"Black Widow" introduced viewers to a ton of Russian superheroes and supervillains straight
out of the pages of Marvel comics. But how do "Black Widow" and the rest of the cast
compare with their comics incarnations?
Natalia Alianovna Romanova, a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff, was created in 1964 as femme fatale
"Madame Natasha," sent by Khrushchev to seduce and distract Tony Stark. After being foiled
by Iron Man, Black Widow goes on the run for months, avoiding a return to Russia and a
confrontation with her superiors over her failure. In these early appearances, Natasha's
look is definitely more "spy" and less "supervillain." It's when the character returned in June 1966
as a brainwashed supervillain in "Avengers" #29 that she got her first "costume," which
included fishnet stockings, a cape clasped with a "B" around her neck, and a mask. After
a few more years, Black Widow decided to reinvent herself as a superhero — by going after
Spider-Man during one of his J. Jonah Jameson-imposed "public menace" sprees, no less — and donned
the black catsuit so commonly associated with her image in the comics as well as the MCU.
So far, Marvel hasn't exactly been adventurous when it comes to Black Widow's look in the
MCU. Just about the only part of her appearance to change has been her hair, which has gone
through a few different styles and colors — most notably when she went from redheaded
to blonde after the events of "Captain America: Civil War," which put her at odds with the
United States government and made her a fugitive along with the rest of Cap's crew. Although
she's been known to wear office attire or even an evening gown when she's under cover
or on assignment, her battle suits throughout the first decade of the franchise have pretty
much all been basically black. However, that changes with the "Black Widow" movie, which
gives her a brand new outfit and pulls back the curtain on Natasha's mysterious past prior
to joining up with the Avengers.
One Black Widow suit we haven't seen in previous MCU films is what's become known in the comics
as the "tactical suit," first introduced to audiences in the 2010 four-issue miniseries
"Black Widow: Deadly Origin." It was designed specifically to blend into snowy landscapes,
so the suit's utility in the Russian tundra is undeniable.
And this new outfit definitely comes in handy during Natasha's 2021 solo outing. In order
to find the location of the Red Room, Black Widow and her adoptive sister, Yelena Belova,
have to fly into a Russian prison and break out their old adoptive dad, Alexei Shostakov.
And with all that snow, the tactical suit totally fits the moment. While she does spend
the majority of the movie wearing her traditional black outfit, her time in white during "Black
Widow" is a nice nod to the character's illustrious comics past.
One of the new characters introduced in Black Widow is Yelena Belova , a fellow spy who's
a graduate of the infamous "Red Room" where Natasha was trained as a girl. Essentially,
she's another Black Widow. On top of that, she's Natasha's adoptive sister and someone
who feels a little hurt about her big sis running off, joining the Avengers, and leaving
her behind.
Belova's first comic appearance came in "Inhumans" Vol. 2 #5 in 1999, and in the years since,
she's co-headlined several miniseries with Natasha under the Black Widow mantle. In comics
form, Yelena likes to wear crop tops and spandex, not exactly practical when fighting. In the
film, however, Pugh's Yelena dresses more appropriately for combat, and she's definitely
got a thing for vests that are full of pockets.
Rachel Weisz joins the ranks of Academy Award-winning actors in the MCU by playing Melina Vostokoff
in the "Black Widow" movie. Here, Melina is a spy dedicated to the cause of the Red Room.
When we first meet her, she's living undercover in America, raising Natasha and Yelena alongside
Alexei Shostakov. Later on, we find out that she's a key player in developing the techniques
that the villainous Dreykov uses to control the Widows, although she eventually comes
to see the error of her ways.
In the comics, Vostokoff is known as the Iron Maiden, a Russian assassin with deep ties
to Natasha. Her costume of choice is a flexible full-body armor that increases her strength
as well as protecting her from damage. Unfortunately, that awesome outfit doesn't show up in the
film. Instead, Melina wears a more traditional Black Widow suit, and while it lacks the intimidating
armor of Iron Maiden's comic book attire, it's still a pretty fantastic costume.
One of the new characters joining "Black Widow" is Rick Mason. In the comics, Mason is a freelance
mercenary and ex-SHIELD agent. The MCU portrays him somewhat canonically, but one new wrinkle
here is that the filmmakers have given him a bit of romantic/sexual tension with Natasha.
In the comics, Mason's just a regular shady guy, no super suit involved, and that's basically
the version we get on the screen. Having said that, his ability to wrangle up anything Natasha
needs is pretty super in and of itself.
One of the more striking characters in "Black Widow" is Alexei Shostakov, also known as
Red Guardian. He's basically the Russian version of Captain America, portrayed by David Harbour.
Although there have been multiple Red Guardians throughout Marvel Comics history, Harbour
is playing one of the more ... complicated men to wear the costume.
Shostakov's backstory is a mile long, but the highlights include actually being married
to Natasha, dying and coming back as a robot and then as a zombie, and even taking over
Clint Barton's Ronin identity. In the MCU's "Black Widow," Shostakov is Natasha and Yelena's
adoptive father, but their history together is similarly marred by betrayal, distrust,
and emotional pain.
"I couldn't be more proud of you."
"You smell really bad."
General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross is one of the oldest supporting characters in
Marvel Comics history — he's been around since the first issue of "The Incredible Hulk"
in 1962. William Hurt has portrayed Ross in multiple MCU movies, making his first turn
as Ross in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk." First seen as a lieutenant general in the U.S. Army,
Ross returned in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War," now the secretary of state. Like
the MCU's Ross, the character has hunted the Hulk in the comics, but on the page, he's
undergone some severe transformations. In his obsession to defeat the Hulk at any cost,
Ross himself "hulked" out as Red Hulk, hoping to match his nemesis pound for pound. Things
didn't work out, of course, and after cutting a swath through much of the Marvel Universe,
Ross settled into an uneasy hero role, albeit one with extreme anger issues. Unfortunately,
he never goes into Hulk mode during "Black Widow," but it's still nice to see the Oscar-winning
actor in the MCU.
For a long time, Marvel refused to tell us who was playing the villainous Taskmaster
in "Black Widow," but the trailers showed the character in action, delivering some pretty
sweet, action-packed moves.
The illustrated version of the Taskmaster has a super complicated backstory, but then,
doesn't everyone in Marvel? Tony Masters was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who was exposed to the
Nazi version of the super-soldier serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America — but
in Masters' case, it enhanced his "photographic reflexes," giving him the power to instantly
learn, mimic, and mirror an opponent's fighting style. That's made him exceptionally difficult
to beat as he's torn his way through the Marvel universe.
When it comes to their outfits, the comic book Taskmaster looks a lot like the MCU's
villain. The movie character's outfit is faithful to the spirit of the comics, if not slavish
in execution. Of course, when it comes to who's wearing the mask, the Marvel Cinematic
Universe goes in a completely different direction. Instead of it being Tony Masters mimicking
Natasha's moves, this time, it's Antonia Dreykov, the daughter of the villain who's running
the Red Room, and someone who Natasha's run into before.
"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter?"
It's a nice little twist, one that's connected to Natasha Romanoff's feelings of intense
guilt about her past, and it helps take the character of Taskmaster in new and exciting
directions.
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