MCU Phase 4: 10 Comic Book Panels That Must Be Recreated

9. Black Widow Escapes The Helicarier

Mark Waid and Chris Samnee are something of a creative tour de force for Marvel, with the duo having revitalised Daredevil in 2012, Black Widow in 2016 and now Captain America too.

Everything the pair touch just seems to turn to comic book gold, and their stint on Black Widow is no exception. Following Nat as she seemingly betrays S.H.I.E.L.D., the book made an effort to explore the character's origins and introduced a new villain for the super spy to contend with - The Weeping Lion.

Blackmailed, on the run and attempting to make sure her past stays in the past, Nat comes to grips with the infamous Red Room in a story that's as much a reappraisal of her origins as it is her future. It's undoubtedly the best treatment the character's received on the page, and with fans dying for a Black Widow solo film, there's no better inspiration to look towards than the Waid/Samnee series.

Although Natasha's bloody ledger is out in the open, a similar storyline following the assassin defecting from S.H.I.E.L.D. would be great to see, if not solely because of the fact we'd get to see Nat bust out of the Helicarrier, hopping from one flying car to the next during her escape. Make it happen Marvel!

Ewan Paterson

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.

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