The MCU's storytelling is so generally successful that you may have ignored
Tony Stark objectifying Black Widow. Or the Hulk dabbing. Or the bodily
fluids covering the Milano. Keep watching for more MCU missteps.
Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow, is one of the most capable characters in the entire MCU.
Which is just one reason why it's so cringeworthy that her introduction revolves almost entirely
around her being objectified by Tony Stark, including a bunch of needlessly
gratuitous lingerie modeling photos. Oh, and maybe the worst line in the whole MCU.
"I want one"
"I want one." Outside of the gross, surface-level objectification of those three words, it doesn't
help that his love interest Pepper Potts happens to be the person to whom the line is delivered.
Johansson herself acknowledged her own role in how the sexualization
of superheroes developed while doing press in 2019 for "Black Widow." Needless to say,
her outlook on the character has changed a lot over the last decade.
"It's hard because I'm inside it, but probably a lot of that is actually from me too.
I'll be 35 years old and I'm a mom and my life is different. Obviously, 10 years have
passed and things have happened and I have a much different, more evolved understanding of myself."
That's one big reason she wanted to return to the MCU for a Black Widow solo film - to help
change the narrative around female superheroes in general, and Black Widow specifically.
"It's changing now. Now people, young girls, are getting a much more positive message,
but it's been incredible to be a part of that shift and be able to come out
the other side and be a part of that old story, but also progress."
Of course, cringe-worthy quotes about Black Widow aren't limited to MCU characters;
we've heard them from MCU actors as well. While doing an interview with Digital Spy UK
in advance of 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Captain America actor Chris Evans and Hawkeye
actor Jeremy Renner made some pretty tasteless remarks about Scarlett Johansson's character.
When Digital Spy asked them a question of dubious seriousness about MCU fans shipping Black Widow
with both Cap and Hawkeye, Renner decided to go full locker room with his response.
"She's a s—."
[laughing]
Though the remarks were apparently meant in good humor, they came off completely tone deaf,
especially considering complaints about the depiction of the character to that point.
Both actors faced an understandable amount of backlash for their respective remarks
via social media and each issued a statement. For his part, Evans gave a heartfelt apology,
saying that they, quote, "answered in a very juvenile and offensive way." He added,
"I regret it and sincerely apologize."
Renner, on the other hand, issued a classic
passive aggressive non-apology which made it clear he thought the backlash was dumb.
"I am sorry that this tasteless joke about a fictional character offended anyone.
It was not meant to be serious in any way."
"I was talking about a fictional character and fictional behavior. But, Conan,
if you slept with four of the six Avengers, no matter how much fun you had, you'd be a s—."
Still no apologies for his music career, however.
You'd think Marvel would have learned from those controversies,
but guess which character they mishandled yet again in "Avengers: Age of Ultron?"
One of the least beloved plot developments in the entire history of the MCU was the sudden,
weird romance between Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff in "Avengers:
Age of Ultron." While both characters are each separately fan favorites,
their relationship seemed ill-fitting, especially given that their most memorable scene together up
to that point was a sequence in Avengers where Hulk chased Natasha around trying to murder her.
But that uncomfortable fact paled in comparison with the horribly tone-deaf
scene in Age of Ultron where Natasha tells Bruce that she's a monster too because,
thanks to a forced hysterectomy, she can no longer have children.
"You still think you're the only monster on the team?”
Needless to say, many fans and critics didn't appreciate the idea that Natasha's value as a
human being extended only as far as her ability to bear children. Marvel made a small attempt
to address the controversy in the film "Black Widow," but given the nature of the multiple
controversies "Age of Ultron" director Joss Whedon has been in over the past few years,
this scene has actually gotten even worse with age, rather than better.
Speaking of Bruce Banner, perhaps the MCU went more than a little bit overboard in
trying to convey what a dork he is. Besides burdening him with tons of
nonsensical science jargon in multiple films, Natasha Romanoff just straight
up said it in "Age of Ultron," which you'd think would have been enough.
"He's also a huge dork. Chicks dig that!"
But apparently this wasn't enough, because Marvel went out of their way to make the new improved
Professor Hulk seem even dorkier in "Avengers: Endgame." When we meet Hulk five years after
"The Snap," Bruce has figured out a way to merge Banner's intellect with Hulk's body,
giving him the best of both worlds. Yet he's still a walking Dad joke,
as evidenced by the fact that, when approached by a group of kids for an autograph, he does The Dab.
"Hulk out! Dab!"
The Dab, which became popular as a fad in 2015, was already cringingly uncool when the movie
came out in 2018; the fact that he dropped that move in the film's 2023 setting? Yeesh.
This one is a little forgivable with the help of context. After Tony Stark
frees himself from the captivity of the Ten Rings in the first "Iron Man" movie,
he tells Pepper Potts he wants to do two things.
"I have been in captivity for three months,
there are two things that I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger. And the other…"
"That's enough."
When they arrive for a press conference, Tony's driver, Happy Hogan,
dutifully trots around the the car so Tony can retrieve another cheeseburger
from the Burger King bag. Really? You're held in captivity, facing certain death,
only to cobble together a super suit from spare weapons parts, engineer an escape plan,
survive a trip through the desert, and you hit up the BK drive thru before facing the media?
Of course, the main reason this scene was so cringeworthy is that it was such a blatant
product plug. As the first film in the MCU, of course, Marvel needed all the help it
could get to make sure their first film turned a profit, but this was "Wayne's World" level stuff.
"Contract or no, I will not bow to any sponsor."
Ironically, Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. has actually credited
Burger King with helping him get sober because their burgers are
so terrible that he realized he had hit rock bottom in 2003 after eating some of their food.
He told Empire the Whopper was so terrible he ended up throwing all his drugs in the ocean.
"It was such a disgusting burger I ordered. I had that,
and this big soda, and I thought something really bad was going to happen."
Jon Favreau, director of the first two Iron Man movies, chose not to return for "Iron
Man 3," which was written and directed by Shane Black. Originally, though,
Favreau had intended to make "Iron Man 3" - and he had hoped to use the classic Iron Man villain
The Mandarin. And Favreau had already alluded to the baddy in "Iron Man" with the Ten Rings
organization, a nod to the character's 10 magic rings that give him power.
But Black went a totally different direction, using both The Ten Rings
and The Mandarin as red herrings. In "Iron Man 3," the terrorist known as The Mandarin
actually ends up being a British actor named Trevor Slattery who was just hired
to play the part of a terrorist. It was all a shell game to keep Tony Stark chasing his
tail while the real villain, Aldrich Killian, moved behind the scenes.
For many fans, it was unsatisfying and even a slap in the face. Marvel had to
make amends by putting out the "All Hail the King" short film as a promise to fans that,
wait, there is a real Mandarin, so don't be too mad! This finally paid off in "Shang Chi and the
Legend of the Ten Rings," but it took years to get past this cringeworthy mistake.
Speaking of cringeworthy blunders, how about the time Star-Lord basically
killed half the living beings in the entire universe because?
You know what we're talking about. In "Avengers: Infinity War," the Guardians
of the Galaxy team up with a group of Avengers to try and take down Thanos. And their complex
plan actually works perfectly - up until the point where Star-Lord totally screws it all up.
After learning that his girlfriend Gamora was killed by Thanos in his successful bid to get
the Soul Stone, Star-Lord selfishly made it all about his feelings, abandoning the plan
so he could get a couple ineffectual punches in. Punches that Thanos probably didn't even feel.
But the rest of the universe felt it, because Star-Lord selfishly going off script
allowed Thanos to free himself, and ultimately snap half of the universe out of existence.
Understandable? Sure. But that didn't stop angry fans from taking out their displeasure
on Star-Lord, even after - no thanks to him - the Avengers later fixed everything.
So will fans come around when Star-Lord returns in "Guardians of the Galaxy volume
3?" Or has this idiotic moment ruined the character for good? Time will tell.
And while we're on the topic of Star-Lord, we also need to point out that he's really, really gross.
Sure, it makes sense. After all, Peter Quill never knew his father, and his surrogate father
was a blue-skinned alien pirate named Yondu who kidnapped him, so it's understandable that Quill
might develop certain anti-social behaviors, like being disgustingly unhygienic at times.
In fact, he seems oddly proud of it, or at the very least uncaring when Gamora remarks on the
general disarray of his ship, the Milano, in the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie.
After the group discusses selling the Orb — which contains the Power
Stone — Star-Lord's green-hued love interest informs him that his ship is
"filthy." Instead of taking offense, as one might imagine, he leans into it
"Oh, she has no idea. If I had a blacklight, this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting."
Pollock, of course, was a painter renowned for making art by splashing and spraying paint willy
nilly everywhere. And since black lights will cause certain bodily fluids to glow,
the kind we can't really spell out any further… EW!
We accept and acknowledge that Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, is a man from a different era.
Turned into a super-soldier during WWII, he spent decades frozen in ice after crashing a bomber into
the ocean. He's technically a nonagenarian, he admits he was in a barbershop quartet,
and he's definitely a bit naive at times when it comes to the ladies.
But while the Star-Spangled Avenger is as wholesome and all-American as apple pie,
there's no real reason to think he's a square prude.
So while the whole "Language" gag from "Age of Ultron" was good for a quick laugh
we're not sure it really makes that much sense at the end of the day.
"Fury, you son of a bitch."
"Ooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?!"
Think about it: there's absolutely zero doubt he'd have heard a lot worse while
fighting alongside enlisted men in WWII. He led the legendary Howling Commandos in the MCU;
do you think they were howling "gosh," "darn," and "heck" when things didn't go their way?
Would he have stopped to admonish them as they faced off against the German army and HYDRA? The
"Language" joke and its subsequent repetition just come off a bit forced and try-hard.
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