Warning: contains spoilers for Black Widow #2!
Black Widow's life has undergone many changes in the last few years of Marvel Comics, following shifting public perception of the character as the MCU first saw her die and then announced Scarlett Johansson would be returning as Natasha in 2021's Black Widow movie. Synergizing with renewed public interest in Black Widow and her former life in Russia, ongoing comic series Black Widow is currently depicting the Russian super spy's new civilian life. She’s got a house in the suburbs, a job as an architect, and even a family, but it all feels too good to be true.
Black Widow’s new life began after she discovered that somebody had broken into her apartment. Instead of walking through the door, the trained spy decided to climb around the outside of the building and in through her window. Unfortunately, her attacker was able to get the drop on her and sent Natasha falling towards the streets below. After that, the story picks up three months later in San Francisco, with Natasha living her new life. Unbeknownst to her, however, Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier notice her on a newscast and decide to check up on her.
Writer Kelly Thompson, with artists Elena Casagrande and Jordie Bellaire, opens Black Widow #2 with Bucky and Clint doing recon outside of Natasha’s mansion. They are shocked to find that she genuinely looks... happy. Clint decides to get a closer look and approaches Natasha while she is working in her garage. She introduces herself as Natalie and the two start discussing life. During this discussion, a young boy walks into the garage and Black Widow picks him up and introduces Clint to her son, Stevie. Quickly after learning this surprising information and meeting Nat’s fiancé, James, Hawkeye says his goodbyes and heads out.
Once Clint returns to Bucky, the two discuss the child. Bucky says that Stevie looks just like Nat, but Bucky struggles to believe that this could be true. After all, Black Widow was only missing for about three months. Nevertheless, Clint believes that Nat is truly happy.
In addition to looking like his mother, Stevie seems to have inherited another trait from Nat. Throughout the comic, it is pointed out that the kid is a “little escape artist,” a specialty with which Black Widow is all too familiar. Still, it is difficult to tell whether or not any of these new aspects of Nat’s life are truly what they seem. Multiple aspects of the story could lead readers to believe that Black Widow’s new life is only temporary, especially since more people are keeping tabs on her than just Clint and Bucky. Black Widow #3 is set for release in November and hopefully it will give more insight into what is truly going on in the life of Black Widow.