Marvel’s new young adult book Black Widow: Red Vengeance just dropped and we had a chance to sit down with #1 New York Times bestselling author Margaret Stohl to talk about her epic sequel to Black Widow: Forever Red.
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Black Widow: Red Vengeance is Stohl’s second Marvel book and centers around Natasha Romanoff, the Russian spy we’ve come to know and love from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Red Widow, a fierce fighter by the name of Ava Orlova with dangerous electrical powers.
ComicBook.com: Your new book Black Widow: Red Vengeance just dropped. Can you tell us a little about it?
Margaret Stohl: In last year’s Black Widow: Forever Red, we really dug into Natasha’s past, while also introducing Ava Orlova, our teen legacy character – the Red Widow. It was a love story, a family story and a coming of age story.
This year’s Black Widow: Red Vengeance was a much simpler story to tell. Both Widows are determined to make the Red Room pay for the events of Black Widow: Forever Red, which becomes a personal quest that takes them from Rio to the Amazon to Moscow and the streets of New York City.
This time around, we get to see the Red Widow as a hero herself – and see how that impacts the Black Widow. And I get to play around with not just the Black and Red Widows but Tony Stark, Carol Danvers and Maria Hill, so that was a wildly good time.
CB: We’ve seen Black Widow quite a bit now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not everyone is as familiar with Red Widow. Can you tell us about her history and powers?
MS: Ava Orlova is the daughter of a Russian quantum physicist tapped by Ivan Somodorov and the Red Room to experiment with quantum entanglement. Years later, when Ava detonates the same tech Ivan forced her mother to build, she acquires a self-generating energy field. Trained as a fencer, Ava teaches herself to use electric double blades.She modifies her old white Kevlar fencing uniform with the double red hourglass symbol and goes to train with S.H.I.E.L.D. as the Red Widow.
CB: It’s so cool to see Black Widow as the main character in your book as opposed to the sidekick. Are there any talks of adapting Black Widow: Red Vengeance to film? Can we expect to see Red Widow in any upcoming Marvel productions?
MS: Red Widow is a part of the Marvel canon now, so you are likely to see her again. She’s gotten her own one shot, Red Widow: First Strike, and another is about to hit in next month’s Ms. Marvel, Red Widow: Last O.P.U.S. Those were the first comics I’d ever written, and was also what led me to my upcoming run writing Mighty Captain Marvel – which kicks off in December. As for Black Widow, Mark Waid is my friend and the best of the best – so I feel super lucky to be sharing custody of Natasha with him. Chris Samnee is no slouch either, so I feel like for now, Natasha’s in great hands.
CB: I really love seeing a young adult version of such an epic and well-known comic book character. What was it like writing Black Widow as an adult and Red Widow as a teenager?
MS: Really it’s more the humor that comes between the Red Widow as a teen and the Black Widow as an adult, who is totally terrible at dealing with a teen that makes for my favorite scenes. Throw Tony Stark in there and the whole thing just kind of falls apart!
CB: If you had to sort Black Widow and Red Widow into their Harry Potter Hogwarts house, which ones would you put them in and why?
MS: Black Widow is sort of a Slytherin-Ravenclaw mashup to me – she’ll do the dirty deed if she has to, as long as it keeps you from having to do it. Her mind is always racing ten steps ahead of everyone else’s, though, so that’s very Ravenclaw.
Ava Orlova, as the Red Widow, is hugely influenced by Natasha Romanoff, so she might be sorted the same way. Ultimately, she’s a bit more openly Gryffindor, though. Her relationships are few and thus very precious – like Natasha, even if she works more to hide it.
CB: What was your process like for writing Black Widow: Red Vengeance?
MS: I read everything I can get my hands on – all the Black Widow comics, plus the movies and broader genre spy novels and military histories, as well as those broader genre movies. Then I put my head together with Sana Amanat, Director of Content and Character Design at Marvel, and Emily Meehan, Associate Publisher at Disney / Marvel Press. Then they just sort of let me go for it, and it’s a constant back and forth from then out.
CB: Who are your favorite comic book heroes?
MS: I’m having so much fun writing Captain Marvel right now, she’s pretty much all I can think about aside from Natasha. I am #CarolCorps all the way. Carol Danvers is funny and smart and tough. She’s going to be exhausted after her run in Civil War 2, and I’m excited to show the world some other sides of her.
CB: Can we expect to see more Marvel books from you in the future?
MS: Yes, there are things in the works, so hang tight – but I’ve got my hands full with getting the Captain Marvel reboot going.
Stool’s Black Widow: Red Vengeance is out now and can be found in most major bookstores and online at the Disney store and Amazon. So don’t miss out on the action-packed sequel!
