WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Black Widow #1 by Kelly Thompson, Elena Casagrande, Jordie Bellaire and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
The latest Black Widow ongoing series features the Avengers' resident super spy pulling a disappearing act. That's not out of the ordinary for her, but the man behind it is. So is the fact that she appears to have forgotten her tradecraft.
The Widow's uncharacteristic sloppiness puts her on the radar of two of her old flames. After Hawkeye notices her in the background of a cable new story, he enlists the aid of the Winter Soldier in finding her. As the Soldier says, this isn't the first time they've done this.
Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier went in search of their shared ex in the appropriately titled Tales of Suspense: Hawkeye and Winter Soldier mini-series, by Matthew Rosenberg, Travel Foreman, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Clayton Cowles. The story spun out of 2017's big crossover, Secret Empire, which saw the Widow die at the hands of Hydra's Captain America.
The Winter Soldier believes that the Widow is still alive after watching the assassination of a dictator that he believed only she could pull off. He and Hawkeye eventually find out that the Widow was dead and had been replaced with a clone created by the Red Room.
The clone had all of her memories thanks to the Soviet Super Soldier Ursa Major. She revealed to the duo that she was on a mission to destroy the Red Room from within. She chose to enlist the Soldier's aid in her mission instead of Hawkeye, whom she asks to stop following her.
When the new Black Widow #1 opens, Hawkeye's still holding a grudge about Widow snubbing him. They work together on the issue's big action set piece. Hawkeye lets his displeasure be known by firing an arrow uncomfortably close to her head and the ghosting her after the mission.
The Widow plans on making amends with her old partner in crime, reckoning that life is too short to let him hold a grudge. Before she can, she's abducted, setting up the series' central mystery and necessitating another Hawkeye/Winter Soldier team-up. Hawkeye assumes this one will go smoother than the last one, since they know she's in San Francisco. Those sound like famous last words, and not just because they aren't headlining the comic this time.
They make a fun buddy cop style duo, but that's because Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier are never on the same page. Hawkeye's flippant attitude and tendency to fly by the seat of his pants makes a fun contrast to the Winter Soldier's cold efficiency. That oil and water pairing also means they're always on the verge of killing each other and might try to if there weren't always super villains around to redirect their attention.
Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier were also at odds in the recent Hawkeye: Freefall mini-series. That comic, also written by Rosenberg, saw Hawkeye become obsessed with taking Hood down by any means necessary. That included lying to and attack his fellow avengers, including the Winter Soldier.
The end of the series pointed to Hawkeye returning to his villainous roots. His brief appearance in Black Widow #1 is reminiscent of the "Hawkguy" fans know and love from the classic Matt Fraction/David Aja run on Hawkeye. That said, it's a distinct possibility that his misdeeds might be revealed to the Winter Soldier in the course of their new team-up. Word has likely spread about them has been spread among the supervillain community.
It's unlikely that Black Widow will need saving in her own comic. Hopefully, the role this odd couple play in the story involves being run through an Arcade death trap. It would be a waste not to, really, even if the focus will (and should) rightfully be on the title character.