Grey's Den of Thinky Thoughts

I’d like to think that Clint knew about Yelena and Nat’s family, but I think there’s a very good chance that he didn’t. Natasha is an extremely private person who rarely opens up and while Clint was her family—the person she loved and trusted the most in the world—I think it would still be extremely difficult for her to open up even to him.

And Nat’s family … for the longest time, I’m sure that was an open wound for her. She was ripped away from that life so quickly and when you listen to Natasha’s cries as she tries to fight for Yelena,,, it’s fucking devastating. That was deeply traumatic and it seems like Nat basically closed the book on that part of her life.

I think there’d be a very good reason for Nat to never talk about it to Clint. She probably shared a lot of horror and traumatic stories with him, but not everything … and would she really share the three or four years of a happy and idyllic childhood that she had? I’m not sure. I think that would be the hardest story for her to share.

And after she found Yelena again, Clint was on the farm and she probably had minimal if any contact with him as she wouldn’t want to ruin things for him and his family. And after the Snap, again, she’s a private person who feels like she has to shoulder a lot of things on her own and (I do think her widow family was snapped) after Clint losing his family … maybe she didn’t want to add to that pain. Or to distract from it. Or let herself feel the pain that she was feeling.

So, there’s a good chance that Clint doesn’t know and when he finds out … he’ll likely be devastated to know that when Nat lost her family, he wasn’t there for her, but he’ll do anything in his power to protect the family that Nat left behind.

Originally posted on December 9th, 2021 and reposted from my Tumblr spidey-adhd

Okay, I just read Strange Tales issues #126 and #127 where we are introduced to this lovely lady.

The mysterious woman isn’t given a name in these issues, but from her first panel I suspected she must be Clea, the (future) wife of Doctor Strange, that I’ve heard a bit about and a quick google search confirmed it. And, wow, she is so much more of an interesting character than I thought. I knew she had powers similar to Strange, but I wasn’t aware that she was from the Dark Dimension. I just really love her introduction in this comic.

The way she first catches sight of Strange as he battles fiercely against Dormammu’s minions. At first, she’s an impartial observer (though admittedly she is quite attracted to and intrigued by Strange) but as she watches Strange battle she sees something of his heart.

She sees his nobility, his courage, and she finds herself wishing that the man would leave so that Dormammu won’t kill him.

She goes so far as to actually warn Strange directly, even though the price of such an action is certain death because in the brief time she’s observed him … she finds herself intrigued and feels compassion for him. She doesn’t understand the desire to protect humanity that drives Strange to face Dormammu at the risk of death and she doesn’t understand where her own desire to protect Strange sprouts from.

And then we get to issue #127 and I don’t want to just copy-and-paste every panel, but again, Clea tries to dissuade Strange from facing Dormammu, but this time she shows Strange the potential consequences that even his victory could bring. Because Dormammu may wish harm for Earth, he is a defender of the Dark Dimension and if he should fall then all of the innocent people of the Dark Dimension would perish at the hands of the Mindless ones who Dormammu protects them wrong.

I really like this, because it adds a more complicated moral layer to Strange’s actions. He can’t allow Dormammu to attack Earth, but neither does he wish harm to the innocents within the Dark Dimension. And it portrays Dormammu as more than just a cruel tyrant. He’s a protector of his people and his land. And, as shown towards the end of the issue, he has a sense of honor. As when Strange helps Dormammu defeat the Mindless ones, he promises to not attack Earth as well as to not punish Clea for her betrayal.

I love Strange offering to bring Clea back to Earth. He doesn’t know this girl well, but like Clea, he is intrigued by this strange woman. And I love how neither knows the other’s name. Clea only knows him as “man of mystery,” so we have this really intense first meeting between these two powerful sorcerers where neither knows the others’ name. They’re each left only with intrigue.

It’s a great dynamic to set up and it makes me really excited for the eventual inclusion of Clea in the MCU. I can’t find any sources on if she’s confirmed for Multiverse of Madness, but that would be a great place to introduce her.

Originally posted on September 28th, 2021 and reposted from my Tumblr spidey-adhd

I saw someone say Peter isn't a very psychologically deep or interesting character and oooh! that upsets me so much. It was an old post from 2017 otherwise I would've replied, but Peter is so much more interesting than people think and I actually think all three major film adaptations have been lackluster in their depiction of Peter's complexity. (Andrew Garfield comes closest.)

Firstly, I think people need to reread (or read for the first time) Amazing Fantasy #15 and the early Amazing Spider-Man stories because people forget about how much of an angry, bitter, loner Peter Parker was. He was this close 🤏 to becoming a villain.

Because goodness was not innate to him. It was a constant choice he chose to make again and again, because he saw the consequences of being selfish and decided he didn't want to be that person.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, but a lot of Spider-Man's villains are egotistical old men who feel like they've been ostracized and/or unappreciated by society. They're geniuses who feel they haven't had their genius recognized. So, because society hasn't given them what they feel they deserve, they decide to take from society instead in order to achieve the fame, glory, riches, etc. that they feel is owed to them.

I think the films and video game are really great at portraying this key aspect of Spider-Man villains, but what I think what a lot of the adaptations miss is that Peter is just as prone to that ego-centric thinking. They are who Peter could have become had he made different choices and they're who he could still become, because choosing to do good is a constant fucking choice. And it's not easily made.

Peter Parker's origin story as the Spider-Man is nearly identical to that of a villains, especially of a Stan Lee villain from the 60s, with one key difference—which I'll get into in a bit.

But, firstly, Peter is a young, brilliantly intelligent kid who is mocked by his peers and as a result he is deeply angry at the rest of society. He is bitter and as a result he feels that he doesn't owe anything to society.

He takes to fame as a wrester extremely quickly and his ego goes to his head immediately. He's selfish and he doesn't care about anyone except his immediate family.

Looking at these two experts from the comic, it's not hard to imagine this young boy becoming more and more jaded, more and more misanthropic, and inevitably deciding to become a criminal in order to achieve the life he feels he deserves.

But Ben dies, Peter feels responsible, and more importantly, Peter grows up. Because this bitter, angry, ego-centric thinking is childish and quite characteristic of a teenager and I think the fundamental flaw of a lot of spidey villains is that they're old men who have refused to grow up. They're still stuck in ego-centric thinking whilst Peter has grown into someone who's truly selfless and not because it's natural to him—because it wasn't initially—but because he's made the constant and continually choice to be good.

Honestly, the journey Peter takes from early Ditko-era jaded and bitter loner Peter to Romita-era compassionate, brave, and sociable Peter is honestly the greatest character development of 60s Marvel comics. I feel quite confident saying that. Because it's such an active journey of growth and change.

And it's a journey where he constantly faces challenges and setbacks.

He isn’t appreciated as Spider-Man, oftentimes, and this frequently lends to a bitter egoism and a temper that puts him at odds with others. Sometimes he wants to stop, but ultimately he decides not to because he's decided to give to society even if society doesn't give to him. He's truly altruistic.

Anyway, my ramble is over now. I have said my piece.

Reposted from my Tumblr spidey-adhd