| For alternate versions of the Budapest Operation, see Budapest Operation's Event Hub |
- "Before I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I spent five days in a Hungarian sewer, tracking down and killing the head of the Red Room."
- ―Black Widow[src]
The Budapest Operation was Black Widow's assassination of her former leader, Dreykov.
Background[]
- "Is that the infamous Red Room?"
"Yeah. Home sweet home." - ―Captain Carter and Black Widow[src]
At a young age, Natasha Romanoff was taken from her father by the Red Room and trained to be a deadly assassin. As a child in the Red Room, Romanoff was mostly raised by her adoptive father, Alexei Shostakov and adoptive mother, Melina Vostokoff. However, as an adult, she wanted to defect from the organization that had raised her, so she planned to kill the head of the program: Dreykov.[1]
Operation[]
- "Are you certain you killed him?"
"I mean, I stabbed him in the carotid artery with a corkscrew, so, yeah, I think I did." - ―Captain Carter and Black Widow[src]
Natasha Romanoff, now operating under the guise of Black Widow, traveled to Budapest, Hungary and tracked down Dreykov, staying hidden by traveling through the Hungarian sewers. Five days into the mission, she found him and stabbed him in the carotid artery with a corkscrew, killing the man once and for all.[1]
Aftermath[]
Black Widow and Captain Carter attack Loki
- "You go high, I go low?"
"Or we could just punch him a whole lot." - ―Captain Carter and Black Widow[src]
Natasha Romanoff decided to join S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving her past with the Red Room behind. She became close friends with Captain Carter during her early days at the agency. When Loki invaded Earth with the Chitauri, Black Widow joined the superhero team known as the Avengers — led by Captain Carter — and fought alongside her teammates in the Battle of New York, defeating Loki and halting the invasion.
Black Widow faces off against Melina Vostokoff and the Black Widows
Later, Black Widow reunited with her adoptive mother, Melina Vostokoff, and the Black Widows at the Red Room Academy while attempting to save a brainwashed Steve Rogers from the Red Room. Vostokoff revealed that her plan was to lure Captain Carter to the Academy to study her, going as far as mocking Black Widow and remarking that she became a disappointment when she defected from the Red Room.[1]