Friends and enemies: Black Widow’s 10 most important Marvel relationships

4. Red Guardian

Red Guardian (Alexei Alanovich Shostakov) may be on the same side as Natasha in Black Widow, but they are usually at odds in Marvel Comics. Granted, at one point they were married. Since then, however, Alexei has made it a point to try and kill her. He once claimed that his reasoning for doing so was down to the fact that he just doesn’t like her. As you’d expect, though, Alexei hasn’t succeeded in putting Natasha down for good. He even tried switching aliases to make it happen (he became Ronin) and still failed in his mission.

In Kelly Thompson’s Black Widow, Alexei worked with Natasha’s villains to try and keep her safe. In issue No. 5, he took a bullet for her. Natasha believes him, but says this isn’t over and that they will speak soon.

3. Logan

Natasha has known Logan for decades (since the 1940s to be exact). When she was a child, she gave him the nickname Little Uncle. He helped train her to be the assassin she is today. Since then, the pair have been friends and allies, going on a bunch of missions together – some of which have been secret missions with Nick Fury.

Natasha is also one of the few people Logan trusts with his life and his secrets. They’ve joked, eaten, and drank together as well. Their relationship is one of the best – and most important in Black Widow’s life.