Black Widow’s Sacrifice
It’s not like we weren’t going into Endgame expecting some of our heroes to meet their makers – in a more permanent way this time compared to those who perished in IW – but it still felt like a punch in the gut when the first big death of the movie occurred.
In a retread of Gamora’s death in Infinity War, Black Widow and Hawkeye travel to Vormr in the past to reclaim the Soul Stone. They discover though, just as Thanos did, that one must sacrifice the other to get the gem. Unlike Thanos, however, the two heroes don’t want their friend to die so try to kill themselves instead. After a brief fight, Natasha lets herself drop off the cliff-face, leaving Barton to grimly take the Soul Stone.
Seeing as Scarlett Johansson is set to continue her Marvel career with the upcoming Black Widow solo flick, we assumed that she was the one hero who was safe in Endgame but boy, were we wrong. All it means is that her own movie has to be a prequel. We were also left surprised by how little the heroes mourn the heroine after her demise, though the Russos have attempted to explain why that is.