Black Widow is the name of severalfictional characters appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Most of these versions exist in Marvel's mainshared universe, known as theMarvel Universe.

Claire Voyant is the first costumed, superpowered female protagonist in comic books. Created by writerGeorge Kapitan and artistHarry Sahle, she first appeared inMystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940). She kills evildoers to deliver their souls toSatan, her master. The character is unrelated to the later Marvel Comics superheroines who took on the codename.^[1]

Natasha Romanoff^[2] is the first character to take on the Black Widow codename in the modern mainstream Marvel Comics. She was created by editor and plotterStan Lee, scripterDon Rico and artistDon Heck, and first appeared inTales of Suspense #52 (April 1964). The character has been associated with several superhero teams in the Marvel Universe, including theAvengers, theDefenders, theChampions,S.H.I.E.L.D., and theThunderbolts.

Yelena Belova is the second character to take on the Black Widow codename in the modern mainstream comics who debuted briefly inInhumans #5 (March 1999) and was fully introduced in the 1999Marvel Knights mini-seriesBlack Widow. A second miniseries, also titledBlack Widow and featuring Natasha Romanoff andDaredevil, followed in 2001. The next year, she did a solo turn in her own three-issue miniseries titledBlack Widow: Pale Little Spider under the mature-audienceMarvel MAX imprint. This June to August 2002 story arc, by writerGreg Rucka and artistIgor Kordey, was aflashback to the story of her being the second modern Black Widow, in events preceding herInhumans appearance.^[3]

TheUltimate Marvel universe features several characters who went by the Black Widow codename, including the Ultimate version of Natasha Romanoff.

Monica Chang-Fury is the second character to use the Black Widow codename, debuting inUltimate Comics: Avengers #3.^[4]

TheUltimate version of Jessica Drew is a female Spider-Clone who uses the Black Widow alias.^[5][6]

Different versions of Black Widow were seen in the differentMarvel 2099 realities with one being the 2099 version of Yelena Belova:

During the "Secret Wars" storyline, a futuristic 2099 version of Black Widow is an African-American woman namedTania. She operates as part of the Avengers 2099 at theAlchemax corporation's behest in theBattleworld domain of 2099.^[7] Like black widow spiders, she literally eats her mates after having sex with them.^[8]

On the unified Marvel 2099 reality of Earth-2099, a Black Widow known as Black Widow 2098 was a member of the2099 version of the Avengers. She was among those who were killed by the2099 version of the Masters of Evil.Moon Knight 2099 later respawned in her crypt and formed the 2099 version of theNew Avengers who defeated the Masters of Evil and remanded them to a prison on the planet Wakanda.^[9]

A character loosely inspired by Black Widow 2099 namedLayla appears in theAvengers Assemble episode "Into the Future", voiced byJennifer Hale.^[10] This version is a guerrilla warfare-styled resistance fighter from a future ruled byKang the Conqueror.

TheMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) depictsBlack Widows as a group of assassins who are graduates of theRed Room, a program led byDreykov.^[11] Notable members are listed below.

• Natasha Romanoff (portrayed byScarlett Johansson) is depicted as a former graduate of the Red Room who defected to the American intelligence agency,S.H.I.E.L.D. and became a spy. Johansson first appeared as the character inIron Man 2 (2010) and went on to star in other MCU media, including the stand-alone film,Black Widow (2021).
• Yelena Belova (portrayed byFlorence Pugh) is depicted as another graduate of the Red Room and Romanoff's younger sister. She later helps Romanoff take down Dreykov and the Red Room and goes on to be a member of theThunderbolts. Pugh has portrayed the character inBlack Widow (2021),Thunderbolts* (2025),^[12] and theDisney+ miniseriesHawkeye.^[13]
• Dottie Underwood (portrayed byBridget Regan) was trained as an assassin prior toWorld War II as part of a precursor to the Black Widow program. She becomes an operative ofLeviathan and a foe of AgentPeggy Carter. She has appeared in theABC television seriesAgent Carter (2015–2016).^[14]
• Ruth Bat-Seraph (portrayed byShira Haas) is a former Black Widow assassin who was born inIsrael and later trained in the Red Room. She becomes the security advisor to PresidentThaddeus Ross. Haas portrayed the character in the filmCaptain America: Brave New World (2025).^[15]

• List of Black Widow characters
• List of Black Widow titles

Index of articles associated with the same name

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• Set index articles on comics
• Black Widow (Marvel Comics)
• Marvel Comics female superheroes
• Groups of fictional characters

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