What Happened To Black Widow’s Body After Her Death?

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Black Widow.

In Black Widow's post-credits scene, Yelena (Florence Pugh) visits Natasha's (Scarlett Johansson) gravesite, begging the question of what happened to her body after her death. After she died in Avengers: Endgame, Clint returned back to his time without Natasha's body. But she died on Vormir in a different timeline and Black Widow's post-credits scene confirms that her grave is located in the Midwest. These details further complicate the circumstances surrounding Natasha's body.

Black Widow takes place in between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, explaining what Natasha was up to while she was on the run after helping Steve Rogers. Reuniting with her "family" in Russia inspires her to go back to the U.S. and break the imprisoned Avengers out of jail and get the group back together, but Natasha later sacrifices herself to gain the Soul Stone in Endgame. As Black Widow saw Natasha spend time with her adopted sister Yelena, the movie naturally had to chronicle her reaction to Natasha's death. But audiences familiar with the circumstances of Natasha's death were likely surprised to see Yelena visiting an actual gravestone.

After Clint returns to the rest of the Avengers in Endgame, it was implied that Natasha's body remained on Vormir after she sacrificed herself. But by showing a physical grave for Natasha Romanoff, audiences can no longer assume that is necessarily the case. Black Widow never offers an answer as to what happened to her body, or if there's even one in her grave at all. But with the introduction of time travel and multiple dimensions in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there's a number of possibilities as to what happened to Natasha's body after her death. But no matter what the answer is, each possibility proves that Natasha's sacrifice was not forgotten.

Black Widow's death on Vormir in Avengers Endgame

The most obvious answer would be that Natasha's body remained on Vormir after her death. One theory that takes that a step further is that her body may have disappeared into another dimension within that timeline after she jumped off the cliff. After all, Gamora met the same end as Natasha a movie earlier in Infinity War. After Natasha's tragic death, the camera lingers on her body from a bird's eye view and bloodstains are visible but Gamora's body is gone. But if Gamora's body was intentionally removed from the scene of her death, another possibility for Natasha's remains — Captain America came back for her. Captain America: Winter Soldier and Infinity War proved that Steve and Natasha had a close bond. Steve is a soldier, first and foremost, and leaving behind a fallen fellow soldier would have eaten at him. The final moments of Endgame show that Captain America time-traveled to return the Infinity Stones back to their rightful places in time. While it may have been logistically challenging, Steve may have gone back to bring his friend home to her final resting place. If it was within his power, it's the least Steve would've done for Natasha.

Natasha's death in Endgame has been considered controversial by many, as she was never shown to have received a funeral like Tony Stark's, despite her sacrifice. Criticism emerged that her death was only used as a vehicle to propel the male Avengers' action. But Black Widow's post-credits scene shows that isn't necessarily the case. If her body is in the grave, someone (likely Steve) made a treacherous journey to retrieve it. Even if her body isn't there, her fellow Avengers chose to honor her. The Black Widow post-credits scene shows her grave adorned with numerous bouquets of flowers and tokens of affection, proving that people other than the Avengers have paid tribute to her since her death. No matter where her body ended up, Black Widow more than makes up for the way that her death was handled in Endgame.

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