—Yelena Belova[source]Pain and suffering is every day and we are both still a trained killer. Except I'm not the one that's on the cover of a magazine. I'm not the killer that little girls call their hero.
History
Early Years[]
At a young age, Yelena Belova was a candidate for the Red Room, a Russian shadow program that trained elite assassins known as Black Widows run by General Dreykov. From ages three to six, Yelena was part of an undercover scheme during which operatives Alexei Shostakov and Melina Vostokoff infiltrated Ohio in the United States, with Yelena and fellow but older Black Widow candidate Natasha Romanoff posing as the duo's children. Due to her own age, Yelena was unaware of the true nature of her fake family and grew attached to them. In 1996, Shostakov and Vostokoff completed their mission and blew their cover. The team escaped to Cuba. Once they arrived, Natasha showed that she had grown attached to Yelena by trying to prevent her recruitment into the Red Room.
Red Room Program[]
Although both Natasha and Yelena fell within the five percent of recruits that survived the Red Room training, they became separated early on. Natasha was eventually able to defect to S.H.I.E.L.D. and later the Avengers, breaking free of her mental conditioning. Yelena however was part of the next generation, for whom condition was not psychological but rather chemical. She remained in the Red Room until 2016 when on an assignment to recover the antidote for their mental control she became doused with it herself and went on the run.
Family reunion[]
_poster_013_textless.jpg){kind=link}
With no one else to turn to, Yelena mailed the remaining antidote samples to Natasha, who herself was on the run from after defecting from the Avengers due to the enactment of the Sokovia Accords. Natasha found Yelena in Budapest and learned from her that Dreykov was not dead as she assumed, and that the Red Room was still fully operational. Determined to free the rest of the trainees but lacking the means to locate the Red Room Academy, Yelena and Natasha broke Alexei out of the Siberian prison, who in turn led them to Melina, resulting in their "family" reuniting for the first time in twenty-one years.
As part of the plan to bring down the Red Room, they were captured and taken to the floating Academy that served as Dreykov's headquarters. Melina's knowledge of the facility enabled Yelena to escape, recover the antidote samples that were captured alongside them and release it into the group of Black Widows, instantly snapping them out of Dreykov's control. Because Melina had destabilized the structure, everyone was forced to make a frantic escape but Yelena forsook her chance to sabotage Dreykov's escape craft, finally killing him for good. She was rescued by Natasha who, after making the successful landing, said goodbye to her family and tasked them with replicating the antidote and freeing the rest of the Widows across the world.
The Blip[]
In 2018, while continuing her mission to free Widows across the world, Yelena was snapped away by Thanos. She then returned 5 years later, along with the rest of those who were killed by Thanos.[3]
In 2023, after Natasha sacrificed herself in order to bring back the half of life in the universe vanished by Thanos,[4] Yelena visited Natasha's grave to mourn her. Yelena had come to work for Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who sent her after Clint Barton, claiming that he was the one responsible for Natasha's death.[5]
Hunting Clint[]
In December 2024, when Yelena arrived in New York, she attacked Clint while he and Kate Bishop broke in to an apartment to retrieve a vintage Rolex watch. The apartment would turn out to belong to Maya Lopez. Yelena attacked Clint and Kate, and her identity was revealed to them as her mask was pulled off. She escaped shortly.[1]
Later, Yelena broke into Kate's apartment and made mac and cheese. She waited for Kate to get back, where they had a talk about why Yelena was in New York. When Kate found out Yelena was hired to kill Clint, she tried to dissuade Yelena from her assignment, but it would not work. However, Yelena did a bit of spying for Kate and found out that Kate's mom, Eleanor Bishop. And even more stunning, Yelena sent a video recording of Kate's mom talking with none other than Wilson Fisk, or the Kingpin.[3]
_from_Hawkeye_(TV_series)_Promo_005.jpg){kind=link}
Meeting Her Assignment[]
Years later, Yelena was sent by Valentina to destroy sensitive information in an O.X.E. research facility in Malaysia, being forced to blow up the entire floor once she couldn't break into the vault. After a brief reunion with Alexei, who Yelena noted to have not seen in a year, Yelena was then sent by Valentina to an O.X.E. facility in Utah to kill Ava Starr, who was told to be stealing data. However, once inside the vault where Ava was, John Walker arrived, trying to kill Yelena, as did fellow Red Room recruit Antonia Dreykov to kill Walker, who wound up shot dead by Ava. Noticing the orders and how the papers in the vault regarded the same Project Sentry that Yelena heard mentioned in Malaysia, she concluded that Valentina intended to destroy both people and evidence that would incriminate her. Yelena, Walker, Starr, and a man they found in the vault, Bob, escaped the vault's incineration. After having a conversation with Bob, who encouraged the group to abandon him but Yelena bonded with him over the emptiness they both felt, while advising him to burrow it into a void, they climbed an elevator shaft to return to the ground level. Outside they evaded O.X.E. troops, albeit Bob ended up in their captivity. The three roamed the desert until Alexei arrived with a limousine, having heard of Valentina's plans. Alexei's limousine with the "Thunderbolts", as Walker sarcastically called themselves after a story of Yelena's, namely her childhood soccer team, were pursued by O.X.E. military trucks, before being saved by Bucky Barnes, who then kept them in captivity so they'd testify against Valentina in Congress. Once Bucky was informed that Valentina had brought Bob to New York City, he accepted the group's suggestion to go after him. Once inside Valentina's headquarters at the former Stark Tower, she unveils Bob as her new champion, the Sentry, planning for him to destroy the group of "criminals" publicly and clear her name. The group's attacks are impervious to Sentry, causing the Thunderbolts to retreat. As the group discussed their situation, Yelena called out their overall incompetence out and walked away. Alexei followed her, and they had a discussion that made Yelena regain the motivation to keep fighting. Afterwards she helped civilians not be hit by debris caused by the emergence of Sentry's dark side, the Void. As Void started engulfing the city in shadows, Yelena willingly stepped into the darkness hoping she could again help Bob get some comfort. After reliving two bad memories, causing the death one of her friends in the Red Room and her recent struggles with alcoholism, Yelena managed to get into Bob's own mental projection. As she encouraged Bob to do like her and confront his pain, the Thunderbolts arrive to help them stop Void. To escape, Reynolds brings them to the "worst room," a manifestation of the research facility, where Void taunts Reynolds by calling him worthless. Reynolds violently battles his darker self and allows it to consume him, but the Thunderbolts manage to reach him and reassure Reynolds of his worth.Once back in the real world, the Thunderbolts notice Valentina running and pursue her, only to find themselves in a press conference where they're revealed as the "New Avengers." Yelena only goes along after whispering "we own you now" to Valentina, reminding of the leverage the new group has over this supposed benefactor.[2]Attributes
Abilities
Red Room Training: Yelena was one of the best Black Widows that emerged from the Red Room.
- Master Martial Artist: Yelena is an expert in the field of multiple martial arts.
- Expert Acrobat: She is an Olympic class athlete, gymnast, acrobat and aerialist capable of many difficult feats.
- Expert Marksman: Yelena is a very accurate marksman skilled in sharpshooting.
- Knife Mastery: Yelena is highly skilled in wielding combat knives.
- Multilingual: Along with her native Russian, Yelena is fluent in English and Hungarian.[5]
- Expert Tactician: She is a very effective strategist, tactician, and field commander.
- Expert Assassin: Yelena is a dangerous secret agent trained in espionage, stealth, disguise, infiltration, and demolitions, with a particular expertise in executions.
- Pilot: Yelena knows how to fly a helicopter.
Weaknesses
Notes
- Florence Pugh portrayed Yelena Belova in the films Black Widow and Thunderbolts*, and the TV miniseries Hawkeye. Violet McGraw portrayed a young Yelena in Black Widow and Thunderbolts*. Pugh will reprise her role in the upcoming films Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Trivia
- Yelena's favorite song is "American Pie" by Don McLean.
- Yelena's trademark green vest debuted in Avengers: Infinity War as part of the movie's design for Black Widow. Years later when working on the early concept designs for Yelena, Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development Andy Park decided to give the vest to Yelena as a throwback, with Black Widow then showing that Natasha had obtained the vest from Yelena.[7]
See Also
- 5 appearance(s) of Yelena Belova (Earth-199999)
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Yelena Belova (Earth-199999)
- 105 image(s) of Yelena Belova (Earth-199999)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Yelena Belova (Earth-199999)
- 2 victim(s) killed by Yelena Belova (Earth-199999)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hawkeye S1E04
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Thunderbolts*
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Hawkeye S1E05
- ↑ Avengers: Endgame
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Black Widow
- ↑ Hawkeye S1E06
- ↑ Park, Andy (26 July 2021) Andy Park on Instagram: "Yelena Belova!! What an absolutely fun ... Instagram. Retrieved on 26 July 2021.