Avengers Endgame: Black Widow **SPOILERS**
I have been waiting for weeks to give my thoughts on Avengers Endgame. At this point, the film has grossed $2.49 B, so now is the perfect time for me to give my opinion on what I consider a very controversial subject…..the death of Black Widow.
Going into Endgame, I was fully prepared for some major character deaths. My two top contenders were MCU staples Iron Man and Captain America.
The death of Black Widow was shocking, but that’s not what really bothered me about her demise. I am very disappointed that after everything was said and done, Black Widow did not receive a memorial befitting of her character.
Let’s backtrack for a moment. It didn’t really hit me that Black Widow or Hawkeye would die until they arrived at Vormir. Once they realized one of them had to be sacrificed, they fought to save the other person’s life. In the end, Black Widow made the sacrifice to save her friend and brother in arms. Hawkeye was understandably devastated.
When Hawkeye returned to Avengers Tower sans Black Widow, the responses were expected. Her collegues were clearly devastated, but it was business as usual, as reversing the snap was the main priority.
Fast-forward to the final battle. Iron Man tricks Thanos and obtains the Infinity Gauntlet. Iron Man snaps his fingers wiping out Thanos and his forces.
During Tony’s final moments, he had a very touching moment with Spider-Man, War Machine and the love of his life, Pepper. After the dust settled down, Tony had a proper ceremony at his cabin in the woods.
I think the farewell Tony received at the end of the movie was beautiful and well deserved, but what about Natasha. I’ve seen the argument that Iron Man is the bigger character so he deserved the proper send-off over Black Widow, but I strongly disagree. They both deserved proper send-offs, especially from a storyline perspective. Besides their professional relationships, Black Widow had healthy personal relationships with her teammates. They really missed a moment at memoralizing the First Lady of the Avengers.
If we go back to the beginning, Natasha first showed up in Iron Man 2 as Natalie Rushman. She was an undercover spy for S.H.I.E.L.D posing as Tony’s assistant. She basically helped Fury recruit Tony and ensured his safety throughout the movie.
After that, Natasha became a staple in the MCU, appearing in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and all four Avengers movies. She even had a brief appearance in Captain Marvel.
During her time in the MCU, we learned about her close sisterly bond with Hawkeye and his family, she developed a romantic relationship with Hulk that ended before it could truly begin, and she had a sisterly relationship with Captain America. She also had good working relationships with Iron Man and Thor (initially siding with Tony regarding the Sokovian Accords). In short, they would honor her.
Even during Endgame, she was the glue trying to hold the Avengers together, monitoring the World’s activities. Tony was living his life at the lake with Pepper and his daughter Morgan; Clint became an anti-hero and was killing crime-lords; Bruce became Smart Hulk and a pseudo celebrity; and Thor became a drunk and spent his days playing video games on New Asgard. Only Steve checked in regularly with Natasha at Avengers Tower whenever he wasn’t leading grief counseling sessions.
Natasha has been a staple in the Avengers since day 1, and when the going got tough she was at Avengers Tower while everyone else were doing their own thing.
I write all this to say that Natasha deserved better. Natasha was loved. She was understanding, compassionate, loyal and would die for her team. Correction, she died for her team. To her team she was just as important as Tony, just in a different way. Heck, Tony locked half the team up in Civil War. Fortunately for us fans, this isn’t the end for her character in the MCU.
