Before the highly anticipated premiere of "Avengers: Endgame," INSIDER polled 760 Marvel fans to see who they thought was the most likely to die in Marvel's biggest blockbuster yet.
Interestingly, it seems like Black Widow barely registered as an option. Regardless of how the question was phrased, less than 10% of respondents predicted her untimely death.
Out of the 16 surviving characters from the end of "Avengers: Infinity War," fans overwhelmingly chose Captain America and Iron Man as the most likely to die. Only 9.6% chose Black Widow, seeing her as the least likely to die out of all six original Avengers.
When asked to select five characters who were most likely to die, either living or dead at the end of "Infinity War," only 5.7% chose Black Widow. When asked to select only one, 1.6% chose Black Widow.
Black Widow's unexpected death preceded the film's climactic third act, just before the Avengers finished their "time heist" and reassembled in the present. She sacrificed herself for Hawkeye on the planet Vormir, allowing him to get the Soul Stone.
If most fans were blindsided by the twist, that makes sense. It's been widely reported that Marvel is developing a Black Widow solo movie. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Scarlett Johansson landed a $15 million payday to star as the titular role.
Of course, since we've been given little information about Black Widow's origins, it was always possible that her first solo outing would be a prequel. Now, that seems more definite.
But how much will fans care?
When asked to choose up to five of the surviving heroes from "Infinity War," only about 24% said they'd be most upset to see Black Widow killed off.
Interestingly, the three characters who dominated that response are the only three who have starred in their own solo trilogies: Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Captain America (Chris Evans).
Maybe a Black Widow solo film will make her death feel more tragic in retrospect.
- Read more:
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- Why Thor's brand-new look in 'Avengers: Endgame' is problematic, especially when his story line had so much potential
- 10 hints in 'Avengers: Endgame' at where Marvel is going next
- A definitive ranking of all the Avengers, from least to most powerful
