In the lead-up to Avengers: Endgame, one of the most popular questions regarding the Avengers: Infinity War sequel was who, if anyone, would have to sacrifice themselves for the Soul Stone. As some of you may recall, the fan forums offered a variety of theories on how the inevitable Vormir scene might play out, and according to Jeremy Renner, even the team at Marvel Studios originally had a very different idea for the Soul Stone sequence.
As we now know, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes obtain the Infinity Stone after Black Widow sacrifices her life, much to the horror of her friend Clint Barton. Speaking at this weekend’s Ace Comic Con, however, Renner explained that they initially shot Natasha Romanoff’s demise against a much noisier backdrop.
“We shot it, and it’s very different from what’s in the movie now,” Renner explained. “It’s a scene we re-shot because it was much more complicated [than the] scene that’s in Endgame now. There’s an attack, Thanos is in some ship or something, and a bunch of weird aliens were running around and it was too complicated, so what they did is we shot the scene, still with the same kind of idea, but now we’re just fighting each other to commit suicide for the soul stone.”
The actor went on to explain that the final Vormir sequence was shot just six months ago, adding that it was “a tough scene” for both himself and his co-star Scarlett Johansson.
Renner’s remarks seem very much in line with comments earlier this year from editor Jeffery Ford, who told Business Insider that the original scene had Hawkeye trying to stop Black Widow from killing herself while also fending off an attack from Thanos and his forces. So far, the footage has yet to surface, but feel free to hold out hope that the upcoming Avengers: Endgame home release will offer a glimpse of what might’ve been.
In any case, though Nat is no longer among the living, filming has already begun on a Black Widow prequel movie, which is expected to hit theaters next year. In the meantime, we’ll find out how Peter Parker processes the death of another Avenger when Spider-Man: Far From Home comes out on July 2nd.