Marvel: 17 Stan Lee created Marvel characters ranked worst to best

6. Black Widow

When it comes to characters with attitude, it’s all about Black Widow. The mainstream Marvel fans will know has as Scarlett Johansson and it is certainly a good portrayal of this strong, confident, and alluring woman, but there’s more to her. Natalia “Natasha” Romanova appeared back in 1964 for the first time. Stan Lee plotted and edited the script, but it was Don Rico who wrote it.

Now you see her on the side of the Avengers but that was never the case. She was created to be Iron Man’s enemy. It was only later in 1966 that she defected to the United States. In The Avengers #29, she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and then became Team Avengers.

This is a backstory that the movies have never had the chance to explore. We’ve only seen the initial focus of her as a Russian spy but not the story that led to her defecting. There’s so much to explore when the Black Widow movies are made.

One thing that has changed over the years is who she’s dated. While in the movies, she’s formed a bond with Bruce Banner, in the comics, she’s been a love interest for four characters (and none of them Hulk). Those who saw something between Black Widow and Hawkeye in the movies and haven’t read the comics may be interested to know that she was Hawkeye’s love interest at one point.

She’s also been the girlfriend of Captain America, the Winter Solider, and even Daredevil. Fortunately, she’s not been the token girlfriend. One thing that Lee and his team did do was flesh out this character to make her top 10 worthy.