1 Big Black Widow Change Makes Her More Impressive In The MCU

Black Widow is one of the founding members of the Avengers in the MCU, and while she’s generally quite faithful to her comic book counterpart, one major change makes the film version even more impressive. Black Widow, a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with a super soldier like Captain America, and the comic version of the character is similarly enhanced by a chemical formula, but the MCU’s Black Widow has no powers. While she isn’t the only Avenger without superpowers, she manages to match the formidability of her comic counterpart through sheer skill alone.

Black Widow has been an essential character in the Marvel Comics universe since the 1960s, debuting in Tales of Suspense as a Soviet enemy of Iron Man before overcoming her brainwashing and becoming a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. Although Black Widow rarely had starring roles in Marvel’s comics, she’s nevertheless an important superhero with ties to many of the franchise's most famous protagonists. Black Widow finally got the mainstream recognition she deserved in the MCU thanks to major roles in Iron Man 2, The Avengers, and the Black Widow solo film, making her one of Marvel’s most recognized heroes on screen and in the comics.

Notably, out of the six founding members of the MCU’s Avengers, Black Widow is one of three superheroes who lacks powers. Tony Stark is considered a heavy hitter, thanks to his Iron Man suits, but Black Widow and Hawkeye use relatively simple gadgetry and predominantly rely on their superlative martial arts and tactical abilities. While Hawkeye lacks superpowers in both the comics and the MCU, the fact that live-action Black Widow matches her comic counterpart despite lacking superpowers in the MCU makes her an even more impressive hero, especially since she often fights alongside the chemically enhanced Captain America and is shown to be just as competent.

Why Black Widow Lacks Powers In The MCU

In the comics, Natasha was given a Soviet recreation of the Super Soldier Formula, giving her enhanced physical abilities, slowing her aging, and allowing her to heal from injuries at a much faster rate. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that she’s as devastating in combat as heroes like Captain America. But the MCU version of Black Widow is never shown undergoing such enhancements, making her many feats the result of a life of brutal training in the Red Room. In the MCU, Natasha’s agility and strength appear superhuman at times, but her skills go beyond the realm of physical fighting.

Like her comic counterpart, the MCU’s Black Widow is also one of the world’s most skilled spies, infiltrating Stark Industries, keeping Steve Rogers off the radar of Hydra, and even tricking Loki in an interrogation in The Avengers. As with Hawkeye, Black Widow is incorrectly seen by many as underpowered and is often underestimated because of it, despite her astounding abilities. While the Black Widow of the comics owes her physical feats to training as well as a Super Soldier Serum variant, the MCU version is a superlative combatant and spy without any enhancements.

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