The Black Widow

Created in 1964, the Black Widow (whose real name is Natasha Romanoff) first appeared as a villain in Tales of Suspense #52. Her past was slowly revealed through her many adventures through the years.

She was a part of the Soviet Union's Black Widow Ops program and genetically enhanced. She is aging very slowly. She was a child during World War Two and today, physically, is about 29 years old. During her childhood, she met the likes of Captain America and Wolverine, forging lifelong relationships with both.

She went on to become a spy for the Soviet Union in the 50s. There she married a Russian Hero named the Red Guardian. She was later told by her government that her husband was killed on a mission. This left her bitter and soon after she began her relationship with Hawkeye in which she used him to help her in espionage missions.

She soon, however, turned ways and became a good guy, She moved to New York and worked with the blind superhero Daredevil, to whom she also became romantically linked.

Eventually, she broke things off with Daredevil and began working with the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, and also joined the superhero group the Champions. Soon, she would go on to join the Avengers.

The Black Widow has come a long way since those days. She has led the Avengers. She has become close friends with many major superheroes and she has always proved to be the ace in the sleeve when the villains have the upper hand.

She has appeared in several mini-series of her own. Once, she met her new Russian Black Widow counterpart, Yelena Belova, who is at the same level of prowess as Natasha herself. She survived the encounter, and proved herself the true Black Widow in the end.

The Black Widow character has appeared in a few realms outside comic books. She co-starred in the Ultimate Avengers DVD movies. She also appears in Iron Man 2, played by Scarlet Johansson.

Black Widow is poised to become Marvel's premiere superheroine, and, building on the rich history of the character, could easily spin off into a franchise of her own. She is beautiful, deadly and the perfect spy in a world of superpowers- which is an extremely versatile action vehicle.