Natasha Romanova: Black Widow Appreciation 2023

[Galerion]

Is Natasha supposed to have enhanced physicals in the comics? I keep seeing comments about how the MCU nerfed her.

Yes, indeed.

https://www.marvel.com/characters/bl...comics/profile


SUPERHUMAN AGILITY
Black Widow is a deadly one-woman fighting force. An expert in many forms of martial
arts, she is also a skilled gymnast and possesses superhuman strength, speed, agility,
and endurance.

ESPIONAGE
Black Widow is as deadly in darkness as she is in light; as a highly trained super spy,
Natasha Romanoff stands among the greatest covert assassins in the world.

SLOWED AGING
In addition to her deadly skills, Romanoff also ages at an incredibly slowed rate—much
like Captain America—thanks to a variant of the Super-Soldier serum that she was
once given.

[Primal Slayer]

[Frontier]

Vanessa Marshall was a great Black Widow.

I could never really jive with Laura Bailey as Nat despite loving her as a VA in general.

[bat22]

Shouldn't this be the "Natalia" Romanova Black WIdow Clone topic post Secret Empire? Or are we making like Landfill and pretending that crud never happened?

[chicago_bastard]

Vanessa Marshall was a great Black Widow.

I could never really jive with Laura Bailey as Nat despite loving her as a VA in general.

Russian accent was stupid though. Makes zero sense for a super-spy that everyone can tell your true nationality from the way you speak.

[bat22]

Russian accent was stupid though. Makes zero sense for a super-spy that everyone can tell your true nationality from the way you speak.

Natasha's reputation often precedes her. There's no need to hide one's natural accent among trusted affiliates. And she can "turn if off" when she needs to.

[Matternativ]

Mostly Avengers Assemble. One time in Ultimate Spider-Man she managed to kick Absorbing Man while he had absorbed like some hard stone and not only successfully delivered the kick but was no worse for wear afterwards.

Tbh that's just kinda how not only avengers assemble but also the avengers videogame handle things where the roster is much closer in "power levels" than they usually are depicted.
I wouldn't read too much into that.

Is Natasha supposed to have enhanced physicals in the comics? I keep seeing comments about how the MCU nerfed her.

Yes but it varies from author to author just how enhanced she really is. As far as MCU adaptations go she was probably closer to most of her comic appearances than most of the other avengers, especially Thor.

[Agent Z]

Russian accent was stupid though. Makes zero sense for a super-spy that everyone can tell your true nationality from the way you speak.

We're talking about a woman who wears a recognisable catsuit, is often part of very public superhero teams and doesn't wear a mask. Speaking with her natural accent is the least conspicuous thing she can do.

[Agent Z]

Tbh that's just kinda how not only avengers assemble but also the avengers videogame handle things where the roster is much closer in "power levels" than they usually are depicted.
I wouldn't read too much into that.

Yes but it varies from author to author just how enhanced she really is. As far as MCU adaptations go she was probably closer to most of her comic appearances than most of the other avengers, especially Thor.

Yeah, you could pick up the average Black Widow comic and the idea she's supposed to have an enhanced physiology would never cross your mind.

[chicago_bastard]

Yes but it varies from author to author just how enhanced she really is. As far as MCU adaptations go she was probably closer to most of her comic appearances than most of the other avengers, especially Thor.

Completely different power tiers like Thor don't really matter in that context though. In comparison to other street levelers like Cap, Bucky or Crossbones either she was nerfed or they were buffed, no matter how you want to put it the end result remains the same.

We're talking about a woman who wears a recognisable catsuit, is often part of very public superhero teams and doesn't wear a mask. Speaking with her natural accent is the least conspicuous thing she can do.

She started as a covert Soviet spy in the US clearly not speaking with a Russian accent, then she defected to the US and since then doesn't see herself as Russian anymore. Why would she consider Russian her natural accent?

Since your initial question referred to a discussion that was mainly about faithfulness to the source material I can name at least two occasions in the comics that refer to her speaking with a perfect American accent in everyday talk, so a faithful adaptation wouldn't have her speak with a Russian accent.

[Matternativ]

Completely different power tiers like Thor don't really matter in that context though. In comparison to other street levelers like Cap, Bucky or Crossbones either she was nerfed or they were buffed, no matter how you want to put it the end result remains the same.



She started as a covert Soviet spy in the US clearly not speaking with a Russian accent, then she defected to the US and since then doesn't see herself as Russian anymore. Why would she consider Russian her natural accent?

Since your initial question referred to a discussion that was mainly about faithfulness to the source material I can name at least two occasions in the comics that refer to her speaking with a perfect American accent in everyday talk, so a faithful adaptation wouldn't have her speak with a Russian accent.

The Buckster sure but Crossbones? It's been a minute since I've seen his five minutes of fame before detonating but I'm pretty sure he's been shown far more lethal and consequential in the comics.

And I try not to bring him up in other threads but since that would be ignoring the elephant in the room: I'd argue she's depicted a good level or so above the other street level avenger not wearing a flag.

[bat22]

Completely different power tiers like Thor don't really matter in that context though. In comparison to other street levelers like Cap, Bucky or Crossbones either she was nerfed or they were buffed, no matter how you want to put it the end result remains the same.

Except that, like he said, a super-strong Black Widow has hardly ever been seen. On the same official Marvel website that you reference this ability, if you read through her BIOGRAPHY section, you'll see the following text...

Powers: Slowed Aging, Superhuman Durability

Natasha was also enhanced with the Soviets’ version of the Super-Soldier serum, gifting her with peak human strength and stamina, as well as resistance to disease and slowed-down aging.

Her fighting skills are augmented by a variant of the Super-Soldier serum, which she was given as part of the Black Widow program. Although this treatment doesn’t give her superhuman strength like Captain America, Natasha operates at peak human condition. The serum also grants her an improved immune system and enhanced durability, which explains why she has barely aged over the years, retaining her youthful appearance.

The only time I've seen 'Tasha display anything like superhuman strength was a "so bad it's good" issue of Avengers Unplugged. It's more likely that someone goofed on their website's information.

She started as a covert Soviet spy in the US clearly not speaking with a Russian accent, then she defected to the US and since then doesn't see herself as Russian anymore. Why would she consider Russian her natural accent?

Since your initial question referred to a discussion that was mainly about faithfulness to the source material I can name at least two occasions in the comics that refer to her speaking with a perfect American accent in everyday talk, so a faithful adaptation wouldn't have her speak with a Russian accent.

Many American immigrants keep their accents for the rest of their lives. It's perfectly natural for Natasha to maintain her Russian accent, even though she's also able to hide it.

[chicago_bastard]

The Buckster sure but Crossbones? It's been a minute since I've seen his five minutes of fame before detonating but I'm pretty sure he's been shown far more lethal and consequential in the comics.

More lethal or not, other than in the movies Nat is clearly able to handle him in the comics:

cb.jpg

And I try not to bring him up in other threads but since that would be ignoring the elephant in the room: I'd argue she's depicted a good level or so above the other street level avenger not wearing a flag.

Clint? I'd say she's a level above him regarding h2h skill in the comics, too, so I don't see the contradiction.

Except that, like he said, a super-strong Black Widow has hardly ever been seen. On the same official Marvel website that you reference this ability, if you read through her BIOGRAPHY section, you'll see the following text...

Neither did I refer to this site nor did I say anything about superhuman strength so no idea where you are coming from.

In the movies she's shown to hit her elbow into Bucky's head several times without even fazing him. Crossbones is shrugging her hits off like love taps. She's clearly depicted as unable to even hurt them.

You can see how she fares against Crossbones in the comics pictured above, here's what she can do to Bucky:

buckster.jpg

If you don't see the difference to her fights against the same guys in the movies I don't know what to tell you.

Many American immigrants keep their accents for the rest of their lives. It's perfectly natural for Natasha to maintain her Russian accent, even though she's also able to hide it.

Pretty sure these people a) don't have the language skills of a comic book super-spy who can speak several languages perfectly without accent and b) don't despise their shady past and therefore would want to erase anything that reminds them of it.

[Frontier]

Russian accent was stupid though. Makes zero sense for a super-spy that everyone can tell your true nationality from the way you speak.

If I remember right she only used the Russian accent when she was masquerading as a double agent for Hydra. She used an American one otherwise.

Tbh that's just kinda how not only avengers assemble but also the avengers videogame handle things where the roster is much closer in "power levels" than they usually are depicted.
I wouldn't read too much into that.

How easy it was to take out Hulk in that game .

[bat22]

Yes, indeed.

https://www.marvel.com/characters/bl...comics/profile


SUPERHUMAN AGILITY
Black Widow is a deadly one-woman fighting force. An expert in many forms of martial
arts, she is also a skilled gymnast and possesses superhuman strength, speed, agility,
and endurance.

ESPIONAGE
Black Widow is as deadly in darkness as she is in light; as a highly trained super spy,
Natasha Romanoff stands among the greatest covert assassins in the world.

SLOWED AGING
In addition to her deadly skills, Romanoff also ages at an incredibly slowed rate—much
like Captain America—thanks to a variant of the Super-Soldier serum that she was
once given.

Except that a super-strong Black Widow has hardly ever been seen. On the same official Marvel website that you reference this ability, if you read through her BIOGRAPHY section, you'll see the following text...

Powers: Slowed Aging, Superhuman Durability

Natasha was also enhanced with the Soviets’ version of the Super-Soldier serum, gifting her with peak human strength and stamina, as well as resistance to disease and slowed-down aging.

Her fighting skills are augmented by a variant of the Super-Soldier serum, which she was given as part of the Black Widow program. Although this treatment doesn’t give her superhuman strength like Captain America, Natasha operates at peak human condition. The serum also grants her an improved immune system and enhanced durability, which explains why she has barely aged over the years, retaining her youthful appearance.

The only time I've seen 'Tasha display anything like superhuman strength was a "so bad it's good" issue of Avengers Unplugged. It's more likely that someone goofed on their website's information.