Natasha Romanova

Character
Name:	Natalia "Natasha" Alianovna Romanova, Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanoff
Occupation:	Assassin/Spy/Superhero
Relationships:	Canon: Clint/Natasha, Bucky/Natasha, Natasha/Matt Murdock, Bruce/Natasha Fanon: Pepper/Natasha, Natasha/Steve
Fandom:	The Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Other:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

This article or section needs expansion.

comic fandom history

Natasha Romanova, also known as the Black Widow, is a Marvel Comics character. She also appears as a main character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Natasha Romanoff and appears in other Avengers cartoon related shows.

Canon

An edit of Natasha as she appears in the comics

Comics

Natasha Romanova first appeared in Tales of Suspense No. 52 (April 1964). Her origin story has changed over time. In the original version, she was a ballerina-turned-KGB agent who eventually defected from the USSR and moved to the US. In 2004, this was all retconned; the Red Room that was originally added to her backstory in 1999 was turned into a place that brainwashed and trained her from a very young age to become an assassin.

MCU

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow (portrayed by Scarlett Johansson) first appears in the movie Iron Man 2, posing as "Natalie Rushman", a Stark Industries employee of Pepper Potts. It is revealed that she was assigned to evaluate Tony Stark for the Avengers Initiative by Nick Fury and SHIELD.

She has a significant role in the movies The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War. She will appear in The Avengers: Infinity War and the untitled Avengers film.

Fandom

Comics

Being the only female hero on the Avengers in the MCU raised Natasha's profile as a character, particularly among female fans who were wishing for more positive representation. Those who followed her into the comics were enthusiastic enough that Marvel published several Black Widow minis over the years following her MCU debut.

But Not Black Widow

Many fans noticed a lack of Natasha representation in The Avengers film promotional posters and merchandise. The tag #but not black widow started appearing on Tumblr to show examples. A Tumblr blog ...But Not Black Widow was created.

This happened again with the promotion of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, the official Twitter account for Marvel Canada poses the question of "Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America - who are you excited to see in the film?" Many fans noticed the fact that Natasha was not included in the list (as was Hawkeye). This angered a lot of fans and they voted for her anyway, making her the winner even when she wasn't a contender (see side image).

Black Widow Movie

Many Marvel fans often wonder why the Black Widow aka Natasha, who's appeared in several of the films in MCU has yet to get her own film but yet a Ant-Man film was created. However the Marvel Studios continuously denies the ability to rearrange the already scheduled films and could only produce so many films at once, that there were no way that an unplanned Black Widow film could be scheduled for Phase 3 of MCU. This is despite the fact that a script has been ready since at least 2004 and the fact that Captain Marvel (a film about Carol Danvers) is set to appear in 2018, and the recent news of Spider-Man joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe which actually pushed back several of the upcoming films release dates. Many fans are upset on the aspect that the studio shifted around four film production schedules for Spider-Man, but yet could not do so for Natasha/Black Widow.

Even Marvel Studios didn't sway in their opinion even when Johansson's film "Lucy" earned up almost $459 million. Many Black Widow fans went and saw the film due to Johansson being part of the film, and to show the fact that a Black Widow movie could indeed earn big bucks just like any of the other male-lead superhero films.

• black widow movie tag on Tumblr
• #BlackWidowMovie on Twitter
• #BlackWidowMovie on Facebook
• "Where is my Black Widow movie?". Archived from the original on 2021-08-23.

Fanworks such as vids, fake trailers, and fake movie posters (Black Widow movie poster (2012) by Alicexz) are constantly created and reblogged on Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook in order to show support of a Black Widow Movie.

SNL actually did a Black Widow sketch to call out Marvel (and rom-coms cliches) by showing a fake movie trailer for a new Black Widow movie during Scarlett's hosting gig.

"Obviously if you’re going to make a movie about a female superhero, it’s got to be a cheesy, predictable rom-com with every genre trope thrown in, from the unrealistic city apartment to the job at a fashion magazine to the clumsy heroine. Except things are a little different here since, well, it’s Black Widow. So her love interest is obviously the villainous robot Ultron and his crazy light-up penis, and Thor is her sassy gay friend. But the best part of the trailer is the movie’s title: Black Widow: Age of Me."

Many people noted that the 2018 movie Red Sparrow is essentially a "knock off" Black Widow origin movie (Russian ballerina is recruited into a Red Room-type program, becomes a spy/assassin). Soon after the trailer of Red Sparrow hit the internet, Marvel announced they had a screenwriter for the Black Widow movie.

Common Tropes and Themes

• Robot Natasha: Some fans have complained that fanfic often depicts Natasha as an emotionless robot.
• Knife-Sharpening Natasha: Similarly, many people complained about Natasha being depicted as a vaguely threatening character who spent her screentime in fanfic sharpening her knives and looking dangerous.
• Budapest: Several fanworks have attempts to explore an exchange between Natasha and Clint in The Avengers in which Natasha says "Just like Budapest all over again!" and Clint responds "You and I remember Budapest very differently."
• Domestic Avengers (also known as Superfamily): a common fanfic idea where Natasha and the other Avengers characters live together and/or are family. Natasha is sometimes considered a parent or aunt of the "family".

Terminology

• See List of MCU Pairing Names for Natasha related pairing names.

Pairings

With the release of Iron Man 2, the femslash pairing of Pepper/Natasha became very popular and is one of the more common fanon pairing for Natasha. Natasha/Tony was also common. Since the movie Thor and later The Avengers came out, an increase of Clint/Natasha fanwork appeared. This is due to their partnership in the comics (and again confirmed in the The Avengers film). Another popular pairing that grew out of film would be Bruce/Natasha, due to the fact that Natasha was brought in to recruit Bruce to come work with SHIELD.

Also with the release of The Avengers film came some other pairings started to grow more common as well; such as Natasha with Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanova, Loki/Natasha Romanova, Maria Hill/Natasha Romanova, Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanova (Winter Soldier), Darcy Lewis/Natasha Romanova, and Phil Coulson/Natasha Romanova.

Fanworks

See individual Natasha pairings for more fanworks.

Meta

• Natasha's Last Name & The Name Game: "Romanova, Natasha Romanov, Romanoff?"
• "Control, or "Do you really think I'm pretty?"". {{cite web}}: |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help)
• "The Canon of Canon". Archived from the original on 2017-02-28.
• ""Because We're Heroes": A Natasha Romanoff Manifesto". Archived from the original on 2020-07-14. by Lise

Fanfiction

• we were emergencies by Gyzym. Clint/Natasha, ~37,000 words.
• there are many names in history (and all of them are ours) by pprfaith. Natasha & Tony, ~2,000 words.
• Sisters of the Apocalypse by Caiti, Four sisters have been separated for time untold. They have been reunited......and the world should tremble. (Natasha Romanoff, Pepper Potts, Betty Ross, and Darcy Lewis)
• only dostoevsky could kill off a pair like us by stitchingatthecircuitboard, The first lesson goes something like this: In the beginning, there was cold snow and hot blood and dark wolves snapping at your heels. But Mother came for you, caught you up in her strong soft arms, wrapped you in goosedown quilts and fed you hot soup, spiced tea; lay you gently to bed. Mother took you in when you were lost. There would be nothing without Mother. (a Black Widow backstory fic featuring the Red Room, Yelena Belova, and the story of a lonely wolf girl)
• A Little Room to Sway by dollylux. Wanda/Natasha, ~21,000 words.
• To Be Human by HVL - Massive series of novels exploring Natasha, her past, and her relationship with various members of the Avengers.

Artwork

Comics:

• "The Black Widow by toherrys". Archived from the original on 2015-09-19.
• "Black Widow by Ultrajack". Archived from the original on 2015-09-08.
• "Black Widow NoseArt by ninjainkB". Archived from the original on 2017-03-12.
• "Black Widow - Color by Lite-mike". Archived from the original on 2015-09-10.
• "Black widow 5 by ryuloulou". Archived from the original on 2015-09-10.
• "BLACK WIDOW by synthetikxs".
• "Black Widow by RaffaeleMarinetti".
• "Black Widow by Manji675". Archived from the original on 2021-05-16.
• Black widow by AndreaMeloni (Ultimates)
• "Black Widow by grover80".
• "Black widow by jiuge". Archived from the original on 2021-01-12.

MCU:

• "Black Widow by Fiorique". Archived from the original on 2015-10-31.
• "I've got red on my ledger". Archived from the original on 2020-07-17. by chibixchick
• "Black Widow". Archived from the original on 2020-07-17. by GeeDack
• "do you know what it's like to be unmade by lostphysics". Archived from the original on 2015-10-25.
• "Battlefield by five-oclock". Archived from the original on 2015-09-09.
• Chornaya Vdova & The Spy by Mad42Sam
• "Romanoff by VarshaVijayan".
• "Natasha Romanoff by kittrose". Archived from the original on 2016-04-19.
• "Natasha Romanoff-Black Widow by StudioKawaii". Archived from the original on 2015-10-27.
• "Black Widow by Blueberry-Cat".
• Natasha Romanoff: The Black Widow & Natasha Commision for jadesymb by Vylla Art
• The Assassin by monikagross (Fantasy AU)
• "Let Me Put You On Hold by MariaBruggeman". Archived from the original on 2015-10-24.
• "Black Widow by DazWatford". Archived from the original on 2017-03-13.
• "Black Widow by erlanarya". Archived from the original on 2015-09-19.
• Avengers HS AU girls, a fanart of Darcy, Jane, and Natasha in a High School AU
• Black Widow and Daredevil by Timetravel6000v2 (Natasha/Matt Murdock)
• "Black Widow by Arkenstellar".

Fanvids

• I don't believe in fairytales, a Natasha POV vid with background Clint/Natasha pairing.
• "Maybe i'm a different breed".
• "The Avengers's Black Widow Tribute".
• We Will Dance by kaydeefalls
• "bang bang".
• "Natasha Romanoff (Girl is a problem)".
• "break the ice ♔".
• "Strike Me Down".
• "☭S H E • W O L F☭".
• "she'll eat you alive".
• "now you".
• "Do It Like A Dude..."
• “Black Widow” movie, a fan trailer for a Black Widow movie
• In The Bullpen by genusshrike

Rec Lists

• I’ve got red in my ledger: a Black Widow Compilation Rec Post by afigureofspeech

Archives and Fannish Links

• Natasha Romanov tagged works at AO3
• Natasha works at Avengers category at FFN
• Natasha works at Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes category at FFN
• Natasha works at The Avengers Movieverse category at FFN
• Natasha works at Captain America Movieverse category at FFN
• Natasha works at Iron Man category at FFN

DeviantART

• "Black Widow Marvel". Archived from the original on 2015-09-05.
• "Fans of Black Widow". Archived from the original on 2015-09-06.

Tumblr

• Black Widow tagged works on Tumblr
  • Natasha Romanoff tagged works
  • Natasha Romanov tagged works
  • Natasha Romanova tagged works
• "Fuck Yeah Black Widow". Archived from the original on 2014-07-02.
• "F Yeah MCU Black Widow". Archived from the original on 2020-11-01.
• "Daily Natasha Romanoff". Archived from the original on 2022-01-20.
• "F Yeah Natasha Romanoff". Archived from the original on 2022-06-11.
• "Project Romanoff". Archived from the original on 2021-01-12.
• Natasha Romanov tag at Bland Marvel Headcanons

Resources

• Recommended Reading on FYBW
• Black Widow at Wikipedia
• Black Widow at Marvel Database
• Natasha Romanoff at Marvel Movies Wiki