Black Widow’s Alternate Ending Is Better Setup For Her Endgame Death

Black Widow marked Natasha Romanoff’s final appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while the ending gave proper closure to her arc, the alternate ending would have been a much better setup for her controversial death in Avengers: Endgame. Natasha Romanoff made her MCU debut in Iron Man 2 before she officially joined the Avengers, with whom she fought many fights that included the Chitauri army, a rogue AI, and Thanos and his armies. After years of battles alongside the Avengers and a lot of pressure from fans, Natasha was given her own movie, though it arrived after her death in Avengers: Endgame.

Set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow saw Natasha returning to Russia as she was on the run following the Civil War conflict, which broke the Avengers team for years. Natasha reunited with her Russian family – Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) – and together they brought down Dreykov (Ray Winstone) and the Red Room, though not before encountering a one-of-a-kind villain known as Taskmaster. Black Widow brought Natasha’s arc to a proper end while also setting up Yelena’s future in the MCU, but the movie’s ending could have been much better and could have helped set up Natasha’s death.

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Black Widow ended with Rick Mason (O-T Fagbenle) supplying Natasha with a Quinjet so she could free her fellow Avengers (as most of Team Captain America were imprisoned) and reunite with Steve Rogers and the rest, as seen in Avengers: Infinity War. Although this answers the question of what Natasha did between Civil War and Infinity War, why she suddenly appeared with blonde hair, and how she reunited with Steve Rogers, it still feels disconnected from the rest of her arc, particularly her sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame. However, a deleted scene from the ending of Black Widow recently made its way to social media, and it gave Natasha a much better ending that gave her a reason to do what she did at Vormir.

The scene shows Natasha going back to the only home she knew in Ohio, where she lived with Yelena, Alexei, and Melina in the 1990s during an undercover mission. As Natasha arrives, there are children playing on the street as if they were Avengers, and as she looks at her old home, a girl approaches her and shows off her Black Widow moves, in a very heartwarming interaction between the hero and the girl. This highlights the main theme of Black Widow, which is family, and the importance of it in her arc, as she not only had her Avengers family but her Russian one as well, which at the end of the day, was the most important one. The scene emphasizes this by having her return to the house in Ohio and seeing the impact that her and the Avengers’ actions have had on children, so she has a lot to fight for. Her sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame, prior to the release of Black Widow, gave the impression that she had given up, and this alternate ending shows what her moving force really was.

Of course, it’s too late now to fix anything when it comes to Natasha Romanoff’s arc in the MCU, but Black Widow’s alternate ending would have definitely improved the movie, Natasha’s arc, and her final actions in Avengers: Endgame. Exactly why Marvel decided to cut the scene and stick to the ending that made it to the final version is unknown, but hopefully, it will be properly released as a deleted scene soon.

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