Marvel’s Newest Movie Just Made Black Widow’s MCU Death Even Worse In Retrospect

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Thunderbolts*.
Black Widow"s death just got even sadder over half a decade after we saw her Avengers: Endgame sacrifice thanks to the events of Thunderbolts*. With the Thunderbolts* movie ending now officially revealing the team will be operating as The New Avengers for at least the immediate future, the movie looks more important than ever before to the MCU timeline. Indeed, Thunderbolts* exploring things like what Yelena and Bucky have been up to since their last MCU appearances - and the debut of the franchise"s own version of Sentry - mean it"s a truly crucial installment when looking at the bigger franchise picture.
Indeed, between the cast"s various last appearances, cliffhangers from The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, Ant-Man & The Wasp and Black Widow are all tied up nicely. That said, the way in which Thunderbolts* wraps up some of the loose ends of the Black Widow movie changes Natasha Romanoff"s story and ends up also altering how her death feels in the MCU, making it retrospectively even more tragic years after it first took place.
Black Widow Added More Layers To Natasha's Sacrifice In Avengers: Endgame Close As a prequel movie of sorts that debuted after the death of its hero, Black Widow was an unusual decision for the MCU. Releasing as the first movie of the MCU"s Phase 4 and coming after Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, how exactly Black Widow could or would delve into Natasha"s backstory and change her arc retrospectively was a question of some considerable importance, since short of teasing a revival, there was no way for the MCU to continue the main character"s story onward.
Though Black Widow received some criticism for its timing, the movie itself holds a positive reception to this day, and one that in no small part is a result of the 2021 film fleshing Romanoff"s story and life out far more. Not only do we get to meet Natasha"s family in Black Widow - with the unconventional crew of assassins and their unusual but entirely endearing bond being the heart of the movie - we also get to see her atone for the act that seemed to haunt her for the longest in the MCU: what happened in Budapest.
The movie explains that the events that transpired in Budapest - which Black Widow and Hawkeye refer to in other MCU releases, but don"t go into detail about - saw Natasha and Clint rig a building with bombs to take out Red Room overseer General Dreykov, with the more immoral part of their plan being the move to allow his daughter, Antonia Dreykov, to act as a form of bait. However, Black Widow reveals that neither of the Dreykovs died here, and that the General used the damage Antonia suffered as an excuse to warp her into becoming his weapon as Taskmaster.
As such, Black Widow not only allows Natasha to alleviate some of her guilt by showing that Antonia didn"t die in Budapest, but also atone for using her as a part of her plans to take out General Dreykov through saving Antonia from her own father"s clutches. Black Widow ends with Natasha freeing her fellow Black Widows, destroying the Red Room, and killing General Dreykov, meaning that while it"s clear Natasha"s death in Avengers: Endgame is still permanent, it gives her sacrifice more meaning, and adds a lighter note to her arc even after her death subsequently.
Thunderbolts* Killing Off Taskmaster Makes Black Widow's Death Feel Even Sadder Close One of the key ideas from Black Widow"s ending is that Taskmaster will be able to act as a free agent for the first time in a long time - potentially the first time in her entire life, since it doesn"t seem likely General Dreykov was a relaxed father who she didn"t have to worry about even before he made her into Taskmaster. This looked like it would allow Black Widow"s act of redemption to live on in the MCU in a literal sense, with Taskmaster"s presence being a reminder of what Natasha did in the 2021 movie and the way in which it changed the MCU timeline.
However, the next time we see Taskmaster after Black Widow is in Thunderbolts*, where she appears very early into the movie"s runtime, and dies minutes into being seen on-screen again when the main cast are all sent to kill one another to tie up loose ends. To make matters somewhat worse, Ghost and U.S Agent are then shown looting Taskmaster"s gear from her corpse, underscoring early on that the team that emerges in the story aren"t exactly close when the movie begins, and that them becoming an MCU team in the first place wasn"t something that seemed inevitable.
Taskmaster also doesn"t react with any particular emotion to seeing Yelena in this scene before she"s killed, negating any potential for them to commiserate over Natasha"s death.
This serves to make Black Widow"s death all the sadder, as it effectively erases one of the most significant acts Natasha did before her demise and a big symbol of her character"s redemption story of sorts, and erases the idea Taskmaster"s story could serve as a physical posthumous reminder of Black Widow"s hero arc. Mercifully, though, Thunderbolts* makes sure to underline that Taskmaster is not the only way that Black Widow"s story lives on, even if this reinforces the tragedy of her death in some ways.
I'm Glad Yelena & Alexei's Thunderbolts* Story Means Natasha's Sacrifice Still Has A Clear Significance On The MCU Close Natasha"s death is most focally brought to the forefront of the recent MCU in Thunderbolts* with Alexei and Yelena"s stories in the movie. The film"s narrative makes sure to underline just how much both characters still miss and remember her, and how her death has affected both of them, with it worsening Yelena"s mental health seemingly substantially, and driving a wedge between Red Guardian and Yelena until the events of the movie because Alexei doesn"t know how to deal with the grief.
Indeed, one of the most emotional scenes in Thunderbolts* is the two talking about Natasha"s death and their own struggles with the world since, with Yelena"s confession that "I"m so alone" hitting all the harder because we saw her and Natasha reunite in Black Widow not long ago. That said, while Thunderbolts* makes Nat"s death sadder in a way that seemingly has little silver lining when it comes to Taskmaster"s demise, Alexei and Yelena"s bond appears to ultimately be reinforced by their shared loss, allowing them to hopefully honor Black Widow"s memory with their work in The New Avengers.

Black Widow
Created By Stan Lee, Don Rico, Don Heck Cast Scarlett Johansson Alias Natasha Romanoff Race Human mutant Movies The Avengers, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow, Avengers: Endgame TV Shows What If...? Expand Upcoming MCU Movies