The Hawkeye Disney+ series was the funeral that Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow never got – and then some. The finale episode of Hawkeye drives that point home, deeply, as we get a resolution to plotline of Natasha Romanoff’s sister Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) seeking vengeance against Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). (SPOILERS) In their climactic confrontation, Clint and Yelena ended up bonding in grief over the loss of Natasha, with their dialogue essentially serving as the best eulogy that Widow is likely to get. In doing so – and in exploring this subplot as a whole – Hawkeye gave fans some much-needed restitution they had been asking for.
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Black Widow’s death in Avengers: Endgame remains one of the more divisive twists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Infinity Saga. Widow sacrificed herself on Vormir in place of Clint Barton, in order to secure the Soul Stone for the Avengers’ Time Heist pan. Widow’s reasoning was built into the film (her deep need to want to save everyone and restore the universe – the polar opposite of her assassin beginnings); however, many fans didn’t buy the logic behind Widow’s sacrifice – and certainly didn’t appreciate the fact that the Avengers never even gave her a funeral, while pulling out all the ceremonial stops to honor Tony Stark.
The Black Widow solo movie was no doubt in part a eulogy for how awesome of a hero Natasha truly was – a point hammered home in the film’s post-credits scene. Yelena had her own private memorial of sorts at Natasha’s grave, before Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) pointed her Hawkeye. The Hawkeye series picked up that thematic baton and ran with it, by making us experience the guilt and loss that still haunts those closest to Natasha. It was the sort of sentiment that fans always wanted to see expressed in a Black Widow funeral – but it was also more than that.
The release of Spider-Man: No Way Home is proof that Kevin Feige is in something of a meta-minded mood right now, and Hawkeye seemed to further evidence that fact as well. Much of the show’s rumination on Natasha’s death also felt like a response to fans – a way of saying “Hey, we know how much Black Widow meant to all of you and we want to honor her death the right way. Finally.”
Then again, one never knows how many chess moves ahead Feige is thinking. One big question that’s come out of Hawkeye is whether its subplot about Natasha’s absence was planned out so far ahead that Avengers: Endgame wasn’t an oversight, so much as a launchpad for Hawkeye’s story. We may never get clarity on that, but we do know that Black Widow has now received proper remembrance – and Black Widow II (Pugh) is already a breakout fan-favorite.
Hawkeye and Black Widow are now streaming on Disney+.
