Friends and enemies: Black Widow’s 10 most important Marvel relationships
By Mark Lynch
![Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) as Black Widow in Marvel Studios' BLACK WIDOW. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2020. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) as Black Widow in Marvel Studios' BLACK WIDOW. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2020.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/f8ef959334aa8b2bceb9430cbc90ac6b838356f09078ba8d2bc61b84e7bbcd3e.jpg)
These are the 10 people who influenced Black Widow’s life in Marvel Comics for better and worst.
Black Widow hits movie theaters and Disney Plus on July 9th. It may have taken a while, but it’s finally happening and it will be the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie in two years (the previous film being Spider-Man: Far From Home back in July of 2019).
With the movie’s upcoming release, now felt like a good time to let fans of Natasha Romanoff know who the important people in her life are in the source material (you know, since the movie will tell us her MCU story).
So who influenced Black Widow in the pages of Marvel Comics? Let’s start with a villain.
10. Madame Hydra
There aren’t a lot of characters that don’t have a relationship with Madame Hydra – and Black Widow is no different. Except, in this case, it may not be as personal between the two as some of Natasha’s other enemies. Black Widow was a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. During her tenure there, she spent a lot of time going up against Madame Hydra and Hydra themselves. They’ve fought one-on-one multiple times but it has resulted in Black Widow winning most of their bouts.
9. Matt Murdock
Natasha and Matt Murdock (a.k.a. Daredevil) used to date. During their time together, Natasha seemed to make Matt do whatever she wanted. He seemed to be more enamored by her than almost anyone else he dated, and Natasha may have felt the same (with the exception of one other person who will be named later).
The two of them will always have feelings for the other. However, Matt seems to get nervous when he’s around her. Check out issue No. 2 of Nick Fury’s Secret War for a good example of this.