Hawkeye kills Black Widow in a horrific way in the comics

Hawkeye and Black Widow have a close relationship in the MCU, but their Ultimate Comics relationship ended in a truly brutal way.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe,Hawk Eye and Black Widow enjoy a close partnership. Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff know they can count on each other under the most difficult circumstances and refuse to judge each other on their worst mistakes. Unfortunately, this is not true in all branches of the multiverse. Some alternate universes come to highlight the darker versions of these characters, causing them to behave in ways that moviegoers would consider horrible.

In the Marvel Comics Ultimate Universe, for example, readers can see a world very similar to the MCU. In fact, many aspects of Marvels Ultimate series – including one Nick Fury based on Samuel L. Jackson and the basis of Triskelion – have been adapted for films. The comics, which were originally created and written by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, even featured a Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff who shared a close friendship, it seemed.

Related: Hawkeyes Ultimate Origin should have been used in the MCU

In this universe, “Natalia Romanova” is a descendant of Russian royalty who was abandoned in her childhood and joined the Russian spy organization KGB. Thanks to the improvements of the government, Natalia – goes by the pseudonym “Natasha Romanov“- becomes an elite intelligence agent and assassin. Codenamed Black Widow, Natasha eventually travels to the United States and joins SHIELD.

Later, Fury forms a more public team that includes top members like Iron Man, Giant Man, Captain America, and the Wasp. Natasha joins this group and even enters into a relationship with Tony Stark, who goes so far as to propose and design a custom armor for his superhero activities. Hawkeye also joins this more public superhero squad and points out to Nick Fury that it’s very cool that their originally secret little group can now operate on such a huge stage.

Sadly, Natasha turns out to be a traitor who sides with a extremist group known as the Liberators. Blame the United States for turning Russia into a “bankrupt nation of whores and gangsters”, Natasha leaks the Hulk’s true identity to the press, frames Thor and Captain America, and even kills Tony Stark’s butler, Edwin Jarvis. She goes so far as to hold Tony Stark hostage, but here it turns out that she’s overplayed her hand, since the nanites that Stark injected into his blood to help him pilot his armor can be overridden, allowing Stark to bring him down.

However, the person most hurt by Natasha’s actions is Clint, whose family is being killed because of the Black Widow’s manipulations. Distraught, Hawkeye tracks Natasha to the hospital where she recovers and brutally attacks. Unrepentant and knowing that her former ally has no plans to spare her life, Natasha simply asks Clint if he has a message she can pass on to his wife and children. In response, Hawkeye tells her she won’t see them where she’s going – and shoots an arrow at her in the head.

It’s a horrific ending to what is typically one of comic book’s strongest friendships, taking on Natasha’s role as a spy defector – and her and Clint’s experience as black killers-. ops – to its logical conclusion. Many Marvel stories have questioned whether the Avengers can really trust Natasha, but the answer is almost always a definite yes. InThe UltimateandThe Ultimes 2,Millar and Hitch took things in another direction, shocking fans by finding a plethora of ways to tear the beloved team apart, with Clint’s murder of Natasha serving the Ultimate Universe’s mandate to tell stories that Marvel couldn’t (albeit in the darkest possible way.)Hawk Eye and Black Widow maybe fought over who die for each other in Avengers: Endgame (2019), but in the Ultimate Universe, their mutual loyalty was a lie that Natasha used to try to bring down Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

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