WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Endgame, in theaters now.
Perhaps the most shocking death in Avengers: Endgame was that of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, who sacrificed herself in order to get the Soul Stone. This death was irreversible and has garnered some controversy. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo Anthony have now explained how they came to the decision to kill her instead of Hawkeye.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the two said, "We open the movie on [Hawkeye's] family," said Anthony "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."
"To me it's one of the sadder scenes in the movie because it's really putting two people in a Sophie's Choice, putting two people in the position where do you let your friend die or do you die?" Joe added.
"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," Joe elaborated. "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 a desire to sacrifice in order to accomplish the goal. I think that's the natural progression, right? Well, the first thing we're going to do is protect everybody.' And then when you realize it can't work that way, then true heroes step up and are willing to sacrifice or the greater good."
The choice provided controversial, as some saw Natasha as falling victim to the trope of killing off female characters for shock value and the development of their male counterparts. There were also fans critical of Black Widow's lack of a funeral.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos.