Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow is headed back on-screen in 2026 with a gunmetal gray redesign that Marvel Studios has now shown in X-Men ’97. The new look shifts Natasha Romanoff away from the red-heavy silhouette most viewers associate with the MCU and places the comeback inside a very specific comics reference point.
Lake Bell voices Natasha Romanoff in animation, including Marvel’s What If...?; the role has therefore already moved beyond Johansson’s live-action run from Iron Man 2 through the 2021 solo movie. That makes the design reveal more than a costume update: it signals how Marvel Studios is handling a character who now lives in two formats at once.
Gunmetal gray and gold trim
The suit shown for Black Widow uses a tall, popped collar, gold trim down the sides, layered gold gauntlets around the wrists, and a black spider emblem on the chest. Her red hair is short and swept back, giving the character a sharper profile than the earlier animated and live-action versions.
That visual package matters because it does not read as a generic refresh. It pulls Black Widow toward a colder, more militarized look while still keeping the spider emblem and the red hair that identify Natasha Romanoff immediately.
Jim Lee’s Uncanny X-Men #268
The design is based on Jim Lee’s work in Uncanny X-Men #268 from 1990, the issue that united Wolverine, Captain America, and Black Widow. In that story, Captain America and Logan protected a young Natasha from the Hand in 1941 Madripoor, so the new animated suit lands as a deliberate callback rather than a random style change.
That choice also separates the return from the MCU’s live-action look. Scarlett Johansson’s version defined the character for years, but the 2026 revival leans on a comic-book blueprint that gives the animation a different visual grammar and a different period feel.
Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs
The post-credits scene in Season 2, Episode 4 of X-Men ’97 on Disney+ already put Black Widow back in motion, with Wolverine on a rooftop in Paris beside Captain America and a file stamped “Weapon X.” That scene directly sets up Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs, which streams on Wednesday, July 15.
The catch is that nothing in the reveal says Black Widow will appear beyond that one scene, so the comeback may still function as a quick cameo rather than a larger turn. For viewers, the immediate payoff is the design and the setup; for Marvel Studios, the test is whether the 2026 return grows past the post-credits tease.
