Avengers: Endgame co-writer Stephen McFeely has revealed the surprising way the Soul Stone sacrifice was chosen.

“Because it’s not a small thing to kill off a principal female character in the MCU, we tried a version of Hawkeye [dying],” McFeely said of the moment on the planet Vormir between Hawkeye and Black Widow at an Avengers: Endgame Encore Q&A event (via Forbes).

But a back-and-forth was just beginning. With the writers undecided on whether to kill off Hawkeye or Black Widow, those at Marvel HQ helped make the writers’ choice for them.

“A number of the female employees at Marvel, when they read [the script], grabbed me in the hallway and said, ‘Don’t you do this to her. Don’t you take her heroic moment and give it to him. And I said, ‘Oh, that’s a really good point.'”

Black Widow would go on to appear in her own solo movie, which also helped pave the way for the current iteration Yelena, played by Florence Pugh, to make her own mark in the MCU.

Despite that legacy, McFeely still holds some regret over how quickly Endgame moves on to its action-packed third act.

“There was not that much time to mourn Natasha because we got to snap everybody back and Thanos has to bomb us, and the Avengers have to fight their biggest fight in the MCU and Captain America has to wield Thor’s hammer… we had a lot to do,” McFeely lamented.

Hawkeye, meanwhile, went on to star in his own Disney Plus series, passing the torch – or should that be bow? – to Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop.

There is no news yet on if one of the few remaining OG Avengers will return in either Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, however.

Avengers: Endgame Encore is currently in cinemas, complete with bonus footage. If you’re still on the fence about seeing all of the new scenes, you’ll need our guide to Infinity Vision, Marvel’s answer to IMAX.