Black Widow's Avengers: Endgame Storyline Was Very Different At First

The events of Avengers: Endgame were filled with tragedy and triumph, as some fan-favorite heroes made the ultimate sacrifice while others quietly rode off into retirement. And while Black Widow's death was more tragic given her dedication to the Avengers even after the world fell apart, her storyline was almost very different in the new film.

According to directors, there was a plan where Black Widow did not lead the Avengers in the five years after the snap, but instead dedicated her time to educating children. Joe and Anthony Russo explained their idea while appearing on Slate's The Gist podcast.

"One thing that we talked about a lot – and I thought was really profound, but it was almost too large of an idea for us to wrangle, but we did try for a while – the idea that one-quarter of all children have no parents," said Anthony Russo.

Added Joe Russo, "Assuming you started with two parents. So that's a lot of global orphans. Just the staggering number of that. I believe at one point really early in development, Black Widow was actually leading the organization in D.C. that was in charge of orphans, basically. That was what she was heading up five years later. But yes, it's fascinating when you start running it down."

This is a huge departure from what we actually saw on the screen. In the movie, Black Widow has become the coordinator for the Avengers' heroic activities on Earth and in space. It's her dedication to this makeshift family that makes her sacrifice much more poignant in Avengers: Endgame, showing that she was willing to do whatever it takes in order to restore the lives of those who were lost.

While the impact might have been comparable had the film gone this different route, with Natasha Romanoff playing surrogate mother to a group of orphaned kids, it might have been way too much to include in an already 3-hour long movie.

Fans do have a lot of question about how the MCU Earth moved on after the snap, how people were able to move on as well as what happens once everyone returned. We might get those answers in Spider-Man: Far From Home, premiering in theaters on July 2nd.

For now, we just have to see what clues we can gather from Avengers: Endgame, now playing in theaters.

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