WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Avengers #28 by Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Mark Morales, Jason Keith, Erick Arciniega and Cory Petit, on sale now.
Jason Aaron's Avengers run has incorporated a pretty fluid roster, with Doctor Strange and Blade both serving in a guest-starring capacity. The current story arc, "Starbrand Reborn," takes Earth's Mightiest Heroes to space in search of the newest host of the cosmic Starbrand. Instead of recruiting a hero with an impressive power base, Captain America elects to invite Black Widow.
Of course, Natasha Romanova is a skilled fighter and a longtime Avenger, but she's not the name fans would immediately associate with a mission to a space prison filled with alien threats. But Captain America explains he wants someone he can trust watching his back as they head into the unknown. However, Black Widow isn't soaring into space unprepared, as she has Thor pack a pretty big piece of equipment for her in Avengers #27.
It's not until the final page of Avengers #28 that readers see what Black Widow has stowed away. The Avengers immediately get split up after arriving in the space prison galaxy, with Captain America, She-Hulk and Captain Marvel having to deal with a Brood-infected Thor, and Black Widow, Blade and Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) fleeing from the Silver Surfer.
Robbie continues to impress and surprise everyone with how he utilizes his Ghost Rider powers, revealing he is able to breathe in space while also taking control of the Silver Surfer's cosmic surfboard. Unfortunately for the Ghost Rider, this illegal possession only lasts a few moments, concluding with the Silver Surfer blasting Robbie's Hell Charger into a nearby planet. A group of inmates on the ground confuses the car with a ship and demands our heroes exit, but not before Black Widow tasks Boy-Thing with getting her "heaviest hitter" luggage from the car's trunk. Then, just as the convicts attempt vehicular theft, Black Widow emerges wearing her War Widow armor.
The War Widow has a striking similarity to James Rhodes' War Machine armor, but it's less bulky and appears to be modified specifically for Black Widow. The suit bears the red Black Widow symbol on the midsection and forehead, and could almost pass as her regular spy costume if you ignore the shoulder and palm blasters.
Before the Avengers left Earth in Avengers #27, Black Widow mentioned how Black Panther assured her Tony Stark wouldn't mind her taking this piece of luggage, so it's likely Iron Man designed the War Widow for this type of mission. At least now Black Widow won't be underpowered when it comes time for the Avengers to face off against the mysterious new Starbrand.
Something else to consider is the War Widow may contain even more secret weapons than what we see on the final page of Avengers #28. There has to be something else to make the armor unique to Black Widow besides slapping her symbol on it. We can also surmise this isn't just the War Machine armor redesigned, considering Rhodes is back wearing it in Tony Stark: Iron Man.
If we had a vote, we'd lean into Black Widow keeping the War Widow once the Avengers return to Earth. After all, it wasn't long ago that the Punisher stole the War Machine suit for Marvel Legacy.