10 Biggest Controversies In The Marvel Cinematic Universe
7. Black Widow Is A "Monster" Because She Can't Carry Children
The Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanoff romance was a major sticking point in Avengers: Age Of Ultron; it felt like it came out of nowhere and felt shoehorned in purely because there was a single, attractive woman hanging around.
Fortunately, it wasn't awful; the two characters were endearing enough and the actors sold it well. But one particular exchange between the two lovebirds took the whole affair from inoffensive romantic interplay to some deep, dark territory.
Black Widow's lines about being unable to bear children and her feeling that this makes her a "monster" upset some people who took that to mean Marvel were saying "if you can't have children, you are pointless and worthless", something that writer-director Joss Whedon did not intend at all.
Far worse things have been said in movies and this scene only earned widespread disdain because it appeared in a Marvel movie (imagine these same lines in a Tarantino flick - they would not be as noticeable), but as if to demonstrate how much they regretted this romance - and how much they wanted to cover up this moment - Marvel barely mentioned Bruce and Natasha's relationship in Civil War, and are very clearly moving away from it in Thor: Ragnarok.