It’s been a minute since my last chapter of “The Untitled MCU Project”, mainly because I’ve been grappling with rapidly failing mental health due to a multitude of variables, and in those seasons, getting words on the page is often one of the most challenging things for me. But the more I think about it, the more I’m realizing that this project provides some much needed catharsis for me. Chapter 6 of “The Untitled MCU Project” is the first time we see “earth’s mightiest heroes” come together as a unified group effort, even if it does take a couple tries to work as a cohesive unit.

In the time since publishing the last chapter of “The Untitled MCU Project”, it’s become even more apparent that looking towards some of our favorite fictional heroes for guidance and as a beacon of hope for some sound life and leadership advice is a pretty good tactic, seeing as we have not seen any sort of united leadership as a nation since the COVID-19 pandemic started to sweep country in early March. In fact, where other hard-hit nations around the globe have effectively leveled off their coronavirus numbers and even begun to safely re-open their countries, the United States continues to see rapid uptick in case counts and death counts - with case counts topping over two million and deaths surpassing 120,000. It is abundantly clear that the United States, under the current administration, is woefully ill-equipped to tackle a global pandemic, which makes our compulsive desire to grasp at anything that looks remotely like leadership, and thus Earth’s mightiest heroes continue to be my beacon of hope during a time o unrelenting chaos.

The Avengers are essentially a ragtag bunch of misfits with specialized skills, that, when combined, are capable to defeat even the most destructive of villains. Here’s a look at the most poignant life and leadership lessons as taught by “The Avengers”.

Lesson 1: Check Your Ego at the Door and Work Together for a Common Goal

It’s no secret that when The Avengers are first brought together by Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D., there is a clash amongst the group, mostly because of ego. Prior to their coming together, each individual agent is the best at what they do, individually. They mostly fly solo and aren’t accustomed to working with anyone as a part of a cohesive team. The phrase “too many chefs in the kitchen” comes to mind here. While attempting to track and locate the Tesseract, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Bruce Banner ultimately discover the plans for “Phase 2” - which would include harnessing the power of the Tesseract in order to produce what would essentially be classified as nuclear weapons. At this point, the Avengers are not only arguing with one another, but also now mistrusting Nick Fury and his reason for bringing them together in the first place. Egos across the board begin to reach their breaking point as Steve Rogers is provoking Tony Stark, Thor is critiquing humans for being puny and for stealing the Tesseract from Asgard, Bruce Banner is becoming agitated, and Natasha Romanoff is making subtle attempts at de-escalation. As emotions peak, a portion of the ship explodes due to an arrow detonating device shot at the ship by the turned agent, Clint Barton. In that moment there is an immediate shift of energy and focus away from the bickering toward solving the more immediate and dire problem at hand - keeping the S.H.I.E.L.D. base from losing power and falling from the sky. Now, instead of fighting with one another, the Avengers begin to unite as a team toward a common goal of defeating Loki and the chitauri army and locating the Tesseract.

In any problem, when egos are present and conflicting, you’re far less likely to be able to address any external problems until you are able to confront and dismiss your own ego internally. Instead of assuming that we each are the most skilled or most knowledgable or most capable of solving a problem, push all the desire to lead with your ego aside and instead collaborate and work in conjunction to bring together the group’s individual strengths into a collective where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This strategy reaches far beyond Earth’s mightiest heroes, and realistically should be applied to our current pandemic response strategy, Nationwide. But instead of working together for a common goal, we are stuck with “leaders” who value their ego over public safety and continue to pass the blame from the National level to the state level, to the county level, to the city level, with no unified front. Even Loki knows that the only way he has a chance at victory is by pitting the Avengers against one another to divide them. As it always has been, and always will be, “united we stand, but divided we fall”, and this is true both for superheroes and everyday people.

Lesson 2: Mental Diversity and/or Mental Illness Does Not Make You Less Than

Even now, here in 2020, there is still an enormous amount of stigma surrounding mental illness and mental diversity when someone strays from what is considered “normal”. Although the topic of mental illness, specifically depression and suicidal thoughts are only talked about briefly in one scene of “The Avengers”, I think the scene is incredibly impactful. As the group of extraordinary misfits are bickering with one another over the discovery of the “Phase 2” plans to build nuclear weapons with the power of the Tesseract once it’s located, Dr. Bruce Banner is starting to get agitated and everyone is trying to keep him calm so as to avoid his transformation into The Hulk. As tensions escalate and Banner is asked to step out of the room, he makes the comment, “to where? You’re renting my room” - referring to the detachable detainment capsule that Loki is currently being held in. Nick Fury responds, “The cell was just in Case.” Banner fires back, “In case you needed to kill me? But you can’t. I know, I tried. I got low. I didn’t see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?”

I’m not even sure if many viewers would take the time to dive into the gravity of this scene, or even give it a second look, but as someone who has lived with sometimes severe and crippling depression and anxiety for the majority of my life, this one hit home. And of course, in true Marvel fashion, the important lesson is right out there in the open, but at the same time, filled with beautiful subtleties. As a person who lives with mental illness on the daily, I made a promise to myself when I was a child that I would never give up on myself, not matter what. But that was not a passive promise, it is an active one I have to remind myself of more frequently than I would probably like to admit. To outsiders and to people who have never dealt with crippling mental illness, suicide seems unthinkable. But to those of us who are familiar with that type of darkness, it’s not about death, it’s about wanting to disappear and not exist (which is quite different than death) because we already feel invisible and “other”, like we are here as just a burden. However, I wouldn’t change or give up my mental illness given the chance. Instead, I choose to use my own pain and challenges to help others, just the way that Dr. Bruce Banner did. Living with mental illness doesn’t make you defective, just because you experience the world in different ways than most people. Although I’ve spent many a days as my younger self thinking that I was less than because of my mental illness, I’ve come to realize that it’s actually what makes so many of my other excellent qualities and traits even possible, and for that I am grateful. With that in mind, I will continue to do as Bruce Banner chose to do, and help others, and I hope you will choose that path as well, even when it’s really tough to find the light.

Lesson 3: Even Good People with Good Intentions Can Find Themselves Under the Alluring Spell of Misinformation

In the beginning of the movie, we find that both Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, and Dr. Selvig have been compromised by Loki’s sorcery. As they fall under his charms, they quickly go from being on the side of the “good guys” to the side of the “bad guys” who are now being manipulated to follow Loki’s orders. Even though, in this instance, these characters are overtaken by the calculating powers of a demigod, it reminds me a lot of the need for media literacy in this country. Unfortunately, we live in an era where anyone and everyone can be an “expert” on any array of topics without having any experience whatsoever. With the internet, information is fast, cheap, and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all without much, if any, fact checking before it is put out in the world for the masses to see. The problem with this type of viscous cycle, it becomes increasingly difficult to discern between what is true and real and what is propaganda.

In the case of Agent Barton and Dr. Selvig, the gentlemen had fallen for Loki’s spell, captivated by his malicious agenda and genuinely believing that they had turned to the “right” side of the conflict and were now helping for “good”. Of course, in this instance, there is actual sorcery that is being used to manipulate the men to turn against the Avengers. But in the “real world”, the trouble with misinformation is that it’s quite easy to fall under its spell because the headlines are alluring and seductive and help further your own personal narrative, as opposed to causing you to think critically about the situation. We see this a lot with this current presidential administration; information is just thrown about with reckless abandon and little research or citing sources. This becomes the trap that so many Americans have fallen for because it’s the easiest way out and absolves individuals from any accountability. Dr. Selvig and Agent Barton believed whatever information was fed to them by Loki, because they were under his spell. But it is our responsibility, as citizens, to not just blindly believe whatever is thrown at us, especially by a President who has thousands and thousands of documented and evidence-backed instances of proven misinformation he has shared with the American public. For Dr. Selvig and Agent Barton to finally “come to” and realize the spell they had been under, they needed intense “cognitive recalibration”, or as Agent Romanoff put it, a hard hit to the head. Both Dr. Selvig and Agent Barton were good people who found themselves stuck following misinformation, even though their intentions were not necessarily malicious. For us, our “cognitive recalibration” includes being vigilant when it comes to media literacy - verifying the origination of the media, researching and citing sources, and others - so that we don’t fall prey to misinformation under the guise of a shiny news headline that ultimately could cause much more harm than good.

“The Avengers”, like so many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, was full of so many applicable lessons on life and leadership, which is comforting in such a time of uncertainty. The Coronavirus global pandemic is definitely not slowing down any time soon, at least in the United States, and since we are all much safer at home, I’ll continue to work on bringing you more of my favorite lessons as taught by Earth’s mightiest heroes.

Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow

Photography by: Krystyn Slack

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