Black Widow in the MC2

 

After too many delays we’ll finally see the release of the Black Widow movie. For those of you keeping track, you’ll know I’ve previously covered Natasha Romanoff’s five fellow MCU founding Avengers, but until now I’ve held off on covering Black Widow.

 

 

As I briefly touched upon in a past post, Natasha Romanoff as the Black Widow is seen in Spider-Girl #60 on both the issue’s cover and within the thoughts of May ‘Mayday’ Parker as the latter reflects on her place amongst the other superheroines who came before her. Natasha is not seen among the gathered Avengers who travelled to an alternate earth for the original team’s final mission. So at least we can likely rule out her dying on the mission. Either way, no specifics are given, and as such her status remains unknown.

 

The Black Widow doesn’t make a physical appearance in the MC2 outside her ‘Zombie’ counterpart’s decaying visage in Avengers Next #1. There, stolen blood and tissue samples of Avengers members past and present are used by the Asgardian Sylene to create ‘magical clones.’ These shambling creations are sent against the current generation of Avengers. Requiring constant magical energy and attention to maintain, the duplicate Black Widow crumbles to dust alongside the other doppelgängers when Sylene’s focus is broken. It’s unknown at what point Natasha provided a sample of her blood and tissue to the Avengers.

 

To add a little context, let’s take a look at the most likely point at which the MC2 Black Widow would have diverged from her Main Marvel Universe counterpart. As I’ve covered in prior posts, the MC2 Avengers history seemingly splits off from the Main Marvel Universe prior to the events seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #1. Unlike many of her teammates, Natasha did not seemingly sacrifice herself during the Onslaught event and wind up as Heroes Reborn in a pocket dimension created by a young Franklin Richards.

 

But as Natasha doesn’t play a significant role in these aforementioned events, it seems likely we can include her Main Marvel Universe counterpart’s history up until a little after the Avengers team returns in Avengers (vol. 3) #1-4. The reason I’m suggesting this is two-fold. First, there aren’t a huge number of major appearances during this period of time for Natasha, mainly some Daredevil issues and solo adventures in Shadows & Light and Journey Into Mystery. Second, when Natasha is next back in the spotlight under the Marvel Knights imprint’s Black Widow mini-series, there is a very clear shift in tone and we start to see retcons surrounding her origin and past. Thus, it makes a lot of sense to propose this as the point at which the MC2’s Black Widow diverges from the Main Marvel Universe.

 

On the subject of retcons to Natasha’s origins, an oft-cited reason for their necessity is Natasha’s appearance as a child during World War II with Wolverine and Captain America (Uncanny X-Men #268). Even when this story was published in 1990 it presented a continuity problem: why did Natasha appear so young in the present-day if she was around as a child back then? Well, the truth is that this was not the first time, with Daredevil #88 explicitly depicting Natasha as child in Russia during World War II far earlier.

 

While there were several stories that mentioned Natasha’s training as a spy for Soviet Russia dating back to her earliest appearances, the Marvel Knights Black Widow mini-series' are usually credited with putting a name to the concept (the Red Room’s Black Widow Ops Program) as well as greatly expanding and building upon the idea with further retcons, such as the implication Natasha was actually an enhanced human and as such had a better immune system, healed faster and didn’t age as fast. ‘But this all takes place after the MC2 divergence, why are you mentioning all this?’ I hear you say. Let me try and explain.

Long-time readers know I struggled with the World War II origins of Peggy Carter and the impact on Sharon Carter and the rest of the family. I’m happy to say, I’ve not had as many issues reconciling Black Widow’s appearance in WWII and her surprising longevity. Thanks to this throwaway exchange between Natasha and Nick Fury in Marvel Comics Presents #130 published in 1993, long before the aforementioned divergence or later retcons:

Nick Fury: ‘Y’know how many guys are runnin’ ‘round with spandex on their butts and secret formulas in their guts?’

Natasha: ‘Like Infinity Formulas?’

Nick Fury: ‘Or Super Soldier Serums?’

Natasha: ‘Touché’

 

So, while this isn’t explicit, the fact that Natasha directly mentions the ‘secret formula’ that keeps Fury youthful and the fact Fury seems to be responding in kind regarding Natasha certainly makes it seem like the Black Widow has some kind of Super Soldier Serum flowing through her veins. There you have it, a readily available explanation for her longevity and abilities tucked away in an obscure issue without having to reach further forward into a mess of further future retcons and their unfortunate implications.

 

Where ever Natasha Romanoff is in the MC2, I hope she’s happy. I’m personally of the belief she’s alive and well, living off the grid someplace, laying low and doing what she does best.

 

 

Until I uncover more hidden lore for my spymasters, I remain

frogoat

 

 

 

 

Taskmaster in the MC2

 

With the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie finally being released, I thought I’d throw together a lazy tangential tie-in post. So, here’s a brief look at the Black Widow film’s mysterious antagonist as they appear (or don’t appear?) in my favourite Marvel Universe: Taskmaster in the MC2.

 

The mercenary with the photographic reflexes known as the Taskmaster has been around since 1980’s Avenger’s #195 and #196 but until relatively recently we knew very little about the character’s past, including his real name. As such it doesn’t relate to the MC2 and so I won’t be covering any of it here! I took a brief look at Taskmaster’s appearances to try and pin down the most likely point at which the Main Marvel Universe Taskmaster’s published history diverged from the MC2 published history.  The best fit I found was 1998’s Hawkeye: Earth’s Mightiest Marksman written by none other than MC2 co-creator Tom Defalco himself. If you disagree, feel free to let me know!

Now, as for the Taskmaster as he appears in the MC2, well, he doesn’t. Not really. But we do know what happened to him. You’d be forgiven for missing this reference in the pages of The Buzz #2: according to Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus ‘There’s been a noticeable decrease in quality henchmen ever since the Taskmaster retired.’ This is obviously a direct reference to the fact that Taskmaster is known for training the henchmen of various super villains.

 

Getting closer to an actual physical appearance, a statue of the Taskmaster can be glimpsed at the Avengers Compound as part of an exhibit showing the various threats defeated by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers (American Dream #1).

 

Beyond his retirement, we know nothing about Taskmaster in the MC2. He’s alive and presumably at liberty if he’s retired from his former occupation. Anyway, just a quick post this time to hopefully impart some new information for those interested in the MC2.

 

Until I master every superhero’s move sets at the cost of my own past, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

Loki in the MC2

 

With the new Loki television series new streaming on Disney + the present might be the best time to take a look at the Asgardian God of Mischief himself. So, here is a post dedicated to Thor’s adopted brother and everyone’s favourite trickster: Loki in the MC2.

 

Loki made his MC2 debut early on, in the introductory A-Next #1 where we saw the formation of the next generation team of Avengers. Just as he did in the original Avengers #1, Loki inadvertently helped bring these heroes together. Attempting to steal the enchanted mace of the original Thunderstrike using his rock troll minions, complications arise when Mainframe, Stinger, J2, Jubilee, Jolt and Speedball assemble to defend Kevin Masterson, the rightful inheritor of the mace.

 

Transporting the heroes to Asgard’s Isle of Silence and capturing them, Loki stood poised to harness the maces magical energy against his many enemies, only for Kevin Masterson to leap into the centre of Loki’s spell and grasp the Thunderstrike mace. Immerging from the ensuing explosion, Kevin Masterson finds himself transformed, merging with the mace to become the powerful hero Thunderstrike. The heroes escape to the surface only to find themselves overwhelmed by the trolls’ sheer numbers, but thanks to Kevin signalling for help the group are rescued by Thor and Loki flees. Following this, the assembles group are returned to Earth and some of the heroes’ band together to re-form the Avengers and history repeats itself, all thanks to Loki.

 

When next we see Loki Laufeyson again, he masterminds a plot to bring an end to the age of heroes he helped start. To do this, Loki sends the trolls to kidnap various heroes and -using a dark crystal- turns them against the remaining heroes (Last Hero Standing #1-#3).

 

With his plan nearly uncovered, Loki not only targets Doctor Strange and removes him as threat but also turns the incredible Hulk into his pawn too. With Hulk under the influence of Loki, he launches a vicious attack on all the heroes indiscriminately. Loki’s spell requires the sacrifice of a human life by a hero to bind the ensnared heroes permanently (Last Hero Standing #4-#5).

 

When Thor arrives alongside Captain America and a small group of other heroes including Spider-Girl, the final battle takes place. Thor battles Hulk and Captain America is left the last hero standing to oppose Loki. Managing to break Loki’s spell over the heroes by targeting Loki’s dark crystal, Captain America is still slain by the God of Mischief. Fortunately, Thor has not killed Hulk so the spell is not completed. Thor casts Loki to Limbo as punishment for his actions, with a repentant Hulk accompanying him at the last moment (Last Hero Standing #5).

 

That’s the last we see of Loki in the MC2, but it’s worth mentioning his daughter, Sylene makes her presence known not long after wards in the pages of the Avengers Next mini-series. If there’s interest, I’ll cover Sylene in a future post. She’s also an interesting character.

 

Until I fulfill my glorious purpose as God-King, I remain

 

frogoat