The Black Widow film proves it's time to give Natasha Romanov the spotlight she has always deserved. Over the course of many MCU films, Natasha has proven herself to be brave, strong, kind, and intelligent.
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In the comics, she has had decades to show why she is more than just "that girl" from The Avengers. For decades her character has been on the front lines of numerous huge Marvel events and has had the opportunity to become one of the best characters in all of Marvel Comics.
10 The Red Room
Natasha Romanova's origin is shrouded in mysteries, lies, and half-truths. Yet one thing is known for certain: she was trained and molded by the Soviets in the "Red Room" facility. This facility was designed to train the perfect killers with numerous cruel psychological and physical tests.
From childhood, Natasha was trained and enhanced by the scientists of the Red Room to be a cold killing machine. Similar to another Marvel hero that was tortured by a government program, Natasha still has scars from her time there.
9 Fighting Iron Man
To a trained killer like Natasha, even Iron Man himself is no large threat. Before she decided to engage in more heroic pursuits, Natasha was an agent of the KGB. One mission had her track down Anton Venko, a man that defected to the US. She went undercover at Stark Industries to attack the man at his most vulnerable.
Just like in Iron Man 2, Tony discovered the truth and jumped into action. After defeating her, Natasha recruited some help from Hawkeye. They came into conflict with Iron Man several times and almost succeeded in taking his company down once and for all. It was only after these battles that she and Hawkeye decided to change their ways.
8 Helping The Avengers Against The Ultroids
Following Hawkeye's lead, Natasha decided to help the world instead of harm it. During a very tense and difficult battle against Ixar and the Ultroids, Natasha tried to show The Avengers why she deserves to be a member. Her heroic actions helped the team grasp a tight victory.
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However, due to her making threats against Ixar's life, she showed that she was not fully prepared to be a hero. Hawkeye helped cover up her threat and was close to convincing The Avengers to make her a member. She was not able to join at the time but years down the line she became a vital member of the team.
7 Teaming Up With Daredevil
For a number of years, Natasha worked side by side with the blind hero himself — Daredevil. For a number of years, both heroes fought to keep the world safe from threats both small and large. Natasha even shared top billing with Daredevil on many covers of comic series.
She even began a romantic relationship with Daredevil that would lead to her saving his life on numerous occasions. For years they worked together like a well-oiled machine and showed the rest of the Marvel universe what a true team looks like.
6 Oktober
Due to a threat large enough to cause World War Three, the threat of a mysterious agent codenamed "Oktober" was enough to make her and Iron Man work in tandem to save the globe. They discussed their past and helped forge a future of trust and respect, all the while they shut down Oktober's plan to release a bunch of missiles.
To Iron Man's surprise, Oktober was actually Natasha due to old Soviet programming that still filled her mind. He helped free her and they saved the world as a team.
5 Yelena Belova
Natasha is a spy and killer of the highest caliber that once upon a time had no equal. Then Yelena Belova came along and not only thrived in the Red Room but had none of the psychological implants or tinkering that Natasha was forced to undergo.
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Yelena decided to take the mantel of Black Widow up for herself and completed several incredibly difficult missions with ease. Eventually, she came into conflict with Natasha and they proved to be mostly evenly matched. The only thing she lacked was the ability to follow her heart and do right, something Natasha showed to her multiple times.
4 Secret War
Nick Fury is a complicated character due to his plots, plans, and pragmatic attitude. He has made many questionable decisions all in the name of what he considers to be the "greater good". One person in the Marvel Universe has stuck by him through many of his questionable actions: Natasha Romanova.
This made her perfect for Nick Fury's "Secret War" against the then prime minister of Latveria. Natasha and several other heroes including Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Daredevil snuck into the country and helped take down the prime minister. Fury wiped all their minds afterwards and when repercussions finally arrived he was nowhere to be seen. Natasha fought bravely and helped Fury own up to his actions.
3 Thunderbolts
The Thunderbolts began as the Masters of Evil disguising themselves as heroes to take revenge on the world. As time went on, they became more and more heroic and were even sanctioned as an "official" black ops team for the US government. The man they choose to lead one iteration of the team was Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin himself.
Natasha went undercover as Yelena Belova and infiltrated the team in order to report back on their activities. Eventually, the truth was uncovered and she barely managed to escape with her life. Throughout it all, she remained level-headed and managed to go toe to toe with some of the worst people in the Marvel Universe.
2 Widowmaker
During one of her most exciting adventures, Natasha is accused of murdering a US Senator. This leads to a vast conspiracy that takes her across the world. At one point, Hawkeye and Mockingbird even help her out as she unravels this large mystery.
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After finding out that a new person behind the mask of the "Ronin" persona that Hawkeye once used is behind all her problems, an intense battle occurs. Natasha manages to save the day and clear her name all the while proving that she is the greatest spy in the Marvel Universe.
1 Revenge Against The Red Room
Natasha, even throughout all her adventures with the heroes of the Marvel Universe, is deeply scarred. This is due to the torture she suffered at Red Room facility, most of which is mental. After being cloned due to her death at the hands of Hydra Cap, she discovered a man named Epsilon Red. This man was a high-ranking member of the Red Room program and the information he held gave Natasha a new mission in life — to destroy the Red Room once and for all.
After infiltrating the Red Room, Natasha was able to stop their cloning, reprogramming, and killer creation programs. With some help from Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier, she dealt a crushing blow to the Red Room program while inching ever closer to finally moving on from her deep-seated trauma.