Should the Black Widow become a crime-fighting partner of Spider-Man?

[Hrist]

I would think Natasha is pretty open sexualy. She's from the school of Nick Fury and Wolverine except that she is a woman in that it's not an issue for her, she's a old school warrior and I think she would probably pick up a guy in a bar and relieve herself. Simple as that. So making Peter her lover would not be a big deal. Plus Peter has grown up over the time. Forget the Bendis jokey characterisation, Peter is not the teeny stupid hero anymore, he's an experienced adult super-hero. Things change.

Except she never does that. Tragic romance is a core part of her character concept, she is a widow, her loyalty to the KGB was motivated partially by the loss of her husband, she is very guarded about personal relationships because people she loves tend to die, because her profession has tried to make her dispassionate and removed. This is like, basic stuff. It would be a big deal for her. It's almost always a big deal. She's not a very open person, just at all.

And Peter doesn't find her that appealing, either. I don't know how getting older would have changed that.

[Ed Sizzers]

Things change.

Not for Spidey, they don't.

Well, OK, they did. But then they didn't. And they never had. Or something.

And to answer the original question, add another no to that already long list.

[Darthfury78]

Except she never does that. Tragic romance is a core part of her character concept, she is a widow, her loyalty to the KGB was motivated partially by the loss of her husband, she is very guarded about personal relationships because people she loves tend to die, because her profession has tried to make her dispassionate and removed. This is like, basic stuff. It would be a big deal for her. It's almost always a big deal. She's not a very open person, just at all.

And Peter doesn't find her that appealing, either. I don't know how getting older would have changed that.

You're quite right about The Black Widow having a tragic romance as well as her past. And she is quite private about her personal life. Silver Sable is in someways like The Black Widow to the fact that very few people are close to her. By comparison, Peter never found Silver's personality to that appealing either in his past dealings with her, as well as The Black Widow. What would surprised Spider-Man might be the notion that Natasha actually likes him a lot, but doesn't want to admit to that. Similarly, Peter had no idea that Silver likes him as more than just a hired helper of hers. While I am not saying that a mutual friendship between The Black Widow x Spider-Man will ever happen, if Silver Sable is any indication, a working relationship outside of The Avengers might be a realistic option for them.

I can't see why so many people are against The Black Widow and Spider-Man in a partnership? Ms. Marvel was an unlikely crime fighting partner of Spider-Man outside of The Avengers. And she's far more powerful than either Spidey or The Black Widow. But no one likes the idea of The Black Widow in a team-up storyline with Spider-Man? Well, she's currently in a team-up story-arc with Spider-Man. We rarely ever get to see them interact together outside of The Avengers. And Natasha's partnership with Spider-Man is no different than his mutual friendship with Logan, who she's very close to. And Logan's personality is almost a total opposite of Peter Parker. Yet they have a strong friendship.

Wouldn't be cool to see Todd McFarlane return to Marvel to work on a Spider-Man x Black Widow project for Avenging Spider-Man?

[Darthfury78]

Here is a cool picture that I found:

[Lady_Alternate]

I can't see why so many people are against The Black Widow and Spider-Man in a partnership?

One-off team up? Fine; they happen. The question posed by the thread implies a longer relationship where Widow becomes a supporting character in someone else's book.

[TheboyinShadows]

No cause Sable would be better.

[Ziggy Stardust]

I recently re-read the entire first run of Marvel Team-Up. And some of the ones where I felt the chemistry worked best involved Natasha. One story even had her with amnesia and getting quite fond of Spidey, to the point of a kiss.

Face it, she's a "spider" too, sticks to walls, has red hair, and is enough of Peter's opposite to make things interesting.

I say they should be occasional partners in fighting crime and between the sheets.

[Darthfury78]

One-off team up? Fine; they happen. The question posed by the thread implies a longer relationship where Widow becomes a supporting character in someone else's book.

I never said that The Black Widow would be a supporting character in Amazing Spider-Man. I mentioned the idea of The Black Widow as an alternate crime fighting partner to The Black Cat for Spider-Man. And their team-up adventures could start in Avenging Spider-Man and move into a potential Black Widow mini-series. What's wrong with that idea? If the Black Widow could have a regular on-going series, then Spider-Man could appear as a guest for a story arc every now and then, just like he used to do with Carol Danvers in The Ms. Marvel series before it got canceled.

[Darthfury78]

No cause Sable would be better.

Silver Sable has already admitted to having feelings for Spider-Man, as well as Ms. Marvel. Who would ever thought that these types of women would have a personal interest with Spider-Man? I have no doubt that Silver Sable will team-up with Spider-Man in the future. But, it might take a longtime for that to happen again.

[TheboyinShadows]

I never said that The Black Widow would be a supporting character in Amazing Spider-Man. I mentioned the idea of The Black Widow as an alternate crime fighting partner to The Black Cat for Spider-Man. And their team-up adventures could start in Avenging Spider-Man and move into a potential Black Widow mini-series. What's wrong with that idea? If the Black Widow could have a regular on-going series, then Spider-Man could appear as a guest for a story arc every now and then, just like he used to do with Carol Danvers in The Ms. Marvel series before it got canceled.

Yeah I believe you should have clarified this stuff on the poll something like, should SpiderMan have the black cat kind of relationship with Natasha.

Still prefer Sable, not that this isn't an interesting concept.

[Lady_Alternate]

I never said that The Black Widow would be a supporting character in Amazing Spider-Man. I mentioned the idea of The Black Widow as an alternate crime fighting partner to The Black Cat for Spider-Man. And their team-up adventures could start in Avenging Spider-Man and move into a potential Black Widow mini-series. What's wrong with that idea? If the Black Widow could have a regular on-going series, then Spider-Man could appear as a guest for a story arc every now and then, just like he used to do with Carol Danvers in The Ms. Marvel series before it got canceled.

...the Black Cat who is a supporting character in someone else's book, and has never really been anything but. You're not really making anything clearer, and my point still stands.

[Rheged]

No. The less Spider-Man the better.

[rogerio]

No way....they live in different worlds.

[lilyinblue]

I'd say below (she's done some questionable things), beyond, and apart.

Black Widow has never been a major superhero in her own right, Marvel's currently in the process of making Parker one of the top heroes in the 616, and Cable's noted that he will eventually become the greatest hero that ever lived. Spider-Man as her sidekick? Please.

You have to look at it from the in-character perspective instead of the reader perspective.

Yes, externally, to the readers... Spider-Man is one of Marvel's headlining heroes while Black Widow is not.

Internally, though... Spider-Man is a guy who primarily operates in NYC who has been doing this hero thing for maybe 10-15 years at most (taking sliding timescales into account). On the other hand, the Black Widow is a globe-trotting super spy who has been doing this stuff since before his Aunt May was probably born. Of the many roles Tasha fills, I'd say a big one is simply as a real voice of experience.

Granted... I don't see him being her sidekick, I think the reverse would be even more jarringly out of balance.

[Hrist]

I recently re-read the entire first run of Marvel Team-Up. And some of the ones where I felt the chemistry worked best involved Natasha. One story even had her with amnesia and getting quite fond of Spidey, to the point of a kiss.

Face it, she's a "spider" too, sticks to walls, has red hair, and is enough of Peter's opposite to make things interesting.

I say they should be occasional partners in fighting crime and between the sheets.

The whole point of that story was that they only had that chemistry when she was brainwashed, basically, when she was emphatically not herself. Peter liked the soft Nancy Rushman personality that needed to be protected, not the strong-willed Natasha.

People keep bringing up the "they're both spiders!" like it's a good thing; it's probably the strongest objection I have. Not only does sharing a vague codename similarity not mean anything in terms of character chemistry, but Natasha's one of the most prominent superheroines at Marvel whose legacy isn't tied to a man somehow. The similarities with Spider-man are coincidental, and easy to brush off so long as she doesn't interact with him that much. But if you make her part of his supporting cast, I'd be worried.