Black Widow made her comic book debut way back in 1964. Over fifty years later, she’s a hero who operates in the grey areas of morality, but she wasn’t always one of the good guys. Her first appearance in Marvel’s Tales Of Suspense had her as a villain going up against Iron Man. In fact, even after deciding to ally herself with the Avengers, the Black Widow did some pretty awful things.
Not only did she betray those closest to her time and again, but she did it in multiple timelines. Before Natasha Romanoff gets her solo movie in 2020, take a look back at the worst of the worst.
10 She Convinced Hawkeye To Be A Villain
One of the longest running relationships - whether platonic or romantic - in Marvel Comics for Black Widow is with Hawkeye. Natasha met Clint when she first came to the United States on a mission. He happened to be one of her first marks as well.
Natasha conned him and seduced him into helping her on her mission. She had Hawkeye trying to assassinate Iron Man not long after meeting him. Of course, the two also eventually both switched sides and became Avengers, so maybe that initial meeting was for the best.
9 Black Widow Betrayed Iron Man
Of the Avengers Black Widow has interacted with over the years, it seems Iron Man is the one she most often betrays. When Natasha came to the U.S. for Russia, she was on a mission to eliminate Tony Stark.
She attempted that by seducing him and betraying him, but she also tried to get others, like Hawkeye to do the job for her. She even had one of her henchmen destroy his lab while she wined and dined him. Over the years, she’s also tried to take leadership positions away from him, lied to him about missions, and even spied on him - and then tried to turn back around and be friends with him. In the Ultimate universe in comics, the two were even supposed to marry, but she was simply using him as a cover to infiltrate the United States government.
8 She Went Back To The Red Room
The Red Room is an integral part of Black Widow’s backstory. Depending on the version used in the comics, Natalia Romanova was either an orphaned little girl raised to become an assassin, or a young woman recruited to help her country. Either way, she underwent rigorous training, biological experimentation, and brainwashing to become the Black Widow.
The comics see Natasha spend a lot of time regretting her actions while in the program, much like she does in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That doesn’t, however, stop Natasha from repeatedly returning to the Red Room and taking on missions for the program.
7 She Killed Jarvis
ABC’s Agent Carter saw Edwin Jarvis become a fan favorite in MCU television, but he was an important member of the comics long before that. In the Ultimate universe, Jarvis was one of the few characters suspicious of Natasha’s intentions from the moment she started dating Tony Stark. That cost him dearly.
When Jarvis discovered that Natasha had been deceiving Tony all along, she didn’t hesitate to eliminate the threat to her discovery. She killed the long time employee of the Stark family, and Tony’s closest confidante.
6 Black Widow Took Out Her Best Friend
Since the Black Widow was so young when she went through most of the Red Room program, she did one thing she wasn’t supposed to do: she formed emotional attachments to her classmates. One other young woman, in particular, became her best friend.
Unfortunately, when Natasha was sent on a mission to Cuba that required working with her friend Marina, she was also tasked with eliminating her. Marina had fallen for one of the people she was tasked with spying on, and Natasha had to get rid of them both. She did it without any hesitation.
5 She Invaded The United States
If her betrayals of Iron Man and Hawkeye weren’t enough in the Ultimate universe, Natasha went a step further. It wasn’t enough for her to hurt the people close to her. She also betrayed the country that had supposedly given her refuge.
Much like the main timeline and the MCU, Natasha was a former Russian spy in this universe. Though she claimed to have defected to the U.S., it turned out she was playing a long game. She used her connections to superheroes and the government to give Russian agents a way into the country, allowing the United States to effectively be invaded by a hostile party.
4 Natasha Pursued A Career In Fashion Design
This one might not rank as badly as the rest of the list in terms of Black Widow’s heinous acts, but it certainly left a bad taste in comic book readers’ mouths.
Natasha tried to give up a life of spying and super-heroics. Unfortunately, she tried to do it while in a relationship with Matt Murdock AKA Daredevil. The two couldn’t escape heroics, so Natasha tried to find a civilian job. She thought being a fashion designer was a viable career option. Fans hated the idea of the most accomplished spy in the world spending her time creating womenswear.
Part of the reason it didn’t sit well with fans was that it seemed like every female hero took a similar path - either in acting or fashion - at the time.
3 She Ate Spider-Man
Marvel’s What If comics explore some unusual avenues for iconic characters. One such avenue was the question of what if Black Widow and Spider-Man married.
The issue took a tongue-in-cheek approach to the pairing, pointing more to the animals they were named for than the characters themselves. Black Widow, named after a spider that eats her mates, did just that with her new mate in the alternate universe. It’s not something that would ever happen in the usual continuity, but it certainly entertained fans.
2 She Eliminated Innocent People
Natasha hasn’t just taken out other spies in her career, or people who get in her way. She’s also taken out innocents in the name of her job.
There have been times when the Red Room wanted her to get rid of civilians, especially if Red Room officials believed civilians had knowledge that could hurt them or the government. In order to figure out if a married couple was turning against the government, for example, Natasha tricked them into admitting what they knew before allowing them to think they were gaining their freedom. She then promptly killed them.
1 Black Widow Destroyed Hawkeye’s Family
Also in the Ultimate universe is one of the actions most comic book fans consider to be Black Widow’s absolute worst. Even though Natasha and Clint Barton didn’t have the same relationship in the Ultimate universe as they did in the main 616 universe of the comics, the two were still close friends. She broke his trust in the worst way possible.
When she was busy betraying everyone that trusted her, Natasha took a black ops team to Clint’s home. Though he wasn’t initially there, his wife and three children were. Natasha and the team killed them all, leaving Hawkeye devastated.