Thor 4 Made Black Widow's Worst MCU Story Even More Tragic

The Tragic Journey of Jane Foster and Thor

Thor: Love and Thunder reflected a tragic Black Widow journey in the MCU, making the latter even more heartbreaking than first thought. Despite not being the most beloved MCU project of 2022, Thor: Love and Thunder's strong cast continued several character arcs in a mostly satisfying fashion. One of the most impressive was the journey of Jane Foster, who became Mighty Thor and passed into the halls of Valhalla by the time of Thor: Love and Thunder's ending.

Age of Ultron Black Widow and Thor in Love and Thunder

Alongside Jane Foster's character was Thor himself, whose arc was a mix of the best and worst of his recent MCU depictions. Concerning the more positive aspects of the titular character, Thor: Love and Thunder featured the return of his relationship with Jane. In revisiting this storyline, the MCU provided a dark mirror between Thor's and Black Widow's MCU timeline, making the latter much more tragic in the process.

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Black Widow's Tragic Reflection in the MCU

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Black Widow's relationship with Bruce Banner ended as she deemed herself unworthy to be in a happy relationship due to her past trauma. This was a tragic revelation, as was the similar reveal that Black Widow was infertile thanks to the cruelty of the Red Room. This storyline was somewhat continued in Avengers: Endgame when Black Widow chose to sacrifice herself in favor of Clint Barton.

This can be linked to Age of Ultron in that Black Widow's choice to die likely stemmed from her self-esteem issues. It can be argued that the only thing that prevented Black Widow from having a happy ending in the MCU was her own traumatized perception of herself, making her untimely sacrifice even more heartbreaking than it already was. This storyline is a dark mirror of Thor's, whose own trauma caused him to view himself as unworthy at different points in the MCU, namely Avengers: Endgame.

Redemption and Heartbreak: A Tale of Two Journeys

However, Thor's journey had a much happier ending than Black Widow's. Thor: Love and Thunder saw Thor overcoming his issues with self-worth through his relationship with Jane, mending the broken bond between the two while helping Thor view himself as worthy once more. This makes Age of Ultron's - and Endgame's - Black Widow story much worse by comparison, as Black Widow sacrifices her life due to her inability to overcome her self-esteem-related trauma.

Conversely, Thor's rekindled relationship with Jane replays the major beats of Black Widow's relationship with Hulk only with an opposite ending. The former ends comparatively happy despite Jane's death, with Thor finding his own self-worth through his love for Jane and care for Gorr's daughter. On the flip side, Black Widow's romance story - and MCU journey as a whole - ends on a much more heartbreaking note that is made all the more saddening by Thor's much happier redemption in the face of similar problems in Thor: Love and Thunder.