Who is White Widow? Learn how former Russian operative Yelena Belova went from super villain to super hero, just like her inspiration Black Widow. Many of Marvel's greatest heroes started out as villains.
Yelena Belova is an anti-hero and major protagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing as the deuteragonist of Black Widow and a former antagonist in the miniseries Hawkeye.
Since then, Belova has been seen in other Marvel projects including Hawkeye, and will reprise her role in the new Thunderbolts movie. That being said, it is unlikely that Belova would join the Avengers.
While both Yelena and Natasha are highly skilled fighters, it's well-known that Natasha was the superior combatant. But her combat ability isn't what made Natasha truly special. Her unflappable persona made her shine on more than one occasion. It's not that she's unafraid.
She, like other Black Widow assassins created by the dreaded Red Room, was subjected to a forced hysterectomy during training, and therefore cannot menstruate. But Black Widow doesn't let Yelena become the butt of a joke.
Yelena was born in Moscow, Soviet Russia; at the age of 15 she was recruited by the GRU. After the death of her trainer, Pyotr Vasilievich Starkovsky, she is activated as the new Black Widow and deployed to investigate.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier established that Romanoff was born in 1984 and Black Widow's prologue introduced young Natasha (Ever Anderson) in 1995 when she was 11 years old. Meanwhile, young Yelena (Violet McGraw) was 6 years old in Black Widow's prologue, so she was born in 1989.
In a world where emotion is used for exploitation and manipulation, Natasha's love for her sister makes her especially vulnerable. By looking for Yelena or sharing the truth about her past, Natasha would put herself in a bad tactical position.
By the end of the film, Yelena is so devastated by Natasha's death, that she's willing to listen to Val—a stranger—when she tells her that Clint Barton is responsible for Black Widow's demise (which occurred in Avengers: Endgame).
Marvel fans might be aware that the mentioned characters Taskmaster, Red Guardian, Yelena and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine are set to appear in MCU's Thunderbolt, which is expected to hit theatres on July 26, 2024.
Marvel Comics has recently revealed that Yelena Belova, the Russian assassin called the White Widow who is an ally of the Black Widow, will be getting her own solo series. White Widow #1 will launch before the character stars in the upcoming MCU film Thunderbolts, played by the impeccable Florence Pugh.
Bucky Barnes is one of the few figures who, while coming from the Red Room, Natasha trusts and cherishes. They first develop a romantic relationship when Barnes trains her as his Winter Soldier persona in the Red Room, though they are eventually split by their superiors.
Given that Yelena Belova hasn't been domesticated by the Avengers and has gotten used to a more easy life in the United States, she still seems to favor more brutal methods. While Natasha wasn't averse to taking someone out as needed, Yelena seems to go for lethal methods far more quickly.
Pugh first appeared as Yelena Belova in Black Widow (2021) After Endgame, Belova essentially became the MCU's next Black Widow and was last seen in the 2021 Disney+ series, Hawkeye.
So there you have it. After we last saw Yelena in “Black Widow,” she spent her time freeing other black widows from mind control, got snapped out of existence, and then began working as a contract killer for Valentina – which is how she got assigned to take out Hawkeye.
Eventually, though, Natasha gets the upper hand on Clint for long enough to make her decision final, and go through with it. She leaps off the cliff, sacrificing her life for the Soul Stone. When the rest of the team emerges from their time travel escapades successfully, Clint returns with the stone—but torn apart.
Black Widow's soul resides in the Soul Stone, and her soul cannot returned to her dead body, as the Russo brothers explained: “Returning the stone is not like a pawn shop, where you return something and get money back.” That means no refund can be made once the “everlasting exchange” is made on Vormir.
Why does Yelena have a Russian accent but Natasha doesn't?
There are two possible explanations - either the Red Room training was so thorough her accent was embedded naturally rather than taught, or Natasha decided to carrying on using her U.S. voice as a way of escaping the emotional trauma of her previous life.
In the source material, the identity of Natasha's mother is unknown, as she left a young Natasha in the custody of a man named Ivan Petrovich and she died shortly after during the Battle of Stalingrad, with Petrovich raising young Natasha.
How old was Natasha Romanoff when she went to the Red Room?
She entered into the KGB's Red Room program when she was 28 years old, not a little girl. Natasha was actually raised by a group of soldiers, and she fought as a soldier during WWII. When she joined the Red Room, she was given a chemical that stopped her from aging.
The Russo brothers, who directed Infinity War and Endgame, once said that Wanda intentionally dropped the accent because she was training to be a spy and the accent would give her away.
Eren Yeager - After hearing from Zeke about the existence of his half brother Eren, Yelena harbored a desire to see him due to holding more than one Titan ability, including that of the Founding Titan.
Natalia Alianovna Romanova, more commonly known as Natasha Romanoff, is a fictional character primarily portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—sometimes known by her alias, Black Widow.
