WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.
Even with Marvel Studios president and film producer extraordinaire Kevin Feige’s recent Reddit AMA, new bits of trivia about the making of Avengers: Endgame are still trickling out every day. The latest comes from actor Jeremy Renner, who plays Clint Barton (a.k.a. Hawkeye, a.a.k.a. Ronin) in the massive blockbuster. No, it didn’t have anything to do with the reported Hawkeye Disney+ series, but it did have everything to do with one of Endgame‘s more dramatic scenes.
The posted image was taken from Clint and Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) visit to Vormir, the home of the dreaded Soul Stone. Specifically, it came from the pair’s final goodbyes to each other before they both tried to sacrifice themselves in order to obtain the prickliest of the Infinity Stones. “This was a difficult day to shoot, but reflecting back,” Renner wrote, “[it was] one of the [best] days filming with the badass scarjo.”
Obviously, since you’re still reading, then you already know what happens in the scene. After a brief back and forth, Romanoff manages to save Barton before dropping to her death. As a result, her sacrifice grants him access to the stone, thereby rendering the Avengers’ time travel mission a success. Some critics and viewers felt that the scene was problematic. However, as co-director Anthony Russo recently revealed, a previous version of Black Widow’s story in the film was even darker.