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For all that Marvel Studios has successfully replicated so much of the DNA of Marvel’s comic book universe — in, admittedly, an abbreviated and much more digestible form that doesn’t require anyone to understand literal decades of backstory and canon — there’s one important strand that I’m still somewhat impatiently waiting for. One that, if I’m being entirely honest, is so core to what makes Marvel Marvel that I’m almost prepared to throw a parade in celebration when it does, inevitably, show up on screen: superhero friendships.

In this week’s Marvel-ous, where we go big on the small things in Marvel that make us smile, it’s time to come out and say it: Friendship is magic.

I mean, okay, sure; there’s quasi-friendships in the MCU, where the bickering and the snark is just the bluster that hides the fact that people really love each other and will literally die for each other. (Hi, basically all of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Avengers, too when it comes down to it.) And there are circumstantial relationships where heroes work together respectfully if, again, with no small amount of bickering and snark. Hell, there are even love affairs between heroes, although apparently they end up in Disney+ miniseries that lead to the two seemingly permanently separated. But where are the actual friendships?

When I think about the many things I love about Marvel Comics, one of the first things that comes to mind are the friendships between characters: Spider-Man and the Human Torch. The Beast and Wonder Man. Wolverine and Nightcrawler. The Thing and, well, seemingly everyone (but especially Sandman, a bad guy who ended up turning good — albeit temporarily, much to my sadness — because he was buds with Ben Grimm). These weren’t just characters that teamed up to fight crime together, although of course they did that a bunch; these were friends who liked to socialize outside of work, hanging out and sharing the good times and the bad with each other. They’d go drinking, to the point where Hank McCoy and Simon Williams would show up to Avengers Mansion drunk at inopportune times for comic relief! (The 1980s; comics were different then.) Basically, these were characters who just plain liked hanging out with each other.

These friendships didn’t just make the characters more relatable — hey, who didn’t want to hit the weird Marvel Comics nightclubs with their favorite heroes? Or even the Coffee Bean?!? — but it presented more opportunities for drama when necessary. Sure, every hero wants to save the day, but isn’t it just more exciting when they’ve got to save their actual friend, upping the emotional stakes in the process?

This was something that, when it first started being played up in the comic books, made Marvel stand out compared with DC. While DC’s heroes all got along entirely cordially, it wasn’t until, arguably the late 1970s or early 1980s that it convincingly seemed as if any of them were more work colleagues that could feign affection for short periods of time. Marvel’s heroes, on the other hand, were far more emotional in every way, making their friendships so much more convincing. (After all, given the classic Marvel formula, if they didn’t like each other, they’d probably be fighting.)

One day, the MCU is going decide that it’s time for inter-franchise friendships, and give us two heroes that just plain enjoy each others’ company without any snark, jokes, or cover story. Fantastic Four, X-Men, I’m looking to you to make it happen: let’s bring a little bit of sincerity and actual affection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Maybe we can’t all get along, but can’t some MCU heroes be friends?

Find yourself in the Marvel U with our MCU watch order, best Marvel Comics list, all of the MCU movies ranked, and our weekly column on all things Marvel - Marvel Matters.