Since the release of Avengers: Endgame a year ago, there are a number of sequences in the film that have remained on the lips of Marvel fans, and Black Widow’s epic death scene is among them. The death of Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff was an emotional and important moment to the MCU franchise, but not everyone thought it was handled with the same amount of care of Steve Rogers or Tony Stark’s.
An alternate version of Black Widow’s death has been discussed by the filmmakers and Scarlett Johansson before, but now you can see the deleted scene in all of its glory below:
Whoa! It’s really interesting to see another version of Hawkeye’s last moments with Black Widow be played out, and this Avengers: Endgame sequence showcases the complete vision as if it just barely was placed out of the final cut. As explained by Endgame’s editor, Matthew Schmidt, the way the scene was originally shot had Hawkeye and Widow finding themselves in the middle of a battle with Thanos’ army when Natasha sacrifices herself for Clint.
Things do play out much differently here than in the theatrical version of Avengers: Endgame. This alternate version is an epic action sequence that sees Natasha get shot by the army multiple times before sealing the sacrifice by falling down the cliff. There’s no dialogue, the score brings in the emotion and Black Widow’s death feels a lot more tragic than heroic.
In Avengers: Endgame, once the pair learn one of them must die in order to retrieve the Soul Stone, they fight one another in order to save the other. Black Widow ends up being the one to win that fight and sacrifices herself to save the world. Within the scene, there’s a conversation between the two Avengers about saving each other’s lives. It takes its time a bit more and infuses some emotional depth into Widow’s final mission.
Scarlett Johansson also previously opened up about the alternate version, admitting she was worried the ”army of Dementor-type creatures” in the scene might traumatize children. The scene was ultimately changed to the way it is because the filmmakers already felt the movie was packed with enough action.
However, the writers did show some regret about the aftermath of Black Widow’s death in Avengers: Endgame. Because the scene is positioned in Act 2 of the movie, they felt like there just wasn’t enough time to “roll around in the grief” of the loss of the Avenger. Her death isn’t the only one that went through a few drafts – Iron Man was originally supposed to die a super gross death.
Scarlett Johansson will return to her Marvel role in Black Widow, a prequel that will kick off Phase Four of the MCU on November 6.
