Black Widow’s self-sacrificial death in Avengers: Endgame is one of the movie’s most heartbreaking scenes, but fans have always wondered if it could have been easily avoided. After all, Natasha Romanoff and Hawkeye had no idea that one of them has to die in order to claim the Soul Stone on Vormir, even though it’s heavily implied in Avengers: Infinity War that Nebula worked out what happened when Thanos and Gamora went there and only the Mad Titan came back.
Endgame‘s creative team have finally confirmed, however, that this is not the case. Nebula didn’t pre-warn Nat and Clint because she didn’t realize that Gamora’s death was linked to the retrieval of the Infinity Stone. As co-writer Stephen McFeely put it on the movie’s audio commentary:
“It should be noted, I’ve seen this on the Internet, that Nebula doesn’t know about the exchange that’s required at Vormir. No one knows other than anybody who was there. She just knows her sister didn’t come back.”
Co-director Joe Russo further clarified:
“She knows her sister went there with her father and her sister didn’t come back, and he left with the stone. So only assumptions can be made about what happens on that planet, but who knows? She could have tried to stop him and he murdered her. We have no idea.”
Anthony Russo then suggested what Nebula may have thought happened:
“He could have simply murdered her, because he finally got what he wanted.”
Some have wondered before why Nebula didn’t say anything to Black Widow and Hawkeye if she even slightly suspected that one of them might have to die, but the filmmakers’ comments make it clear that she had no idea. As Anthony Russo says, she presumed that Thanos had killed his favorite daughter himself in order to get the gem. Like Gamora herself, though, Nebula didn’t realize how much the villain loved the Guardian and wouldn’t have murdered her if there was another way to get the Stone.
Tell us, though, does this explanation for the plot hole satisfy you? Have your say in the comments section down below and remember, Avengers: Endgame is now available to buy on Digital HD.
