Avengers: Endgame saw some big changes for the classic team. Iron Man and Black Widow died, Captain America ended up an old man and Hulk was seriously injured. The only pair that walked away from the film in good shape were Thor and Hawkeye, both of whom ended up with pretty happy endings. The God of Thunder finally got over his sense of failure for not stopping Thanos’ snap and relinquished the Asgardian crown to Valkryie, while Hawkeye got his family back.
Now, in an interview with Vanity Fair, Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have revealed why these particular characters received happy endings.
“We could have had a bloodbath and all six of them gone down swinging, but that seemed even more depressing,” said McFeely.
Markus went on to explain why Thor deserved his, saying:
“Thor has sacrificed and sacrificed and lost and lost. It’s not a good ending to kill him. To have him finally, reasonably content with himself — and with his current weight, by the way… There were some people who were like, “No, he has to magically lose weight.” [Laughs.] That was one of those sobering moments on set where some people were afraid, “He’s going to put on the fat-suit,” and he comes out and basically looks like everybody on the crew. That’s not a fat-suit! That’s a normal person suit! But Thor was resolved. There’s a joy in letting him go off aimlessly into the ends of the universe.”
And Hawkeye?
“Clint got his family back, and that’s something. That’s the whole reason he was doing it.”
I totally agree with Thor surviving. For a long time, Marvel Studios didn’t seem to know what to do with him, with Thor: The Dark World being a particularly low point for the MCU. However, Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok breathed new life into the character by letting Chris Hemsworth play to his comedic strengths, an angle on the character that continued in Endgame. So, it’d be a shame to kill him off just as he’s hitting his stride.
Hawkeye though? Well, let’s face it, Hawkeye has never been the most interesting Avenger and his reinvention as a tortured 90s-style antihero didn’t really go anywhere in Avengers: Endgame. I’d have rather he’d taken the plunge over the cliff on Vormir and let Black Widow walk away with the Soul Stone. But I guess it’s nice that he got to return to his loving family (albeit having killed a whole bunch of people in the meantime).