When you think about MCU romance, Bucky Barnes and Natasha Romanoff are not the first names that come to mind. Instead, romances like Star-Lord and Gamora, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, an Ant-Man and the Wasp pop up. This is because all the other couples have been accorded more screen time by MCU, while Black Widow and Winter Soldier have been the black sheep of love. The relationship between Black Widow and the Winter Soldier was unknown for a while, because people thought that Bucky was gone. First introduced in Jack Kirby’s and Joe Simon’s Captain America Comics #1, Bucky was Captain America’s kid sidekick. During World War II, Bucky was killed. While Captain America returned in the 1960s, Bucky never returned. It was until 2005 when he was discovered, as an assassin brainwashed by the Soviet Union, and given the name Winter Soldier. Fans first had wind of the relationship when it was revealed in Captain America #27, that the two black sheep had a brief relationship with Bucky during their days in the Soviet Union.

Bucky and Natasha are not your usual kind of couple. She is not a damsel in distress and he is not a knight in shining armor. Instead, they have gone through a series of emotional, physical, and psychological, pain that few other heroes have experienced. Just barely, they both like the heroic side of good and evil, because they have convinced themselves that it is the least they can do to pay for their crimes. For Black Widow and the Winter Soldier, theirs is not only a love story, but also a redemption one. Here are 20 things that don’t make sense about their romance.

20 THEY STILL GO BY THEIR SOVIET CODE NAMES

Black Widow and Winter Soldier have chosen to keep using their old code names as a continual reminder of their origins. This is against what survivors of brainwashing and people who went through their kind of pain would normally do, opting for a name change and putting their pasts behind them.

Before his abduction, when he was fighting alongside Captain America, the Winter Soldier, whose real name is James Buchanan Barnes, went by the name Bucky. Black Widow, on the other hand, was born Natalia Alianovna Romanoff, and often goes by the name Natasha Romanoff as her alias, to bury a confused background.

19 THEIR LOVE WAS FORBIDDEN

Since its introduction, the Red Room, which is the training ground for Natasha and Bucky, has not be explored much. We at least know that Department X ran the facility and the Black Widow and Winter Soldier programs, designed to produce masses of spies and soldiers. It is believed in the Red Room, that any kind of romantic involvement could compromise a mission, and therefore, trainees were taught to refrain from it.

As it turned out, Natasha and Bucky could not stop desiring each other, and it was a love that was cultivated by mutual distress. Well, they had it smooth at first until the Red Room discovered, but as they say, love conquers all. These lovebirds always found their way back to each other.

18 BUCKY WAS NATASHA'S TRAINER IN THE RED ROOM

More recent comics exposed that not only were these two romantics training at the Red Room, but Bucky was also Natasha’s trainer! This was revealed as part of the characters’ continuity in the Winter Soldier.

The genesis of their romance was in the field, a trainer-trainee relationship evolved into a romantic one, albeit in secret. Since the Red Room trained the soldiers and spies through torment and brainwashing, which of course could not breed any love, fans believe that the love sprung because Bucky was the espionage and fighting skills trainer. A body-to-body combat, because a love interest, Natasha getting all cozy with someone who turned her into a world-class assassin. Some would say, this is the recipe for a tumultuous relationship.

17 THEY ARE BOTH SUPERHUMAN

In Natasha’s comic book history, she has had a power set similar to that of Super Serum. This is however not seen in the cinematic universe. It is revealed that both Bucky and Natasha were injected with a different version of the serum while they were serving as spies. The movies left this part out, to alleviate the trope of everyone else being infected.

Natasha and Bucky are assassin machines, armed with strength and speed, combined with their mercenary training. As much as they don’t have the visual strength such as Thor’s hammer or Hulk’s green massive self, they are not pushovers. They are never to be underestimated.

16 THE SMALL ISSUE OF STEVEN ROGERS

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it’s revealed that the possible love interest of Captain Steven Rogers, when it was not Peggy Carter’s niece, Sharon, was actually Natasha Romanov. And while it is true that the MCU has not revived the relationship between the two former residents of the Red Room, it is not a factor that can quickly be overlooked.

In the event that this angle is ever explored, it will create somewhat of an uncomfortable situation between the trio, owing to that Natasha had been involved not only with Bucky but with his best friend as well. Steven Rogers will always be a sore spot in the couple’s history.

15 BUCKY WAS KEPT IN STASIS TO KEEP THEM APART

Any romantic relationship was believed by the Red Room to have the potential to come between missions and spies. Hence, this was discouraged. However, Natasha and Bucky could not keep their eyes off each other, and their desperate circumstances seemed to bolster their bond. While it began as a secret, their love became public, and the Red Room reminded Natasha that the relations weren’t feasible.

While she thought she could keep going, the Red Room became clever, putting Bucky in permanent Stasis, remaining cryogenically frozen, when not on assignment or mission. All it took was to give Natasha one visit into the room, watching Bucky helpless until the KGB flipped the switch back on. This is when she understood that the relationship was also ‘frozen’.

14 NATASHA WAS BETROTHED WHEN THEY FELL IN LOVE

Scheming powerhouses usually use pawns just to succeed in their agendas. Sadly for Natasha, she found herself as one, when she was brainwashed into falling in love with Alexi Shostakovich, the hotshot pilot. This worked by briefly bringing the two together, brainwashing them, while getting implanted with fake stories on how they were the poster couple for the other side-Alexi the war hero and Natasha the prima ballerina.

The fake relationship was used to make Department X see soldiers as more than mere machines. Natasha sometimes gravitated to Bucky, when she was between her mind-altering sessions. This ‘romance’ came to an end, and the brainwashing team found a new angle hoping to keep her stuck on purpose. She was made to believe that her husband had passed on.

13 BOTH ARE WORLD CLASS MERCENARIES

Everyone who has watched the Avengers and Iron Man movies will attest that Back Widow is a very dangerous woman. She made a career out of working for government agencies, and this is what she knows best.

First, it was the Russians as a member of the KGB and then became a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., rising quickly through the ranks due to her abundance of skills and being able to follow orders without question. The Winter Soldier was given the super serum which gave him superhuman abilities as well as enhanced his training, turning him into an ultimate assassin. When you pair these two on a mission, the effects are catatonic.

12 NATASHA CANNOT HAVE CHILDREN

Whenever we talk about romance and love, eventually the issue of having a family will join the conversation fray. It is the dream of every couple to one day sire a progeny as a testament to their love. That, however, is not a conversation that Black Widow and Bucky Barnes can have, ever. This is because Natasha cannot have children, she is sterile.

While she was in spy school, as part of the graduation ceremony, she had been sterilized, efficiently, so that the pressure of family would not be able to interfere with her work. As much as they may have other alternatives to explore, it is true that this will become the ever lingering elephant in the room.

11 THEY WERE BOTH RETCONNED

Originally, Black Widow was battling with the prominent Avengers, Spider-Man and Iron Man included. She was an all-out villain, who gladly slowly metamorphosized into Natasha, from Black Widow brainwashing, eventually helping the Avengers on several missions and becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

On the other hand, Bucky first met Steve Rogers at an army base, when he was raised and Steve was enlisted. These two men because friends, on Bucky’s way to undergo his life-changing procedure. After transformation, Bucky was put on a shelf until someone ‘discovered’ that he had been captured. While this is interesting, it is important to note that the current Marvel characters are far from what the original comics portrayed.

10 SHE CALLED HIM JAMES

Another reason that Bucky’s cryogenic freezing had such a lasting effect on his and Natasha’s relationship is once they were separated, they didn’t have any reliable ways to get into contact with one another, and they don’t even know each other beyond first names.

Natasha had no idea, due to his fragmented memory and the curtain of secrecy, that he was once the sidekick to Captain America, or that his name is even Bucky Barnes. She knew him by his first name, James. This made for quite the reunion when they met next, although it was hampered by his still being brainwashed and fighting for Hydra.

9 IN THE ANIMATED MOVIE, SHE NAMED HER SON AFTER HIM

In the Marvel animated movie, Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, a potential future of the present day Avengers team is imagined, and unfortunately, they take Black Widow and Winter Soldier and send them in a less romantic direction.

In this future, Black Widow and Captain America have had a son and named him James Rogers. This runs contrary to some established continuity that Natasha can’t have children due to her training. It was really creepy to have her name her son after the guy she had a past romantic history with. It looked more like a scene from a daytime TV soap from the '90s.

8 THEY HAVE A FLEXIBLE MORAL COMPASS

With a combined background of sustained physical and emotional damage, coupled with lifestyles that lack any moral direction, Black Widow and Winter Soldier have become two of the most feared characters in MCU’s hero team.

This is mainly due to their unpredictable nature. Frequently, they can easily break bad and succumb to evil coercions such as brainwashing flashbacks, causing them to cross ethical boundaries. But, when together, the two were better, giving their audience to have a second look at their skepticism towards them, thanks to the ability to do the right thing as a team. Their troubled pasts and childhood also lead them to question ‘the right thing to do’ more often than other heroes.

7 THEY BOTH FOUGHT THE AVENGERS

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, brought us to the resurfacing of Bucky. A reunion battle took place to begin, and the best moment was the Captain America reunited with Bucky, who fought him and the Avengers crew. Before Captain America got through to Bucky to make him stop fighting the good guys, Bucky had given a good fight against them for Red Skull and control of the Cosmic Cube.

Black Widow had also fought the Avengers for years, working as a Hydra associate. She later saw the light and flipped to the Avengers, the good side. She is also responsible for Hawkeye’s start and growth, first as an accomplice to a small-time villain, before joining the Avengers.

6 THEY HAVE BOTH HAD THEIR MEMORIES WIPED

The compelling tragedy of these two lovers is that they were so clearly made for each other, yet so many things interrupt them to tear them apart. Between their meeting in the '60s, in the Red Room, and the present day, the two have switched sides more often and eliminated more people than can be deemed normal.

It’s possible that their romance is fueled by each other being the strongest memories they both have. Due to their stints with the Red Room, their brains have been erased multiple times over the course of their very long lives. Despite their relationship always being wiped in the collateral damage, they always got back together.

5 THEY TOOK A 50 YEAR BREAK

After their first romantic entanglement in the Red Room, officials put a stop to their relationship by showing Natasha who she was really in love with and giving her a light brainwash. Between that break and their reunion after Bucky finally became Captain America, the couple was apart for around fifty years.

This long separation is the most epic part of their romance. Being reunited almost as coincidentally as they were thrown together makes Black Widow and the Winter Soldier a tragically flawed couple. This interlude also makes their romance one of the longest running in the universe, since both characters have been around for so long.

4 IN THE MCU, BUCKY DOESN'T REMEMBER HER

To this point in the MCU, as of the events of Infinity War, Bucky hasn’t been able to recall any of the past he and Black Widow share. This could mean that the Winter Soldier still has a powerful memory block about some of his history, or there are no plans to reveal that romance at any stage. If it’s the latter and Bucky and Widow aren’t fated for on-screen romance, it’s too bad.

After a complicated reference to a past with Hawkeye and a romance that never got off the ground with Hulk, Black Widow is due for a relationship that actually has some hope in it.

3 BUT SHE REMEMBERED HIM

This is a bit of a long shot but worth the mention. There was a passing reference to the Black Widow remembering some of hers and Bucky’s history, but it was not divulged how much she had known about him since then.

In Captain America: Civil War, when the Winter Soldier attacks the UN, a glimmer of recognition flashes across Natasha’s face, and then she throws a line into the air about him not acknowledging her. One line is pretty thin but at least it leaves the door open to a complicated past. If the MCU is ready to go there, the Black Widow and Winter Soldier will be standing by to tell their own tale.

2 THEY ARE BOTH STRUGGLING TO ATONE FOR THEIR SINS

Watching two people raised from evil, trying to set themselves on the right track, is a wildfire. It is the perfect narrative of redemption and forgiveness as each tries to make atonement for their past sins. Natasha and Bucky can’t escape what they’ve done.

Their past, their assassinations, their lies, and their deceit will haunt them no matter how many missions they assist S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers on, but all they can do is move forward, feeling the bad twice as bad but the good only half as good. Fortunately for both of them, the other one can almost understand what the other’s going through.

1 THEY ARE BETTER TOGETHER

Romance storylines in comics have a history of being hit and miss. The epic love stories are few and far between. But in Natasha and Bucky, Marvel has a couple of characters that are special because their whole is greater than the sum of their parts.

Their power sets aren’t revolutionary, and their background makes them morally unqualified for a great deal of team leadership or individual spotlight. On their own, they rarely rise above interesting supporting characters. Once they’re paired together, however, fans get a hero twice as powerful and more passionate than Captain America, and probably with more enemies.