Warning: The following post contains Avengers: Endgame spoilers about Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow!
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo defended to controversial decision to have Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow sacrifice her life.
Avengers: Endgame followed the surviving Infinity War heroes as they traveled back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones in hopes of using them to reverse Thanos’ decimation, with Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye being tasked with retrieving the Soul Stones on the planet Vormir. Of course, collecting the Soul Stone required a sacrifice and while the two long-time friends argued over who would give their life for the item, it was ultimately Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow who took the sacrificial leap.
However, the decision to kill Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow has been controversial, with some noting the death marks another example of a female character being killed to motivate a male hero or arguing the film places Hawkeye’s life above Natasha’s. In an interview conducted before the release of Avengers: Endgame, Joe Russo explained that Black Widow’s decision was intended to be the act of a soldier giving up their life for a greater good:
“The theme of the movie is, can you change your destiny, and what does it cost to do it? And are you willing to pay that cost? It’s a resounding yes from the Avengers. In [Infinity War] they said, ‘We don’t trade lives,’ and there was a desire to protect. And in this movie, there’s now a desire to sacrifice in order to accomplish the goal.”
Anthony Russo also commented on how Hawkeye’s mission to bring back his family factored into the decision:
“We open the movie on [Hawkeye’s] family. She reminds him of it in the scene. They both may have the mission in that moment where, ‘I’m not going to let you kill yourself,’ but Hawkeye has mixed agendas there, which I feel takes the edge off his focus in a way that she doesn’t.
How do you feel about the decision to have Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow give up her own life? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Here is the official synopsis for Avengers: Endgame:
The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion to twenty-two films, “Avengers: Endgame.”
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin.
Avengers: Endgame is now playing in theaters!
Source: Entertainment Weekly
