Black Widow: Mason’s Introduction Reveals How Bad MCU Is At Romance

Warning! This post contains spoilers for Black Widow.

Rick Mason’s introduction in Black Widow reveals how bad the Marvel Cinematic Universe is and continues to be at romance. The MCU’s first major romance was between Iron Man and Pepper Potts, who are arguably the most well-developed couple, but that’s not really saying much. Since then, the films have thrown several characters together in an attempt to create love connections — Natasha Romanoff and Hulk, Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter — but have largely failed to evolve their respective relationships in any meaningful way. Black Widow continues in this vein with Mason and Natasha.

Years following her introduction in Iron Man 2, Black Widow finally provided further insight into Natasha's past. It was one steeped in darkness and horror, but she managed to make a few allies along the way, including Mason (O-T Fagbenle), an independent contractor who secured several things for her — the Budapest safehouse, amenities, a quinjet — over the years and in her bid to take down Dreykov. There was also some flirtation going on between the two throughout the film. Based on their interactions, it’s clear Black Widow and Mason have known each other for a long time and there’s certainly a sense of their relationship being more than platonic.

But aside from some flirty moments and a couple of lines of dialogue hinting at more than friendship between them, Black Widow doesn’t engage with their relationship beyond that. There is no point including any romantic teasing if the story isn’t going to go there and it wouldn’t be so frustrating if the MCU didn’t already have a terrible track record of attempting to bring two characters together before dropping it like a hot plate. What’s more, this is the second attempt at giving Natasha some kind of love life that doesn’t really go anywhere. And considering Black Widow is the character’s final outing, there isn’t much purpose in throwing a potential love interest into her story if it wasn’t going to be developed at all.

Mason and Natasha’s non-relationship is merely a symptom of a larger problem in the shared universe. The MCU constantly dips into the romance pool, but there is rarely anything more significant being shown beyond the minor and brief interactions between Mason and Natasha. Namely, an obvious flirtation, some quippy lines suggesting something more before the potential romance in question disappears altogether or is so haphazardly handled it may as well have been discarded. Again, there are a few exceptions, but the MCU’s history is pretty abysmal in that regard. Wanda Maximoff and Vision, for example, didn’t have any proper romantic development until after Vision was already dead.

Even some of the better romances in the MCU, like T’Challa and Nakia in Black Panther, weren’t as well-developed as they could have been. Most of the Steve-Peggy romance happened after she was out of the picture and largely signified the former’s pining for a life he missed out on than anything romantically significant. Many have criticized the absence of romance in the MCU and there is decidedly an overall lack of kissing, deeper moments, and organic development between many of the characters in that department. Mason and Natasha in Black Widow is just the latest in a long line of underwhelming romances in the MCU and shows how much more work needs to be done in that area moving forward.

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