Avengers: Endgame Writers Reveal Deleted Black Widow and Hawkeye “Love” Scene

Avengers: Endgame dropped a scene that would have refamiliarized audiences with the loving platonic relationship between Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) before Widow’s sacrifice on Vormir.

“There was a scene between Natasha and Clint Barton en route to Vormir, so they leave Morag, and then they basically just have a long conversation while the Quinjet is on autopilot,” co-writer Stephen McFeely told the Los Angeles Times.

“We thought we needed it because it was gonna remind you that they shared a relationship, meaning that they loved each other, which is of course a prerequisite for what’s gonna happen on Vormir. It needed to have that relationship in order for the Soul Stone to be gotten. It turns out you do not need that, because you’ve watched all the movies, and you know they love each other. And they’re great actors, so it takes two lines and not an entire scene.”

McFeely and co-writer Christopher Markus earlier told the New York Times they once considered a version where it was family man Hawkeye who killed himself on Vormir, allowing the Avengers to claim the last Infinity Stone needed to reverse Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) snap that erased half of all life in the universe.

“Jen Underdahl, our visual effects producer, read an outline or draft where Hawkeye goes over. And she goes, ‘Don’t you take this away from her,’” McFeely said. “I actually get emotional thinking about it.”

Added Markus, “And it was true, it was him taking the hit for her. It was melodramatic to have him die and not get his family back. And it is only right and proper that she’s done.”

The scribes agreed it was fitting for Widow to fully erase the red from her ledger through the ultimate show of selflessness.

“Her journey, in our minds, had come to an end if she could get the Avengers back,” McFeely said.

“She comes from such an abusive, terrible, mind-control background, so when she gets to Vormir and she has a chance to get the family back, that’s a thing she would trade for.”

Avengers: Endgame is now available to own on Digital HD and releases to 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray August 13.

Buy or Pre-order Avengers: Endgame:

• Buy it digitally on Amazon, Fandango Now, and Vudu (7/30)
• Pre-order on Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray at Walmart (8/13)
• Pre-order the Steelbook version at Best Buy (8/13)