Though she’s on the verge of getting her own spinoff movie, Black Widow was one of two major causalities in Avengers: Endgame – the other being Tony Stark, of course, everyone’s favorite genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.
There’s just one difference: the entire MCU gathered to pay their respects to Stark after his heroic sacrifice, while Black Widow was given a sort of mini-funeral, when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes realized that they were, in fact, the only family she ever had.
So it’s not all that surprising to learn that some Marvel fans felt that Avengers: Endgame gave short shrift to Nastaha’s sacrifice, preferring instead to focus on Tony Stark. There are a few things to consider, mind you; for one, barring any last-minute cameos, Robert Downey Jr. is really finished with his MCU character, while Scarlett Johansson still has Black Widow – an epilogue, of sorts – to look forward to. And then there’s the three-hour runtime.
Nevertheless, during ComicBook.com’s Watch Party, Endgame scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely confirmed that they had initially planned to create an on-screen funeral for Black Widow, but ultimately decided against it.
We tried a few things. We could never land on one that felt good enough (and that didn't take you out of the moment in front of you). #AvengersAssemble #QuarantineWatchParty -SM https://t.co/5kEs9iySh1
— ComicBook.com (@ComicBook) April 28, 2020
Like we said before, it’s important to remember that ScarJo’s super-spy still has her own standalone movie to look forward to. Granted, Marvel’s Black Widow spinoff is set to arrive a little later than expected (November 6th, to be specific) due to the Coronavirus pandemic, which is really something that can be said for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Speaking of which, thanks to ComicBook.com’s Watch Party, there are scores of interesting tidbits circulating online about Avengers: Endgame, including why Nebula never got to wield the Infinity Gauntlet, which was a seminal moment in the original comics.