Black Widow VS Widowmaker

Black Widow VS Widowmaker is the 106th episode of Death Battle, featuring Black Widow from Marvel Comics and Widowmaker from Overwatch in a battle between female augmented assassins. Black Widow is voiced by Natalie Van Sistine and Widowmaker is voiced by Jeannie Tirado.

Description
Watch the webs these widows spin in the first 3D animated fight of Season 6!

Interlude
(*Cues: Wiz & Boomstick - Brandon Yates*)

Wiz: Some people are born to be heroes or villains, but many are thrust upon these roles with very little regard, and must simply make the best of their new, stressful life.

Boomstick: Like Black Widow, the covert enemy turned ally of the Avengers.

Wiz: And Widowmaker, the deadly, but unwitting, adversary of Overwatch.

Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.

Black Widow
Wiz: Natalia Romanov, more commonly known as the anglicized Natasha Romanoff, is one of the more curious members of the legendary Avengers.

Boomstick: Yeah, unlike most of them, she doesn't have any ridiculous superpowers, and she even started out as a bad guy!

Wiz: Like many secret agents, Natasha's past is a mystery. One account claimed she was raised by a soldier named Ivan Petrovich, who taught her the art of combat. His teachings were so affluent, that Natasha was kidnapped by an order of assassins known as The Hand, intending to train her as their master assassin.

''Popup: Black Widow's backstory is intentionally left as vague as possible to lend credence to her work as a spy. However, regardless of her past, she always ends up in the same place.''

'''Boomstick: Luckily, Wolverine and Captain Boy Scout rescued her. But she eventually put her talents to use, working for the KGB and becoming a famous ballerina.'''

Wiz: However, the most likely story was that Petrovich admitted a young Natasha to a secret soviet program called the Black Widow Ops. There, in the infamous Red Room, Natasha was trained to be the deadliest spy in the world.

'''Boomstick: She learned all sorts of stealth, assassination, and martial arts techniques, including the newly invented Sambo style, which is basically like street fighting Judo mixed with the craziest grappling moves ever. Like, how does she even do that? Are Russians magic?'''

Wiz: She learned dozens of other martial arts, including Karate, Mui Tay, Aikido, and Kung Fu.

'''Boomstick: And she's mastered all sorts of weaponry, becoming an expert marksman. Damn, sign me up for the spider ops!'''

Wiz: Don't get the wrong idea, the Red Room was brutal. Natasha was brainwashed, literally programmed with false memories, which included her days as a ballerina. She was even forced to duel other members to the death. Crazy to think about, considering how much went into each one's training, but all the more to transform her into the ultimate stone-cold spy, codenamed Black Widow.

'''Boomstick: Eh, sometimes that's what you gotta do if you wanna be a winner. When I was a kid, Mama Boomstick trained me and some friends to eat over sixty hot dogs in ten minutes. I was the only one who survived.'''

Wiz: That's...wow...

Boomstick: You should see it coming out...

Widowmaker
Wiz: While the stories of many world class assassins often carry a truckload of baggage, few are as heartbreaking as the case of Amélie Lacroix.

Boomstick: That's even more true than you think, but we'll get there.

Wiz: Growing up, Amélie never aspired or trained for combat. In fact, she devoted much of her life to becoming a world-renowned ballerina in Paris, France. Amélie's husband, however, was a key figure for Overwatch, a global peacekeeping organization spearheading operations against a terrorist group called Talon.

'''Boomstick: Talon tried over and over to kill this guy, but they just couldn't pull it off. So instead, they kidnapped Amélie. Damn, not cool.'''

Wiz: Thankfully, Overwatch quickly rescued her, and life returned to normal.

'''Boomstick: Or did it? Nope! Because out of nowhere, Amélie killed her hubbie in his sleep.'''

Wiz: Turns out, the kidnapping wasn't just a simple ransom or attempted lure. Talon ruthlessly subjected Amélie to intense neurological reconditioning, molding her into the perfect brainwashed sleeper agent.

'''Boomstick: Right, because she was sleeping next to him in their bed and then bam! First kill! Sleeper agent!'''

Wiz: Right, sure. She returned to Talon to complete their psychological and physiological reconfiguration process. When all was said and done, Amélie Lacroix was no more. In her place stood the cold-hearted assassin known as Widowmaker.

'''Boomstick: Ah, I get why she's called Widowmaker! Though it is kind of weird that the widow she was making... was her.'''

Wiz: Brilliant deduction, Boomstick. Widowmaker embodies the coldhearted killer trope so well, it's actually literal. Talon's experiments slowed her heart rate and suppressed her emotions, turning her into an actual cold-blooded killing machine. Hence the cold blue skin.

Widowmaker: A single death can change everything.

Death Battle
(*Cues: Widow's Kiss - Therewolf Media*)

In the middle of a snowing city at night, a spider webs itself to Black Widow's red motorcycle, which she is driving alongside a black car. They eventually arrive on their street and park next to a building. Natasha looks both ways before tapping her kickstand and loading her sniper rifle.

She leaves her motorcyle in place as she begins escorting a white-haired client. Unbeknowst to her, the man is right in Widowmaker's reticle.

Widowmaker: Je te vois… (I see you...)

Amélie snipes the client in the head and kills him instantly. Natasha immediately takes cover next to the car and peeks over. Widowmaker unleashes another bullet which Black Widow narrowly avoids as it takes out the car window. Natasha kicks up a nearby green bottle for Widowmaker to shoot to give her time to set up her own sniper on the car hood.

Black Widow: Got you...

Black Widow fires off her sniper which Widowmaker hears and turns to counter fire. The two bullets graze by each other in mid-air as they continue towards their destination. Amélie narrowly avoids Natasha's shot and it ends up taking out a pigeon behind her. Widowmaker's bullet goes through Black Widow's reticle and strikes her in the shoulder. Thinking she's won, Amélie contacts her superior.

Widowmaker: It's finished, rendez-vous immediately.

However, she starts hearing tires screeching and notices Black Widow speeding on her motorcycle. Widowmaker gives chase by running on the rooftop and firing her Widow's Kiss at the street. Natasha narrowly avoids them as one of Amélie's bullets takes out a nearby taxi driver. She then leans on the right side of her motorcycle for cover and starts firing her wrist gauntlets at the rooftop.

Widowmaker uses her grappling hook to gain her ground and starts running on the building while continuing to fire bullets. She then aims and fires at the tire of a blue car that explodes upon crashing into a taxi. Black Widow's enhanced senses and agility allow her to leap her cycle over the fire with ease. She then notices a large aircraft heading towards the Ferris wheel in the middle of the city.

''Black Widow: Trying to escape me? No chance.''

Natasha starts heading towards the Ferris wheel as Amélie continues running on the roof noticing the chase.

''Widowmaker: Abort! Abort!''

Black Widow starts driving up the base of the Ferris wheel and attaches a grenade to her motorcycle. She then backflips off her bike as it crashes into the aircraft and explodes. She uses her Widow's line to avoid the incoming debris and swing forward. She holds onto one of the passenger cars as multiple explosions cause the Ferris wheel to detach it from the base and start rolling forward.

Widowmaker arrives at the edge of the closest building and activates her recon visor to see which cabin Black Widow is hiding behind. She fires at the right one, but Natasha lifts her left hand off to avoid the shot.

Widowmaker: Ugh, you've got to be kidding me...

Amélie leaps backwards as the Ferris wheel crashes into the building. She then walks forward and tries looking for her opponent in front of her. Natasha lands behind her and equips her electric baton as she dashes forward. However, the Russian spy ends up activating Widowmaker's Venom Mine and falls down coughing.

Widowmaker: What makes you think you can sneak up on me!?

Black Widow: Heh, I'm a goddamn Avenger...

Black Widow fires her Widow's Bite and electrocutes her opponent. She then runs forward and grabs Widowmaker to make them dive into the street. Amélie shoots her grappling hook to make them both crash into a window and land on one of the upper levels of the building into a dance studio.

Widowmaker roars as she starts unloading rounds with her Widow's Kiss. Black Widow flips performs a couple of flips to avoid nearly all of the bullets, with one just grazing her cheek. She runs forward and uses her baton to disarm her opponent and engages her in hand to hand combat.

Widowmaker tries firing her grappling hook again, but Natasha avoids it and pulls her enemy forward. Amélie uses her nimble legs to avoid Natasha and tries kicking her, but Black Widow avoids one of her sweeps and rapidly punches her into the mirror.

The fallen Talon agent grabs one of the broken mirror shards to stab the Avenger in the leg and stomach, but Black Widow is eventually able to block and disarm her before landing several blows and spins around her while tying a tight wire to her neck. Widowmaker reaches desperately for her gun while struggling to breath.

''Widowmaker: I... can survive... anything...''

Black Widow: Nice theory, let's test it!

Natasha back flips off of Amélie's leg to pull the wire enough to decapitate Widowmaker.

''Black Widow: Dasvidaniya (Goodbye). ''

Black Widow walks away and leaves Widowmaker's headless corpse behind.

KO!

Results
'''Boomstick: Damn! Which one was the cold-hearted chick again?'''

Wiz: Given her history, Natasha obviously brought a lot more combat experience to the battle than Widowmaker. Even still, this was far from one-sided. Widowmaker's arsenal in particular made it difficult for Natasha to out-gun her in ranged combat. Except for the venom mine, given her advanced immune system.

'''Boomstick: But once Widowmaker was disarmed, something which seems to happen a lot, Natasha got the upper hand. Like, literally. She's way better at hand to hand. That's a no-brainer, just based on how many martial arts she knows, her super serum boost, and how many people she's had to judo to death.'''

Wiz: They both could dodge bullets and were expert shots, but Widowmaker has never shown capabilities equal to Natasha breaking a neck in one strike, running 35 miles per hour, or shooting a moving bowstring.

'''Boomstick: They were pretty evenly matched when it came to taking hits, though. Natasha took a grenade to the face, while Widowmaker got hit by Doomfist's gauntlet.'''

Wiz: Yes, but while the gauntlet can take down a skyscraper, even in Doomfist's own hands, it certainly doesn't seem capable of doing so with one hit. Much less in the hands of a skinny teenager.

'''Boomstick: Hell, Doomfist escaped prison by punching through a concrete wall with his bare fists. I don't think hoodie kid's gonna pull that off, just a hunch.'''

Wiz: Widowmaker certainly had her moments, but she just couldn't match Natasha's greater speed, precision, and decades of experience.

Boomstick: She just couldn’t find that Widow of opportunity.

Wiz: The winner is Black Widow.

Original Track


The track for the fight is "Widow's Kiss" by Werewolf Therewolf. It is a slow, soft-rock orchestral track that sounds similar to the music heard in spy movies, which fits given the occupations of both combatants.

The track's title references the widow spider's deadly nature as they eat the males after mating. Both Black Widow and Widowmaker also possess weapons called the "Widow's Kiss."

The cover image features a black widow in the crosshairs of a sniper symbolizing not just that the two combatants are spider-related but are excellent marksmen.

Trivia

 * The connection between Black Widow and Widowmaker is that they are female assassins with a spider theme and generally use guns in battle. In addition, they have been specially trained by sinister organizations; Red Room for Black Widow and Talon for Widowmaker, and they both share backgrounds of originally being ballet dancers. However, whereas Black Widow started off as a villain that became more heroic as time went on, Widowmaker started off as an innocent woman that turned cold-hearted and ruthless.


 * This is the tenth episode where a Marvel character fights against a non-DC character, after Thor VS Raiden, Beast VS Goliath, Darth Vader VS Doctor Doom, Wolverine VS Raiden, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Android 18 VS Captain Marvel, Shredder VS Silver Samurai, Carnage VS Lucy and Ultron VS Sigma.
 * This is the fourth time the Marvel character beats a non-DC character, after Thor VS Raiden, Darth Vader VS Doctor Doom and Ultron VS Sigma.


 * This is the 11th Hero VS Villain themed episode, after Boba Fett VS Samus Aran, Yoshi VS Riptor, Starscream VS Rainbow Dash, Kirby VS Majin Buu, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (Remastered), Iron Man VS Lex Luthor, Meta VS Carolina, Hulk VS Doomsday, Metal Sonic VS Zero and Balrog VS TJ Combo.
 * This is the first Hero VS Villain themed episode where both combatants are female.


 * This is the 11th Females themed episode, after Rogue VS Wonder Woman, Felicia VS Taokaka, Chun-Li VS Mai Shiranui, Zelda VS Peach, Ivy VS Orchid, Yang VS Tifa, Cammy VS Sonya, Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers, Android 18 VS Captain Marvel and Raven VS Twilight Sparkle.


 * This is the tenth Comic Book VS Video Games themed episode, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Kratos VS Spawn, Thor VS Raiden, Fox McCloud VS Bucky O'Hare, Wolverine VS Raiden, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers, Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight and Ultron VS Sigma.
 * Torrian returns to animation for DEATH BATTLE.