Natasha Romanoff

Natasha Romanoff in Black Widow v8 #10.

Natasha Romanoff is a female comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

The Black Widow in Tales of Suspense v1 #53.

Natalia Alianovna Romanova (Russian: Наталья Альяновна "Наташа" Романова; alias: Natasha Romanoff; Russian: Наташа Романофф)

Ivan did his best to care for young Natalia and saw to her schooling and education. Natalia was an apt pupil, excelling in all classes once she entered school, showing a gifted mind and athletic ability. By the time she was ten years old, Ivan pressed for Natalia’s entry in a special academy run by Taras Romanoff. Ivan was about to be deployed for an extended period and did not want Natalia to lapse in her education in the state-funded schools and orphanage. As he was pleading his case, Comrade General Secretary Josef Stalin happened to overhear while passing by. Stalin enjoyed the sight of Communism in action, as he put it, and instructed Taras to accept Natalia to his academy. It amused Stalin to have a Romanova, named for the former imperialist family, training under his watchful eye. (Black Widow: Deadly Origin v1 #1)

Over the next two years, Natalia was indoctrinated in the ways of Taras’ school. Taras Romanoff was one of the elite spymasters of the Soviet Union, instructing his students in espionage, counter-intelligence and assassination. Still, Natalia demonstrated an independent streak which was recognized by her controllers. At one point, Natalia and a friend Marina ran away from the Academy and lived on the streets of Russia. They marveled at the girls dancing in a ballet studio, and Natalia clearly picked her favorite as the best girl in the class. The dancer had an abusive lover, though, and the man roughly took her out of the class one day. She later returned with her leg broken, unable to dance and forced to clear out her things at the studio. Little Natalia was furious at the man and attacked his car with a rock. His hired thug chased her into an alley to beat her, but Natalia had hidden a discarded gun there days earlier. She pulled the gun and killed the man in self-defense. After that, the Red Room recovered her from the police and brought her back into the academy. It was revealed the academy allowed novitiates to escape occasionally as a test to see how they operated in the real world. (Black Widow v5 #16)

In 1941, she was abducted by Baron Strucker in Madripoor during a time when Hydra was attempting to form an alliance with the Hand. Natasha had been taken so that she could be given to the Hand as they intended to make her into one of their master assassins. Ivan sought to rescue her where he came to be aided by a fledgling Captain America and a man named Logan who were able to save Natasha with her being taken to a getaway plane to escape from her pursuers. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #268)

Whilst undergoing training, she was actually failing the brutal sessions and was gradually demoted to the point that her supervisors considered her an expendable trainer for the higher ranking subjects. As a result, Natasha had the real potential of dying within the Red Room. This was until she was visited by the Enchantress who was bored with the Asgardian immortal deciding to entertain herself by intervening in Natasha’s life. She cast a spell that gave Natasha perfect skills that she would gain once fully trained and bade her to try to escape past the fence whereupon she would teleport her to safety. Natasha agreed and escaped her cell where she managed to beat the guards but as she approached the fence she was betrayed by the Enchantress who took away her power. The Enchantress stated that this was her lesson to her that beauty lies and Natasha was taken back into the Red Room where her superiors became impressed at her attempted escape leading to her being upgraded to a higher level as well as deemed a recruit with great potential. (Black Widow and the Marvel Girls v1 #1)

One of her noted trainers was Alexi Bruskin who went by the name of the Commissar as he came to value her as a student and as a friend. (Champions v1 #8)

She later saved Logan from Hydra assassins when he surfaced in America without any memories of his past. (Wolverine v2 #-1) Afterwards, she was attached o a KGB mission to stop three unknown American spies that were Logan, Carol Danvers, and Ben Grimm from stealing Russia's Red Storm Project. (Before the Fantastic Four: Ben Grimm and Logan v1 #1)

Black Widow

Black Widow was assigned to assist Boris Turgenov in the assassination of Professor Anton Vanko for defecting from their country by infiltrating Stark Industries in America. (Tales of Suspense v1 #52) Tony Stark, the original Iron Man, continually foiled her schemes against Stark Industries. (Tales of Suspense v1 #53) Romanova later met the novice archer Hawkeye and set him against Iron Man. (Tales of Suspense v1 #57) Black Widow and Hawkeye next clashed against the novice super-hero Spider-Man. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #17) She late came to help Hawkeye in his battle against Iron Man the first being an attempt to raid Tony Stark's munitions plant. (Tales of Suspense v1 #60) Later, Natasha again attempted to get Hawkeye to help her destroy Iron Man clashing with Iron Man once more. (Tales of Suspense v1 #62) When that mission ended in failure, she was taken back to Russia by her masters and given a new costume that allowed her to scale walls as well as a device that allowed her to fire lines to swing from. She once more 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. (Tales of Suspense v1 #64)

When that mission ended in failure, she was taken back to Russia by her masters and given a new costume that allowed her to scale walls as well as a device that allowed her to fire lines to swing from. She once more 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. (Tales of Suspense v1 #64) During this period, Romanova was attempting to defect from the Soviet Union and began to feel love toward Hawkeye, weakening her loyalty to her country. When her employers learned the truth, they had her gunned down, sending her to a hospital, convincing Hawkeye to go straight and seek membership in the Avengers. (Avengers v1 #12)

Captured by her masters again and brainwashed, Black Widow was forced to hire the Swordsman and Power Man to destroy the Avengers. (Avengers v1 #29) This plot eventually failed when the Avengers defeated both of the villains and Natasha shook off the effects of the brainwashing. (Avengers v1 #30) Attempting to make amends with the group, she assisted them against the racist group known as the Sons of the Serpent. (Avengers v1 #33) Having been granted amnesty, Natasha made a bid for membership in the Avengers, aiding them in their battle against the Ultroids. (Avengers v1 #36) She threatened to kill their leader Ixar if he did not leave the Earth, winning the victory, however Hawkeye covered up this fact so that she could get membership in the group even though she violated their code of ethics regarding killing. (Avengers v1 #37) However, Nick Fury came to hire her to spy on her former master on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., she was be forced to decline membership with the Avengers and publicly broke off her relationship with Hawkeye. (Avengers v1 #38) As part of her mission, the press branded her as a traitor, breaking Hawkeye's heart. (Avengers v1 #39) Arriving in China, the Black Widow was not easily trusted and subjected to the Psychotron device, a machine that could brainwash anyone. (Avengers v1 #41) She proved to be too strong willed and had to be gassed and kept locked up. (Avengers v1 #42) Learning that Natasha was now a prisoner of her former Communist masters, the Avengers traveled to China to rescue her, clashing with the Red Guardian, Natasha's ex-husband who was thought to be dead. (Avengers v1 #43) The Avengers with the help of Natasha defeated the Communists plot to use the Psychotron against the western world. During the course of the battle Natasha was injured and the Red Guardian seemingly perished in the battle. (Avengers v1 #44) After time recovering in the hospital, Natasha returned to Avengers Mansion and came to the decision to give up her career of costumed adventuring. (Avengers v1 #46) However, this proved to be short lived as she returned to super-heroics shortly thereafter. (Avengers v1 #57)

Fed up with staying out of action, Black Widow accepted another assignment from S.H.I.E.L.D. to prevent Egghead from using an orbital platform to hold the world ransom. She was captured, prompting Hawkeye (who still loved her) to use Henry Pym's growth formula to become the new Goliath and rescue her. (Avengers v1 #63) She aided the Avengers in stopping Egghead, although it ended in the seeming death of Egghead and Goliath's brother Barney. (Avengers v1 #64) After a prolonged absence, the Black Widow eventually ended her relationship with Goliath. (Avengers v1 #76)

Avenger

In time, Black Widow came back to the Avengers and became a co-leader, managing ops at home base while Black Knight lead in the field. When the majority of the Avengers were killed during the Onslaught saga, Black Widow attempted to form a new line-up alongside Hercules and Quicksilver. However, Widow's initial attempt to recruit her old teammates from the Champions met with failure, as both Iceman and Angel were too busy with the X-Men to join the Avengers with Iceman also believing that the public blamed the X-Men for the death of the Avengers in the first place, which would bring Widow's new line-up negative publicity if he or Angel were involved. Her subsequent prospects fared no better, with Beast, Ant-Man, She-Hulk, Moondragon and War Machine all either turning her down or having unreasonable demands with Moondragon in particular wishing to become the new leader of the team. The situation only got worse when Quicksilver angrily resigned over a proposed U.N. resolution that would collectively blame the entire mutant race for Onslaught's actions. When two congressmen filed a motion to nullify the government's agreements with the team, Natasha ultimately decided to disband the Avengers and turn the mansion over to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supervision. She always felt as if the Avengers' dissolution was solely her fault. (Avengers Annual v2 #1999)

The Black Widow then vowed to apprehend all of the Avenger's former foes and ran into Daredevil while hunting the Grey Gargoyle. Matt feared for her mental state as he noticed how obsessive she became about bringing the Gargoyle down. (Daredevil v1 #361) As he attempted to help her, his girlfriend, Karen Page, became increasingly more angry and jealous. (Daredevil v1 #362) Natasha acknowledged Matt's love for Karen and left them to be together. (Daredevil v1 #371) Later on, she would offer to help Karen clear her name from a murder that she had been framed from by Mister Fear. (Daredevil v1 #375)

Civil War

During the Civil War, Natasha became a supporter of the Superhuman Registration Act and a member of the task force led by Iron Man. Afterward, Natasha allowed herself to be registered and joined the reconstituted Avengers. (Civil War v1 #3)

During this time, Natasha had also restarted her relationship with Barnes, who was still alive and had recovered his lost memories, now being the new Captain America. (Captain America v5 #42)

Osborn ordered her to lead the current Thunderbolts to kill former Thunderbolt, Songbird. Fury orders "Yelena" to rescue and retrieve Songbird, for the information she might have possessed about Osborn and his operations. Natasha found Songbird and revealed to her that she was really Natasha Romanova in disguise. She tried delivering Songbird to Fury, but the Thunderbolts also followed them. (Secret Warriors v1 #7)

Widowmaker

After the Siege of Asgard, Black Widow joined Commander Rogers' new Secret Avengers. Sometime later, when the Stark Tower was rebuilt, she joined the Avengers' main team and even had a room there. She played a vital role in helping Spider-Man foil the Sinister Six's latest scheme when she, Spider-Man and Silver Sable were the last heroes left standing after the Six defeated the rest of the Avengers. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #684)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Her old friend and trainer Alexi Bruskin used to refer to her as Black Pearl. (Champions v1 #7)

Nick Fury commented on Natasha that "running in the shadows is what she was born to do." (Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury v1 #1)

Whilst growing up, one parental figure in her life was Taras Romanov who was not her father but had been responsible for training her. He had been an agent provocateur and spy with this being a talent held by his family for generations. Thus, he followed a path made by his father and his father's father before him. His trade was in illicit information and like his ancestors this made him a wanted man due to the secrets he held and those that he sold. It was this reason that he had spent his entire lifetime building a web of informants. In this regard, he operated akin to a spider at the centre of a web and normally did not have a need to venture out into the world. This was because there was little need to do so with him bearing simply aware for any disturbance in his web of informants. The one person though he went out of his way to protect was his daughter Natalia with her being a target for many that wanted to strike at Taras Romanov. It was said that though Taras doted on Natalia that he treated her more like a possession than a daughter. (Wolverine: Origins v1 #9)

She came to call her teacher Alexi Bruskin as a close friend with him once being a Russian KGB chief. (Champions v1 #8)

Whilst her father trained Logan, the Canadian came to serve as a trainer to a young Natalia. In that time, Logan and Natalia had grown close to the point that she came to refer to him as 'Little Uncle'. He came to like that and she came to like the training he offered her. After Logan killed Taras Romanov, she claimed that she owed him a great debt. (Wolverine: Origins v1 #9)

At Little Ukraine, Natasha came to find a stray black cat that stayed in the area after she paid attention to it. She came to ironically refer to the cat as Liho (Russian: "Misfortune"). At first, she claimed that Liho did not belong to her but over time she grew fond of him and began telling the cat stories of her various missions. (Black Widow v5 #1) Eventually, she began to let the cat to stay at her apartment. (Black Widow v5 #6)

Powers and abilities

Madame Nikita in Black Widow and Hawkeye v1 #1.

Natasha possesses the ability to quickly process multiple information streams, such as threat assessment, and rapidly respond to changing tactical situations. (Black Widow v3 #5)

She came to be a profound and talented ballet dancer. (Black Widow v3 #4)

Nick Fury's intel files came to classify Romanoff as having a Power Level 7. (Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury v1 #1)

She once resumed functioning in spite of her undergoing unbearable surgery without anesthesia. (Black Widow v4 #1) Dr. Kudrin theoretically stated Natasha's wounds heal five times faster than the average human rate. (Black Widow v3 #5)

The serum and biological modifications made to Natasha's physiology grant her impressive resilience. However, the effects of a highly efficient immune system inhibit her reproductive capabilities, rendering pregnancy impossible. (Black Widow v3 #6)

As a young child, one of her trainers was Logan who helped teach her how to fight where she was shown to fight dirty. (Wolverine: Origins v1 #9)

Natasha can hack into all computer systems without tripping any firewalls or security with ease. (Black Widow v6 #7)

Romanoff was an expert in the field of seduction who had infamously known to bend many different men to her will and sometimes even get them to do her bidding for her. She sometimes continues deceiving certain men through means of acting if she still has a further use for them. (Tales of Suspense v1 #53)

Later, she has used a modified gun based on her Widow's Bite wrist cartridge. (Black Widow: Deadly Origin v1 #2)

Her talents and years of experience have enabled her to reach a high-ranking position as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. (Black Widow v3 #1)

Notes

• The Natasha Romanoff Black Widow was created by Stan Lee, Don Rico and Don Heck where she made her first appearance in Tales of Suspense v1 #52 (April, 1964).
• In 2011, IGN came to rank Black Widow 42nd in their "The Top 50 Avengers" list.

Alternate Versions

• In Ultimate Marvel Team Up v1 #14 (2002), an alternate version of Black Widow appeared in the setting of the Ultimate Marvel reality set on Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. Natasha Romanova was a descendant of Russian royalty who was abandoned as a child and was found by soldier Ivan Petrovich. As a ballerina in her youth, she joined Russia's KGB spy organization and became an elite intelligence operative and assassin due to government enhancements of her natural abilities and her own skill. She eventually was nicknamed the "Black Widow" due to her reputation as an often-wed, often-widowed heartbreaker whose husbands (beginning with test pilot turned intelligence agent Alexi Shostakov) tended to suffer "unfortunate accidents" that lead to their deaths. She defected to the United States of America as a freelance spy and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. after she gave them information she stole from the Latverian embassy.
• In Age of Ultron v1 #2 (2013), an alternate version of Black Widow appeared in the Age of Ultron reality designated as Earth-61112 in the Multiverse.
• In Spider-Man Noir v2 #3 (2020), an alternate version named Checkpoint Red appeared in the Marvel Noir reality designated as Earth-90214 in the Multiverse.
• In Spider-Gwen: Smash v1 #1 (2023), an alternate version of Natasha Romanoff appeared in the Spider-Gwen reality designated as Earth-65 in the Multiverse.

In other media

Television

• In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Black Widow appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Vanessa Marshall.
• In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, Black Widow appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Ashleigh Ball
• In Avengers Assemble, Black Widow appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Laura Bailey.
• In Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors, Black Widow appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced again by actress Laura Bailey.
• In Spider-Man, Black Widow appeared in the animated television series starting from the episode "Spider-Island Part 2" where she was voiced once more by actress Laura Bailey.

Films

• In Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, the Natasha Romanoff Black Widow appeared in the anime film where she was voiced by actress Jennifer Carpenter.
• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Natasha Romanoff appeared in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Iron Man 2, Natasha Romanoff made her first appearance in the setting of the 2010 live-action film where she was portrayed by actress Scarlett Johansson.
  • In Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff appeared in the setting of the live-action film where she was once more portrayed by actress Scarlett Johansson.

Video games

• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the Natasha Romanoff Black Widow appeared as a character in the video game where she was voiced by actor Nika Futterman.
• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, the Natasha Romanoff Black Widow appeared as a character in the video game where she was voiced once again by actor Nika Futterman.

Appearances

• Tales of Suspense v1: (1964)
• Black Widow:
• Avengers v1:
• Champions v1:
• Captain America:
• Black Widow:
• Secret Empire v1:
• Tales of Suspense:
• Black Widow:
• Domino: Hotshots v1:
• Web of Black Widow:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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