Marvel Entertainment’s Avengers: Endgame trailer gave us a lot to process, most of which we didn’t even ask for (despite begging for Marvel to release the trailer). The trailer also gave us a glimpse into a potential friendship or at least ally-ship between Tony and Nebula.
After the great decimation of Avengers: Infinity War, Nebula and Tony are the only living creatures left on the dead planet, Titan. Presumably, they’ll spend at least a decent amount of time together, or at least however long their spaceship trip is.
Since Nebula and Tony both have a long history with loss, torture, and grief, we think they might develop a budding friendship during their journey. Beyond getting on speaking terms, we think Nebula might help Tony work through some of his grief, or at least accept it.
We’re familiar with the normal grieving process for losing a pet or another loved one, but we aren’t well-versed with the extensive grieving steps one should take after half of the universe and, in theory, half your loved ones turn to dust. However, we do know that Tony Stark is a canonically selfless character who is probably lost in space blaming himself for Thanos’ snap.
After all, Tony explicitly blames himself for the events in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and he implicitly blames himself for Rhodey’s injuring during Captain America: Civil War, especially after Hawkeye verbally accuses Tony of being the reason for Rhodey’ broken back.
Therefore, we wouldn’t put it past Tony, i.e. the biggest Tony hater in the galaxy, to hold himself liable for Peter’s death and the death of half the universe. We know that he isn’t accountable, but he doesn’t realize that.
Given Nebula obviously has a tragic story arc filled with being kidnapped, tortured, and dismembered (multiple times), she has a plethora of experience dealing with her own internal torment. While she hasn’t had the chance to do anything other than sequester the years of torment Thanos caused her, Tony and Nebula’s interactions aboard the Benatar could prompt Nebula to comfort her shipmate and, by extension, help her process her own emotions.
As Tony grieves and logs his daily messages to Pepper, hoping that she receives the incoming messages at some point, Nebula can support Tony as a friend. We aren’t sure what kind of conversations they’ll have during their makeshift “Thanos destroyed our lives and mental health” support group, but we’re nearly certain that Nebula can help Tony start the grieving process.
Hopefully, their conversations will also help Nebula grief about her own sister’s death, because we know she hasn’t had the time to truly process that loss given the end of the universe, thanks to Infinity War. Showcasing Nebula’s support for Tony (and vice versa) will also provide necessary and empathetic character development for her. She’s implemented dozens of emotional blockades after her years of abuse, so she hasn’t been able to develop a healthy relationship with anyone.
When she just starts to allow herself to be vulnerable enough to have a sister, Thanos takes that away from her. Seeing Nebula willingly support another person isn’t only fruitful to Tony’s wellbeing, it can help her become a stronger character as well. After all, physical tenacity isn’t the only strength in a hero’s arsenal, and they’ll also need their mental and emotional strength to defeat Thanos.