Yelena Belova (original) (raw)

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Fictional character, a spy in the Marvel Comics Universe

Comics character

Yelena Belova
Artwork from the cover of Black Widow: Pale Little Spider #1 (June 2002). Art by Greg Horn.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance As Black Widow: Sketch:Marvel Knights: Wave 2 Sketchbook #1(January 1998)Full appearance:Inhumans vol. 2 #5(January 1999)As Super-Adaptoid:New Avengers Annual #1(April 2006)As White Widow:Black Widow vol. 8 #6(April 2021)
Created by Devin GraysonJ.G. JonesPaul JenkinsJae Lee
In-story information
Species Human
Place of origin Moscow, Russia
Team affiliations Winter GuardRussian FederationA.I.M.S.H.I.E.L.D.VanguardThunderbolts
Notable aliases Black WidowWhite WidowSuper-AdaptoidPale Little SpiderRusskaya
Abilities Expert marksman and mastery of various weapons Master martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant

Yelena Belova (Russian: Еле́на Бело́ва) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is depicted as a spy and was the second modern-era character to use the Black Widow name. Created by Devin Grayson and J.G. Jones for Marvel Knights: Wave 2 Sketchbook #1 (January 1998), Belova made her first appearance in Inhumans vol. 2 #5 (January 1999) by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee.[1] She was trained as a spy and assassin in the Red Room. Originally, Yelena was a foe of Natasha Romanova and was sent to kill her, but the two later became allies. She was also a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., Vanguard, and HYDRA; the latter organization changed her into a version of Super-Adaptoid. As Super-Adaptoid, she was one of the members of the High Council of A.I.M. After being freed from her Super-Adaptoid identity, Belova reverted to her old Black Widow identity before adopting the codename White Widow.

Florence Pugh portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Widow, the miniseries Hawkeye (both 2021), and the upcoming film Thunderbolts* (2025); Violet McGraw portrayed the character as a child in the former film.

Publication history

[edit]

Belova, the second modern Black Widow after Natasha Romanova (Natasha Romanoff), was initially a Russian spy of the GRU. She first appeared in Marvel Knights: Wave 2 Sketchbook #1 (January 1998), then appeared briefly in Inhumans (Vol. 2) #5 (March 1999), and was fully introduced in the 1999 Marvel Knights mini-series Black Widow. A second miniseries also titled Black Widow featuring Natasha Romanoff and Daredevil followed in 2001. The next year, she did a solo turn in her own three-issue miniseries, Black Widow: Pale Little Spider under the mature audience Marvel MAX imprint. The storyline by writer Greg Rucka and artist Igor Kordey was a flashback to her taking on the mantle of the second modern Black Widow.[2]

Fictional character biography

[edit]

Belova is an amoral spy and assassin who was trained at the Red Room by the same spymasters who trained Natasha Romanoff, the first Black Widow. Yelena was born in Moscow,[3] Soviet Russia; at the age of 15 she was recruited by the GRU. After the death of her trainer, Pyotr Vasilievich Starkovsky, she is activated as the new Black Widow and deployed to investigate. She apprehends and eliminates his killer, unaware that both his murder and the investigation were part of a ploy to get Belova to assert herself as the new Black Widow.[4] Believing herself to be the rightful successor to the "Black Widow" title, Yelena enthusiastically volunteers for a mission that will put her at odds with Natasha, although the meeting and confrontations between the two do not lead to a decisive battle. Natasha refers to Yelena as "little one" and "russkaya", meaning "Russian", and encourages her to find what makes her unique and her personal identity rather than blindly devote herself to her nation. But Yelena remains steadfastly loyal to the Russian people: "For me, though, no matter where it is that I am living... I am still Russian. And like many Russians, though I am welcoming what it is our leaders do to make us strong... I am not so much wanting to take orders from them. My loyalty is to Russian people. And Russian people we understand there is no Russia if there is no world."[5] Natasha later subjects Yelena to a cruel but necessary manipulation to shatter her illusions about the "Black Widow" title and teach her the reality of the espionage industry.[6] Belova eventually retires to Cuba, where she becomes a successful businesswoman and model.[7]

She is lured back, however, by the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., and becomes involved in the agency's vibranium mining in the Antarctic Savage Land.[8] Shortly afterward, she barely survives an attack by Sauron, receiving severe burns and being subsequently approached with an offer for revenge against S.H.I.E.L.D. and the New Avengers.[9]

Belova is genetically altered by the terrorist organization HYDRA, as she had suffered debilitating and disfiguring injuries after her last encounter with the New Avengers in the Savage Land. HYDRA recruited her with the prospect of revenge and after hiring the services of A.I.M. transferred her mind into a new version of Super-Adaptoid. This body appeared as Belova had originally until it began to absorb powers, at which time it changed as the original did, though now yellow in color. Now equipped with the ability to copy all of the New Avengers' powers, she engages the superhero team in combat. She is eventually defeated by a combination of Tony Stark's 49 successive Iron Man armors—from the first, Tales of Suspense #39, to the then-current—and the Sentry's use of his Void persona, which she absorbs with the rest of the Sentry's powers and energy. When she is defeated, HYDRA disables her using a remote self-destruct mechanism they had implanted in her, rather than let her reveal intelligence to the New Avengers.[10]

She has returned working with a vigilante group, the Vanguard.[11]

During the Dark Reign storyline, Quasimodo researched Yelena Belova for Norman Osborn.[12] Yelena Belova appeared to join Osborn's Thunderbolts.[13] However it was eventually revealed to be Natasha Romanova in disguise, acting as a double agent for Nick Fury.[14] She believed she was disguised as Belova on Fury's behalf, planted for Osborn to find and invite into the Thunderbolts. However, Osborn revealed to her that he had tricked her into taking on Belova's appearance to get her to do his dirty work.[15] After Natasha's escape from the Thunderbolts, Osborn then revealed the true Yelena in stasis to Scourge and warned him that she could be his replacement on the team.[16]

The real Yelena is later freed from stasis by members of A.I.M. who install the female Adaptoid on the High Council of A.I.M. (alongside Andrew Forson, Graviton, Jude the Entropic Man, Mentallo, Superia, and an undercover Taskmaster) as the Minister of State in Bagalia (a country populated by supervillains).[17]

After Captain America's Hydra doppelganger kills Natasha during the Secret Empire storyline, Yelena assumes the Black Widow identity again in her honor. She travels around the world to destroy Hydra's remnants, attracting the attention of Natasha's former lovers Winter Soldier and Hawkeye.[18][19]

Powers and abilities

[edit]

Black Widow is in peak athletic condition. She also has extensive military, gymnastics, martial arts, and espionage training.[20]

As a Super-Adaptoid, she was mutated by material synthesized from the Super-Adaptoid where she could adapt the powers of anyone around her like Luke Cage, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Sentry, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Wolverine in rapid succession.[10]

Yelena Belova appears in Avengers Assemble, voiced by Julie Nathanson.[25] This version is the second incarnation of the Black Widow following Baron Strucker reactivating the Red Room program and the self-proclaimed rival of Natasha Romanoff who later rechristens herself the Crimson Widow while acting as a Hydra agent.[26]

Marvel Cinematic Universe

[edit]

Florence Pugh promoting Black Widow at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con

Yelena Belova appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by Florence Pugh. This version is a sister to Natasha Romanoff and was trained to be a Black Widow alongside her in the Red Room.[27][28][29]

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  5. ^ Widowmakers: Red Guardian and Yelena Belova Vol 1 #1 ( January, 2021)
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