Warning: spoilers ahead for Black Widow #6!
Black Widow is ripping off Spider-Man's most iconic powers. Natasha Romanoff has never exactly been perceived as a spider hero despite her name. Now, that might be changing, along with her new look and new mission in Black Widow #6.
Spider-Man has numerous abilities, but certain ones are more distinct than others. He isn't called a web-slinging wall-crawler for no reason. In contrast, Black Widow doesn't have any powers, but her training was intense and her abilities are remarkable. Now, however, her technology is making her more and more like Spider-Man and his arachnid counterparts.
Created by Kelly Thompson and Rafael De Latorre, Black Widow #6 features the titular character using new tools in different ways. While she has always been deadly as an assassin, she has rarely looked more like an arachnid hero. Her new outfit and gadgets emphasize her shift, revealing just how dangerous she can be. Black Widow has seriously upped her strategy, showing that she too can be a web-slinging wall-crawler - in her own fashionable way.
In this issue, Black Widow is working her way up a building to fight a new foe known as Apogee. On her way up, as she fights henchmen, she exhibits some new techniques that are more similar to Spider-Man's abilities. Natasha has been able to use her "widow's sting" energy zaps for a little while now, so those aren't new. However, she has a cool new grappling hook that allows her to elevate herself upwards to a higher area in the building. This is very reminiscent of the way Spider-Man uses his webs to get around. She also has gloves that allow her to crawl not only on the building's interior walls, but also on glass panes.
As mentioned previously, despite her namesake being a deadly spider, Black Widow has never fully been associated with spiders the way Spider-Man or Miles Morales has. While Spidey and Miles have actual powers granted to them via literal spiders, Natasha does not have powers. Her strength lies in her specialized training and strategic thinking - although much like her namesake she's rather good at camouflage and isn't known for her healthy relationships. Even so, she always comes across as a completely competent hero - Just not as an arachnid-based one. Her black widow codename has always been more of a metaphorical description. Now, it seems like Natasha is weaving a new web, so to speak.
Black Widow has kicked off a new arc. The series began with Natasha having an almost perfect life. This turned out to be a forced reality due to memory alteration from a gathering of her foes. Since then, she has been awakened to reality and cut off all ties to the life she almost had. She has lost her husband, her very own child, and now she's even changed her outfit. Her new costume features a singular red stripe on each side and a hood. She has kept her belt relatively the same, but now - as mentioned - she also has new tools. These allow Natasha to broaden her tactics in the field. With these items allowing her to do new things, it wouldn't be a surprise if she gradually became more like her namesake in her strategies and capabilities. With her nearly perfect life over, Black Widow is starting fresh again with new goals in mind, a new suit, and abilities she picked up from Spider-Man.