alright so as you all probably imagined I would, I take issue with this post, which will very likely get hundreds, perhaps thousands of notes
I’ll try to take this point by point, and if you all would like to add to this, I would really welcome any input you might have. Writing meta in defense of this pairing and Natasha’s AoU arc in general is a sort of lonely pursuit, so I welcome commentary and discussion.
“In their only previous interactions in The Avengers (which was, I remind you, also written by Joss Whedon) neither of them showed anything like romantic or sexual attraction towards the other; in fact, Natasha was justifiably terrified of Bruce’s Hulk side.”
Yes, but!!! By the end of the movie, she has chosen to trust him. Actually, everyone’s afraid of Bruce’s Hulk side, including Bruce. That is not a fear exclusive to Natasha. Please don’t reduce their entire arc together into something so overly simplistic - Natasha interacts with Bruce more than anyone other than Clint, and there are a lot of really interesting interactions between them worthy of analysis, particularly that scene between them in Calcutta [x] [x], their scene when everyone’s arguing over the scepter, and their final scene together. By the end of the movie, Natasha is handing him his bags and looking him in the eye whereas she was cautious even getting close to him before. Based on the thematic content of their arc and the interesting parallels between them in the first movie, there’s a lot to explore here, and Joss chose to do that in a plausible fashion with Natasha acting as his bodyguard, and clearly having done so for some time by the beginning of the film (Scarlett notes in a number of interviews that the Avengers have been together for some time and are a “well-oiled machine” and a “family” at this point).
“Their dialogue comes across as awkward and although they are otherwise very talented actors, Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo are lacking in romantic chemistry. This is not helped by having other characters such as Steve and Laura Barton commenting on how obvious the attraction is, which falls flat when there isn’t much of an actual connection to back it up.”
I feel like this is one of the many observations contingent on not understanding that their first scene was a roleplay, something they’ve obviously done before, initiated by Bruce. There’s a great analysis of their body language in that scene here. And I know I’m not the only one who found it hot as hell - actually, the relationship has largely been praised by film critics. Chemistry, or lack thereof, is subjective. But it’s nice to know that it’s been critically praised. Additionally, it’s clear why Nat is attracted to Bruce and why she chooses to act on her feelings at this particular moment. It’s the proximity of the farewell party, the success of the lullaby (she tells Bruce it worked better than ever this time), and Bruce’s admission on the quinjet that he trusts Natasha (which as we know from TWS is very important for her), that lead her to think it’s now or never. She needs to put herself out there before time and circumstances can sunder them from each other, so she tells him exactly why she loves him at the party and waits for him to pick up the slack. Luckily, Steve is there to encourage him. And we see them talking to each other in their own little world for the rest of the party.
“Their main points of connection are Natasha performing the Hulk’s lullaby and their shared infertility, which both have their own myriad of issues.”
No, not at all. Again, this is reductive and simplistic and sells both the characters short, individually and together. This ignores the parallels and potential connection between them in both the first movie and this one completely. Natasha’s biggest trauma wasn’t her sterilization - it was the deprivation of her autonomy, something Bruce has also experienced, though he is inadvertently at fault for his own deprivation whereas Natasha is not. According to what Nat herself said, being sterilized made killing “easier” because it was “one less thing to worry about.” Natasha felt like a monster because she is an assassin, and she’s just had to relive some of her worst memories from that phase of her life (i.e. executing someone she didn’t even know in order to “graduate”). Her arc in the movie is about asserting that her skillset can never be entirely divorced from her dark past, which will always cast a shadow over her heroic present - but some people work better within the shadows and can put them to use. She can’t separate her present, nobler self from her darker self, but she can control how that self manifests - she can reclaim her autonomy in that way. She chooses the path of a hero instead of finally choosing something for herself in one of the most pivotal scenes in the film, even if she doesn’t think of herself as a hero. And you have to be strong as fuck to do that. Actually, this is what Bruce’s arc is about as well, but he doesn’t believe himself to have the requisite control to choose the path that Natasha takes, so he leaves her and all the people he loves in order to keep them, and all of humanity, safe - that is his heroic path, for now.
“It makes little sense that Natasha would be the one to perform a calming method for the Hulk, when the two of them have very little emotional connection. More logical candidates would be Tony, who has a well-established and trusting friendship with Bruce, or Betty Ross, who has been canonically shown to be able to help Bruce down while Hulked out. Instead this duty is handed off to Natasha with no real explanation as to why, leaving the impression that as the sole woman of the team she is the one to handle emotional issues despite being known for her emotional distance even with trusted allies and friends.”
Tony is indeed Bruce’s trusted friend, but since when has Tony’s preferred methodology for dealing with problems been to try something non-lethal and persuasive? Remember, the Hulkbuster suit is his idea. Physical coercion is more his stock in trade, and although he is Bruce’s good friend, he doesn’t connect with him on the same sort of kindred spirit wavelength that Natasha does. Betty Ross has been canonically separated from Bruce for 5 years; there’s no reason to think Bruce would never make a similarly deep connection with someone ever again, especially someone with whom he has as much in common as Natasha. It’s like Scarlett said in an interview - the lullaby Nat develops as a result of that connection is the “physical incarnation” of what these characters feel for each other. Now, let’s talk about Natasha’s method of dealing with things by reflecting on what she told Bruce when she first met him, all the way back in the first movie - “I’ll persuade you.” Her methodology is typically to work WITH dangerous forces rather than against them if she can manage it - like when she faced down Loki and beat him at his own game by allowing him to think he’d won, and when she figured out how to close the portal in avengers - she explicitly says using force might not be the best way. And she’s right. Moreover, there are a lot of reasons why she might be able to connect with the Hulk and operate on the same wavelength as him - she knows what it is to be a creature of instinct, but unlike Bruce, she has learned control.
“And while the shared moment over their inability to have children is genuine and touching, it rankles a bit that Natasha’s rich backstory is only briefly touched on as a means for her to relate to Bruce, especially since there is no planned Black Widow movie to explore the issue further.”
I agree - but did anyone get extensive flashbacks/attention in this movie? This is a movie with 11 main characters and Natasha, Clint, and Bruce got more attention in narrative terms than anyone other than Tony. (Natasha actually got the most screentime after Steve and Tony, and Bruce got less than her.) Steve and Thor’s arcs were quite simple and bare-boned. I’d like a Black Widow movie too, but we have to be realistic about the amount of time that could be devoted to Natasha in this ensemble piece.
“In fact Natasha’s entire storyline is centered on her relationship with Bruce, while he maintains an individual plot centered on his increasing view of himself as an uncontrollable threat unfit to be around people he cares about. This leads to an important decision to go on the run once again, while Natasha’s Bruce-centric story has no real conclusion after he leaves and does next to nothing to develop her as a character despite the rich and complex insight into her mind in The Winter Soldier.”
As I said under point 3, that farmhouse scene wasn’t just about infertility - it was about the lack of autonomy of both characters - autonomy that they both reassert by the end of their arcs - Natasha by choosing to stay, and Bruce by choosing to leave. I discussed Natasha’s arc in brief under point three above, but here’s more about it, and here’s how it relates to Bruce’s.
There are a number of excellent analyses of Natasha’s arc by film critics as well, to wit: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
Basically, I completely disagree with literally every point OP made. What do you all think? Please, comment and discuss and feel free to disagree with me. I find posts like this (of which there are many at this point) really irritating because of how they refuse to engage with the very prominent arc Natasha and Bruce had in Avengers (which I wrote about extensively before this movie even came out and thereby managed to predict how their arc in this movie might go), and refuse to critically examine her arc in this movie by dismissing it almost, if not entirely, out of hand.
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