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May 1st is the day. It has been five years since Avengers: Age of Ultron introduced us to Brutasha (Natasha Romanoff and Dr. Bruce Banner relationship) and I have a theory on this seemingly abrupt relationship. (( Bustle )) Looking at Natasha, she entered the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) deliberately flirting with Tony Stark in order to get closer to him to be able to keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble as much as possible.
Dr. Banner is reluctantly in the fight, constantly wanting to be counted out but when he is in the fight, he turns into the Hulk. He spends most of the first Avengers as Dr. Bruce Banner, claiming that he cannot control that side of him. Why would it be such a long stretch to believe that Nick Fury gave the job of getting close with Dr. Banner to Natasha Romanoff, the only woman of the team?
Was She An Agent On The Inside?
The theory for the Brutasha relationship is that Nick Fury told Phil Colson to send Natasha in the first Avengers to recruit Banner to start a connection between the two. Between getting thrown by the Hulk in Avengers to flirting over a bar at an Avengers party in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Fury told Natasha that she would be the one to handle the Hulk in order to calm him back down to Dr. Banner. It’s not a far stretch considering her actual job with S.H.I.E.L.D. is to manipulate people’s emotions into getting the information she needs. In fact, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Fury tells Steve that
“Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything.”
Looking at her first scene in Avengers, she is interrogating a mafia member while he believes he is integrating her. This also happens with Loki when she finds out that his intention is to make Dr. Banner into the Hulk by faking crying as he admits his plans. Having her start a relationship with Banner would cause there to be an extremely easy way to get the Banner side of the Hulk to come out and control himself.
With Natasha being a woman, that provides an automatic feeling of her being harmless towards him even though she’s one of the best S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Most of the time, people assume women are harmless which plays to Natasha’s strength. Tony Stark also has a close relationship with Dr. Banner but with how unstable Stark is towards Fury, it’s understandable that Fury would rather send someone else in that he has better control over.
The Moment Of Truth For Brutasha
Looking at Avengers: Age of Ultron, Natasha Romanoff preforms the lullaby for the Hulk. She’s cautious and nervous about this way of getting Dr. Banner back. She is careful as one of the last times she has probably interacted with the Hulk was being thrown around in the helicarrier in Avengers.
Credit: Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures
The Brutasha moment at the bar during the party, Natasha and Bruce flirt across the bar as Natasha makes him a drink. After many flirty glances, Bruce tells Natasha to pursue him. After she leaves, Steve Rogers tells Bruce that he needs to make a move before their moment has passed.
Being that they are both superheroes, there doesn’t seem to be much time in order to make a relationship bloom, especially when they are both on their own jobs. Natasha also seems to be making him comfortable and bringing him closer and closer to her, almost like a spider with their web. The infamous Brutasha safe house scene shows the true potential of the relationship. This is the only time in the movies that Natasha is talking about her emotions and what she would want.
I don’t believe Brutasha is 100% fake. I think Natasha has feelings for Bruce but not to the extent within the movie. Maybe familial love or friendly love but she seems to try too hard at convincing Bruce to run away from the fight and to be together. With neither character having many heart-to-heart moments on screen together, let alone with other characters, it can’t help but feel a little rushed. In fact, the next two movies they are in together (Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame), they only mention each other’s names or awkwardly say hi, what would typically be shown before a giant proposal of running away together.
In fact, when Natasha jumps off the cliff for the soul stone, Clint is with her, not Bruce. Also, through Captain America: Winter Soldier, Natasha is wearing an arrow necklace showing her bigger relationship (friendship or otherwise) with Clint. On a side note, I think the quote from Natasha about being a monster is not what people assume. She says she is a monster because she has been trained from a young age to believe she is nothing more than a killing machine. Not only because she can’t have children.
Why Brutasha?
With the rest of the Avengers, it seems that Disney can’t help but make sure everyone is paired up with the opposite sex; Clint has a family, Steve has Peggy, Tony has Pepper, and Thor has Valkyrie or Jane. Bruce and Natasha were the only ones of the original six Avengers without a logical pairing.
This seemingly goes along with almost every Disney Princess that you are not complete without a significant other. These characters were amazing standing alone, bringing them together almost dulled out their own character traits that made them amazing. Not saying neither one of them could have found love or been in a relationship, I just don’t think Brutasha worked well together.