Gen V‘s latest episode, “Jumanji,” suggests that The Boys‘ universe has found its own Hulk and Black Widow. With Gen V and The Boys frequently parodying the Marvel and DC universes, it’s not surprising that one romance is starting to parallel one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s weirdest relationships.
The relationship between Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) was first teased in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The pair have a Beauty and the Beast trope going on, as they’re shown to have such a strong connection that Black Widow can calm down the Hulk and get him to revert back to human form. Their relationship never really took off, though, mainly because the MCU was too stuffed with subplots to give this one more attention. Additionally, viewers were skeptical of the relationship, given that it had no basis in the comics, and felt forced, rushed, and not genuine. And if the Hulk is going to have a Beauty and Beast trope, why not have it with his actual love interest, Betty Ross?
Now, Gen V might have the perfect opportunity to poke fun at Black Widow and Hulk’s relationship since it has a budding Beauty and the Beast trope of its own.
Gen V‘s Sam and Emma parallel Hulk and Black Widow
Gen V has been teasing a relationship between Sam Riordan (Asa Germann) and Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway) for quite some time. Emma is the one who helped Sam escape from The Woods and hunkered down with him in an abandoned drive-in theater, where they realized they were more alike than they thought. They both experience being outcasts and share the same morbid sense of humor. The only problem is that Sam isn’t fully in control of himself. He never received proper treatment for his schizophrenia and instead had it exacerbated by Vought’s imprisonment and experimentation. Hence, he often has hallucinations of Jason Ritter and puppets, and is prone to fits of violent rage.
When he flies into a rage, his superhuman strength makes it impossible for anyone to control him. The first time it happens, Emma finds a unique way to stop him by eating to increase in size and pin him down. However, in “Jumanji,” when he tries to get revenge on Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) for wiping his memories, there is no time for creative solutions. He quickly tosses everyone aside and prepares to kill Cate. However, Emma inserts herself into the situation, getting between Sam and Cate and urging Sam to look at and listen to her. She asks if he trusts her and that, if he does, he needs to let Cate go. For the first time in the series, as Sam looks into Emma’s eyes, he shows control and stops what he’s doing without having to be physically restrained.
That scene instantly reminded me of that moment in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where Black Widow softly says, “The sun’s getting real low, big guy,” using the lullaby and a soft touch to stop the raging Hulk and trigger his transformation back into Banner. Just like Black Widow, Emma has the touch and the voice to get through to Sam during his rages. Plus, Sam’s super strength mirrors the Hulk’s power perfectly. I feel like it’s just a matter of time before Emma starts with the “the sun’s getting real low,” too.
I really hope that Gen V doesn’t just parallel Hulk and Black Widow with Sam and Emma, but pokes a little fun at it. After all, the Beauty and the Beast trope is getting a little old. It’s not women’s responsibility to control enraged men, and it’s wild that women endangering themselves to reform dangerous men ever actually became a romantic trope. So, if Gen V is going the Hulk and Black Widow route, I hope it does so as irreverently as it parodies every other Marvel hero.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
