Black Widow Movie: 10 Comic Book Storylines Marvel Must Adapt

10. Deadly Origin

The world doesn’t need another superhero origin story, but we’d take a Romanov-centric one over no Black Widow movie at all.

If Marvel Studio insists on revisiting this already well-trodden path, they could do far worse than a loose adaptation of Paul Cornell’s Deadly Origin, a 2010 series that gathered up the shards of the character’s convoluted past and pieced them together into something coherent.

Part of Natasha’s appeal is the sense of mystery and shadowy intrigue she commands, and this remains intact in Deadly Origin as Cornell weaves a tale of espionage coloured by betrayal - it’s basically what a James Bond movie would be if 007 was female and an even more ruthless killer.

When an old skeleton emerges from her closet and the Icepick Protocol turns her allies into enemies, fans got to see what Black Widow is really made of - and it’s tougher stuff than Vibranium.

This globe-trekking adventure takes readers from the frozen streets of Russia to the stratosphere, and a guest appearance by the Winter Soldier paves the way a Sebastian Stan cameo although Wolverine’s involvement would be trickier to secure.