have you seen the ultimate avengers ii? it was like this tv movie from 2006, before the mcu. the steve natasha vibes were vibing, in the beginning they're bantering and she puts her hand on his chest and then in the end they straight up kiss out of no where (well not no where no where, i clocked the vibes from the beginning but the rest of my fam were shocked when it happened.) honestly can't speak for the quality of the rest of it but the steve natasha bits made me think of you :)
okay, I watched both Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2, which came out in 2006 and are such a mindfuck as an MCU person, even if I am vaguely familiar with the comics (including Ultimates when it came out, which was twenty years ago, to be fair). like, even though these came out in 2006 they would have been made prior to the Winter Soldier's existence, so in the first film they just have Bucky as a regular soldier who marries The Girl Cap Left Behind (Gail) and is the only surviving member of Cap's team. (not the Howling Commandos -- the Howlies being Steve's WWII team is actually from CATFA, in the comics they're (white guy) Nick Fury's.) there is an absolutely brutal shot of Steve talking to Bucky and asking "what happened to the rest of the guys" and then an immediate cut to a cemetery.
Jarvis is literally a butler named Jarvis (since I think JARVIS actually did come in with the MCU). this was when Iron Man still had a secret identity. even in non-MCU cartoons they've made a pretty concerted effort over the years to have VAs that sound pretty similar to RDJ, but this is pre-RDJ! so he just sounds like a guy. Bruce is...terrible. terrible guy. Janet Pym and Betty Ross get to bond over their terrible men. Fury actually tracks because Ultimates is what first turned Nick Fury from a white guy to a Black guy and his original Ultimates design is based on Samuel L Jackson, so that part is fine. Natalia (not Natasha) has a Russian accent and they didn't put the Black Widow symbol on any of her gear or give her her bites. Steve has severe PTSD, that part's fine. was Wakanda handled thoughtfully and sensitively? no. does the Black Panther literally turn into a were-panther? yes. Thor hangs out at environmentalist rallies and protests and definitely desires to know Captain America carnally five seconds after meeting him. Mjolnir does not have a worthiness clause. Hank Pym is...also terrible. Janet and Betty are besties though so that part's fine. I'm pretty sure they had to photoshop Natalia's undershirt in and originally she just had her tits out.
this is in the middle of the War on Terror so when they're casual Steve and Natalia wear camo and so does Fury. there are a lot of pointed shots of the Statue of Liberty. Odin yells at Thor from the sky. the Nazi bad guy from Steve's past is actually a shapeshifting Chitauri super soldier. Steve and Natalia make out and obviously I approve of that part.
also, Mark Hamill is here. Hawkeye is not. (not an original Avenger, I know.)
(for anyone interested, these are on YouTube in full, but not on Disney+)
