A Marvel screenwriter says that female crew members supported Black Widow’s controversial death scene in Avengers: Endgame.
Stephen McFeely told IndieWire that having the female Avenger sacrifice herself in the movie was a decision that came “not without some controversy” – but that conversations with women on the crew led to the decision.
In Endgame, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) go to retrieve the Soul Stone, which is needed to defeat Thanos and reverse the effects of his snap that killed off half of the world’s population.
But the Soul Stone demands a human sacrifice, meaning that either Black Widow or Hawkeye must die.
Black Widow ends up jumping over a deadly cliff in Endgame – a scene that many have criticised, since it signifies the end for one of the few female characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“We certainly thought long and hard about it,” McFeely said of the moment.
“We knew we were killing the first female hero of the Marvel Universe. We stupidly came up with these rules in the first movie – someone’s going over that cliff. So we had to decide.”
McFeely, who said he doesn’t have any regrets over the scene, added: “A number of women on the crew, when we said, ‘Hey, we’re thinking maybe Hawkeye goes over,’ said, ‘Don’t you do that! Don’t rob her of this!’
“And then it choked me up because I think we would have a much different conversation if Hawkeye had pushed her aside.”
