Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff is about to unleash a whole new level of badass martial arts next week, when Marvel’s Black Widow premiers.

The film is thought to be Johansson’s last role as Romanoff, as there are no confirmed plans for the character to appear in the MCU’s future.

As the hype for the film's release continues to rise, and early reviews highlight it as one of the best MCU films, fans have also been wondering about the significance of the hourglass-shaped logo.

You may have noticed that the Black Widow title carries a small, red hourglass-shaped symbol, which also appears in the film’s promotional posters.

The logo is not just a funky shape that Marvel came up with, but it’s actually the same mark that the Black Widow spider carries on its abdomen.

Black Widow spiders are often found in Southern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, as well as North and South America. The species is predominantly black except for the hourglass-shaped red mark on its bulk.

The spider is also depicted to be rather shiny, similar to Romanoff’s classic leather suit, and slender. The Black Widow is the fifth most dangerous spider in the world, and in order to protect arachnophobes, we’ve refrained from including a picture of it. Feel free to search at your own risk.

black widow logo

Black Widow Film Details

The prequel will follow Natasha Romanoff before the events of Avengers: Infinity War.

The MCU welcomes Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz and David Harbour to the franchise, where Pugh’s Yelena Belova is set to appear in the upcoming Disney+ show Hawkeye.

Black Widow will also feature the new antagonist Taskmaster, which is rumored to be Rachel Weisz’s character in a gender-swapped role.