David Harbour says the entire ‘Black Widow’ ending was changed during filming

When it comes to superhero movies, the space can get a bit divisive: whether it’s Marvel versus DC, Gunn versus Snyder, or simply shills versus contrarians, superhero movie fandoms are places to avoid if you’re averse to conflict.

But if there was any common ground to be found in such a zeitgeist, it would have to be criticizing the third act, where malevolent CGI armies continue to be an invasive species as studios take hacksaw after hacksaw to just about every ending so as to make them cinema-friendly and compatible with its corresponding shared universe.

Indeed, the dissonance we all tend to feel about so many third acts is no accident, and David Harbour was all too happy to inadvertently pull back that particular curtain. In a recent interview on Happy Sad Confused, Harbour, who plays the character Red Guardian in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, revealed that the entire third act of Black Widow, the film he made his MCU debut in, was reworked in the middle of the movie’s shoot.

…I think they did want the opportunity to change some stuff. The interesting thing about Marvel that’s so great about them is they do rework stuff. Even big productions. Like Black Widow, the entire third act was reworked as we were shooting, which is incredible. And so, they just want that freedom.

Props to Harbour for trying to pass such a development off as an impressive feat, but, generally speaking, coming up with an entirely new ending on the spot — all without giving it the time and attention that went into the rest of the script — tends to be hazardous to the health of your story, and it’s no coincidence that Black Widow‘s overall effectiveness, like many of its genre peers, suffered from such a decision.

Perhaps one day we’ll enter a world where Marvel Studios doesn’t have full control over every single final act put out by the MCU, but for now, we’ll just have to keep slamming back the CGI fests as the franchise tries to get itself back on track.

Black Widow is available to stream on Disney Plus.