Black Widow‘s self-sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame is one of the most controversial moments from the event movie, with some fans feeling that Natasha Romanoff didn’t deserve to die that way and was short-changed by the pic. The filmmakers themselves, however, have repeatedly defended the storytelling choice as the perfect way to end the heroine’s character arc. Now, co-director Joe Russo has made a very bold statement about the scene in question.
On the commentary track, which also features his brother and fellow director Anthony Russo and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Russo sums up why the sequence where Nat elects to fall from that Vormir cliff in order for Hawkeye to take the Soul Stone home is so powerful. In doing so, he claims that Black Widow’s death is the most heroic moment in the whole franchise to date.
“At the beginning of Endgame, she wants to bring it all back because she feels like it is the strongest emotional connection that she’s ever had in her life. She’s presented with a choice, which is to give her own life to bring everyone else back and she does it Which [is] the single most heroic moment in the history of the Marvel Universe.”
That’s a big thing to say, considering the amount of times the Avengers have laid their lives on the line in the MCU. In fact, in Endgame alone, there are many selfless, heroic moments from the team – Hulk being willing to do the first Snap, Cap rescuing Thor from Thanos and, of course, Iron Man giving his life up to defeat the villain once and for all. But you can see what Russo means as Nat’s actions are truly heroic and, similar to Tony’s, show just how much she’s grown over the franchise.
While we’ve been told that she is truly dead after Avengers: Endgame, at least Scarlett Johansson will get one more go around as the character for her own Black Widow solo movie. The slight prequel will be set following Captain America: Civil War and dig deep into what made her the super-spy she is. Or was. Expect it in theaters on May 1st, 2020.