AVENGERS: ENDGAME Writers Planned to Kill Hawkeye Until Marvel Employees Protested

Hawkeye came dangerously close to taking Black Widow’s place on Vormir. One of the most painful moments in Avengers: Endgame sees Natasha Romanoff sacrifice herself so Clint Barton can escape with the Soul Stone.

It turns out the filmmakers seriously considered flipping that outcome, with Hawkeye dying instead. According to co-writer Stephen McFeely, the decision ultimately came after some Marvel employees made a strong case for letting Natasha have the heroic moment.

"Because it's not a small thing to kill off a principal female character in the MCU, we tried a version of Hawkeye [dying]," McFeely said at an Avengers: Endgame Encore Q&A event.

The writers apparently wrestled with which longtime Avenger should make the sacrifice. When Marvel employees got a look at the version where Clint died, several women at the company confronted McFeely about what that change would take away from Natasha.

"A number of the female employees at Marvel, when they read [the script], grabbed me in the hallway and said, 'Don’t you do this to her. Don't you take her heroic moment and give it to him. And I said, 'Oh, that’s a really good point.'"

That feedback helped settle the issue. Natasha would be the one to make the choice, throwing herself from the cliff and ensuring Clint returned to his family with the Soul Stone.

The decision also gave Black Widow one of her biggest moments in the MCU, although the movie didn't have much room to deal with the emotional fallout. McFeely admits that's one aspect of Endgame he still thinks about.

"There was not that much time to mourn Natasha because we got to snap everybody back and Thanos has to bomb us, and the Avengers have to fight their biggest fight in the MCU and Captain America has to wield Thor's hammer… we had a lot to do.”

Once the Avengers recover the Soul Stone, Endgame races toward Hulk's snap, Thanos' attack on the Avengers compound, Captain America wielding Mjolnir, the return of the dusted heroes, and the massive final battle. Natasha's death gets some emotional attention, but the story has a huge amount of ground left to cover.

Black Widow eventually returned for her own solo film, Black Widow, which expanded Natasha's history while introducing Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova. Yelena has since become a major part of the current MCU lineup, giving Natasha's story a legacy that continued after her death.

Hawkeye got another chapter as well. Jeremy Renner returned as Clint Barton for the Disney+ series Hawkeye, where he teamed up with Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop and helped usher another archer into the MCU.

For now, there's no word on whether Clint will appear in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, leaving the future of one of the few remaining original Avengers uncertain.

Avengers: Endgame Encore is currently playing in cinemas.

Via: Forbes