Everything We Know About Black Widow's Role In Avengers: Endgame

Black Widow looks set to play a major role in Avengers: Endgame. Scarlett Johansson made her MCU debut in 2010's Iron Man 2, and became one of the original Avengers. Although Black Widow lacks super-powers, she's proved to be a major asset to the team, and she's played a major secondary role in several Marvel movies.

Avengers: Endgame is expected to be the swan song for most of the OG Avengers, but Johansson is sticking around. Marvel's finally pushing ahead with a Black Widow movie, with filming reportedly due to begin in June. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean Black Widow will survive her next encounter with Thanos; Marvel increasingly seem to like jumping around the timeline, meaning the film could potentially be a prequel exploring her origin story.

Marvel's currently keeping the plot of Avengers: Endgame a closely guarded secret, with Kevin Feige even suggesting that trailers and TV spots will only show clips from the first 15-20 minutes. For all that's the case, though, it's gradually becoming clear that Black Widow will be one of the most important characters.

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Black Widow Will Help Lead The Avengers In Endgame

Avengers Endgame Trailer - Black Widow Training

The aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War has shaken the Avengers to their core. They failed to defeat Thanos, and the Mad Titan succeeded in his insane goal of erasing half the life in the universe with a snap of his fingers, an event that the MCU refers to as the Decimation. The OG Avengers could only watch in horror as some of their dearest friends crumbled to dust before their eyes. Each of the Avengers looks set to respond to this apocalypse in a different way; for Black Widow, it seems she's become more driven than ever before. One intense trailer shot shows her in a training montage, honing her skills for the challenge ahead. "When we find her, she’s f****** pissed off," Johansson told Empire. "The one thing we know about Natasha is that she’s going to hunker down and she’s going to get those motherf******. That’s her MO."

Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely suggested that Steve Rogers and Black Widow will both have big roles in Avengers: Endgame, and that's been reaffirmed by the trailers, which suggest Black Widow has actually taken charge of the Avengers. Whatever the Avengers' mysterious plan may be to put matters right - it's generally believed to involve an element of time travel to undo Thanos' snap - Black Widow is the true believer in it. She's the one running the briefings, she's the one who seems to bring the team back together, and she's the one who encourages Steve Rogers by assuring that their plan will work. That may well explain why Marvel has chosen to green-light a Black Widow movie as part of MCU Phase 4.

Black Widow Must Find Hawkeye In Avengers: Endgame

Hawkeye and Black Widow in the space ship in Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame will include a significant focus on the relationship between Black Widow and Hawkeye. The trailers have shown Natasha tracking her old friend to Tokyo, where she discovers that he's been radically changed by the Decimation. Hawkeye has adopted a new identity as Ronin, one that he took on in the comics when he was going through some of the darkest times in his life; it's generally assumed that, in the MCU, this means he lost his wife and children in the Decimation. No doubt that will break Natasha's heart; she's a close friend of Clint Barton and his family, to the extent that his son Nathaniel was named after her.

There's been intense speculation about how the reunion between Black Widow and Clint Barton will go. Some fans had believed Clint would blame the Avengers, but there's been no suggestion of that in the trailers. Instead, it looks as though Clint and Natasha bond in their heartache and pain, and Black Widow swiftly talks Hawkeye into returning with her to the Avengers Compound and joining the mission against Thanos.

Page 2 of 2: Black Widow's Avengers: Endgame Time Jump... And Time Travel

Avengers Endgame Trailer - Thor Likes Captain Marvel

Black Widow's Hair Proves An Avengers: Endgame Time Jump

In Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow was on the run as one of Steve Rogers' Secret Avengers so had dyed her hair white. A number of scenes in the Avengers: Endgame trailer show Natasha running a briefing with her hair still short and the same color, suggesting the film begins in the immediate aftermath of Thanos' victory. The same is true in scenes involving Captain Marvel, suggesting Carol Danvers arrives on Earth fairly soon after the snap.

But other scenes show Natasha's hair grown out and back to its normal red, clearly implying a time jump in Avengers: Endgame. The second trailer revealed that Nat's back to being a redhead when she goes to meet Clint Barton in Japan, and also when she and the Avengers head off in their new Quantum Realm costumes.

All of this suggests the first act of Avengers: Endgame takes place over two time periods to allow the tem to get ready for their mission - a mission that will alter time in a different way...

Black Widow Will Time Travel In Avengers: Endgame

Avengers Endgame Trailer - Avengers in Quantum Suits

There's strong evidence that Avengers: Endgame involves time travel; from set photos revisiting the Battle of New York to them wearing "Advanced Tech" suits that bear a close similarity to Hank Pym's Quantum Realm survival suits. The Quantum Realm is a plane of reality that's outside the normal laws of time and space that Marvel has openly admitted it could unlock the potential for time travel, with the post-credits scene of Ant-Man & the Wasp even revealing that there are mysterious "time vortexes" in it.

Assuming this speculation is correct, then Black Widow and the rest of the Avengers will enter the Quantum Realm and travel back in time. At this stage their exact mission is unclear; Marvel is doing their best to ensure not a hint of it gets out through the trailers and TV spots. Still, it seems reasonable to assume the Avengers are somehow attempting to rewrite history, preventing Thanos' snap from ever happening. That would certainly explain why even Black Widow seems to view this plan as something of a long shot in the Avengers: Endgame trailers.

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