeeding writers, however, felt that Daredevil worked better as a solo hero, and gradually wrote the Black Widow out of the series.^[2] She was immediately recast into the super-team series The Champions as the leader of the titular superhero group, which ran for 17 issues (Oct. 1975–Jan. 1978).^[4]

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Black Widow appeared frequently as both an Avengers member and a freelance agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. She starred in a serialized feature within the omnibus comic-book series Marvel Fanfare #10–13 (Aug. 1983–March 1984), written by George Pérez and Ralph Macchio, with art by penciller Perez. These stories were later collected in the oversized one-shot Black Widow: Web of Intrigue #1 (June 1999).

The Widow guest-starred in issues of Solo Avengers, Force Works, Iron Man, Marvel Team-Up, and other comics. She had made frequent guest appearances in Daredevil since the late 1970s.

She starred in a three-issue arc, «The Fire Next Time», by writer Scott Lobdell and penciller Randy Green, in Journey into Mystery #517–519 (Feb.–April 1998).

A new ongoing Black Widow comic title debuted in April 2010. The first story arc was written by Marjorie Liu with art by Daniel Acuña.^[5] Beginning with issue #6 (Sept. 2010), the title was written by Duane Swierczynski, with artwork by Manuel Garcia and Lorenzo Ruggiero.

Black Widow appeared as a regular character throughout the 2010–2013 Secret Avengers series, from issue #1 (July 2010) through its final issue #37 (March 2013).

Black Widow appears in the 2013 Secret Avengers series by Nick Spencer and Luke Ross.^[6]

Black Widow appears in a relaunched ongoing series by writer Nathan Edmondson and artist Phil Noto. The first issue debuted in Jan. 2014.^[7]

In October 2015, it was announced that Mark Waid and Chris Samnee would be launching a new Black Widow series for 2016 as part of Marvel’s post-Secret Wars relaunch.^[8] The first issue was released in March 2016.^[9]

Limited series and specials[edit]

Aside from the arcs in Marvel Fanfare and Journey into Mystery, the Black Widow has starred in four limited series and four graphic novels.

The three-issue Black Widow (June-Aug. 1999), under the Marvel Knights imprint, starred Romanova and fully introduced her appointed successor, Captain Yelena Belova, who had briefly appeared in an issue of the 1999 series Inhumans. The writer for the story arc, «The Itsy-Bitsy Spider» was Devin K. Grayson while J. G. Jones was the artist.^[10] The next three-issue, Marvel Knights mini-series, also titled Black Widow (Jan.–March 2001) featured both Black Widows in the story arc «Breakdown», by writers Devin Grayson and Greg Rucka with painted art by Scott Hampton.^[11]

Romanova next starred in another solo miniseries titled Black Widow: Homecoming (Nov. 2004–April 2005), also under the Marvel Knights imprint and written by science fiction novelist Richard K. Morgan, with art initially by Bill Sienkiewicz and later by Sienkiewicz over Goran Parlov layouts.^[10] A six-issue sequel, Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (Nov. 2005–April 2006; officially Black Widow 2: The Things They Say About Her in the series’ postal indicia), by writer Morgan, penciller Sean Phillips, and inker Sienkiewicz, picks up immediately where the previous miniseries left off, continuing the story using many of the same characters.^[12]

She starred in the solo graphic novel Black Widow: The Coldest War (April 1990),^[11] and co-starred in three more: Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday’s Web (Dec. 1992); Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir (July 1993); and Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty (June 1995), also co-starring Marvel UK’s Night Raven.^{[citation needed]}

Black Widow is also featured in the short story Love Is Blindness in I Heart Marvel: Marvel Ai (2006) #1 (April 2006), where she instigates a humorous fight with Elektra over Daredevil’s affections. The comic is stylized to look like Japanese animation and uses images, not words, inside the speech and thought bubbles to convey what the characters are saying/thinking.^[13]

In 2010, the year in which the character, called only Natasha Romanoff, made her film debut in Iron Man 2, the Black Widow received two separate miniseries. Black Widow and the Marvel Girls was an all-ages, four-issue series that chronicled her adventures with various women of the Marvel Universe, including Storm, She-Hulk, the Enchantress, and Spider-Woman. It was written by Paul Tobin, with art by Salvador Espin, Veronica Gandini and Takeshi Miyazawa.^[14] The second four-issue miniseries, Black Widow: Deadly Origin, was written by Paul Cornell, and featured art by Tom Raney and John Paul Leon.^[15]

Fictional character biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Natasha was born in Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russian SFSR, USSR. The first and best-known Black Widow is a Russian agent trained as a spy, martial artist, and sniper, and outfitted with an arsenal of high-tech weaponry, including a pair of wrist-mounted energy weapons dubbed her «Widow’s Bite». She wears no costume during her first few appearances but simply evening wear and a veil. Romanova eventually defects to the U.S. for reasons that include her love for the reluctant-criminal turned superhero archer, Hawkeye.

The first hints to Natasha Romanova’s childhood come from Ivan Petrovich, who is introduced as her middle-aged chauffeur and confidant in the Black Widow’s 1970s Amazing Adventures. Petrovich tells Matt Murdock that he had been given custody of little Natasha by a woman who died immediately afterwards, during the Battle of Stalingrad in autumn 1942. He consequently felt committed to raise the orphan as a surrogate father and she eventually trained as a Soviet spy, being eager to help her homeland.^[16] In another flashback, set in the fictional island of Madripoor in 1941, Petrovich helps Captain America and the mutant Logan, who would later become the Canadian super-agent and costumed hero Wolverine, to rescue Natasha from Nazis.^[17]

A revised, retconned origin establishes her as being raised from very early childhood by the U.S.S.R.’s «Black Widow Ops» program, rather than solely by Ivan Petrovitch.^[18] Petrovitch had taken her to Department X with other young female orphans, where she was brainwashed and trained in combat and espionage at the covert «Red Room» facility. There, she is biotechnologically and psycho-technologically enhanced—which provides a rationale for her unusually long and youthful lifespan. During that time she had some training under the Winter Soldier, and the pair even had a short romance.^[19] Each Black Widow is deployed with false memories to help ensure her loyalty. Romanova eventually discovers this, including the fact that she had never, as she had believed, been a ballerina. She further discovers that the Red Room is still active as «2R».

The KGB arranged a marriage between Natasha and the renowned Soviet test pilot Alexei Shostakov. However, when the Soviet government decided to make Shostakov into their new operative, the Red Guardian, he is told that he can have no further contact with his wife. Natasha is told that he died and is trained as a secret agent separately.

The Avengers[edit]

Romanova grew up to serve as a femme fatale. She was assigned to assist Boris Turgenov in the assassination of Professor Anton Vanko for defecting from the Soviet Union, which served as her first mission in the United States. Natasha and Turgenov infiltrated Stark Industries as part of the plan.^[20] She attempted to manipulate information from American defense contractor Tony Stark, and inevitably confronted his superhero alter ego, Iron Man. The pair then battled Iron Man, and Turgenov stole and wore the Crimson Dynamo suit. Vanko sacrificed himself to save Iron Man, killing Turgenov in the process, using an unstable experimental laser light pistol.^[21] Romanova later meets the criminal archer Hawkeye and sets him against Iron Man,^[22] and later helped Hawkeye battle Iron Man.^[23]

Later, Natasha again attempted to get Hawkeye to help her destroy Iron Man. The pair almost succeeded, but when Black Widow was injured, Hawkeye retreated to get her to safety.^[24] During this period, Romanova was attempting to defect from the Soviet Union and began falling in love with Hawkeye, weakening her loyalty to her country. When her employers learned the truth, the KGB had her gunned down, sending her to a hospital, convincing Hawkeye to go straight and seek membership in the Avengers.^[25][26]

The Red Room kidnapped and brainwashed her again, and with the Swordsman and the first Power Man, she battled the Avengers.^[27] She eventually broke free from her psychological conditioning (with the help of Hawkeye), and successfully defected, having further adventures with Spider-Man, with Hawkeye, and with Daredevil. She ultimately joins the Avengers as a costumed hero herself.^[28]

S.H.I.E.L.D. and Daredevil[edit]

Upon Nick Fury’s request, she begins freelancing as an agent of the international espionage group S.H.I.E.L.D. She is sent on a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. mission to China by Nick Fury. There, with the Avengers, she battles Col. Ling, Gen. Brushov, and her ex-husband the Red Guardian.^[29] For a time, as writer Les Daniels noted in a contemporaneous study in 1971,

… her left-wing upbringing was put to better use, and she has lately taken to fighting realistic oppressor-of-the-people types. She helps young Puerto Ricans clean up police corruption and saves young hippies from organized crime.  … [The splash page of Amazing Adventures #3 (Nov. 1970)] reflects the recent trend toward involving fantastic characters in contemporary social problems, a move which has gained widespread publicity for Marvel and its competitor, DC.^[30]

She investigates a plot by Egghead, the Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker to blackmail the US government using a laser-firing satellite.^[31][32]

During her romantic involvement with Matt Murdock in San Francisco, she operates as an independent superhero alongside Murdock’s alter ego, Daredevil.^[33] There she tries unsuccessfully to find a new career for herself as a fashion designer. Eventually, her relationship with Murdock stagnates, and after briefly working with Avengers finally breaks up with Murdock, fearing that playing «sidekick» is sublimating her identity.^[34] During a HYDRA attempt to take over S.H.I.E.L.D., she is tortured to such an extent that she regresses back to an old cover identity of schoolteacher Nancy Rushman, but she is recovered by Spider-Man in time to help Nick Fury and Shang-Chi work out what had happened and restore her memory, with «Nancy» developing an attraction to Spider-Man before her memory is restored during the final fight against Madam Viper, Boomerang, and the Silver Samurai.^[35] She later returns to Matt Murdock’s life to find he is romantically involved with another woman, Heather Glenn,^[36] prompting her to leave New York.^[37] Natasha ultimately realizes that Matt still only thinks of her in platonic terms, and elects to restrain herself from any advances.^[38]

The Champions[edit]

After their breakup, the Widow moves to Los Angeles and becomes leader of the newly created and short-lived super team known as The Champions, consisting of her, Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Hercules (with whom she has a brief romance), and former X-Men Angel and Iceman.^[39]

Her friends usually call her «Natasha», the informal version of «Natalia». She has sometimes chosen the last-name alias «Romanoff». She has hinted to be a descendant of the deposed House of Romanov and a relation to Nicholas II of Russia.

21st century[edit]

Natasha crosses Daredevil’s (Matt Murdock) path again when he attempts to slay an infant he believes to be the Anti-Christ while under the influence of mind-altering drugs. After Daredevil’s one-time love, Karen Page, dies protecting the child, Natasha reconciles with Murdock, revealing she still loves him, but noting that he is too full of anger to commit to a relationship with her.^[40]

Natasha is challenged by Yelena Belova, a graduate from the training program through which Natasha herself was taught the espionage trade, who is the first to ever surpass Natasha’s marks and considers herself the rightful successor to the «Black Widow» mantle.^[41] Natasha refers to her as «little one» and «rooskaya (meaning «Russian»), and encourages her to discover her individuality rather than live in blind service, asking her «why be Black Widow, when you can be Yelena Belova?»^[42] After several confrontations, Natasha subjects Yelena to intense psychological manipulation and suffering in order to teach her the reality of the espionage business, and an angry but disillusioned Yelena eventually returns home and temporarily quits being a spy. Although Matt Murdock is appalled by the cruelty of Natasha’s treatment of Yelena, Nick Fury describes the action as Natasha’s attempt at saving Yelena’s life.^[43] After bringing the Avengers and the Thunderbolts together to overcome Count Nefaria, Natasha supported Daredevil’s short-lived efforts to form a new super-team to capture the Punisher, originally believed to be Nick Fury’s murderer.^{[volume & issue needed]} Despite recruitment endeavors, however, this vigilante group folded shortly after she and her teammate Dagger fought an army of renegade S.H.I.E.L.D. androids; ironically, she soon afterward worked with both Daredevil and Punisher against the European crime syndicate managed by the Brothers Grace.^{[volume & issue needed]} Months later, her pursuit of war criminal Anatoly Krylenko led to a clash with Hawkeye, whose pessimism regarding heroic activities now rivaled her own.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Shortly after the Scarlet Witch’s insanity seemingly killed Hawkeye and again disbanded the Avengers, Natasha, weary of espionage and adventure, travelled to Arizona but was targeted. Andrea discovers that other women had been trained in the Black Widow Program, and all are now being hunted down and killed^{[volume & issue needed]} by the North Institute on behalf of the corporation Gynacon.^{[volume & issue needed]} Natasha’s investigations led her back to Russia, where she was appalled to learn the previously unimagined extent of her past manipulation, and she discovered the Widows were being hunted because Gynacon, having purchased Russian biotechnology from Red Room’s successor agency 2R, wanted all prior users of the technology dead. Natasha finds and kills the mastermind of the Black Widow murders: Ian McMasters, Gynacon’s aging CEO, who intended to use part of their genetic structure to create a new chemical weapon.^{[volume & issue needed]} After killing McMasters, she clashed with operatives of multiple governments to help Sally Anne Carter, a girl Natasha had befriended in her investigations, whom she rescued with help from Daredevil and Yelena Belova.^{[volume & issue needed]} She soon returned the favor for Daredevil by reluctantly working with Elektra Natchios to protect his new wife, Milla Donovan, from the FBI and others, although Yelena proved beyond help when she agreed to be transformed into the new Super-Adaptoid by A.I.M. and HYDRA.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Civil War/Initiative[edit]

During the Superhero Civil War, Natasha becomes a supporter of the Superhuman Registration Act and a member of the taskforce led by Iron Man.^[44] Afterward, the registered Natasha joins the reconstituted Avengers.^{[volume & issue needed]} S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury is presumed killed,^{[volume & issue needed]} and deputy director Maria Hill incapacitated,^{[volume & issue needed]} so Natasha assumes temporary command of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the highest-ranking agent present.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Later, Tony Stark assigns Natasha to convey the late Captain America’s shield to a secure location, but is intercepted by her former lover, Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, who steals the shield. Natasha and the Falcon then rescue Barnes from the Red Skull’s minions and bring him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, where Stark convinces Bucky to become the new Captain America. Afterward, Natasha accompanies Bucky as his partner for a brief time until she is called back by S.H.I.E.L.D.^[45] She later rejoins him and Falcon for the final confrontation with the Red Skull, helping to rescue Sharon Carter. She and Bucky have restarted their relationship.^[46] She later plays an important role in the capture of Hercules. However, due to her respect of the Greek god, she let him go.^[47] Soon Natasha, along with the rest of the Avengers, gets involved in the current Skrull invasion.^[48] Afterwards, she stayed as Bucky’s partner.^[49] She also assists former director Maria Hill in delivering a special form of data to Bucky.^[50]

Thunderbolts[edit]

Norman Osborn discovered Yelena Belova breaking into an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, and offered her the position of field leader of the new Thunderbolts. On her first mission, she and Ant-Man take control of Air Force One with the Goblin, Doc Samson, and the new President aboard.^[51] It was suggested she faked her apparent death (as the Adaptoid) but it is never explained how.

A conversation with the Ghost implies that Yelena is working as a mole for someone else and that she may even be someone else disguised as Yelena. She is later seen talking privately through a comm-link to Nick Fury.^[52]

Osborn orders Yelena to lead the current Thunderbolts to kill former Thunderbolt, Songbird. Fury orders «Yelena» to rescue and retrieve Songbird for the information she might possess about Osborn and his operations. Yelena finds Songbird and reveals to her that she was really Natasha Romanova in disguise.^[53] She tries delivering Songbird to Fury but the Thunderbolts have also followed them.^[54] The trio are captured as Osborn reveals he had been impersonating Fury in messages all along to set Natasha up in order to strengthen the Thunderbolts and lead him to Fury. She and Songbird are brought to be executed but manage to escape when Ant-Man, Headsmen, and Paladin turn on the rest of the Thunderbolts and let them go.^[55]

Heroic Age[edit]

At the start of the «Heroic Age,» Natasha is recruited by Steve Rogers into a new black-ops wing of the Avengers dubbed the Secret Avengers. She travels to Dubai with her new teammate, Valkyrie, where they steal a dangerous artifact which the Beast then studies, noting that it seems like a distant cousin of the Serpent Crown.^[56] In the story «Coppelia», she encounters a teenage clone of herself, code named «Tiny Dancer», whom she rescues from an arms dealer.^[57]

Fear Itself[edit]

During the «Fear Itself» storyline, Black Widow and Peregrine are sent on a mission to free hostages being held in a Marseille cathedral by Rapido. He and a group of mercenaries are trying to exploit the panic over the events in Paris to steal France’s nuclear arsenal.^[58]

Ends of the Earth[edit]

During the «Ends of the Earth» storyline involving one of Doctor Octopus’ schemes, Natasha is one of only three heroes left standing after the defeat of the Avengers by the Sinister Six,^[59] joining Silver Sable and Spider-Man to track the Six (albeit because she was closest to Sable’s cloaked ship after the Avengers were defeated rather than for her prowess).^[60] She is later contacted by the Titanium Man to warn her and her allies about Doctor Octopus’ attempt to rally other villains against Spider-Man.^[61] She is knocked out along with Hawkeye by Iron Man during a battle against the Avengers when they were temporarily under Octavius’ remote control.^[62]

Secret Wars[edit]

During the incursion event between Earth-616 and Earth-1610, Natasha is involved in the final battle between the Marvel Universe’s superheroes and the Ultimate Universe’s Children of Tomorrow. She pilots a ship holding a handpicked few to restart humanity after the universe ends, copiloted by Jessica Drew. Her ship is shot down during the battle though, and she is killed in the ensuing explosion.^[63]

As the evacuation of Earth-616 begins in light of the fact that Earth-1610 is about to come crashing down as part of the «Last Days» storyline, Black Widow is seen standing atop a building with Captain America who gives her a list of people to save and bring aboard the lifeboat. As she tells Sam she cannot save them all, Sam explains it’s Natasha’s job to assist in the effort to save as many people as possible before Earth as they know it is destroyed. As she leaves, her mind transitions to Cold War Russia, where a young Natasha (here called Natalia) speaks with two Russian functionaries in the infamous «Red Room». She is given her first mission: travel to Cuba and locate a family called the Comienzas, who are at risk from Raúl Castro’s regime and who may have information of vital importance to Russia. She is told to rendezvous with another agent, her classmate Marina, and befriend the family under the guise of a Russian businesswoman. Natasha assures them of her competency and leaves. When one of the officers questions her youth, the other assures him, «she’s a killer. She will not disappoint.» Natasha meets Marina in Cuba and the two friends catch up before meeting with the Comienzas that night at a local bar. Using her talent for deception, she casually and politely convinces the husband and wife that she’s seeking inside information to help her import various goods into the country. The Comienzas explain they cannot reveal said information, prompting Natasha to later explain to Marina that the family might need «a little push». Not too soon she effectively began terrorizing the family into desperation. First, she plants an American flag on their doorstep to mimic someone accusing them of defecting to the United States. Later after meeting with one of the Russian officers from the Red Room to report her progress, she detonated a car bomb outside their home when the first attempt did not make them «nearly desperate enough». Following the car bomb explosion, Natasha declares the family is indeed desperate enough to reproach for information. Before letting Natasha go, the officer announces she has one additional task before her mission is over: Marina has become too much enamored with her civilian guise, and is now a security risk. Natasha will have to eliminate her.^[64] Flipping to the present, Black Widow is saving as many people as she can, but she quickly flashbacks to Havana. Natasha and her then Red Room partner Marina are trying to help a family defect. Natasha’s orders are simple: Kill the parents and make it public. When Natasha asks if she should kill the child too, her boss looks horrified that she would be so OK with that and tells her no. Having no problem following orders she sets up a meet and using a sniper rifle she takes out the pair without blinking. Next she shoots Marina’s boyfriend then Marina herself. Next she shoots Marina’s cat. Flipping back to the present, Black Widow is back saving people from the incursion as the reason that triggered Natasha’s flashback is revealed … a man she saved is holding his cat. This dark, heartless side of the Black Widow shows why she is trying so hard to do good today.^[65]

Secret Empire[edit]

During the «Secret Empire» storyline, Black Widow appears as a member of the underground resistance at the time when most of the United States has been taken over by Hydra and Captain America who was brainwashed by Red Skull’s clone using the powers of the sentient Cosmic Cube Kobik into believing that he was a Hydra sleeper agent.^[66] While Hawkeye assembles a strike force of Hercules and Quicksilver to find the Cosmic Cube fragments, Black Widow sets off to kill Rogers herself reasoning that even if Rick’s theory is true, the man Rogers was would prefer to die than be used in this manner. She finds herself followed by the Champions as she establishes her version of the Red Room.^[67] While preparing to shoot Captain America with a sniper rifle, she rushes to prevent Miles Morales from killing him as predicted by Ulysses,^[68] and is struck by his shield, breaking her neck and killing her.^[69] Despite the return of the real Steve Rogers and the downfall of Hydra, Natasha’s death, along with other casualties, remains.^[70]

Clone of Natalia Romanova[edit]

However, while observing a dictator who recently rose to power due to his support of Hydra, Bucky witnesses the man being assassinated in such a manner that he believes only Natasha could have pulled off the kill and believes he sees the Black Widow (actually Yelena Belova) depart from her chosen vantage point.^[71]

It was later discovered that a series of clones of the original Black Widow had been produced by the Black Widow Ops Program following her death. Its member Ursa Major bribed Epsilon Red to let him add the current memories of the deceased Natalia Romanova to one such clone while secretly disposing of the bad programming. The Black Widow Ops Program tasked the clone into taking out the remnants of Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.^[72] She revealed herself to Winter Soldier and Hawkeye while also killing Orphan Maker. To keep them from interfering, the Black Widow clone locked Winter Soldier and Hawkeye in a safe room within the Red Room.^[73] The Black Widow clone rose to the ranks of the Red Room while secretly persuading the recruits to turn against their masters. When Winter Soldier and Hawkeye arrived at the Red Room, the Black Widow clone dropped her cover where she began to kill her superiors, liberate the recruits and destroy all the clones and Epsilon Red. When the authorities arrived, The Black Widow clone, adopting the name Natasha Romanoff, left the Red Room, where she left a note for Hawkeye to stop following her and for Winter Soldier to join her in ending the Red Room.^[74]

During the «Infinity Countdown» storyline, the Black Widow clone traced a dead drop signal left by a revived Wolverine in Madripoor. She discovered that Wolverine had left the Space Infinity Gem in her care.^[75] The Black Widow clone meets up with Doctor Strange who wants to dispose of the Space Stone. Doctor Strange did not want to take it as he knows what would happen if they are in the same proximity. She is among the Infinity Gem holders who are contacted by Doctor Strange stating that they need to reform the Infinity Watch in order to safeguard the Infinity Gems from such calamities like Thanos.^[76]

Captain America had Black Widow’s clone infiltrate Roxxon as an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. operative-turned-contractor named Angel to spy on Roxxon and keep an eye on Weapon H. As Angel, she accompanied Weapon H and his assigned team to Weirdworld up to the point where Morgan le Fay of Earth-15238 exposed her identity to Weapon H.^[77] After getting out of the wreckage of the Roxxon Research Outpost, Black Widow reveals to Blake that she was sent to get the Roxxon group out of Weirdworld. Dr. Carrie Espinoza and the Roxxon soldiers with her salvage a Weirdworld Adamantine Crystal filled with Morgan le Fay’s mystic energies which Dr. Esponoza states to Black Widow and Blake that it can power all of New York for 10 years. As the group arrives near the Inaku village, they witness Weapon H fighting Korg as Black Widow is contacted by Sonia Sung from Roxxon’s headquarters. Black Widow tries to help Sonia get through to Weapon H until Dario Agger arrives.^[78] Black Widow is among those that are evacuated through the portal.^[79]

Powers and abilities[edit]

Black Widow has been enhanced by biotechnology that makes her body resistant to aging and disease and she heals faster than the average human. The white blood cells in her body are also enhanced by these implants, making them efficient enough to fight off most microbes, foreign bodies and other threats to her body, keeping her healthy and immune to most, if not all, infections, diseases and physical disorders.^[80]

Romanova has a gifted intellect.^[81] She displays an uncanny affinity for psychological manipulation and can mask her real emotions perfectly. Like Steve Rogers, she possesses the ability to quickly process multiple information streams (such as threat assessment) and rapidly respond to changing tactical situations,^[81] as well as having extensive espionage training.^[82]

Black Widow is a world-class athlete, gymnast, acrobat, and aerialist, capable of numerous complex maneuvers and feats. She can coordinate her body with balance, flexibility, and dexterity easily, and is an accomplished ballerina.^[83] She has mastered several martial arts such as jiu jitsu, aikido,^[84] boxing,^[84] judo,^[85][84] karate,^[85][84] savate,^[84] ninjutsu,^[86] various styles of kung fu and kenpo, as well as the Russian martial art sambo. She also underwent training on how to masterfully use sidearms, marksman rifles and melee weapons such as batons and combat knives.

She is also a skilled hypnotist. She uses a combination of techniques such as direct eye contact, hypnotic speech patterns and a soothing voice to influence a subjects’ mind, planting thoughts, ideas or post-hypnotic commands, or even affecting memories and personality traits.^[81]

Equipment[edit]

Black Widow uses a variety of equipment invented by Soviet scientists and technicians, with later improvements by S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists and technicians. She usually wears distinctively shaped bracelets which fire the Widow’s Bite electro-static energy blasts that can deliver charges up to 30,000 volts, as well as «Widow’s Line» grappling hooks, tear gas pellets, and a new element introduced during her ongoing series during the «Kiss or Kill» arc called the «Widow’s Kiss»—an aerosol instant knock-out gas she has modified.^[81] She wears a belt of metallic discs; some are disc-charges containing plastic explosives, while others have been shown to be compartments for housing other equipment. Her costume consists of synthetic stretch fabric equipped with micro-suction cups on fingers and feet, enabling her to adhere to walls and ceilings. In the 2006 «Homecoming» mini-series, she was seen using knives, unarmed combat, and various firearms, but she has since begun using her bracelets again.^[81] While in disguise as Yelena Belova, when infiltrating the then Osborn-sanctioned Thunderbolts during «Dark Reign», she used a specialized multi-lens goggle/head-carapace that demonstrated various technical abilities, such as enhancing vision and communication.^{[volume & issue needed]} Later, she has used a modified gun based on her Widow’s Bite wrist cartridge during her adventures alongside the new Captain America.^[82]

Supporting characters[edit]

Reception[edit]

Accolades[edit]

• In 2009, IGN included Black Widow in their «Marvel’s Femme Fatales» list.^[87]
• In 2011, Wizard Magazine ranked Black Widow 176th in their «Top 200 Comic Book Characters» list.^[88]
• In 2011, IGN ranked Black Widow 74th in their «Top 100 Comic Book Heroes» list.^[89]
• In 2011, Comics Buyer’s Guide ranked Black Widow 31st in their «100 Sexiest Women in Comics» list.^[90]
• In 2012, IGN ranked Black Widow 42nd in their «Top 50 Avengers» list.^[91]
• In 2015, Gizmodo ranked Black Widow 13th in their «Every Member Of The Avengers» list.^[92]
• In 2015, Entertainment Weekly ranked Black Widow 14th in their «Let’s rank every Avenger ever» list.^[93]
• In 2015, BuzzFeed ranked Black Widow 3rd in their «84 Avengers Members Ranked From Worst To Best» list.^[94]
• In 2017, The Daily Dot ranked Black Widow 9th in their «Top 33 female superheroes of all time» list.^[95]
• In 2018, GameSpot ranked Black Widow 46th in their «50 Most Important Superheroes» list.^[96]
• In 2019, Daily Mirror ranked Black Widow 11th in their «Best female superheroes of all time» list.^[97]
• In 2019, CBR.com ranked Black Widow 6th in their «10 Most Powerful Russians In Comics» list.^[98]
• In 2020, Scary Mommy ranked Black Widow 1st in their «Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic» list.^[99]
• In 2022, The A.V. Club ranked Black Widow 10th in their «100 best Marvel characters» list.^[100]
• In 2022, MovieWeb ranked Black Widow 4th in their «Toughest Female Superheroes» list.^[101]

Other versions[edit]

1602[edit]

In Marvel 1602, a world where superheroes have started to appear several hundred years early, Natasha is a freelance spy and «the most dangerous woman in Europe.» Initially allied with Matthew Murdoch (Daredevil’s 1602 counterpart),^[102] she later betrays him to Count Otto Von Doom, whom she shares a romantic relationship with.^[103] It is Natasha who later comes to Doom’s rescue when he is horribly burned by Thor’s lightning & the accompanying discharge of Blake’s golden sphere.^[104]

Natasha is still working with Count von Doom during Marvel 1602: Fantastick Four where she is the captain of his flying ship.^{[volume & issue needed]} However, when she questions his plan to take the ship to the edge of the world, he pushes her over the side and appoints the Wizard captain.^{[volume & issue needed]}

1872[edit]

The Secret Wars War Zone of 1872 reimagines Natasha in the Wild West in the town of Timely. Natasha Barnes is a widow who was married to Deputy Bucky Barnes, who was killed by Mayor Fisk’s men when he tried to stop a lynching. Fisk had her believe the Native Americans were responsible for his death until Sheriff Rogers told her the truth. After Sheriff Rogers was killed by Fisk and his men, Natasha teams up with Red Wolf and Doctor Bruce Banner to take Fisk down and destroy the dam separating the Cheyenne from their water.^[105]

Age of Ultron[edit]

In the Age of Ultron story, Black Widow is shown after Ultron’s attack with disfiguring scars on the right side of her face from an unknown source, disarming a desperate and panicked man who attempts to threaten her for resources before meeting up with Moon Knight in one of Nick Fury’s old bases.^[106]

The Avengers: United They Stand[edit]

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow appeared in the comic-book series based on the animated television series The Avengers: United They Stand.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Earth X[edit]

Natasha Romanova appeared in the Earth X miniseries much the same as her 616 counterpart. After Absorbing Man was broken to pieces by The Vision after killing The Avengers (Giant Man, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Hawkeye), part of his body was given to her to guard in order to prevent anyone from putting Absorbing man back together. She was killed sometime before the start of Earth X.^[107] Later in the series, she is revealed in the Realm of the Dead and is recruited by Mar-Vell into his legion of the undead.^[108]

House of M[edit]

Natasha is seen as a member of the Soviet Super Soldiers.^[109] Natasha later appears a member of Shang-Chi’s Red Dragons,^[110] and is mentioned as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.^[111]

Marvel Mangaverse[edit]

She appears in the New Dawn arc where The Executioner and she are hired by Mordo to kidnap Bruce Banner. They manage to succeed in doing so, with her escaping with Bruce while Tigra is dealing with The Executioner intent on keeping the reward for the job herself. However, during her escape, Bruce turns into The Hulk and destroys the submarine they were in, presumably killing her.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Zombies[edit]

Black Widow is among the Avengers who are infected by the Sentry in Marvel Zombies vs. the Army of Darkness. She is seen consuming a Yorkshire Terrier puppy.^{[volume & issue needed]} Later, in the original Marvel Zombies series, she is among the zombies who attack the Silver Surfer.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Ultimate Marvel[edit]

Under the Ultimate Marvel imprint Natasha Romanova is a member of the Ultimates, this universe’s analogue of the Avengers.^{[volume & issue needed]} She debuted in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #14 (June 2002) in a story written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Terry Moore, before becoming one of the major characters in writer Mark Millar and penciller Bryan Hitch’s The Ultimates, debuting there in #7 (Sept. 2002).^{[volume & issue needed]}

Romanova is a former KGB spy and assassin, code-named the Black Widow, known for killing her ex-husbands, notably Alexi Shostakov.^[112] She was originally part of the Ultimates’ covert operations («black ops») team, but with the emergence of the Chitauri threat was subsequently moved to public status after a publicly acceptable background was written for her.^[113] She has genetic or cybernetic enhancements making her far better in combat than the average human. After accepting a marriage proposal from Tony Stark, she receives a black suit of Iron Man armor as an engagement present, along with a set of nanites to control the armor.^[114]

Romanova is later revealed as a traitor—claiming that she betrayed the Ultimates because she feels that America has turned her country into a collection of drug-runners and prostitutes—responsible for killing Hawkeye’s wife and children, revealing Bruce Banner’s connection to the Hulk to the public, helping to frame Captain America as a traitor, and collaborating with the Liberators in their invasion of the United States. After she murders Edwin Jarvis and holds Stark hostage in an attempt to extort his fortune, Stark activates the nanites in her bloodstream, freezing her body in place, before knocking her unconscious with a wine bottle.^[115] She appears later in an emergency clinic, having cut open her wrists to bleed out the disabling nanites. Hawkeye kills her in revenge for her part in the murder of his family.^[116]

By The Ultimates 3 #1 a sex tape between Natasha and Stark has been leaked to the public. According to Janet Pym, the tape is of unknown origin and seems to have been professionally done with «close ups». Stark is shown to be in a state of depression over Natasha’s betrayal and subsequent death.^[117] It is later revealed that one of the Ultrons calling himself Yellowjacket had leaked the tape.^[118] During the Brotherhood’s attack on the Stark Mansion, Mystique shapeshifts into Natasha to get close to Tony in an attempt to kill him but is knocked unconscious by Wasp.^[119]

What If?[edit]

In What If? Age of Ultron #3, where Thor was killed, Natasha becomes the new wielder of Mjolnir to hold off an assault by the World-Serpent in Thor’s absence.^[120]

In other media[edit]

Television[edit]

• Black Widow was to be paired with Daredevil in a proposed live-action 1975 series created by and starring Angie Bowie as Black Widow with Ben Carruthers as Daredevil. However, the series never got past the development stage as no studio would take on the project.^[121]
• Black Widow appeared in the Iron Man portion of The Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Margaret Griffin.^[122]
• Black Widow appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode «Deadly is the Black Widow’s Bite», voiced by Lena Headey.^[123]
• Black Widow appeared in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,^[124] voiced by Vanessa Marshall.^[125]
• Black Widow appears in Iron Man: Armored Adventures, voiced by Ashleigh Ball.^[126]
• Black Widow appears in Avengers Assemble, voiced by Laura Bailey.^[127]
• Black Widow appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload, voiced by Laura Bailey.^[126]
• Black Widow appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, with Laura Bailey reprising the role.^[126][128] She appears in the episodes «Avenging Spider-Man» and «Contest of Champions, Part 2».
• Agent Carter features Dottie Underwood (Bridget Regan), a 1946 precursor to Black Widow who is an operative of Leviathan.^[129]
• Black Widow appears in the television special Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled,^[130] voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[126]
• Black Widow appears in the Spider-Man episode «Spider-Island» Part 2, voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[126][131]
• Black Widow appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes — Black Panther: Trouble in Wakanda, voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[132]
• Black Widow appears in Marvel Future Avengers, voiced by Mayumi Asano in Japanese and Laura Bailey in English.^[133]
• Black Widow appears in the Disney+ series What If…?, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She is voiced by Lake Bell, replacing Scarlett Johansson from the films.^[134]

Film[edit]

• In 2004, Lionsgate Entertainment announced that a Black Widow motion picture, featuring the Natasha Romanova version, was in the script stage by screenwriter-director David Hayter.^[135] Lionsgate subsequently dropped the project.^[136]
• The Ultimate version of Black Widow appears in the 2006 Ultimate Avengers animated direct-to-video movie and its sequel, Ultimate Avengers 2, voiced by Olivia d’Abo.^[126]
• Scarlett Johansson portrays Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Johansson made her debut appearance in Iron Man 2,^[137] followed by The Avengers (2012),^[138] Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014),^[139] Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015),^[140] Captain America: Civil War (2016),^[141] Avengers: Infinity War (2018),^[142] a cameo in a post-credits scene of Captain Marvel (2019),^[143] Avengers: Endgame (2019),^[144] and reprised her role in Black Widow (2021).^[145]
• Black Widow appears in the 2013 direct-to-video animated film Iron Man: Rise of Technovore,^[146][147] voiced by Clare Grant.^[126][148]
• Black Widow teams up with the Punisher in the animated film Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, voiced by Jennifer Carpenter.^[126][149]

Podcasts[edit]

• The Serial Box «immersive story» Black Widow: Bad Blood was a 2020 serialized audio novel read by Sarah Natochenny that followed the Black Widow tracking down a stolen vial of her blood.^[150]

Video games[edit]

• Black Widow appears in the 2004 Punisher video game.^[151] She appears in one level as a non-playable character (NPC) who fights alongside the Punisher. Black Widow was voiced by Saffron Henderson.
• Black Widow appears in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Nika Futterman.^[126] She is an exclusive character in the PlayStation Portable (PSP) version, and in all other versions of the game as a non-playable character; a sub-plot in the game has various heroes investigating the possibility that she is a traitor, although Fury later confirms that she was just conducting a discreet investigation into Doctor Doom’s plans. A mod available for the PC version of the game unlocks her as a playable character.
• Black Widow appears in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, voiced by Salli Saffioti.^[126]
• Nika Futterman reprises her role in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, appearing as a boss if the player chooses to fight for the anti-Registration side.^[152]
• Black Widow appears in the Iron Man 2 video game, voiced by Catherine Campion.^[153]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in the Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet video game, voiced by Grey DeLisle.^[126]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, voiced by Laura Bailey.^[154]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Strike Force.^{[citation needed]} She is a Tech Controller allied with the SHIELD and Wave-1 Avengers teams.
• Black Widow is a playable character in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance.^[155]
• Black Widow appears as a Heroes vs Heralds card in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. If Hawkeye defeats Street Fighter’s Crimson Viper, he’ll say, «Black Widow you ain’t.»^[156]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Contest of Champions, and was granted to every player for participation in the Ultron tie-in quests.^[157]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in the 2012 fighting game Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth.^[158]
• Black Widow is available as downloadable content for the game LittleBigPlanet as part of «Marvel Costume Kit 5».^[159]
• Black Widow is featured on the A-Force table in Zen Pinball 2, as part of the «Women of Power» DLC pack.^[160][161]
• Black Widow is a playable character in the MMORPG Marvel Heroes,^[162] voiced by Julianne Buescher.^[163]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes voiced by Laura Bailey.^[164] She serves as one of the main story characters.
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Avengers Alliance Tactics.^[165]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes and Disney Infinity 3.0, again voiced by Laura Bailey.^[166][167]
• Five variants of Black Widow appear in the mobile game Marvel Puzzle Quest, the most recent of which being added to the game in May 2018.^[168][169]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in the mobile game Marvel: Future Fight.^[170]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Lego Marvel’s Avengers, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.^[171]
• A teenage version of Black Widow appears as a playable character in Marvel Avengers Academy, voiced by Alison Brie.^[172]
• Black Widow appears as a downloadable character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite,^[173] voiced by Laura Bailey.^[163]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Superheroes 2, voiced by Maria Teresa Creasey.^[174]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in Marvel Powers United VR, again voiced by Laura Bailey.^[163]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order,^[175] voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[163]
• Black Widow is a playable character in the 2020 Avengers game, voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[176]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Future Revolution, voiced again by Laura Bailey. Many other versions of Black Widow from alternate realities also appear as NPCs, such as one who went undercover in the Hydra Empire or one who joined a secret rebellion against Maestro on Sakaar.^[177]
• Black Widow appears in Fortnite Battle Royale in the form of two separate cosmetic outfits. The first outfit, the Black Widow Outfit, was introduced as part of a crossover event to promote Avengers: Endgame called Fortnite: Endgame, using the Headhunter character model.^[178] The second outfit, Black Widow (Snow Suit), was introduced during the Marvel themed Chapter 2 — Season 4, using a unique character model and inspired by her appearance in the 2021 Black Widow film.^[179]

Motion comics[edit]

• Black Widow appears in the Spider-Woman motion comics voiced by JoEllen Anklam. During this appearance she is masquerading as Yelena Belova.^[180]

Live performances[edit]

• Black Widow appears in Marvel Universe: LIVE! as a member of the Avengers.^[181] Former motorcycle racer Louise Forsley has portrayed the character as of 2015.^[182]

Novels[edit]

• There are two Black Widow books in the Black Widow YA series, by Margaret Stohl.^[183][184]
  • Black Widow: Forever Red (2015)
  • Black Widow: Red Vengeance (2016)^[185]
• Black Widow appears in the prose novel adaptation of the event comic The Death of Captain America.^[186]
• Black Widow appears in the prose novel adaptation of the event comic Civil War.^[187]
• Black Widow appears in Avengers: Everybody Wants To Rule The World which is a tie-in to Avengers: Age of Ultron.^[188]

Collected editions[edit]

#	Title	Material Collected	Pages	Publication Date	ISBN
	Black Widow: The Sting of the Widow	Tales of Suspense #52, The Amazing Spider-Man #86, Amazing Adventures vol. 2 #1–8, and Daredevil #81		September 2, 2009	0-7851-3794-7
	Black Widow: Deadly Origin	Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1–4		March 17, 2010	0-7851-4301-7
	Black Widow: Web of Intrigue	Marvel Fanfare #10–13, Bizarre Adventures #25, and Black Widow: The Coldest War		April 7, 2010	0-7851-4474-9
	Black Widow & The Marvel Girls	Black Widow & The Marvel Girls #1-4		April 21, 2010	978-0785146995
	Hawkeye & Mockingbird / Black Widow: Widowmaker	Solo Avengers #16–18, Widowmaker #1–4		April 20, 2011	0-7851-5205-9
	Marvel’s the Avengers: Black Widow Strikes	Marvel’s the Avengers: Black Widow Strikes #1-3		September 19, 2012	978-0785165682
	Captain America and Black Widow	Captain America and Black Widow 636-640		February 26, 2013	978-0785165286
	Black Widow: Marvel Team-Up	Marvel Two-In-One (1974) 10; Marvel Team-Up (1972) 57, 82-85, 98, 140-141; and material from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 53, 70, 93	208	March 24, 2020	978-1302922788
1	Black Widow Epic Collection: Beware the Black Widow	Tales Of Suspense (1959) 52-53, 57, 60, 64; Avengers (1963) 29-30, 36-37, 43-44; Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 86; Amazing Adventures (1970) 1-8; Daredevil (1964) 81; and material from Avengers (1963) 16, 32-33, 38-39, 41-42, 45-47, 57, 63-64, 76	408	February 25, 2020	978-1302921262
2	Black Widow Epic Collection: The Coldest War	Black Widow: The Coldest War (1990), Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday’s Web (1992), Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir (1993), Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty (1995) and Journey Into Mystery (1996) 517-519 and material from Bizarre Adventures (1981) 25, Marvel Fanfare (1982) 10-13, Solo Avengers (1987) 7, Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 135 & Daredevil Annual (1967) 10	480	October 20, 2020	978-1302921309
	The Black Widow Strikes Omnibus	Tales of Suspense (1959) 52-53, 57, 60, 64; Avengers (1963) 29-30, 36-37, 43-44; Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 86; Amazing Adventures (1970) 1-8; Daredevil (1964) 81; Bizarre Adventures (1981) 25; Marvel Fanfare (1982) 10-13; Solo Avengers (1987) 7; Black Widow: Coldest War (1990); Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday’s Web (1992); Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir (1993); Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 135; Daredevil Annual (1967) 10; Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty (1995); Journey into Mystery (1951) 517-519; material from Avengers (1963) 16, 32- 33, 38-39, 41-42, 45-47, 57, 63-64, 76	896	September 15, 2020	978-1302921279
Volume 1 & 2
	Black Widow: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider	Black Widow vol. 1, #1–3; Black Widow vol. 2, #1–3		November 16, 2011	0-7851-5827-8
	Marvel Knights Black Widow by Grayson & Rucka: The Complete Collection	Black Widow vol. 1, #1–3; Black Widow vol. 2, #1–3; Black Widow: Pale Little Spider #1-3		October 23, 2018	978-1302914004
Volume 3
1	Black Widow: Homecoming	Black Widow vol. 3, #1–6		May 11, 2005	0-7851-1493-9
2	Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her	Black Widow 2 vol. 3, #1–6		June 7, 2006	0-7851-1768-7
	Black Widow: Welcome to the Game	Black Widow vol. 3, #1–6; Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her #1-6	288	January 21, 2020	978-1302921255
Volume 4
1	Black Widow: The Name of the Rose	Black Widow vol. 4 #1–5 and material from Enter the Heroic Age one-shot	140	January 5, 2011	0-7851-4354-8
2	Black Widow: Kiss or Kill	Black Widow vol. 4 #6–8 and material from Iron Man: Kiss and Kill one-shot	124	August 10, 2011	0-7851-4701-2
	Black Widow: Widowmaker	Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2009) 1-4, Black Widow (2010) 1-8, Widowmaker (2010) 1-4, Fear Itself: Black Widow (2011) 1, Black Widow Saga (2010) 1; and material from Enter The Heroic Age (2010) 1, Iron Man: Kiss And Kill (2010) 1	464	February 11, 2020	978-1302921446
Volume 5
1	The Finely Woven Thread	Black Widow Vol. 5 #1-6, All-New Marvel Now! Point One	144	July 29, 2014	978-0785188193
2	The Tightly Tangled Web	Black Widow Vol. 5 #7-12, The Punisher (2014) #9	160	February 3, 2015	978-0785188209
3	Last Days	Black Widow Vol. 5 #13-20	176	October 13, 2015	0785192530
Volume 6
1	SHIELD’s Most Wanted	Black Widow Vol. 6 #1-6	136	November 8, 2016	978-0785199755
2	No More Secrets	Black Widow Vol. 6 #7-12	136	May 9, 2017	978-0785199762
	Black Widow by Waid & Samnee: The Complete Collection	Black Widow Vol. 6 #1-12	272	March 17, 2020	978-1302921293
Volume 7
	Black Widow: No Restraints Play	Black Widow Vol. 7 #1-5	112	July 30, 2019	978-1302916732
Web of Black Widow
	Black Widow: The Web of Black Widow	The Web of Black Widow #1-5	112	March 3, 2020	978-1302920074
Volume 8
1	The Ties That Bind	Black Widow Vol. 8 #1-5	112	May 4, 2021	978-1302924836
2	I Am The Black Widow	Black Widow Vol. 8 #6-10	112	October 26, 2021	978-1302930134
3	Die By The Blade	Black Widow Vol. 8 #11-15	112	May 22, 2022	978-1302932541

See also[edit]

• List of Russian superheroes
• List of Marvel Comics superhero debuts

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Black Widow at Marvel.com
• Richard Morgan on Black Widow in an interview by Francesco Troccoli, August 2008
• «Richard K. Morgan Talks Marvel’s Black Widow«, Comic Book Resources, November 16, 2004
• Black Widow at Comics2Film
• Black Widow at the Grand Comics Database
• Natasha Romanova at the Marvel Directory
• Natasha Romanova at Don Markstein’s Toonopedia
• Natasha Romanova at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

Black Widow
Textless variant cover of Black Widow #1 (April 2010) Art by Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964)
Created by	Stan Lee Don Rico Don Heck
In-story information
Alter ego	Natalia Alianovna Romanova
Species	Human mutate
Team affiliations	Avengers The Champions Daughters of Liberty Heroes for Hire KGB Marvel Knights Mighty Avengers Lady Liberators Secret Avengers S.H.I.E.L.D. Thunderbolts
Partnerships	Captain America Winter Soldier Hawkeye Daredevil
Notable aliases	Natalia Shostakova Natasha Romanoff Natalie Rushman Laura Matthers Mary Farrell Oktober Yelena Belova
Abilities	Expert marksman and mastery of various weapons Master martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant Slowed aging, and enhanced immune system Skilled hypnotist Expert tactician Expert spy Equipment via gauntlets : Radio transmitter Tear gas pellets Grappling hook Knock out gas Explosives Taser

Black Widow (Natalia Alianovna «Natasha» Romanova; Russian: Наталья Альяновна «Наташа» Романова)^[1] is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by editor and plotter Stan Lee, scripter Don Rico, and artist Don Heck, the character debuted in Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964). The character was introduced as a Russian spy, an antagonist of the superhero Iron Man. She later defected to the United States, becoming an agent of the fictional spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and a member of the superhero team the Avengers.

The character has appeared in numerous forms of media, such as animated television series, video games, and films.

Scarlett Johansson portrayed Natasha Romanoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Widow (2021), with Lake Bell voicing the character in the animated series What If…? (2021).

Publication history[edit]

The Black Widow’s first appearances were as a recurring, non-costumed, Russian-spy antagonist in the feature «Iron Man», beginning in Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964). Five issues later, she recruits the besotted costumed archer and later superhero Hawkeye to her cause. Her government later supplies her with her first Black Widow costume and high-tech weaponry, but she eventually defects to the United States after appearing, temporarily brainwashed against the U.S., in the superhero-team series The Avengers #29 (July 1966). The Widow later becomes a recurring ally of the team before officially becoming its 16th member many years later.

The Black Widow was visually updated in 1970: The Amazing Spider-Man #86 (July 1970) reintroduced her with shoulder-length red hair (instead of her former short black hair), a skintight black costume, and wristbands which fired spider threads.^[2]

John Romita, the artist responsible for the redesign elaborated on how the character was updated. «I did the costume on the Black Widow. One of my favorite strips from when I was a kid was Miss Fury. They had done a Miss Fury book at Marvel, and when I found out they had the rights to her, I said I’d love to do a Miss Fury book sometime. I had done an updated drawing of Miss Fury, and Stan said, «Why don’t we redesign the Black Widow costume based on Miss Fury?» So I took the mask off her face, and made the Black Widow, the one in the patent leather jumpsuit.»^[3]

In short order, The Black Widow starred in her own series in Amazing Adventures #1–8 (Aug. 1970–Sept. 1971), sharing that split book with the feature Inhumans. The Black Widow feature was dropped after only eight issues (the Inhumans feature followed soon, ending with issue #10).^[2]

Immediately after her initial solo feature ended, the Black Widow co-starred in Daredevil #81–124 (Nov. 1971–Aug. 1975), of which #92-107 were cover titled Daredevil and the Black Widow. Daredevil writer Gerry Conway recounted, «It was my idea to team up Daredevil and the Black Widow, mainly because I was a fan of Natasha, and thought she and Daredevil would have interesting chemistry.»^[2] Succeeding writers, however, felt that Daredevil worked better as a solo hero, and gradually wrote the Black Widow out of the series.^[2] She was immediately recast into the super-team series The Champions as the leader of the titular superhero group, which ran for 17 issues (Oct. 1975–Jan. 1978).^[4]

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Black Widow appeared frequently as both an Avengers member and a freelance agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. She starred in a serialized feature within the omnibus comic-book series Marvel Fanfare #10–13 (Aug. 1983–March 1984), written by George Pérez and Ralph Macchio, with art by penciller Perez. These stories were later collected in the oversized one-shot Black Widow: Web of Intrigue #1 (June 1999).

The Widow guest-starred in issues of Solo Avengers, Force Works, Iron Man, Marvel Team-Up, and other comics. She had made frequent guest appearances in Daredevil since the late 1970s.

She starred in a three-issue arc, «The Fire Next Time», by writer Scott Lobdell and penciller Randy Green, in Journey into Mystery #517–519 (Feb.–April 1998).

A new ongoing Black Widow comic title debuted in April 2010. The first story arc was written by Marjorie Liu with art by Daniel Acuña.^[5] Beginning with issue #6 (Sept. 2010), the title was written by Duane Swierczynski, with artwork by Manuel Garcia and Lorenzo Ruggiero.

Black Widow appeared as a regular character throughout the 2010–2013 Secret Avengers series, from issue #1 (July 2010) through its final issue #37 (March 2013).

Black Widow appears in the 2013 Secret Avengers series by Nick Spencer and Luke Ross.^[6]

Black Widow appears in a relaunched ongoing series by writer Nathan Edmondson and artist Phil Noto. The first issue debuted in Jan. 2014.^[7]

In October 2015, it was announced that Mark Waid and Chris Samnee would be launching a new Black Widow series for 2016 as part of Marvel’s post-Secret Wars relaunch.^[8] The first issue was released in March 2016.^[9]

Limited series and specials[edit]

Aside from the arcs in Marvel Fanfare and Journey into Mystery, the Black Widow has starred in four limited series and four graphic novels.

The three-issue Black Widow (June-Aug. 1999), under the Marvel Knights imprint, starred Romanova and fully introduced her appointed successor, Captain Yelena Belova, who had briefly appeared in an issue of the 1999 series Inhumans. The writer for the story arc, «The Itsy-Bitsy Spider» was Devin K. Grayson while J. G. Jones was the artist.^[10] The next three-issue, Marvel Knights mini-series, also titled Black Widow (Jan.–March 2001) featured both Black Widows in the story arc «Breakdown», by writers Devin Grayson and Greg Rucka with painted art by Scott Hampton.^[11]

Romanova next starred in another solo miniseries titled Black Widow: Homecoming (Nov. 2004–April 2005), also under the Marvel Knights imprint and written by science fiction novelist Richard K. Morgan, with art initially by Bill Sienkiewicz and later by Sienkiewicz over Goran Parlov layouts.^[10] A six-issue sequel, Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (Nov. 2005–April 2006; officially Black Widow 2: The Things They Say About Her in the series’ postal indicia), by writer Morgan, penciller Sean Phillips, and inker Sienkiewicz, picks up immediately where the previous miniseries left off, continuing the story using many of the same characters.^[12]

She starred in the solo graphic novel Black Widow: The Coldest War (April 1990),^[11] and co-starred in three more: Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday’s Web (Dec. 1992); Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir (July 1993); and Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty (June 1995), also co-starring Marvel UK’s Night Raven.^{[citation needed]}

Black Widow is also featured in the short story Love Is Blindness in I Heart Marvel: Marvel Ai (2006) #1 (April 2006), where she instigates a humorous fight with Elektra over Daredevil’s affections. The comic is stylized to look like Japanese animation and uses images, not words, inside the speech and thought bubbles to convey what the characters are saying/thinking.^[13]

In 2010, the year in which the character, called only Natasha Romanoff, made her film debut in Iron Man 2, the Black Widow received two separate miniseries. Black Widow and the Marvel Girls was an all-ages, four-issue series that chronicled her adventures with various women of the Marvel Universe, including Storm, She-Hulk, the Enchantress, and Spider-Woman. It was written by Paul Tobin, with art by Salvador Espin, Veronica Gandini and Takeshi Miyazawa.^[14] The second four-issue miniseries, Black Widow: Deadly Origin, was written by Paul Cornell, and featured art by Tom Raney and John Paul Leon.^[15]

Fictional character biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Natasha was born in Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russian SFSR, USSR. The first and best-known Black Widow is a Russian agent trained as a spy, martial artist, and sniper, and outfitted with an arsenal of high-tech weaponry, including a pair of wrist-mounted energy weapons dubbed her «Widow’s Bite». She wears no costume during her first few appearances but simply evening wear and a veil. Romanova eventually defects to the U.S. for reasons that include her love for the reluctant-criminal turned superhero archer, Hawkeye.

The first hints to Natasha Romanova’s childhood come from Ivan Petrovich, who is introduced as her middle-aged chauffeur and confidant in the Black Widow’s 1970s Amazing Adventures. Petrovich tells Matt Murdock that he had been given custody of little Natasha by a woman who died immediately afterwards, during the Battle of Stalingrad in autumn 1942. He consequently felt committed to raise the orphan as a surrogate father and she eventually trained as a Soviet spy, being eager to help her homeland.^[16] In another flashback, set in the fictional island of Madripoor in 1941, Petrovich helps Captain America and the mutant Logan, who would later become the Canadian super-agent and costumed hero Wolverine, to rescue Natasha from Nazis.^[17]

A revised, retconned origin establishes her as being raised from very early childhood by the U.S.S.R.’s «Black Widow Ops» program, rather than solely by Ivan Petrovitch.^[18] Petrovitch had taken her to Department X with other young female orphans, where she was brainwashed and trained in combat and espionage at the covert «Red Room» facility. There, she is biotechnologically and psycho-technologically enhanced—which provides a rationale for her unusually long and youthful lifespan. During that time she had some training under the Winter Soldier, and the pair even had a short romance.^[19] Each Black Widow is deployed with false memories to help ensure her loyalty. Romanova eventually discovers this, including the fact that she had never, as she had believed, been a ballerina. She further discovers that the Red Room is still active as «2R».

The KGB arranged a marriage between Natasha and the renowned Soviet test pilot Alexei Shostakov. However, when the Soviet government decided to make Shostakov into their new operative, the Red Guardian, he is told that he can have no further contact with his wife. Natasha is told that he died and is trained as a secret agent separately.

The Avengers[edit]

Romanova grew up to serve as a femme fatale. She was assigned to assist Boris Turgenov in the assassination of Professor Anton Vanko for defecting from the Soviet Union, which served as her first mission in the United States. Natasha and Turgenov infiltrated Stark Industries as part of the plan.^[20] She attempted to manipulate information from American defense contractor Tony Stark, and inevitably confronted his superhero alter ego, Iron Man. The pair then battled Iron Man, and Turgenov stole and wore the Crimson Dynamo suit. Vanko sacrificed himself to save Iron Man, killing Turgenov in the process, using an unstable experimental laser light pistol.^[21] Romanova later meets the criminal archer Hawkeye and sets him against Iron Man,^[22] and later helped Hawkeye battle Iron Man.^[23]

Later, Natasha again attempted to get Hawkeye to help her destroy Iron Man. The pair almost succeeded, but when Black Widow was injured, Hawkeye retreated to get her to safety.^[24] During this period, Romanova was attempting to defect from the Soviet Union and began falling in love with Hawkeye, weakening her loyalty to her country. When her employers learned the truth, the KGB had her gunned down, sending her to a hospital, convincing Hawkeye to go straight and seek membership in the Avengers.^[25][26]

The Red Room kidnapped and brainwashed her again, and with the Swordsman and the first Power Man, she battled the Avengers.^[27] She eventually broke free from her psychological conditioning (with the help of Hawkeye), and successfully defected, having further adventures with Spider-Man, with Hawkeye, and with Daredevil. She ultimately joins the Avengers as a costumed hero herself.^[28]

S.H.I.E.L.D. and Daredevil[edit]

Upon Nick Fury’s request, she begins freelancing as an agent of the international espionage group S.H.I.E.L.D. She is sent on a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. mission to China by Nick Fury. There, with the Avengers, she battles Col. Ling, Gen. Brushov, and her ex-husband the Red Guardian.^[29] For a time, as writer Les Daniels noted in a contemporaneous study in 1971,

… her left-wing upbringing was put to better use, and she has lately taken to fighting realistic oppressor-of-the-people types. She helps young Puerto Ricans clean up police corruption and saves young hippies from organized crime.  … [The splash page of Amazing Adventures #3 (Nov. 1970)] reflects the recent trend toward involving fantastic characters in contemporary social problems, a move which has gained widespread publicity for Marvel and its competitor, DC.^[30]

She investigates a plot by Egghead, the Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker to blackmail the US government using a laser-firing satellite.^[31][32]

During her romantic involvement with Matt Murdock in San Francisco, she operates as an independent superhero alongside Murdock’s alter ego, Daredevil.^[33] There she tries unsuccessfully to find a new career for herself as a fashion designer. Eventually, her relationship with Murdock stagnates, and after briefly working with Avengers finally breaks up with Murdock, fearing that playing «sidekick» is sublimating her identity.^[34] During a HYDRA attempt to take over S.H.I.E.L.D., she is tortured to such an extent that she regresses back to an old cover identity of schoolteacher Nancy Rushman, but she is recovered by Spider-Man in time to help Nick Fury and Shang-Chi work out what had happened and restore her memory, with «Nancy» developing an attraction to Spider-Man before her memory is restored during the final fight against Madam Viper, Boomerang, and the Silver Samurai.^[35] She later returns to Matt Murdock’s life to find he is romantically involved with another woman, Heather Glenn,^[36] prompting her to leave New York.^[37] Natasha ultimately realizes that Matt still only thinks of her in platonic terms, and elects to restrain herself from any advances.^[38]

The Champions[edit]

After their breakup, the Widow moves to Los Angeles and becomes leader of the newly created and short-lived super team known as The Champions, consisting of her, Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Hercules (with whom she has a brief romance), and former X-Men Angel and Iceman.^[39]

Her friends usually call her «Natasha», the informal version of «Natalia». She has sometimes chosen the last-name alias «Romanoff». She has hinted to be a descendant of the deposed House of Romanov and a relation to Nicholas II of Russia.

21st century[edit]

Natasha crosses Daredevil’s (Matt Murdock) path again when he attempts to slay an infant he believes to be the Anti-Christ while under the influence of mind-altering drugs. After Daredevil’s one-time love, Karen Page, dies protecting the child, Natasha reconciles with Murdock, revealing she still loves him, but noting that he is too full of anger to commit to a relationship with her.^[40]

Natasha is challenged by Yelena Belova, a graduate from the training program through which Natasha herself was taught the espionage trade, who is the first to ever surpass Natasha’s marks and considers herself the rightful successor to the «Black Widow» mantle.^[41] Natasha refers to her as «little one» and «rooskaya (meaning «Russian»), and encourages her to discover her individuality rather than live in blind service, asking her «why be Black Widow, when you can be Yelena Belova?»^[42] After several confrontations, Natasha subjects Yelena to intense psychological manipulation and suffering in order to teach her the reality of the espionage business, and an angry but disillusioned Yelena eventually returns home and temporarily quits being a spy. Although Matt Murdock is appalled by the cruelty of Natasha’s treatment of Yelena, Nick Fury describes the action as Natasha’s attempt at saving Yelena’s life.^[43] After bringing the Avengers and the Thunderbolts together to overcome Count Nefaria, Natasha supported Daredevil’s short-lived efforts to form a new super-team to capture the Punisher, originally believed to be Nick Fury’s murderer.^{[volume & issue needed]} Despite recruitment endeavors, however, this vigilante group folded shortly after she and her teammate Dagger fought an army of renegade S.H.I.E.L.D. androids; ironically, she soon afterward worked with both Daredevil and Punisher against the European crime syndicate managed by the Brothers Grace.^{[volume & issue needed]} Months later, her pursuit of war criminal Anatoly Krylenko led to a clash with Hawkeye, whose pessimism regarding heroic activities now rivaled her own.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Shortly after the Scarlet Witch’s insanity seemingly killed Hawkeye and again disbanded the Avengers, Natasha, weary of espionage and adventure, travelled to Arizona but was targeted. Andrea discovers that other women had been trained in the Black Widow Program, and all are now being hunted down and killed^{[volume & issue needed]} by the North Institute on behalf of the corporation Gynacon.^{[volume & issue needed]} Natasha’s investigations led her back to Russia, where she was appalled to learn the previously unimagined extent of her past manipulation, and she discovered the Widows were being hunted because Gynacon, having purchased Russian biotechnology from Red Room’s successor agency 2R, wanted all prior users of the technology dead. Natasha finds and kills the mastermind of the Black Widow murders: Ian McMasters, Gynacon’s aging CEO, who intended to use part of their genetic structure to create a new chemical weapon.^{[volume & issue needed]} After killing McMasters, she clashed with operatives of multiple governments to help Sally Anne Carter, a girl Natasha had befriended in her investigations, whom she rescued with help from Daredevil and Yelena Belova.^{[volume & issue needed]} She soon returned the favor for Daredevil by reluctantly working with Elektra Natchios to protect his new wife, Milla Donovan, from the FBI and others, although Yelena proved beyond help when she agreed to be transformed into the new Super-Adaptoid by A.I.M. and HYDRA.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Civil War/Initiative[edit]

During the Superhero Civil War, Natasha becomes a supporter of the Superhuman Registration Act and a member of the taskforce led by Iron Man.^[44] Afterward, the registered Natasha joins the reconstituted Avengers.^{[volume & issue needed]} S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury is presumed killed,^{[volume & issue needed]} and deputy director Maria Hill incapacitated,^{[volume & issue needed]} so Natasha assumes temporary command of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the highest-ranking agent present.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Later, Tony Stark assigns Natasha to convey the late Captain America’s shield to a secure location, but is intercepted by her former lover, Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, who steals the shield. Natasha and the Falcon then rescue Barnes from the Red Skull’s minions and bring him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, where Stark convinces Bucky to become the new Captain America. Afterward, Natasha accompanies Bucky as his partner for a brief time until she is called back by S.H.I.E.L.D.^[45] She later rejoins him and Falcon for the final confrontation with the Red Skull, helping to rescue Sharon Carter. She and Bucky have restarted their relationship.^[46] She later plays an important role in the capture of Hercules. However, due to her respect of the Greek god, she let him go.^[47] Soon Natasha, along with the rest of the Avengers, gets involved in the current Skrull invasion.^[48] Afterwards, she stayed as Bucky’s partner.^[49] She also assists former director Maria Hill in delivering a special form of data to Bucky.^[50]

Thunderbolts[edit]

Norman Osborn discovered Yelena Belova breaking into an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, and offered her the position of field leader of the new Thunderbolts. On her first mission, she and Ant-Man take control of Air Force One with the Goblin, Doc Samson, and the new President aboard.^[51] It was suggested she faked her apparent death (as the Adaptoid) but it is never explained how.

A conversation with the Ghost implies that Yelena is working as a mole for someone else and that she may even be someone else disguised as Yelena. She is later seen talking privately through a comm-link to Nick Fury.^[52]

Osborn orders Yelena to lead the current Thunderbolts to kill former Thunderbolt, Songbird. Fury orders «Yelena» to rescue and retrieve Songbird for the information she might possess about Osborn and his operations. Yelena finds Songbird and reveals to her that she was really Natasha Romanova in disguise.^[53] She tries delivering Songbird to Fury but the Thunderbolts have also followed them.^[54] The trio are captured as Osborn reveals he had been impersonating Fury in messages all along to set Natasha up in order to strengthen the Thunderbolts and lead him to Fury. She and Songbird are brought to be executed but manage to escape when Ant-Man, Headsmen, and Paladin turn on the rest of the Thunderbolts and let them go.^[55]

Heroic Age[edit]

At the start of the «Heroic Age,» Natasha is recruited by Steve Rogers into a new black-ops wing of the Avengers dubbed the Secret Avengers. She travels to Dubai with her new teammate, Valkyrie, where they steal a dangerous artifact which the Beast then studies, noting that it seems like a distant cousin of the Serpent Crown.^[56] In the story «Coppelia», she encounters a teenage clone of herself, code named «Tiny Dancer», whom she rescues from an arms dealer.^[57]

Fear Itself[edit]

During the «Fear Itself» storyline, Black Widow and Peregrine are sent on a mission to free hostages being held in a Marseille cathedral by Rapido. He and a group of mercenaries are trying to exploit the panic over the events in Paris to steal France’s nuclear arsenal.^[58]

Ends of the Earth[edit]

During the «Ends of the Earth» storyline involving one of Doctor Octopus’ schemes, Natasha is one of only three heroes left standing after the defeat of the Avengers by the Sinister Six,^[59] joining Silver Sable and Spider-Man to track the Six (albeit because she was closest to Sable’s cloaked ship after the Avengers were defeated rather than for her prowess).^[60] She is later contacted by the Titanium Man to warn her and her allies about Doctor Octopus’ attempt to rally other villains against Spider-Man.^[61] She is knocked out along with Hawkeye by Iron Man during a battle against the Avengers when they were temporarily under Octavius’ remote control.^[62]

Secret Wars[edit]

During the incursion event between Earth-616 and Earth-1610, Natasha is involved in the final battle between the Marvel Universe’s superheroes and the Ultimate Universe’s Children of Tomorrow. She pilots a ship holding a handpicked few to restart humanity after the universe ends, copiloted by Jessica Drew. Her ship is shot down during the battle though, and she is killed in the ensuing explosion.^[63]

As the evacuation of Earth-616 begins in light of the fact that Earth-1610 is about to come crashing down as part of the «Last Days» storyline, Black Widow is seen standing atop a building with Captain America who gives her a list of people to save and bring aboard the lifeboat. As she tells Sam she cannot save them all, Sam explains it’s Natasha’s job to assist in the effort to save as many people as possible before Earth as they know it is destroyed. As she leaves, her mind transitions to Cold War Russia, where a young Natasha (here called Natalia) speaks with two Russian functionaries in the infamous «Red Room». She is given her first mission: travel to Cuba and locate a family called the Comienzas, who are at risk from Raúl Castro’s regime and who may have information of vital importance to Russia. She is told to rendezvous with another agent, her classmate Marina, and befriend the family under the guise of a Russian businesswoman. Natasha assures them of her competency and leaves. When one of the officers questions her youth, the other assures him, «she’s a killer. She will not disappoint.» Natasha meets Marina in Cuba and the two friends catch up before meeting with the Comienzas that night at a local bar. Using her talent for deception, she casually and politely convinces the husband and wife that she’s seeking inside information to help her import various goods into the country. The Comienzas explain they cannot reveal said information, prompting Natasha to later explain to Marina that the family might need «a little push». Not too soon she effectively began terrorizing the family into desperation. First, she plants an American flag on their doorstep to mimic someone accusing them of defecting to the United States. Later after meeting with one of the Russian officers from the Red Room to report her progress, she detonated a car bomb outside their home when the first attempt did not make them «nearly desperate enough». Following the car bomb explosion, Natasha declares the family is indeed desperate enough to reproach for information. Before letting Natasha go, the officer announces she has one additional task before her mission is over: Marina has become too much enamored with her civilian guise, and is now a security risk. Natasha will have to eliminate her.^[64] Flipping to the present, Black Widow is saving as many people as she can, but she quickly flashbacks to Havana. Natasha and her then Red Room partner Marina are trying to help a family defect. Natasha’s orders are simple: Kill the parents and make it public. When Natasha asks if she should kill the child too, her boss looks horrified that she would be so OK with that and tells her no. Having no problem following orders she sets up a meet and using a sniper rifle she takes out the pair without blinking. Next she shoots Marina’s boyfriend then Marina herself. Next she shoots Marina’s cat. Flipping back to the present, Black Widow is back saving people from the incursion as the reason that triggered Natasha’s flashback is revealed … a man she saved is holding his cat. This dark, heartless side of the Black Widow shows why she is trying so hard to do good today.^[65]

Secret Empire[edit]

During the «Secret Empire» storyline, Black Widow appears as a member of the underground resistance at the time when most of the United States has been taken over by Hydra and Captain America who was brainwashed by Red Skull’s clone using the powers of the sentient Cosmic Cube Kobik into believing that he was a Hydra sleeper agent.^[66] While Hawkeye assembles a strike force of Hercules and Quicksilver to find the Cosmic Cube fragments, Black Widow sets off to kill Rogers herself reasoning that even if Rick’s theory is true, the man Rogers was would prefer to die than be used in this manner. She finds herself followed by the Champions as she establishes her version of the Red Room.^[67] While preparing to shoot Captain America with a sniper rifle, she rushes to prevent Miles Morales from killing him as predicted by Ulysses,^[68] and is struck by his shield, breaking her neck and killing her.^[69] Despite the return of the real Steve Rogers and the downfall of Hydra, Natasha’s death, along with other casualties, remains.^[70]

Clone of Natalia Romanova[edit]

However, while observing a dictator who recently rose to power due to his support of Hydra, Bucky witnesses the man being assassinated in such a manner that he believes only Natasha could have pulled off the kill and believes he sees the Black Widow (actually Yelena Belova) depart from her chosen vantage point.^[71]

It was later discovered that a series of clones of the original Black Widow had been produced by the Black Widow Ops Program following her death. Its member Ursa Major bribed Epsilon Red to let him add the current memories of the deceased Natalia Romanova to one such clone while secretly disposing of the bad programming. The Black Widow Ops Program tasked the clone into taking out the remnants of Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.^[72] She revealed herself to Winter Soldier and Hawkeye while also killing Orphan Maker. To keep them from interfering, the Black Widow clone locked Winter Soldier and Hawkeye in a safe room within the Red Room.^[73] The Black Widow clone rose to the ranks of the Red Room while secretly persuading the recruits to turn against their masters. When Winter Soldier and Hawkeye arrived at the Red Room, the Black Widow clone dropped her cover where she began to kill her superiors, liberate the recruits and destroy all the clones and Epsilon Red. When the authorities arrived, The Black Widow clone, adopting the name Natasha Romanoff, left the Red Room, where she left a note for Hawkeye to stop following her and for Winter Soldier to join her in ending the Red Room.^[74]

During the «Infinity Countdown» storyline, the Black Widow clone traced a dead drop signal left by a revived Wolverine in Madripoor. She discovered that Wolverine had left the Space Infinity Gem in her care.^[75] The Black Widow clone meets up with Doctor Strange who wants to dispose of the Space Stone. Doctor Strange did not want to take it as he knows what would happen if they are in the same proximity. She is among the Infinity Gem holders who are contacted by Doctor Strange stating that they need to reform the Infinity Watch in order to safeguard the Infinity Gems from such calamities like Thanos.^[76]

Captain America had Black Widow’s clone infiltrate Roxxon as an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. operative-turned-contractor named Angel to spy on Roxxon and keep an eye on Weapon H. As Angel, she accompanied Weapon H and his assigned team to Weirdworld up to the point where Morgan le Fay of Earth-15238 exposed her identity to Weapon H.^[77] After getting out of the wreckage of the Roxxon Research Outpost, Black Widow reveals to Blake that she was sent to get the Roxxon group out of Weirdworld. Dr. Carrie Espinoza and the Roxxon soldiers with her salvage a Weirdworld Adamantine Crystal filled with Morgan le Fay’s mystic energies which Dr. Esponoza states to Black Widow and Blake that it can power all of New York for 10 years. As the group arrives near the Inaku village, they witness Weapon H fighting Korg as Black Widow is contacted by Sonia Sung from Roxxon’s headquarters. Black Widow tries to help Sonia get through to Weapon H until Dario Agger arrives.^[78] Black Widow is among those that are evacuated through the portal.^[79]

Powers and abilities[edit]

Black Widow has been enhanced by biotechnology that makes her body resistant to aging and disease and she heals faster than the average human. The white blood cells in her body are also enhanced by these implants, making them efficient enough to fight off most microbes, foreign bodies and other threats to her body, keeping her healthy and immune to most, if not all, infections, diseases and physical disorders.^[80]

Romanova has a gifted intellect.^[81] She displays an uncanny affinity for psychological manipulation and can mask her real emotions perfectly. Like Steve Rogers, she possesses the ability to quickly process multiple information streams (such as threat assessment) and rapidly respond to changing tactical situations,^[81] as well as having extensive espionage training.^[82]

Black Widow is a world-class athlete, gymnast, acrobat, and aerialist, capable of numerous complex maneuvers and feats. She can coordinate her body with balance, flexibility, and dexterity easily, and is an accomplished ballerina.^[83] She has mastered several martial arts such as jiu jitsu, aikido,^[84] boxing,^[84] judo,^[85][84] karate,^[85][84] savate,^[84] ninjutsu,^[86] various styles of kung fu and kenpo, as well as the Russian martial art sambo. She also underwent training on how to masterfully use sidearms, marksman rifles and melee weapons such as batons and combat knives.

She is also a skilled hypnotist. She uses a combination of techniques such as direct eye contact, hypnotic speech patterns and a soothing voice to influence a subjects’ mind, planting thoughts, ideas or post-hypnotic commands, or even affecting memories and personality traits.^[81]

Equipment[edit]

Black Widow uses a variety of equipment invented by Soviet scientists and technicians, with later improvements by S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists and technicians. She usually wears distinctively shaped bracelets which fire the Widow’s Bite electro-static energy blasts that can deliver charges up to 30,000 volts, as well as «Widow’s Line» grappling hooks, tear gas pellets, and a new element introduced during her ongoing series during the «Kiss or Kill» arc called the «Widow’s Kiss»—an aerosol instant knock-out gas she has modified.^[81] She wears a belt of metallic discs; some are disc-charges containing plastic explosives, while others have been shown to be compartments for housing other equipment. Her costume consists of synthetic stretch fabric equipped with micro-suction cups on fingers and feet, enabling her to adhere to walls and ceilings. In the 2006 «Homecoming» mini-series, she was seen using knives, unarmed combat, and various firearms, but she has since begun using her bracelets again.^[81] While in disguise as Yelena Belova, when infiltrating the then Osborn-sanctioned Thunderbolts during «Dark Reign», she used a specialized multi-lens goggle/head-carapace that demonstrated various technical abilities, such as enhancing vision and communication.^{[volume & issue needed]} Later, she has used a modified gun based on her Widow’s Bite wrist cartridge during her adventures alongside the new Captain America.^[82]

Supporting characters[edit]

Reception[edit]

Accolades[edit]

• In 2009, IGN included Black Widow in their «Marvel’s Femme Fatales» list.^[87]
• In 2011, Wizard Magazine ranked Black Widow 176th in their «Top 200 Comic Book Characters» list.^[88]
• In 2011, IGN ranked Black Widow 74th in their «Top 100 Comic Book Heroes» list.^[89]
• In 2011, Comics Buyer’s Guide ranked Black Widow 31st in their «100 Sexiest Women in Comics» list.^[90]
• In 2012, IGN ranked Black Widow 42nd in their «Top 50 Avengers» list.^[91]
• In 2015, Gizmodo ranked Black Widow 13th in their «Every Member Of The Avengers» list.^[92]
• In 2015, Entertainment Weekly ranked Black Widow 14th in their «Let’s rank every Avenger ever» list.^[93]
• In 2015, BuzzFeed ranked Black Widow 3rd in their «84 Avengers Members Ranked From Worst To Best» list.^[94]
• In 2017, The Daily Dot ranked Black Widow 9th in their «Top 33 female superheroes of all time» list.^[95]
• In 2018, GameSpot ranked Black Widow 46th in their «50 Most Important Superheroes» list.^[96]
• In 2019, Daily Mirror ranked Black Widow 11th in their «Best female superheroes of all time» list.^[97]
• In 2019, CBR.com ranked Black Widow 6th in their «10 Most Powerful Russians In Comics» list.^[98]
• In 2020, Scary Mommy ranked Black Widow 1st in their «Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic» list.^[99]
• In 2022, The A.V. Club ranked Black Widow 10th in their «100 best Marvel characters» list.^[100]
• In 2022, MovieWeb ranked Black Widow 4th in their «Toughest Female Superheroes» list.^[101]

Other versions[edit]

1602[edit]

In Marvel 1602, a world where superheroes have started to appear several hundred years early, Natasha is a freelance spy and «the most dangerous woman in Europe.» Initially allied with Matthew Murdoch (Daredevil’s 1602 counterpart),^[102] she later betrays him to Count Otto Von Doom, whom she shares a romantic relationship with.^[103] It is Natasha who later comes to Doom’s rescue when he is horribly burned by Thor’s lightning & the accompanying discharge of Blake’s golden sphere.^[104]

Natasha is still working with Count von Doom during Marvel 1602: Fantastick Four where she is the captain of his flying ship.^{[volume & issue needed]} However, when she questions his plan to take the ship to the edge of the world, he pushes her over the side and appoints the Wizard captain.^{[volume & issue needed]}

1872[edit]

The Secret Wars War Zone of 1872 reimagines Natasha in the Wild West in the town of Timely. Natasha Barnes is a widow who was married to Deputy Bucky Barnes, who was killed by Mayor Fisk’s men when he tried to stop a lynching. Fisk had her believe the Native Americans were responsible for his death until Sheriff Rogers told her the truth. After Sheriff Rogers was killed by Fisk and his men, Natasha teams up with Red Wolf and Doctor Bruce Banner to take Fisk down and destroy the dam separating the Cheyenne from their water.^[105]

Age of Ultron[edit]

In the Age of Ultron story, Black Widow is shown after Ultron’s attack with disfiguring scars on the right side of her face from an unknown source, disarming a desperate and panicked man who attempts to threaten her for resources before meeting up with Moon Knight in one of Nick Fury’s old bases.^[106]

The Avengers: United They Stand[edit]

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow appeared in the comic-book series based on the animated television series The Avengers: United They Stand.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Earth X[edit]

Natasha Romanova appeared in the Earth X miniseries much the same as her 616 counterpart. After Absorbing Man was broken to pieces by The Vision after killing The Avengers (Giant Man, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Hawkeye), part of his body was given to her to guard in order to prevent anyone from putting Absorbing man back together. She was killed sometime before the start of Earth X.^[107] Later in the series, she is revealed in the Realm of the Dead and is recruited by Mar-Vell into his legion of the undead.^[108]

House of M[edit]

Natasha is seen as a member of the Soviet Super Soldiers.^[109] Natasha later appears a member of Shang-Chi’s Red Dragons,^[110] and is mentioned as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.^[111]

Marvel Mangaverse[edit]

She appears in the New Dawn arc where The Executioner and she are hired by Mordo to kidnap Bruce Banner. They manage to succeed in doing so, with her escaping with Bruce while Tigra is dealing with The Executioner intent on keeping the reward for the job herself. However, during her escape, Bruce turns into The Hulk and destroys the submarine they were in, presumably killing her.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Zombies[edit]

Black Widow is among the Avengers who are infected by the Sentry in Marvel Zombies vs. the Army of Darkness. She is seen consuming a Yorkshire Terrier puppy.^{[volume & issue needed]} Later, in the original Marvel Zombies series, she is among the zombies who attack the Silver Surfer.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Ultimate Marvel[edit]

Under the Ultimate Marvel imprint Natasha Romanova is a member of the Ultimates, this universe’s analogue of the Avengers.^{[volume & issue needed]} She debuted in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #14 (June 2002) in a story written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Terry Moore, before becoming one of the major characters in writer Mark Millar and penciller Bryan Hitch’s The Ultimates, debuting there in #7 (Sept. 2002).^{[volume & issue needed]}

Romanova is a former KGB spy and assassin, code-named the Black Widow, known for killing her ex-husbands, notably Alexi Shostakov.^[112] She was originally part of the Ultimates’ covert operations («black ops») team, but with the emergence of the Chitauri threat was subsequently moved to public status after a publicly acceptable background was written for her.^[113] She has genetic or cybernetic enhancements making her far better in combat than the average human. After accepting a marriage proposal from Tony Stark, she receives a black suit of Iron Man armor as an engagement present, along with a set of nanites to control the armor.^[114]

Romanova is later revealed as a traitor—claiming that she betrayed the Ultimates because she feels that America has turned her country into a collection of drug-runners and prostitutes—responsible for killing Hawkeye’s wife and children, revealing Bruce Banner’s connection to the Hulk to the public, helping to frame Captain America as a traitor, and collaborating with the Liberators in their invasion of the United States. After she murders Edwin Jarvis and holds Stark hostage in an attempt to extort his fortune, Stark activates the nanites in her bloodstream, freezing her body in place, before knocking her unconscious with a wine bottle.^[115] She appears later in an emergency clinic, having cut open her wrists to bleed out the disabling nanites. Hawkeye kills her in revenge for her part in the murder of his family.^[116]

By The Ultimates 3 #1 a sex tape between Natasha and Stark has been leaked to the public. According to Janet Pym, the tape is of unknown origin and seems to have been professionally done with «close ups». Stark is shown to be in a state of depression over Natasha’s betrayal and subsequent death.^[117] It is later revealed that one of the Ultrons calling himself Yellowjacket had leaked the tape.^[118] During the Brotherhood’s attack on the Stark Mansion, Mystique shapeshifts into Natasha to get close to Tony in an attempt to kill him but is knocked unconscious by Wasp.^[119]

What If?[edit]

In What If? Age of Ultron #3, where Thor was killed, Natasha becomes the new wielder of Mjolnir to hold off an assault by the World-Serpent in Thor’s absence.^[120]

In other media[edit]

Television[edit]

• Black Widow was to be paired with Daredevil in a proposed live-action 1975 series created by and starring Angie Bowie as Black Widow with Ben Carruthers as Daredevil. However, the series never got past the development stage as no studio would take on the project.^[121]
• Black Widow appeared in the Iron Man portion of The Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Margaret Griffin.^[122]
• Black Widow appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode «Deadly is the Black Widow’s Bite», voiced by Lena Headey.^[123]
• Black Widow appeared in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,^[124] voiced by Vanessa Marshall.^[125]
• Black Widow appears in Iron Man: Armored Adventures, voiced by Ashleigh Ball.^[126]
• Black Widow appears in Avengers Assemble, voiced by Laura Bailey.^[127]
• Black Widow appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload, voiced by Laura Bailey.^[126]
• Black Widow appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, with Laura Bailey reprising the role.^[126][128] She appears in the episodes «Avenging Spider-Man» and «Contest of Champions, Part 2».
• Agent Carter features Dottie Underwood (Bridget Regan), a 1946 precursor to Black Widow who is an operative of Leviathan.^[129]
• Black Widow appears in the television special Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled,^[130] voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[126]
• Black Widow appears in the Spider-Man episode «Spider-Island» Part 2, voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[126][131]
• Black Widow appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes — Black Panther: Trouble in Wakanda, voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[132]
• Black Widow appears in Marvel Future Avengers, voiced by Mayumi Asano in Japanese and Laura Bailey in English.^[133]
• Black Widow appears in the Disney+ series What If…?, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She is voiced by Lake Bell, replacing Scarlett Johansson from the films.^[134]

Film[edit]

• In 2004, Lionsgate Entertainment announced that a Black Widow motion picture, featuring the Natasha Romanova version, was in the script stage by screenwriter-director David Hayter.^[135] Lionsgate subsequently dropped the project.^[136]
• The Ultimate version of Black Widow appears in the 2006 Ultimate Avengers animated direct-to-video movie and its sequel, Ultimate Avengers 2, voiced by Olivia d’Abo.^[126]
• Scarlett Johansson portrays Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Johansson made her debut appearance in Iron Man 2,^[137] followed by The Avengers (2012),^[138] Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014),^[139] Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015),^[140] Captain America: Civil War (2016),^[141] Avengers: Infinity War (2018),^[142] a cameo in a post-credits scene of Captain Marvel (2019),^[143] Avengers: Endgame (2019),^[144] and reprised her role in Black Widow (2021).^[145]
• Black Widow appears in the 2013 direct-to-video animated film Iron Man: Rise of Technovore,^[146][147] voiced by Clare Grant.^[126][148]
• Black Widow teams up with the Punisher in the animated film Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, voiced by Jennifer Carpenter.^[126][149]

Podcasts[edit]

• The Serial Box «immersive story» Black Widow: Bad Blood was a 2020 serialized audio novel read by Sarah Natochenny that followed the Black Widow tracking down a stolen vial of her blood.^[150]

Video games[edit]

• Black Widow appears in the 2004 Punisher video game.^[151] She appears in one level as a non-playable character (NPC) who fights alongside the Punisher. Black Widow was voiced by Saffron Henderson.
• Black Widow appears in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Nika Futterman.^[126] She is an exclusive character in the PlayStation Portable (PSP) version, and in all other versions of the game as a non-playable character; a sub-plot in the game has various heroes investigating the possibility that she is a traitor, although Fury later confirms that she was just conducting a discreet investigation into Doctor Doom’s plans. A mod available for the PC version of the game unlocks her as a playable character.
• Black Widow appears in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, voiced by Salli Saffioti.^[126]
• Nika Futterman reprises her role in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, appearing as a boss if the player chooses to fight for the anti-Registration side.^[152]
• Black Widow appears in the Iron Man 2 video game, voiced by Catherine Campion.^[153]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in the Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet video game, voiced by Grey DeLisle.^[126]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, voiced by Laura Bailey.^[154]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Strike Force.^{[citation needed]} She is a Tech Controller allied with the SHIELD and Wave-1 Avengers teams.
• Black Widow is a playable character in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance.^[155]
• Black Widow appears as a Heroes vs Heralds card in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. If Hawkeye defeats Street Fighter’s Crimson Viper, he’ll say, «Black Widow you ain’t.»^[156]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Contest of Champions, and was granted to every player for participation in the Ultron tie-in quests.^[157]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in the 2012 fighting game Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth.^[158]
• Black Widow is available as downloadable content for the game LittleBigPlanet as part of «Marvel Costume Kit 5».^[159]
• Black Widow is featured on the A-Force table in Zen Pinball 2, as part of the «Women of Power» DLC pack.^[160][161]
• Black Widow is a playable character in the MMORPG Marvel Heroes,^[162] voiced by Julianne Buescher.^[163]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes voiced by Laura Bailey.^[164] She serves as one of the main story characters.
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Avengers Alliance Tactics.^[165]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes and Disney Infinity 3.0, again voiced by Laura Bailey.^[166][167]
• Five variants of Black Widow appear in the mobile game Marvel Puzzle Quest, the most recent of which being added to the game in May 2018.^[168][169]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in the mobile game Marvel: Future Fight.^[170]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Lego Marvel’s Avengers, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.^[171]
• A teenage version of Black Widow appears as a playable character in Marvel Avengers Academy, voiced by Alison Brie.^[172]
• Black Widow appears as a downloadable character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite,^[173] voiced by Laura Bailey.^[163]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Superheroes 2, voiced by Maria Teresa Creasey.^[174]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in Marvel Powers United VR, again voiced by Laura Bailey.^[163]
• Black Widow appears as a playable character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order,^[175] voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[163]
• Black Widow is a playable character in the 2020 Avengers game, voiced again by Laura Bailey.^[176]
• Black Widow is a playable character in Marvel Future Revolution, voiced again by Laura Bailey. Many other versions of Black Widow from alternate realities also appear as NPCs, such as one who went undercover in the Hydra Empire or one who joined a secret rebellion against Maestro on Sakaar.^[177]
• Black Widow appears in Fortnite Battle Royale in the form of two separate cosmetic outfits. The first outfit, the Black Widow Outfit, was introduced as part of a crossover event to promote Avengers: Endgame called Fortnite: Endgame, using the Headhunter character model.^[178] The second outfit, Black Widow (Snow Suit), was introduced during the Marvel themed Chapter 2 — Season 4, using a unique character model and inspired by her appearance in the 2021 Black Widow film.^[179]

Motion comics[edit]

• Black Widow appears in the Spider-Woman motion comics voiced by JoEllen Anklam. During this appearance she is masquerading as Yelena Belova.^[180]

Live performances[edit]

• Black Widow appears in Marvel Universe: LIVE! as a member of the Avengers.^[181] Former motorcycle racer Louise Forsley has portrayed the character as of 2015.^[182]

Novels[edit]

• There are two Black Widow books in the Black Widow YA series, by Margaret Stohl.^[183][184]
  • Black Widow: Forever Red (2015)
  • Black Widow: Red Vengeance (2016)^[185]
• Black Widow appears in the prose novel adaptation of the event comic The Death of Captain America.^[186]
• Black Widow appears in the prose novel adaptation of the event comic Civil War.^[187]
• Black Widow appears in Avengers: Everybody Wants To Rule The World which is a tie-in to Avengers: Age of Ultron.^[188]

Collected editions[edit]

#	Title	Material Collected	Pages	Publication Date	ISBN
	Black Widow: The Sting of the Widow	Tales of Suspense #52, The Amazing Spider-Man #86, Amazing Adventures vol. 2 #1–8, and Daredevil #81		September 2, 2009	0-7851-3794-7
	Black Widow: Deadly Origin	Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1–4		March 17, 2010	0-7851-4301-7
	Black Widow: Web of Intrigue	Marvel Fanfare #10–13, Bizarre Adventures #25, and Black Widow: The Coldest War		April 7, 2010	0-7851-4474-9
	Black Widow & The Marvel Girls	Black Widow & The Marvel Girls #1-4		April 21, 2010	978-0785146995
	Hawkeye & Mockingbird / Black Widow: Widowmaker	Solo Avengers #16–18, Widowmaker #1–4		April 20, 2011	0-7851-5205-9
	Marvel’s the Avengers: Black Widow Strikes	Marvel’s the Avengers: Black Widow Strikes #1-3		September 19, 2012	978-0785165682
	Captain America and Black Widow	Captain America and Black Widow 636-640		February 26, 2013	978-0785165286
	Black Widow: Marvel Team-Up	Marvel Two-In-One (1974) 10; Marvel Team-Up (1972) 57, 82-85, 98, 140-141; and material from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 53, 70, 93	208	March 24, 2020	978-1302922788
1	Black Widow Epic Collection: Beware the Black Widow	Tales Of Suspense (1959) 52-53, 57, 60, 64; Avengers (1963) 29-30, 36-37, 43-44; Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 86; Amazing Adventures (1970) 1-8; Daredevil (1964) 81; and material from Avengers (1963) 16, 32-33, 38-39, 41-42, 45-47, 57, 63-64, 76	408	February 25, 2020	978-1302921262
2	Black Widow Epic Collection: The Coldest War	Black Widow: The Coldest War (1990), Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday’s Web (1992), Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir (1993), Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty (1995) and Journey Into Mystery (1996) 517-519 and material from Bizarre Adventures (1981) 25, Marvel Fanfare (1982) 10-13, Solo Avengers (1987) 7, Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 135 & Daredevil Annual (1967) 10	480	October 20, 2020	978-1302921309
	The Black Widow Strikes Omnibus	Tales of Suspense (1959) 52-53, 57, 60, 64; Avengers (1963) 29-30, 36-37, 43-44; Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 86; Amazing Adventures (1970) 1-8; Daredevil (1964) 81; Bizarre Adventures (1981) 25; Marvel Fanfare (1982) 10-13; Solo Avengers (1987) 7; Black Widow: Coldest War (1990); Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday’s Web (1992); Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir (1993); Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 135; Daredevil Annual (1967) 10; Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty (1995); Journey into Mystery (1951) 517-519; material from Avengers (1963) 16, 32- 33, 38-39, 41-42, 45-47, 57, 63-64, 76	896	September 15, 2020	978-1302921279
Volume 1 & 2
	Black Widow: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider	Black Widow vol. 1, #1–3; Black Widow vol. 2, #1–3		November 16, 2011	0-7851-5827-8
	Marvel Knights Black Widow by Grayson & Rucka: The Complete Collection	Black Widow vol. 1, #1–3; Black Widow vol. 2, #1–3; Black Widow: Pale Little Spider #1-3		October 23, 2018	978-1302914004
Volume 3
1	Black Widow: Homecoming	Black Widow vol. 3, #1–6		May 11, 2005	0-7851-1493-9
2	Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her	Black Widow 2 vol. 3, #1–6		June 7, 2006	0-7851-1768-7
	Black Widow: Welcome to the Game	Black Widow vol. 3, #1–6; Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her #1-6	288	January 21, 2020	978-1302921255
Volume 4
1	Black Widow: The Name of the Rose	Black Widow vol. 4 #1–5 and material from Enter the Heroic Age one-shot	140	January 5, 2011	0-7851-4354-8
2	Black Widow: Kiss or Kill	Black Widow vol. 4 #6–8 and material from Iron Man: Kiss and Kill one-shot	124	August 10, 2011	0-7851-4701-2
	Black Widow: Widowmaker	Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2009) 1-4, Black Widow (2010) 1-8, Widowmaker (2010) 1-4, Fear Itself: Black Widow (2011) 1, Black Widow Saga (2010) 1; and material from Enter The Heroic Age (2010) 1, Iron Man: Kiss And Kill (2010) 1	464	February 11, 2020	978-1302921446
Volume 5
1	The Finely Woven Thread	Black Widow Vol. 5 #1-6, All-New Marvel Now! Point One	144	July 29, 2014	978-0785188193
2	The Tightly Tangled Web	Black Widow Vol. 5 #7-12, The Punisher (2014) #9	160	February 3, 2015	978-0785188209
3	Last Days	Black Widow Vol. 5 #13-20	176	October 13, 2015	0785192530
Volume 6
1	SHIELD’s Most Wanted	Black Widow Vol. 6 #1-6	136	November 8, 2016	978-0785199755
2	No More Secrets	Black Widow Vol. 6 #7-12	136	May 9, 2017	978-0785199762
	Black Widow by Waid & Samnee: The Complete Collection	Black Widow Vol. 6 #1-12	272	March 17, 2020	978-1302921293
Volume 7
	Black Widow: No Restraints Play	Black Widow Vol. 7 #1-5	112	July 30, 2019	978-1302916732
Web of Black Widow
	Black Widow: The Web of Black Widow	The Web of Black Widow #1-5	112	March 3, 2020	978-1302920074
Volume 8
1	The Ties That Bind	Black Widow Vol. 8 #1-5	112	May 4, 2021	978-1302924836
2	I Am The Black Widow	Black Widow Vol. 8 #6-10	112	October 26, 2021	978-1302930134
3	Die By The Blade	Black Widow Vol. 8 #11-15	112	May 22, 2022	978-1302932541

See also[edit]

• List of Russian superheroes
• List of Marvel Comics superhero debuts

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Black Widow at Marvel.com
• Richard Morgan on Black Widow in an interview by Francesco Troccoli, August 2008
• «Richard K. Morgan Talks Marvel’s Black Widow«, Comic Book Resources, November 16, 2004
• Black Widow at Comics2Film
• Black Widow at the Grand Comics Database
• Natasha Romanova at the Marvel Directory
• Natasha Romanova at Don Markstein’s Toonopedia
• Natasha Romanova at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)