The Marvel Cinematic Universe exudes an image of unity among diversity, at least when the heroes are at their best. The Avengers embody a close-knit community. They’ve been through highs and lows together: a falling out here, a reunion there. They’re like a family.
“Family” in many ways has come to denote the popularized idea of friendship – the family that you get to choose. Friendship is, quite simply, a manifestation of love. C.S. Lewis, writing in his book The Four Loves, hails this type of attraction or camaraderie as a uniquely human capability. As he observes, it has no necessary role to play in procreation or the interdependence of parent and child. It has no biological function, but it does have a social one.
Matrix of Friendship
Friendship is one of the binding forces that holds a community together. What this kind of love gives to humanity, Lewis says, is the “matrix of Friendship.” It includes a sense of “pleasure in co-operation.” We see this in a number of the relationships throughout the MCU. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are a prime example. But Steve has also been a guiding light and a moral anchor for others, touching their lives in the ways they needed it most.
One of those is Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow. She and Steve have teamed up since Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), together embarking on ventures of espionage, rescue, and defense. And in the midst of it all, something happened.
The two were able to learn from one another. Natasha pushed Steve beyond his comfort zone and often aided him as a guide through the tech-savvy modern world. Steve, in his own light-handed way, helped Natasha leave her own comfort zone to grow as well. He got her to open up. She confides in him. The hardened assassin, as she expresses herself in Avengers: Endgame (2019), just wants to belong to this community she has found with the Avengers.
“I used to have nothing,” she tells Steve. “And then I got this – this job, this family. And I was better because of it.”
Natasha longs for that human companionship, which is natural to desire. But, despite some of her character flaws, her love for her friends goes deeper than fondness and isn’t based on a love of utility. When it comes to being a part of the Avengers team, she’s in it for the long haul.
The ultimate sacrifice
Together, the Avengers are a “matrix of Friendship.” But in order for such a community to grow stronger, sacrifices need to be made. In Christ, we see the epitome of sacrifices – paying our debt to sin, He who is the spotless Lamb of God. This was the example given to the Apostles and to us.
Like the Apostles who experienced strife with one another, heartache at loss, and dismay in dismissal, the Avengers have come through a lot together. While she has no distinctly “superior” capabilities, Black Widow has been an integral part of this community. She has helped some cope with their problems and helped some to be better team players.
But also, at the end of the day, she’s genuinely human, showing herself to have her own shortcomings and frailties. These aren’t attributes one would expect to find when they look at Natasha’s surface-level personality. Within the family-like community she has grown with, however, she is willing to be vulnerable.
Much of the plot of Endgame is devoted to the end goal of saving and reuniting with lost members of the community. The cost of love toward friends is high, as several of the characters go to show us.
In the movie, Natasha Romanoff proves that this community means more to her than the enjoyment she derives from her friends. Rather, from the depths of a selfless love, she wills the good of the Avengers and considers it more valuable than her own welfare. Natasha shows us that community, whether it be the family or a broader “matrix of Friendship,” is meant to cultivate charity and sacrifice.
John Tuttle
John Tuttle is a Catholic journalist, blogger, and photographer. He has written for Prehistoric Times, Culture Wars Magazine, Those Catholic Men, Catholic Insight, Inside Over, Ancient Origins, Love They Nerd, We Got This Covered, Cultured Vultures, and elsewhere. He can be reached at jptuttleb9@gmail.com.