Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame are ahead!
Although they had occasional differences and spats over the years, Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, and Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, remained good friends throughout the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So when it came time in Avengers: Endgame for someone to give up their life on Vormir so that the other could obtain the Soul Stone, both heroes fought to sacrifice themselves and make sure the other survived, and ultimately Black Widow was the one who fell off that cliff, leaving Hawkeye to grieve for his lost friend.
This was one of Avengers: Endgame most emotional scenes, and as you might have expected, Jeremy Renner had a tough time filming this moment, as he revealed on social media:
Having costarred in four MCU movies together, one would imagine that Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner formed a close bond, so it makes sense why he would find shooting Black Widow’s death scene difficult. However, as Renner also noted in his Instagram post, this also ended up being one of his best days during Avengers: Endgame’s shoot, with Johansson’s company enhancing the experience.
Although the beginning of Avengers: Endgame explored how those who survived the Thanos snap at the end of Avenger: Infinity War struggling to move on with their lives following half of all life in the universe being erased, Black Widow marked the first major casualty in the movie. Clint was willing to make the sacrifice for the Soul Stone so that his family would return and to atone for all the carnage he caused as Ronin in the previous five years, but Black Widow foiled his efforts, and Clint returned back to 2023 with the Soul Stone in hand and having to break the tragic news to his other teammates.
While Avengers: Endgame marked the end of Black Widow’s journey in the MCU, it doesn’t mark the last time we’ll see her on the big screen. A Black Widow standalone movie is on the way, and while Marvel hasn’t officially commented on this yet, we can logically assume that the reports about it being a prequel were correct. Joining Scarlett Johansson on that movie are Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Rachel Weisz. Cate Shortland is directing and Ned Benson wrote the latest draft of the script.
As for Jeremy Renner, while this hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, the actor is reportedly reprising Clint Barton for a Hawkeye series on Disney+, which we’ll see Clint training Kate Bishop to be the new Hawkeye. It’s unclear if he’ll ever reunite with his Avengers teammates on the big screen again, but it might be cool to see a younger Clint appear at the end of the Black Widow movie to recruit Natasha into S.H.I.E.L.D.
Avengers: Endgame is still playing in theaters, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on its box office performance and other coverage about the movie. Those of you looking to the future of the MCU can find out what’s coming down the pipeline in our Marvel movies guide.
