AVENGERS: ENDGAME Directors Finally Explain Why Black Widow Didn't Get A Funeral In The Movie

AVENGERS: ENDGAME Directors Finally Explain Why Black Widow Didn't Get A Funeral In The Movie

Black Widow's death in Avengers: Endgame was a huge moment, but she didn't get a funeral. Now, the movie's directors have explained why that was and it actually ties into the character's solo movie...

By JoshWilding - Aug 01, 2019 02:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Avengers: Endgame
In Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow makes the ultimate sacrifice on Vormir when she leaps to her death in order to secure the Soul Stone for Hawkeye and her fellow Avengers. While we see Earth's Mightiest Heroes mourn for their fallen friend, some fans have wondered why Tony Stark got a funeral when Natasha Romanoff did not. 

Well, during the Director's Commentary on the digital release of Avengers: Endgame, Joe Russo finally sheds some light on why the character didn't receive a funeral service at the end of the film.

"Now, people have asked why Natasha didn't get the same amount of screentime post-death as Tony did," the filmmaker says. "Well, Tony does not have another movie. Tony is done. Natasha has another film. The Marvel universe obviously does not have to move forward linearly anymore, but that character still has more screen time coming."

Reading between the lines, Marvel Studios probably didn't want to make it 100% clear to casual fans that Black Widow is dead and gone because they may not have been that interested in her upcoming solo movie. A funeral obviously makes things very final, whereas even just a little ambiguity is bound to get people talking when the first Black Widow trailer is eventually released. 

What do you guys think about the director's remarks? 
 
What else was revealed in Avengers: Endgame's Director's
Commentary? Find out by hitting the "View List" button below! 

How Captain Marvel Found The Guardians' Ship

Tony-Stark


Captain Marvel met Earth's Mightiest Heroes at the end of her solo movie, but we don't know what happened between then and the moment she flew into outer space to rescue Tony Stark.

Well, according to the Russos, she was brought up to speed with what was going on off screen and there was some sort of homing beacon on the ship that Carol was able to use in order to track Iron Man down. That addresses what some fans have claimed is a plot hole since this past April. 
 

The Russo Brothers' Favourite Easter Egg

Hulka


Now that we can watch Avengers: Endgame at home, we're bound to start finding Easter Eggs we missed the first time around. One of those has now been revealed by the Russos, and they say that it's their favourite. It can be seen when the team is sitting around a table and The Hulk is snacking on Ben & Jerry's "Hunka Hulka Burnin' Fudge."

As you may recall, Doctor Strange and Tony Stark discussed ice-cream flavors in Avengers: Infinity War when we learned that Iron Man also had a flavour named after him: "Stark Raving Hazelnuts."
 

What's The Deal With The Red Skull?

Red-Skull


Believe it or not, the movie's writers and directors seem to be unable to agree on what happened to the Red Skull once the Soul Stone was taken from Vormir. Confirming that Captain America would have had to have bumped into his old foe, the filmmakers discussed whether the Skull would have been freed from his bonds or if the Stone returning would have then pulled him back.
 

The Team Suits Are Entirely CG

Team-Suits


During the scene where Hawkeye travels back in time to find out whether the time-travel tech actually works, we get to see one of those awesome "Team Suits" in action for the first time. 

As that sequence takes place, Joe Russo confirms that "None of this suit exists" and confirms that they're all brought to life solely with visual effects rather than practical costumes. 
 

How Thanos Travelled Through Time

Thanos-Time


If you've been wondering about how Thanos managed to travel through time in order to confront Earth's Mightiest Heroes, there is actually an explanation. According to the filmmakers, the Mad Titan and Ebony Maw managed to reverse engineer the Pym Particles from Nebula's suit in order to shrink their ship and make their way to the present day. As explanations go, that's not too bad. 
 

Nebula Doesn't Know How Gamora Died

Nebula


Interestingly, while Nebula may have figured out on Titan that her sister Gamora was killed by their "father," McFeely explains that she wouldn't know exactly how that ended up happening.

"No one knows other than anybody who was there," the writer reveals. Instead, Nebula "just knows her sister didn't come back, and he left with the stone." Sadly, her body is likely still there. 
 

Robert Redford's Final Role

Redford


Robert Redford announced quite some time ago that he was retiring from acting, so fans were suprised when the 82 year old actor appeared in Avengers: Endgame

According to Markus, Redford himself said that it would be his last big screen appearance, so that makes this Marvel Studios movie even more historic given what a legendary actor he is. 
 

A Surprisingly "Controversial" Line

America-s-Ass


Marvel Studios always stays in the PG-13 realm, hence why we've never heard an F-Bomb in the MCU. However, according to Joe, "probably the most controversial joke in the whole movie" comes when Ant-Man praises Captain America for having "America's Ass."

He adds that the line was "hotly debated," and that it was even more controversial when Steve said it to his past self. 
 

Smart Hulk's Scrapped Debut

Hulk-Buster


When Avengers: Infinity War was released, we saw toys featuring The Hulk bursting out of the Hulkbuster armour. That moment never came in the movie, and McFeely confirms that it was a scene originally meant to take place in the 2018 release before it was ultimately cut because there wasn't space for it.

"He was fighting in Wakanda," McFeely says. "The whole arc of the story was Banner and Hulk were not getting along. Hulk wouldn't come out to help him. And at his hour of greatest need, they make some sort of compromise, and Smart Hulk rips out of the armor and beats the crap out of Cull Obsidian and destroys him."

"It was pretty clear that the movie could not handle this weird success,"
he continues. "The movie needed to just stay in its succession of losses in the third act, which meant some hustling on the part of VFX late in the game."
 

Tony Stark's Gaunt Appearance

Tony-End


In order to make Tony Stark look so gaunt at the start of the film, VFX work was needed to change Robert Downey Jr.'s appearance. "Our VFX team did an exceptional job taking some weight off of him and making him look like he is on death's door," Joe reveals. "And the intent here was to make you believe, if momentarily, that we may actually kill Tony Stark at the start of the film."

Joe went on to say that Tony lecturing Captain America about everything that had happened between them was a highlight for him. "The moment here is one of my favorite acting moments of the movie. This is their essential conflict, and Tony can't get past it."
 

Why Hawkeye Was Cut From Avengers: Infinity War

Ronin


We've heard this in the past, but it's confirmed during the movie's Director's Commentary that Hawkeye's scene with his daughter was originally going to be included in Avengers: Infinity War

However, the Russos say they found it "too disorientating" to cut from Thanos' snap to what's going on with Clint Barton's family and notes that "We're already cutting between a lot of people at that point in the film" so a random scene with the archer might have been too much for audiences. 
 

When The "I Am Iron Man" Scene Was Shot

Tony-2


We know that Robert Downey Jr.'s final scene was the last one he filmed, but it was also the last shot of the entire movie.

According to Joe and Anthony, it was filmed during reshoots back in January at Hollywood's Raleigh Studios, a location right by where the actor did his first screentest for the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Awesome, eh? 
 

A Different Take On Captain Marvel's Introduction

Carol-D


We mentioned at the start of this post how Captain Marvel was able to track down Tony Stark and Nebula, but her introduction in the movie was originally going to play out much differently. 

It would have taken place when she returned to Earth with the ship rather than in outer space. "We felt like it was not as successful of a reveal. We just didn't like the transition," Joe explains before Markus adds: "[The] idea will be that there'd be orange light on Tony's face. He'd see something. The audience wouldn't see it, and then only would you reveal what happened there."
 

A Thor And Korg Sitcom?

Korg1


One of the movie's best moments comes when we catch up with Thor and find out that he's been living in New Asgard with Korg and Miek. Joe compares the entire thing to "a sublime BBC comedy" and jokes that he'd love to see seven seasons of this as a TV show. "I'm also very fond of the fact that the magical weapon he took the entire last movie to get a hold of is now a bottle opener." 
 

How Iron Man Removed The Stones From The Gauntlet

Thanos-Titan


There's been a lot of discussion about how Iron Man was able to remove the Infinity Stones from the Gauntlet Thanos was wearing, as it did seem a little convenient that the hero had somehow created that tech. Well, the filmmakers elaborated on that by explaining that Tony used nano tech in both his suit and the Gauntlet he created so that they would be able to talk to each other. 
 

The Rat That Saved The Universe

Scott


In movies, a lot of big moments happen because of a coincidence and that's exactly how Scott Lang is brought back to the present day when a rat steps on the control panel in his van. 

"Now, we have a rule in writing that, you know, sort of coincidences," McFeely explained. "You're sort of allowed them in act one. A coincidence late in the movie is perhaps lazy. I'm delighted that a rat has saved the universe." As coincidences go, it's fair to say that it was a pretty good one. 
 

1970s Peggy Carter Nearly Didn't Make The Cut

Peggy2


During those scenes set in the 1970s, Steve Rogers finds himself in Peggy Carter's office and watches her from afar. However, that scene wasn't included in earlier versions of the movie. 

"Our first draft did not have this, and it would have been a shame," confirms McFeely. "It's really lovely. Just the structure of the scene. The production design, setting up this office in such a way that he can be in shadow and she can be in light." Joe adds, "And that performance from [Chris] Evans, the longing on his face without a single line of dialogue, you understand how important she is to him and how much he misses her." It also reminded fans about their relationship.
 

How Thanos Was Able To Destroy Captain America's Shield

Steve-Cap


In the comic books, Thanos manages to destroy Captain America's shield with his bare hands. While his big screen counterpart is equally as powerful, Avengers: Endgame takes things in a different direction by having the villain use his sword.

Apparently, while Vibranium is the strongest metal on Earth, whatever Thanos' sword is made of is stronger (and it could be that Eitri created it). 
 

A Key Moment At The End Of The Movie

Steve-Cap1


Here's something you probably didn't notice: at the end of the movie when Captain America and Peggy Carter finally get their dance, the door to her house is open. That's because this scene takes place minutes after he arrives at her front door, which obvioulsy suggests they didn't want to waste any time after being reunited.

It's a small touch, but one that shows how great the Russo Brothers are. 
 

Captain America's Severed Head

Steve-Cap2


We've been hearing a lot about a scrapped sequence featuring Captain America's severed head, and that's elaborated on during this Director's Commentary. "There was another version where Thanos opened up a large portal on the battlefield where it became evident that in his own time frame, he had come to Earth," Markus explains.

"And he walked up to them [present day Avengers] and tossed 2012 Captain America's head on the floor. It seemed like it was never gonna make it, but it was. For a movie that began with essentially Thanos' head on the floor, it was a shocking reversal." That definitely would have been quite something, but wouldn't Thor's head have been more fitting? 
 
 
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dracula
dracula - 8/1/2019, 2:15 AM
Maybe the black widow movie will jump forward to after the events of Endgame to show her funeral or at least something
BertieGregory
BertieGregory - 8/1/2019, 7:04 AM
@dracula - That's what I inferred from the comments too, that there may be a frame story here with the frame being post-Endgame setting.
four20smoke
four20smoke - 8/1/2019, 11:17 AM
@dracula - or there may be designs on bringing her back, having a funeral may have just felt wrong in that case.
SabreToof
SabreToof - 8/2/2019, 9:28 PM
@four20smoke - Yeah. I'm thinking a beginning and ending like Star Trek: Ashes of Eden where the funeral and/or grave of the main protagonist is shown.
Polaris
Polaris - 8/1/2019, 2:19 AM
Sound like an excuse tbh. They already said before she didn't have one because Tony was a public figure and she wasn't, and iirc M&MF said they didn't take into account the black widow movie while writing endgame because at first they didn't even know it was happening
Humperdink
Humperdink - 8/1/2019, 2:41 AM
@Polaris -

A bad one.

No funeral for Widow because she gets another film? That film doesn't seem to have anything to do with her death in Endgame, which is where that closure should have taken place.
Polaris
Polaris - 8/1/2019, 2:45 AM
@Humperdink - True
Nebula
Nebula - 8/1/2019, 2:20 AM
Nebula
Nebula - 8/1/2019, 2:22 AM
A simple "she wouldn't have wanted one," would suffice. The "they already had their mourning-Natasha-moment earlier one," is a better reason.
Comicbookart
Comicbookart - 8/1/2019, 5:54 AM
@Nebula - lol. They should have left the question unanswered.

The true answer is Black Widow isn't nearly as popular as Iron Man. They didn't want to say that so we get a buttheaded response instead. 😆
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 8/1/2019, 2:23 AM
Maybe Black Widow starts with her funeral and the rest is flashbacks
Humperdink
Humperdink - 8/1/2019, 2:39 AM
@MalseMarcel -

I wonder how the audience would feel about the film starting with her in a coffin and the whole thing being a flashback? I feel like they'd probably avoid starting the character off dead and just have the film take place in a different time period. If anything...a flash-forward to a funeral at the end or something related in the credits COULD work...but I doubt they'll start on her being dead even if we saw he die already.
LongMayHeReign
LongMayHeReign - 8/1/2019, 3:06 AM
@Humperdink - I don't think we have to worry about her being in a coffin, unless Cap climbed down that shear cliff and somehow brought her body back to the main timeline without anyone knowing.

But yea they will likely fast forward to a memorial service for her at the end and have Yelena lurking in the distance nearby setting her up to eventually join the Avengers.
lawndart
lawndart - 8/1/2019, 3:58 AM
@MalseMarcel - Hrm. That's a thought. Could be interesting.
Chewtoy
Chewtoy - 8/1/2019, 2:27 AM
How many funerals did people want in the film?

Anyway, this works for me as a reason to show Tony’s but not Nat’s. It’s not like the don’t use time during the gathering at Tony’s house to reflect on Natasha as well.
Kumkani
Kumkani - 8/1/2019, 2:33 AM
Yeah, that's bullshit.

It didn't need to be a funeral, but at least she didn't need to feel like an afterthought after she died.

Natasha sacrificed herself to get the Soul stone, something the Avengers needed to bring everyone back. Having only two people acknowledge it afterwards in Clint and Wanda was simply not enough.
Whaley87
Whaley87 - 8/1/2019, 8:02 AM
@DnA - Bruce, Tony, Cap, Thor etc. did acknowledge it though. Are you forgetting the scene by the lake at the Avengers compound? Clint breaks down saying it can't be undone after Thor angrily says they should go back and save her because they have the stones, and when asked if she had a family, Cap replies "Yeah... us."
Kumkani
Kumkani - 8/1/2019, 2:39 AM
All they had to do was this



Properly acknowledge that she mad as much of a sacrifice as Tony. I get it, he's the centerpiece if the MCU, but Natasha has been there since Iron Man 2. She arguably paved the way for all the female superheroes in the MCU to exist, and she's had a significant relationship with the Original 6 except for Thor.
DEVWoulf
DEVWoulf - 8/1/2019, 2:40 AM
Plot Twist: At the end of Black Widow, Emily Blunt pops up and reveals that she is the REAL Natasha, while ol' dead ducklips was a fake all along. Mysterious music and Russian shenanigans ensue.

Kumkani
Kumkani - 8/1/2019, 2:41 AM
@DevarikaWoulf - Ew
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/1/2019, 3:31 AM
@DevarikaWoulf -

lawndart
lawndart - 8/1/2019, 3:59 AM
@DevarikaWoulf - I'd be alright with that.
Kurne
Kurne - 8/1/2019, 2:41 AM
If people are complaining about her not getting a funeral like Tony's, fine.

But people are acting like they didn't even acknowledge her death AT ALL. They bloody well did, and barely less so if less so at all than Tony's. Tony's death was more immediate and made sense with the grand focus on it through the funeral.

I thought they acknowledged her death after the Vormir scene perfectly with the other original 5 upset about it. And then later at Tony's funeral with Clint and Wanda talking about her.

I swear people like to get pissy about this more than they need to.
Kumkani
Kumkani - 8/1/2019, 2:50 AM
@Kurne - I get that the way the story was written, the five OG Avengers didn't have enough time to start mourning Nat. But for [frick] sake, all we got was Banner throwing a bench.

It didn't need to be a funeral. But seriously, all of the heroes that gathered for Tony (or at least the ones she interacted with) should have also acknowledged her death. There was no tribute for her.

We're talking about Black Widow here. A member of the original 6. A character that has been involved in some of the MCU's biggest moments. A character that has history with almost all of them. The first female superhero of the MCU and the female face of it before Carol Danvers showed up and all she gets is her family being upset about for a couple of seconds?
LongMayHeReign
LongMayHeReign - 8/1/2019, 3:18 AM
@Kurne - They also mentioned it a 3rd time when Hulk told Cap he tried so hard to bring her back and how much he missed her. People definitely act like Nat died and no one ever batted an eye and kept going. Her solo film will obviously be her big send off.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/1/2019, 3:28 AM
Spies don’t get funerals. It’s out of character for her anyway.
lawndart
lawndart - 8/1/2019, 4:00 AM
@BlackBeltJones - That's basically with first explanation the studio gave us. Not sure if they changed their mind or if Josh needed ideas for articles.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/1/2019, 4:51 AM
@lawndart - lmao
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