There are gonna be deaths in Avengers 4, and not of the soon-to-be-reversed kind like in the climax of Avengers: Infinity War but some permanent ones. And while much of the internet seems morbidly fixated on the idea of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers being the ones to go, a new theory on Reddit argues that Natasha Romanoff could be the unlucky party.
The post draws on an old claim from the film’s co-director Joe Russo that Captain America: Civil War contains clues of what’s to come in the Infinity War sequel. Obviously, that could mean a lot of things given the number of plotlines and characters packed into that film, but Redditor blaq_fenrir sees potential in the moment where Black Widow allows Cap and Bucky to escape at the end of the film’s all-star battle, despite committing to help Iron Man.
From here, the post argues that Natasha’s shift in allegiance may come back to haunt the team in next year’s release, since Tony may have some trouble trusting her in a crucial moment. Nonetheless, it’s speculated that Black Widow may try to wipe the slate clean by making a heroic self-sacrifice, perhaps for the Soul Stone, so that Steve and Tony don’t have to. In her death, the gang is brought back together, and even Hulk and Bruce Banner will get the rage and the motivation they need to cooperate once more.
Seeing how popular it is to predict that Cap and/or Iron Man will be the ones to go, you have to wonder if the Russo Brothers have a subversion of expectations like this planned, though Natasha’s slight betrayal of one Avenger in favor of another in Civil War may not be quite a memorable enough plot point to follow up in a movie three years later.
To look at this twist from a PR perspective, however, after Gamora’s Soul Stone sacrifice in this year’s Infinity War, Marvel Studios may be a little hesitant to pull the same trick with another female character in the sequel, especially for the sake of saving and motivating the male leads. Let’s not forget the criticism that Deadpool 2 received earlier this year for indulging in the “fridging” trope.
In any case, we’ll find out who’ll be cleared from the MCU to make way for Phase 4 when Avengers 4 comes out on May 3rd, 2019, but regardless of what happens to Black Widow, you can expect to see her again in her own planned prequel.