Jeremy Renner Opens Up About Filming the Original Version of Black Widow’s Death Scene in AVENGERS: ENDGAME
It’s been years since Avengers: Endgame changed the landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, yet fans are still uncovering new behind-the-scenes details about its most emotional moments.
One of the most talked-about sequences in the film is the heartbreaking scene on Vormir, where Natasha Romanoff sacrifices herself so Clint Barton can obtain the Soul Stone.
Jeremy Renner recently reflected on filming a very different version of that pivotal moment, and why he was ultimately glad to go back and redo it with Scarlett Johansson.
Speaking at Space Con 2025, Renner revealed that the original Vormir sequence looked nothing like what audiences saw in theaters.
“We shot the scene, but that scene is not in the movie. It’s a very different scene. There’s much more galactic and more aliens and there’s a lot more stuff going on. And then we reshot it to make it much simpler to the scene that’s in the movie now.”
The initial cut included a battle with Thanos’ forces from 2014, creating a more chaotic atmosphere. But Renner explained that the reshoot, which simplified the setup, made the moment far more powerful.
“There’s much more emotional, much more impactful, I think. It’s more heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking to do that scene. It was a celebration also. It’s like saying goodbye to somebody. There was 22 films before this that made this scene happen.”
For both Renner and Johansson, the final version of the scene carried real emotional weight.
“I think it’s one of Scarlett’s last scenes anyway. It was a pretty emotional time, a lot of years had gone by, and shared stories, and life shared. It was real enough for us to feel it.”
Fans can actually check out that earlier version of the Vormir scene on Disney+, where it lives among Avengers: Endgame’s deleted scenes.
While it’s an interesting “what if” look at how things could have played out, it’s clear the simpler, more intimate take was the right call.
Even the film’s co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have spoken about that change, agreeing that the reshoot made all the difference. McFeely said:
“It was a little more complicated. It was Thanos sending a small army to pretend to try and stop them. It was sort of awkward. It was overthinking.”
Markus added:
“While it lit a fire under them to do the act, it also took a little bit of the agency away, and we lost the characters.”
Renner also touched on Avengers: Endgame’s haunting opening sequence, where Hawkeye loses his family during the Blip. Surprisingly, that scene was originally intended for Avengers: Infinity War.
“That scene was supposed to be at the end of Infinity War. It was supposed to be at the end of Infinity War, and then it goes into Ronin land. But then it didn’t work.
“So, let’s just bookend this whole thing. A lot of things happen in Endgame, guys. A lot of things. So, Ronin comes into play because of what happens to his family, and the blip and all that stuff.”
As Marvel gears up for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, it’s clear that topping Avengers: Endgame will be no easy feat. The 2019 blockbuster remains the emotional and cinematic peak of the MCU.