Warning! This article contains spoilers for Venom #26 Black Widow has officially joined the ranks of the other spider-themed heroes/antiheroes in the Marvel Universe by gaining her own symbiote, which – like all the other Venomized heroes – comes with an all-new codename belonging to both the Klyntar and its host simultaneously. And Black Widow’s Venomized codename has just been revealed.
Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow is a known super-spy in Marvel Comics, but she was originally a hero who fell much more in-line with the unofficial ‘Spider-Family’. Aside from the name ‘Black Widow’ itself, Natasha also used to have a Spider-Man-esque device called the Widow’s Web, which allowed her to literally web-swing around New York City. This gadget was prominently shown in Avengers #38, and while she’s used different forms of zip-lines and repels since then, they’ve never been as on-brand as the original Widow’s Web of those older-generation comics.
As fans now know, Marvel Comics decided to take Black Widow in an entirely different direction, leaning more into the deadliness of a ‘Black Widow’ through her development as a world-class spy, as opposed to the link a name like that has with a spider – and, by extension, the Spider-Family. However, her inclusion in the latest Venom comic has apparently made up for lost time in that regard, as Black Widow is decidedly more of a ‘spider-hero’ than she’s ever been, including the Widow’s Web days. Now, she’s not just Black Widow, but the all-new symbiote-superhero: Widow.
Black Widow’s Venomized Codename Is Widow
In Venom #26 by Torunn Grønbekk and Julius Ohta, Black Widow is shown interrogating someone who thinks he’s interrogating her, and while that’s indeed a familiar scene when it comes to Black Widow’s interrogation methods, this time it’s decidedly different. Rather than outwitting this person, Black Widow sends her symbiote to discreetly infiltrate this man’s body and consume his brain, thereby gaining the contents of his entire mind, including the information Natasha was after.
After her symbiote uploaded that knowledge into Black Widow’s own mind, they went to find Venom, as it became clear they needed his help in their current mission. Upon finding him, Black Widow (more accurately, her symbiote) introduces themself as Widow. Now united with Venom, they swing into action to stop the villain they’ve both been independently hunting.
Widow Offers Black Widow A New Beginning As A Marvel Hero
While Black Widow is a character whose storylines offer fans darker tales of subtle espionage in a world filled with god-tier entities clashing in epic fashion, she’s become quite out-classed when it comes to the power-scaling of the wider universe. Black Widow’s self-contained adventures require no power-ups, but when she’s rubbing shoulders with heroes and villains who are powerful on a cosmic scale, it would only make sense that she’d want to upgrade herself accordingly, especially in a universe when a number of said upgrades are readily available to those who can claim them (and Black Widow is definitely one of those people).
Giving Black Widow a symbiote doesn’t just pay off her original hero-arc as a more ‘Spider-Family’ member of the Avengers, but it also makes her a real heavy-hitter while going up against Avengers-level threats. Plus, this issue proves that the inclusion of a symbiote doesn’t hinder her super-spy status, but actually enhances it in an incredibly useful (albeit truly horrific) way. Black Widow reveals her new Venomized codename is Widow, and in doing so, has redefined herself as a Marvel Comics hero.
Venom #26 by Marvel Comics is available now.
