Summary
Black Widowtakes her name from the famous venomous spider, but whenVenom Warstarts in August, she’s making things literal. In a new cover reveal, Marvel showed off her new symbiote redesign for the event, perfect for someone who works in the shadows - because seeing her in the light shows justhow creepy her new look is.
Natasha Romanoff’s “Venom” look didn’t change things too much from her normal outfits: black and red, still with bracelets and a belt. Her redesign forVenom War: Venomous#1 by Erica Schultz and Luciano Vecchio takesher spider reference to an entirely new level.With more angular eyes and a lot more red, Natasha looks like she’d fit in with Spider-Man.
Variant Covers:
Derrick Chew, Luciano Vecchio
THE VENOMOUS BLACK WIDOW! Black Widow and her newly trained symbiote are jumping into the Venom War and picking a side! Fresh off their new understanding from the BLACK WIDOW: VENOMOUS one-shot, Widow starts looking into horrific experiments Alchemax has been running based on their symbiote program…but she isn’t the only one! Natasha’s old teammate from her Secret Avengers days, now known as Agent Anti-Venom, is also on the case!
She still looks like a creepy cousin, though; her red hair is now patterned with black dots that resemble a spider’s eyes, making us wonder if they’re functional for the symbiote. Her hair also curls around her face like fangs, suggesting thatthe Widow’s Bite is even strongerthan before.
“Last Venom Standing”: VENOM WAR Will Settles the Symbiote’s 1 Official Host, As Eddie Broke Battles His Son
Marvel’s upcoming Venom War will put Eddie Brock against his son Dylan, with only one of them capable of emerging as the symbiote’s true host.
Black Widow and Her Symbiote Fight As One
Symbiotes have grown far beyond Venom in Marvel Comics. Natasha Romanoff has had her symbiote since last summer, and the two have worked extraordinarily well together, asit’s perfectly suited to spycraft.The symbiote can eat memories from humans,meaning that if someone won’t tell Natasha what she needs to know, she can unleash her new partner to find the truth. Her camaraderie with it was expanded on earlier this year inBlack Widow and Hawkeyeby Stephanie Phillips and Paolo Villanelli, as she introduced it to her other partner-in-crime. While Clint Barton admitted it was cool, he ultimately said the symbiote freaked him out too much.
Black Widow got her symbiote inVenom#23 by Torunn Grønbekk, Ken Lashley, and Ramón F. Bachs.
Her symbiote started calling itself Widow after befriending Natasha on their missions. At first, it heightened all of her emotions, making Natasha feel out of control. Now, the two of them can feel each other at the same wavelengths and communicate quickly. Widow keeps Natasha safe, not just because she’s its host, but becauseit does really seem to like her.InBlack Widow and Hawkeye,it wanted to kill Clintbecause it knew Natasha would always stick her neck out for him, potentially getting her killed (also, it was at least a little jealous of the bond between the two.)
Black Widow and Her Symbiote Have a Truly Deadly Widow’s Bite
One of Black Widow’s strengths has always been her ability to make others dismiss her as weak - her femme fatale origins were less martial arts and more flirting. However, with this new symbiote look,no one would expect Natasha and Widow to be anything less than deadly. The new spider design is really freaky, but it also cements her as someone venomous. She’ll next appear in a one-shot setting upVenom WarswithBlack Widow: Venomous.When she debuts this new look inVenom Wars: Venomous,there’s no doubt in my mind that the war’s most dangerous opponent will beBlack Widow.
Venom War: Venomous #1will be released on August 21 by Marvel Comics.
Black Widow
First introduced as an antagonist to Iron Man, the Russian assassin Natasha Romanoff eventually defected to the US and joined Marvel’s roster of heroes. Working as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, Black Widow has appeared in countless comics and several films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (played by Scarlett Johansson).
