Before Summer break I wrote an article going on and on about Marvel’s reach for women. What that meant was that Marvel was trying really hard to be inclusive. They wanted women to feel comfortable and ultimately included in their movies, comics and TV shows and for the most part I was sincerely excited. I became more excited after Agent Carter was renewed for a second season (after a ridiculously long wait) and if you haven’t already jumped onto the Agent Carter bandwagon, please do so. I promise we’re all nice and encouraging aboard the Agent Carter bandwagon! If that isn’t convincing enough, then maybe you should consider the fact that Hayley Atwell returns as Agent Carter and she’s not only incredibly beautiful, but she has a super sense of humor and intelligence to match.
This is how Marvel reaches. And then they start to miss, but not really. When Summer started, I was arguably more excited for Avengers: Age of Ultron than I was for Summer. Naturally. The movie was directed by Joss Whedon who claims to understand and empathize with the oppression of women and the maltreatment of women in movies and television. My initial thought on Whedon is that anyone that has anything to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which he created) is okay in my book. You can guess from here that I was initially pumped for the movie and may have slightly over-hyped it, not only for myself but also for my 15-year-old sister and my 6-year-old cousin whom I took to see the movie.
My sister, cousin and I are huge fans of Natasha Romanov “The Black Widow” and we usually enjoy her portrayal. Which is understandable because she usually has this badass quality that I have come to know and love; she’s flirty but doesn’t feel the need to commit, she’s unashamed and unabashed and holy deities forbid, she lets one of the boys get in the way during her missions. Let’s get this straight: we’re not claiming that her portrayal before AoU was a good one. She is constantly used as a romantic ploy or as someone to assist the plot, more so someone to assist the male lead with his journey of self discovery and righteousness. But it felt different this time, there was something distinctly genuine about it and maybe it’s because she was bringing something to the table emotionally. Natasha rarely if ever speaks about her past and in one vulnerable instance, she is able to refer to it and simultaneously heal from it. The fact that at the end of the movie, these two don’t end up together is another strong pull for many reasons, A.) at the end of the day she isn’t some damsel in distress, she will make it out alright on her own. B.) it removes the romantic subplot, instead of thinking of it as Bruce and Natasha, we are now thinking about the situation as Natasha and how she will proceed from this point forward. C.) she is able to reconcile and come to terms with things and she is allowed space and time to grow from that. That is how Marvel tries to reach.
Besides that mishap we had no further hesitations, the movie was good. My only hope for Natasha in the future is that she’ll find herself one day. She’ll come to terms with the unfortunate reality that is her infertility and she’ll stop hanging around these boys that really don’t appreciate her. But if she has to end up with anyone (which she does, because she can’t just be a beautiful, single woman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), then she’ll end up with a Mr. Bucky Barnes “The Winter Soldier” because that’s comic book cannon.