I've been trying to figure out why Death was so infatuated with Ben Grimm in the recent Thing mini-series. The point that kept coming up was that Ben will never stop fighting, but Death seems intent on making him her consort or concubine, her words. It would seem like that's something he will fight, and Death must recognize it, because she tries to use Alicia as a lever to make him submit. But even if it works and Ben does give in, doesn't that mean he's not what she wanted after all?
So the conclusion I came to is, Death wants someone who plays hard to get, but only to a point. Look at her two most common suitors. Thanos throws himself at Death all the time. Proclaims his devotion to her and anyone else in earshot at the drop of a hat. Showers her with gifts like killing half the universe or making temples that float in space. Completely shameless, and look at how she treats him. She eggs him into doing things for him while he's alive, but as soon as he succeeds too well she stonewalls him. When he's dead, which would seem to be the truest submission, she can't wait to bring him back to life and send him off to pick up her laundry or whatever.
In contrast, Deadpool. Wade is, on the surface, a bit like Thanos, if less eloquent. He kills a lot of people, in a more personal way, but sometimes not terribly discerning. Wade also talks sweetly to Death, although mostly when he's in a vulnerable state. Meaning, while in severe physical and probably mental or emotional pain. There's also that lack of pride Thanos shows, but it doesn't feel like an act, Deadpool trying to show he can be vulnerable. In those moments, he just is vulnerable. Hurting and eager to die.
The trick is, Wade doesn't stay dead. Death can welcome him with open arms, but Deadpool will always leave, whether he wants to or not. On the plus side, he never overstays his welcome. Death never grows sick of him the way she does Thanos, but at a certain point, it has to get tiring. No commitment. Wade isn't playing hard to get, he just is hard to get.
So now here's the Thing. He's not singing any hosannas to Death, but he's open about what he feels. He's looked death in the eye in a hundred different forms and punched it in the face. He will not quit. Will fight until he collapses. Fight until he dies. But that's the key. Unlike Deadpool, Ben Grimm can die and (setting aside meta-textual intellectual property concerns) stay dead. There's no ridiculous healing factor that will pull Ben back from the brink. So she gets to enjoy his fighting, but there is will be an end to it eventually.
And during this mini-series, we watch Ben fight and fight and fight. More than once, he collapses from either his injuries or exhaustion, or both. In a couple of cases, Death (as Amaryllis) helps him recover, which seems contradictory. But it offers another chance to watch him fight later, to watch the struggle of the mortal against inevitability. She can afford to indulge, because she's confident that sooner or later, he's going to succumb.
But she has her limits, so when Ben refuses to kill Dr. Doom, when his stubborn will refuses to remove a possible threat to her domain, it stops being a fun exercise. That's when it becomes a matter of trying to force the issue via Alicia's safety. Which doesn't work because Death underestimates Alicia, because a woman who made herself a great sculptor, who befriended a strange man who crashed through her skylight and turned out to be a gofer for a hungry giant alien, who has dated Ben through all his insecurity, is not the sort to give up easily, either.
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