Avengers: Endgame Initially Planned to Kill Off Hawkeye

One of the most shocking and heartbreaking moments in Avengers: Endgame was undoubtedly the sacrifice made by Natasha Romanoff on Vormir, trading her life for the Soul Stone. There was a long back and forth between her and Hawkeye to determine which one would die in order to get the stone. Some people don't like the fact that Black Widow had to die, believing that the better choice was to have Hawkeye give his life instead. As it turns out, that option was very much on the table at one point during the writing process.

Empire recently spoke to Endgame's directors Joe and Anthony Russo, as well as screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, for a new episode of the Empire Podcast. During the conversation, it was revealed that Hawkeye was on the chopping block for quite a while.

"We had a version where [Hawkeye] went over," McFeely said. "I remember specifically our visual effects supervisor Jen Underdahl was reading it going, 'Don't do that. Honour her choice.' And we took it very seriously. Many of the women on the crew were passionate about giving her the hero moment – don't take it away from her."

Joe Russo also chimed in on the topic, saying that this heroic moment was meant to bring Black Widow's story in the MCU full circle.

"Natasha is fascinating because she used to be a villain. It's not something you've seen on screen before, but she had a life prior to this that was the wrong life," Russo added. "The character had their identity stripped away and was turned into an assassin, then found a new family through her membership in the Avengers. It just seemed an incredibly heroic choice for her to make knowing that she had to sacrifice herself to preserve the future and the family."

Do you think the right call was made in Avengers: Endgame? Should it have been Hawkeye instead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!