☕️ Stony through the MCU?
Oh a juicy one, anon. I'm here for it.
So, I guess I should preface this with the acknowledgement that I came into the MCU rather late - like, pre-IW era - and that I had no previous attachments to any other version of Steve and Tony before meeting them through the movies. I feel like I should say this because I think this is one of the reasons MCU Stony hits for me while, for many comics!Stony fans, it falls flat. I came in without any expectations of how I'd like their relationship to be, and without much understanding of how it could be.
When speaking about Stony as a relationship, the question of them being or not being friends is often central. Because Steve and Tony are best friends in the comics, but they're really not in the movies. In fact, I think at a certain point, it's not unfair to question if they were ever friends at all, in the traditional sense. While they weren't always antagonistic towards each other, they also often weren't far from being that, either. Steve and Tony are built as very different characters who embody contrasting virtues - Steve represents an ideal, Tony represents the possibility to evolve through change; Steve embodies the past, Tony embodies the future.
Those differences are present in nearly every interaction they have, which, combined with the added backstory of Tony's father neglecting his own son to obsessed over Steve, creates a constant underlining tension that to me is just. so. good. They clash and mix in the wrong ways, misjudging and repelling each other, and yet. To me anyone who says they hate each other misunderstood the assignement, because there's so much respect and admiration in the way they talk to and about each other to others. And it's fascinating to me that all that doesn't translate into a smooth, comfortable friendship like Steve's with Natasha, or Tony's with Bruce.
To me it makes the few moments of honest conection between them - the end of AoU, their small exchange in the bunker in CW before it all goes to hell, Tony giving Steve the shield back in Endgame - all the more precious, because we know they're so fragile. They're tentative, hesitant. And yet, the desire for conection, the desire to reach an understading, is still undeniably there. That thread that connects them is so frail and yet so strong that, every time Steve and Tony exist in the same movie, their storylines are paralleling each other - most often through direct clashing, but also through more subtle theming as well. Tony's ending is making the choice Steve made forty years ago. Steve's ending is living the life Tony suggested he tried out. There's echoes of them all over their character's stories, essences. I find it beautiful, fascinating.
And I understand why others might not! It's still a very messy relationship, arguably with many more negative moments than positive ones, which is a sharp contrast to the stronger bond they have in other mediums. But in my time in fandom, I've found that it's the one interaction that truly appeals to me the most. Maybe I would have still shipped it if they became BFFs after Avengers (2012) and everyone lived together in the tower, who knows? But I was deeply touched by what we got instead, and I really, really appreciate it.
(send me ☕️ + [topic] and i’ll tell you my opinion on it!)
areudirty
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