#because sophie and parker are capable and super smart

[reflectingiridescent]

Do not even get me started on Tara 'only if you pay me' Cole busting out a Nate-ism for her girl.* (extremely positive)

*platonic/romantic/literally any way you read Tara and Sophie positively is fabulous so let's f go*

The Inside Job (Leverage, S03E03) The Grand Complication Job (Redemption, S03E05)

requested by @reflectingiridescent

[pale-silver-comb]

Okay, super important question because apparently that's the thought I woke up with this morning. Who are the Leverage gang in the Avengers team? Apparently, sleep-me thought that Hardison was T'Challah (but yeah no, he's most definitely Shuri), Parker was Loki (which... i mean... hell yeah? But also, Spiderman because leaping off towers and stuff?) and sleep-me had Eliot as Thor, but he's totally Black Widow, right? So... Who's who?

Haha, this is so weird because I am literally in the middle of writing a Leverage fic where I’ve made a bunch of Marvel references and have, thus, been thinking about this. 

Okay, for Hardison, I actually see him as several people combined. The first would be Steve Rogers. This may be because John Rogers once joked that Alec is supposed to be this skinny computer nerd but when he takes off his clothes he looks like Captain America. However, with Hardison, it’s more than that. When he learned how to hack, what’s the first thing he did? Pay off his Nana’s medical bills. I bet he did that for a bunch of other people who couldn’t afford them. That’s very Steve Rogers to me. He also finds ways to do the impossible for people who can’t do it for themselves. He takes “it can’t be done” and makes it work.  Also very Steve Rogers. I 1000% agree he is also Shuri though because they both have the greatest minds known to man. That, and they have a designated loved one they can’t resist teasing because it’s just too damn easy (T’Challa, Eliot). Finally though, I would argue there are touches of Bruce Banner in Hardison: endless patience and empathy for the people around him and using his smarts to help people as best as he can. 

For Eliot, I would 100% agree on Natasha Romanoff but I guess you could also see a bit of of Bucky Barnes in there. Bucky because with Eliot there is a lighter, fun-loving side that is totally separate from having fun in battle. It’s very soft and all Bucky cares about is making sure Steve is safe (Steve for Eliot would be the whole Leverage team but mainly Parker and Hardison). However, for me, Eliot is definitely more Natasha. Eliot doesn’t have Natasha’s specific brand of tragic backstory but, unlike Bucky who didn’t choose his path, Eliot and Natasha both made bad choices they wish they could take back and are desperate to make up for by doing good. They are both extremely loyal and are willing to do anything - to go as far as it takes - to protect the people they love. And they will accept that burden happily, even if it costs them something to do it. They have cool exteriors but you know a lot of the time they are hurting. 

Parker is a hard one. I don’t think there is anyone like Parker anywhere. I can see her very much being the Peter Parker of the group but only in the sense she’d probably make a really good Spider-Man; she’s agile, quick on her feet, fast-thinking; she’d have tons of fun swinging from building to building. She’s also awkward but not in the same way any Spider-Man that’s gone before her is. She’d make that role her own.  Honestly, Parker is her own damn superhero. She’s Parker. But yeah, giving her web shooters? I imagine she’d find a lot of clever uses for them. Out of everyone’s powers, Peter’s ability to sense danger and shoot webs, to crawl up buildings without a harness, is probably the powers Parker would covet most.

Okay. You mentioned Loki. Which, for me, is Nate. Trickster. Master manipulator. When it comes to Nate, everyone is basically Thor because they all love him but a lot of the time have cause to be annoyed with him or even hate him. There is also Nate’s sadism and his tendency to play God. Not to the extent Loki tries to play God but there is a...complex there?  The difference is Loki feels entitled to that role, he feels he’s earned it, whereas Nate constantly struggles with the whole black king/white knight dichotomy. He loves being puppet master but he doesn’t like what that says about him. And yet Nate can be extremely scary in this sense- ”I didn’t kill you, God did. I just made sure it took”. The thing about Nate is you don’t know how far he’s going to push. He’s the least predictable in the team. Which is unnerving. Kind of like Loki. He doesn’t outright betray anyone he loves like Loki (far from it) but there is always that sense of “what are you not telling me?” with him that is definitely Loki. And sometimes what he’s not telling you stings. It stings like a bitch. 

Sophie. Sophie, Sophie, Sophie. Smart. Sexy. Badass. All round incredible. For me, Sophie is Peggy Carter (or even Pepper Potts). But more so Peggy Carter: she knows her own worth, she can take control of any situation, and she has that perfect balance of nurture and “I’ve got zero fucks left to give for your nonsense” going on. She isn’t afraid to tell people like it is and is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. The British comparison doesn’t hurt either. Sophie fits into any scenario and her pride never gets in the way of a job. She’s that cool blend of mom and wine aunt. Sophie is her own woman and commands respect on every level. Plus, she looks fabulous in everything she wears.