WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Black Widow #5 by Kelly Thompson, Elena Casagrande, Jordie Bellaire, and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
In Marvel's new Black Widow series, Natasha Romanoff was attacked by a group of villains comprised of the Weeping Lion, Madame Hydra, the Red Guardian and Snapdragon. The quartet joined forces with X-Men villain Arcade to take down Natasha not by defeating her, but by giving her the perfect life. The villains were able to make her forget about her time as a spy and Avenger, and they instead gave her a life where she worked as an architect in San Francisco, and was engaged with a young son.
However, Natasha eventually regains her memories, just as her new life gets ripped way from her. And the ensuing heartbreaking leads the Black Widow to embark on a new mission, in a new city, and with a cool new superhero costume.
The Black Widow's enemies tried something different by discreetly taking her off the board. Instead of killing her, they gave her a happy life. This meant that she would stay out of their way as they went about their evil deeds. However, the mysterious new Weeping Lion went against his cohorts' plans and tried to have the Black Widow killed. As a result, her memories returned, the illusion was dropped and Natasha fought to protect what she had been given.
In Black Widow #5, the villains go on the offensive, choosing to try and take Natasha out before she has a chance to kill them. Only, their attack makes things worse: the explosion kills Natasha's fiancé James and her son, Stevie. With the help of Hawkeye, Yelena Belova and the Winter Soldier, Natasha takes out her enemies. It's only once the fighting is done that the real truth is revealed: James and Stevie are actually alive, and Bucky Barnes has hidden them somewhere far away.
Natasha takes great comfort in knowing that the two people she loves so dearly are secretly alive somewhere but, in order to protect them, she must stay away from them forever. They may not be dead, but their departure is heartbreaking for Natasha because she can never be with reunited with them again.
This heartbreak, however, inspires Natasha to make huge changes in her life. Her love for James and Stevie inspires her to honor them by being better. Therefore, she lets go of her deceptive life as a spy to operate as a superhero in San Francisco. The city that was once home to her family is now the Black Widow's new base of operations. This new beginning is made complete with Natasha ditching her old outfit to wear a new costume.
The character's new costume still keeps the trademarks of her spy outfit, from the Widow's sting bracelets to the iconic belt, but there are also some considerable new additions, such as glowing red lines that runs down her sides, as well as a cropped jacket and black hood. The glowing red lines gives her more of a superhero look, one that is comparable to the MCU's Tony Stark in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron.
This is still the Black Widow, but it's clear things will now be different. She isn't just a spy anymore. To honor her family, she has chosen to truly become a superhero.