Marvel's new Black Widow has a tragic past teased in Wastelanders special

Wastelanders: Black Widow #1 excerpt (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Natasha Romanoff continues to kick but in the ongoing Black Widow series, but this January Marvel Comics will be introducing a new Black Widow as part of the upcoming Wastelanders series.

January 1's Wastelanders: Black Widow #1 will star a Black Widow, but it's not the Black Widow (Natasha). Could it be Yelena Belova? We can confirm it's not, as Marvel has said Wastelanders: Black Widow #1 will be her first appearance - and we've heard the alternate codename 'Grey Widow' floated around for the character.

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As you can glean from the Wastelanders: Black Widow #1 preview, the mysterious new Black Widow is apparently rescuing a bizarre new version of the Lizard called the Lizard King, who is imprisoned in an Orlando zoo. This is all set in the alt-reality future Marvel has dubbed 'Old Man Universe,' inspired by the iconic 'Old Man Logan' Wolverine story arc by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven.

Wastelanders: Black Widow #1 is one part of a five-issue Wastelanders project that includes solo issues in the Old Man Universe from Wolverine, Hawkeye, Doctor Doom, and Star-Lord.

Wastelanders: Black Widow #1's primary cover is drawn by Josemaria Casanovas, with a variant cover by Steve McNiven.

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Wastelanders: Black Widow #1 covers

Since this was announced, Marvel has announced a coinciding Wastelanders: Black Widow podcast series to launch January 10.

Wastelanders: Black Widow #1 goes on sale on January 12.

Here are the best Black Widow stories - good prep for what's next.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)