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Overanalyzing Anime
Blog Owner & Lead Writer
For this series I’ll be taking an in depth look at each of the original Avengers by analyzing both their stories before Avengers: Endgame, but also how their respective stories end.
Click here for the full list so far!
Needless to say – SPOILERS follow.
The first Avenger on my list is Natasha Romanoff; AKA the Black Widow.
Let me start by admitting that it took me a while to appreciate how Natasha’s story ended. At first, I honestly didn’t care. I saw her lying there, at the bottom of that cliff, sprawled out on the stony ground in an almost identical fashion to Gamora the year before (or five years later, depending on how you look at it), and felt practically nothing for her death. It was a dramatic scene, sure - her and Clint vying for the opportunity to make the ultimate sacrifice for the team - but something about it just didn't hit the mark in the same way Gamora’s death did. Perhaps part of my apathy came from my thought that it could possibly be reversed somehow - but even after they all returned (and made it clear that her sacrifice could not be undone) I still couldn’t shake my indifference to her death. If anything, I was more upset that Bruce didn’t seem more affected by her death. Yeah, he threw that bench and claimed that he tried to bring her back when he intimated his own snap - but other than that, her death was simply skimped over; granted, the film had a lot more to accomplish after her death, so I understand why that had to happen. In truth, it felt as though her death was a way of showing audiences that the stakes were high - that, in the final chapter, they were willing to kill one of the original six. It just didn’t feel organic to me for some reason.
Honestly, it wasn’t until after the movie, when I finally had some time to digest everything that had happened during those three hours, that I was finally able to see her death for what it was; a perfect sendoff for one of the more complicated characters in the MCU. Let’s take a look at how..
In the five years following the snap she seemingly took on Tony’s crusade of “building a suit of armor around the world;” running herself ragged by making it her mission to ensure that the world continued to stay safe after Thanos wiped out half of all life on it. She looked tired and downtrodden, even more so than she did in Avengers: Infinity War - which had presented us with a version of her that had spent several years on the run. Not only that, she was alone; yes, she could have reached out to most of the Avengers if she wanted to, but that’s not the type of person Natasha was. Furthermore, the man she considered her best friend had gone AWOL; turning into a murderous vigilante hellbent on physically dishing out the pain he was feeling emotionally. And, to add more fuel to what was already a wildfire, the budding relationship between her and Bruce had all but fizzled out, even though the latter had finally returned to Earth.
Some people move on, but not us.
When I initially heard this quote in the trailer, I thought that Steve was referring to all of the Avengers and, while to some extent, he may have - after having seen the movie, it’s clear that he was specifically referring to himself and Natasha. And he’s right. He was never able to move past the life he felt that he missed out on with Peggy Carter, and Natasha was never truly able to move past the fact that she felt as though she was an irredeemable monster.
Don’t get me wrong, Natasha is, without a doubt, a hero. She’s just as much an Avenger as any of the other characters I’ll be dissecting over the next few articles – but she’s never been in the spotlight in any way that’s positive. Not like Iron Man, or Captain America, or Thor, or – now – even the Hulk. Her most public appearance was at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier wherein she dealt with the public fallout of purging all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s (or, rather, Hydra’s) information onto the internet. While the act itself – claiming responsibility for what she had done in the past - was heroic in its own way, the backlash she received for the act depicted her as more of a criminal than anything else.
Furthermore, the most important aspect of Natasha’s story is her relationship with Bruce. While I wasn’t necessarily a proponent of their budding romance in Avengers: Age of Ultron, I did feel that the relationship seemingly came out of nowhere. Yes, she was the one to recruit him in the first Avengers film and they shared a “unique” moment together when he “hulked out” and tried to kill her, but other than those two scenes – which couldn’t have been farther from “romantic” – the two never seemed to be anything more than teammates.
But, as with real life, feelings can catch you by surprise and the two seemed to just “click.” While as opposite as can be in term of their personalities, they bonded over the fact that they were each “monsters” – he, a man who transformed into a literal beast, and she, a woman who felt that her willingness to accept her role as a Black Widow made her just as monstrous. The two found comfort in the fact that, even with all their baggage, they could accept each other for who they were; they could see past the bad and acknowledge the good in each other. It was perfect - two broken people who, with each other’s help, tried to put themselves back together.
But then, he went and got whole all by himself. He not only managed to tame the monster within, he was actually able to fully embrace it and transform his identify as the Hulk into something that genuinely benefited society – the type of individual that children could run up to and ask for an autograph or a selfie. Hulk – or, rather, Bruce – was no longer a monster; he was a bonafide superhero.
However, the same couldn’t be said for Natasha. Instead of embracing her role as a camera ready superhero, she became more reclusive and hid within the confines of Avengers HQ, trying her best to make up for the fact that she wasn’t able to stop Thanos, that she wasn’t able to save Clint, and that she wasn’t yet “whole” enough to be with the new Bruce.
But then, she found a way.
She tracked down Clint and managed to pull him out of the abyss that had slowly been consuming him over the last five years; she, alongside the other Avengers, devised a plan to seek out the Infinity Stones and bring everyone back; but, most importantly, she found a way to give genuine meaning to her life – by offering it up to bring back trillions of lives – and, even more importantly, bring back her best friends family.
Black Widow wasn’t the strongest Avenger; she wasn’t the most intelligent; nor did she have any specific skills that made her absolutely irreplaceable on the team. I say all of this with no disrespect – as I said before, she was, without a doubt, as much an Avenger as anyone else - but out of all the Avengers, she brought the least to the table. However, with this act, she was able to do what no other Avenger could – give them access to the Infinity Stone that was (without a doubt) the most difficult to obtain. And, that’s pretty damn impressive.
Now, as I said at the start of this piece, Natasha’s death was a perfect sendoff for her character, and I one hundred percent stand by that.
If I ask you to think about one person who died in this film, most will immediately jump to Tony or Thanos – and that’s fair, especially of Tony. Not only did he die a heroic death – delivering the final blow to Thanos and his cronies – but he died in the presence of those that he both loved and was loved by.
Tony died a glorious hero’s death. Natasha did not.
Natasha jumped off a cliff in the presence of her best friend and, while she was mourned, she wasn’t given a send-off in the same way Tony was. Not even close. There was no intimate funeral for her, no moments of remembrance; she was simply there one moment, and gone the next. It’s sad, honestly. Someone we had followed for so long – someone who was a founding member of the Avengers – killed off and not mourned for more than a few moments before the plot moved forward to the next act. It seemed like she deserved more, until you think about who she was as a character.
Tony will forever be remembered for his act of heroism – his name will be in the annals of history forever more (both in the MCU and in our hearts), but not Natasha. Yes, there will be those that remember Natasha’s sacrifice – but not most; and never to the extent that we will remember Tony’s. And, honestly, would she really have it any other way? Natasha Romanoff – the Black Widow – was an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. A spy. She’s helped keep the world safe on numerous occasions and never sought praise or glory – she was always just doing what needed to be done; completing the mission at hand. And what was this, if not just another mission?
Avengers: Endgame (along with Avengers; Infinity War) had us say farewell to a number of different characters, and this by far was a fitting end to our favorite red-headed spy. Probably the best death of the film – given all that led up to it.
Be sure to leave a comment telling me your thoughts and stay tuned for my next post which will focus on Clint Barton – Ronin!
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