can't remember offhand where I read it, but I'm SURE I remember reading an interview I read with Joss Whedon, where he outright says something about Black Widow being a regular human - meaning, whatever the comic canon, as of Avengers one, Natasha's a regular person.

As for the Winter Soldier? Well, he could have trained Natasha without her being enhanced, after all. (in MCU canon, at least, he's been affected by HYDRA, not the Red Room. Though I'd be interested to know what his blood type is, and whether it's universal donor or compatible with Natasha's.) If I remember right, in the original comics canon, Natasha was actually born in the 1920's, and given the treatments as a child in the red room, meaning it wasn't the 'super soldier serum' but a formula meant to produce similar results.

But otherwise, there's no reason why both Natasha and Clint couldn't be 'regular' humans, with their skills being explained by starting at a very young age, and constant practice now, combined with the whole using-them-to-stay alive part. I mean, look at some of the things the ninja were reliably reported as being able to do. (I don't mean in Naruto, either, I mean the real, historical Ninja) Has anyone read the Tales of the Otori books by Lian Hearn? The main character is a ninja, and can do stuff that makes Natasha and Clint look like amateurs - despite not starting until his early teens - although that's partly because he's a result of a breeding program run by his clan, and partly because he seems to be a natural physical prodigy (again, the breeding program).

As for Clint's sight... has anyone read the sebastian st cyr mysteries by CS Harris? The title character has yellow eyes, greatly enhanced senses (including having night-vision similar to a cat), and extraordinary reaction times. In all the books, there's an authour's note at the end that explains that sebastian's abilities are not some kind of sneaky-superhero thing; they're the result of a rare but genuine, scientifically documented strain of genetic mutation, which for some reason has been shown to nearly always occurr in people of pure Welsh descent... or of the Cherokee tribe of Native Americans.

(BTW, is 'native americans' the actual term that's supposed to be used now? Is there someone on the list who is a member of, or knows someone, who is a member of said subgroup of humanity who can tell me? Screw political correctness, I want to use the term that the actual people concerned would prefer.)

can't remember offhand where I read it, but I'm SURE I remember reading an interview I read with Joss Whedon, where he outright says something about Black Widow being a regular human - meaning, whatever the comic canon, as of Avengers one, Natasha's a regular person.

You just made my morning, lol. :)

As for the generic mutation, I think I might have heard about that somewhere...it sounds vaguely familiar. I could easily imagine Clint having something similar - a natural genetic variation that gives him an edge others don't have. (Is it just me, or in that scene when he's so focused on one of the Chitauri craft - the sequence with the arrow that melts the engine - do his eyes essentially turn completely white? I assume it's just the camera angle - and Jeremy Renner's intense look - but none-the-less, that shot catches me every time. It's the only scene where he doesn't quite look like a "normal" human. If I had more time this morning, I'd hunt down a cap of it.)

As for the preferred names for Native Americans, I'm sorry, I don't know. :-/ I have heard that "preferred terms" are changing for a number of groups, but I can't tell you what they are.

Edited 2013-03-23 03:20 pm (UTC)

That brings up an interesting idea... just because Joss said it an it's canon in the movies, does that mean that fanfic must adhere strictly to Natasha being only human? Is there no place for experimenting what having something more "other natural" might be like? Does it make it wrong to use science/magic?