This subject was brought to my attention again because I saw again, and there's some things to be discussed. If you want a spoiler free discourse, this is not the article for you.

Before I get into it, I have to let everyone know that I'm generally a fan of Marvel movies (Go see Ant-Man, it's pretty good even though there are flaws in that movie, just like there are in almost every movie ever.) That doesn't mean that I can't be critical of something I love. In fact, it makes me a better fan because I don't just willingly accept what is given to me; I digest, I chew and I percolate on the information given. And let me tell you, the information that I was given sucks.

Here's what gets my goat and makes my blood boil to something very unhealthy. We have about three woman that share major screen time. Yes, Maria Hill plays a role in Age of Ultron, but she is not quite at the forefront as Natasha Romanoff, Laura Barton and Wanda Maximoff. Each one plays an important piece to bring the film to its resolve and each one has something special about her. There was one line in particular that struck a chord with me and made not only my friends frown, but a lot of people on the internet decide that maybe it is a good time for the Russo brothers (of Captain America: The Winter Soldier fame) to step in and take over the Avengers franchise.

Joss Whedon, director of both Avengers and Age of Ultron, is a director who likes to give his characters motivations. Some of them are interesting - Steve Rogers is shown as a man who doesn't know how to live without something hellish happening around him - and some of them.... make others uncomfortable. There is an exchange between Natasha an Bruce Banner, famously known for going green and huge, about how they cannot be together (what left field did that come from?!) because Bruce cannot provide Natasha with a child as it's too risky. We find out that she has been sterilized as part of her Black Widow training. She laments that she is a monster because this allowed her to become the skilled assassin that she is - because she's unable to bear a child.

Let me be clear. I don't condone Black Widow's former actions. It's horrible that she killed people and manipulated them. However, she does not know how to be anything else. This is what was bred into her from a very early age. There's no time to fix that now. The Avengers need this skill set as it is because it's useful to have someone who is able to extract information at the drop of a hat. What I don't condone is whittling down all this motivation and characterization to being about reproductive organs. Natasha has so many other things that could motivate her; like the way she just released all of her identities online for everyone to see, or the fact that the place that she has become comfortable in is now blown to smithereens and trying to atone for its sins.

She's not the only one with this issue. Laura Barton, the wife of Hawkeye that came out of nowhere as well, is pregnant with their third child. Whedon probably thought he was being clever, giving Clint Barton a secret hideout and a secret family. It sure did come in handy when the team needed to lie low for a while and rest and recuperate. While still reeling from this sudden expose into the life and times of Clint Barton, it escaped my notice the first time. Linda and the children are only there for Clint to have a sense of purpose. He needs these people to protect, because they are his family. Laura even uses the pregnancy to bring her husband back to her, stating that once the new baby is here, she's going to be outnumbered and in need of some assistance. Why can't Clint feel the need to protect the world? Or perhaps his teammates or even his own life? I find that to be a pretty compelling reason to take out a homicidal robot intent on killing every human that rests on the earth and then some.

There's another issue I take with this. What would I be thinking if I was someone who wasn't able to have children, who saw a strong character going through the same thing and came out with the idea that not having children creates a monster out of the woman? There aren't many people in media that sit there and say that maybe, just maybe, they are still complete without having biological children. There's other options out there, and in order to normalize them there needs to be a shift in thinking. A lot of younger women, around my age, don't know if they want children of their own. The message Whedon is pulsing out is dangerous and numbing. Instead of making this about not being able to reproduce, perhaps Whedon should have thought intensely and spun it to make it more positive. A way to say, "I am okay with being this way, even though it isn't ideal. It is okay because there is more to me and my legacy than what may come from my DNA." Natasha's legacy is her personality and her record. She has a story that's so unusual and so inspiring, that we don't need to reduce her to something as ridiculous as not being able to bear children.

Whedon was going for a theme, I know. It was about rebirth, renewal and finding something new out of the old ruins of your life. It happens to almost every character in the movie, for some it happens several times. For Natasha? It doesn't. It seems that her character is allowed to be stagnant and stay in a mopey background pining for the guy she adores while she flips and spins, kicking robots into spare parts. She seems stuck in an age where all she is good for is her inability to have children because it created her Widow persona. I'm waiting for Natasha Romanoff to get the rebirth she so deserves.