Soul Stone in Avengers: Endgame explains how this character can return

Heavy spoilers follow. Black Widow’s sacrifice was one of the most memorable and controversial moments in Avengers: Endgame. But what if she never really died in the first place and was alive by the end of the movie?

The epic culmination of an 11-year film saga is upon us with Avengers: Endgame, and that’s no overstatement. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Endgame has already surpassed one billion dollars at the box office in a matter of days. It all speaks to how much these MCU characters mean to fans all over the world and the kind of stories that resonate with all of these demographics. Nevertheless, not all story decisions will strike a good chord with fans and viewers, as was the case with Gamora’s arc in Avengers: Infinity War.

This time, the conversation revolves around Black Widow’s controversial sacrifice in Endgame, a death that is an otherwise exact replication of Gamora’s own “fridged” demise, as some fans have put it. But that isn’t today’s topic. Rather than delving into whether Black Widow shouldn’t have been the one to die for the Soul Stone, there’s a precedent in the movie and the one prior to firmly argue that by the end of Endgame, Black Widow and perhaps even the Gamora from Infinity War, are still alive.

Avengers: Endgame’s time travel concept is weird, to say the least, but perhaps even more confusing is how it all ties back with the Soul Stone and Soul World.

In Avengers: Infinity War, when Thanos killed Gamora, trading her soul for the Soul Stone, Gamora’s soul was sent to what many fans theorized was Soul World. In the comics, this is a pocket dimension that exists within the Soul Stone. When Infinity War released on home video, the Russo brothers confirmed such fan theory in their commentary of the movie. That means that it’s possible, potentially, to retrieve Gamora from the Soul World. But that all changed with Avengers: Endgame, at least according to the following interpretation.

Early in Endgame, when the Avengers visit Thanos at “The Garden,” it’s revealed that Thanos used the Infinity Stones to destroy the Stones. Hence later putting the whole time heist mission in motion. The destruction of the Stones, though, creates a problem: if the Soul Stone stores Soul World, does that mean that Gamora’s soul has now been erased from existence in absolute as well, now that Thanos has destroyed them?

In other words, there’s no way of getting 2018-Gamora back. Unless, there’s another way of reaching Soul World that doesn’t involve the Stone, but that has never been the case in the comics. Nevertheless, we’ve seen Doctor Strange travel to the Quantum Realm in his movie without shrinking like Ant-Man, so perhaps it’s possible that one could reach Soul World in such mystical ways. That’s a fair point. Then again, there’s another issue to take into account: the Avengers traveled back in time and created alternate realities.

Here is where things get tricky. Black Widow and Hawkeye went back to 2014 to acquire the Soul Stone. In this time setting, 2018-Gamora wasn’t yet sacrificed for the Stone, obviously. That means that she shouldn’t be in Soul World. Going by the movie’s time travel logic (the multiverse concept), when Black Widow and Hawkeye traveled to 2014 they created a new alternate reality. After Black Widow sacrificed herself for the Soul Stone, Hawkeye then traveled back to the main reality, where Hulk was then able to use all of the Stones to bring back the dusted.

And that’s just it. You can use the Infinity Stones from alternate realities (or different points in time) to undo what the “other” Stones already did in another timeline. Or else the time-stolen Infinity Stones wouldn’t be able to undust the dusted, as we saw in Endgame. Taking that into account, that means that like the Quantum Realm, there can only be one Soul World. Essentially, 2018-Gamora and Black Widow are together in Soul World and the possibility to bring them back is still sound. But, again, there’s another issue at play: Captain America returned all of the Infinity Stones to their respective times and when it comes to the Soul Stone, which has its own negotiating ritual, that means that 2018-Gamora and Black Widow should still be alive after Endgame rolled credits.

In Avengers: Infinity War the Red Skull, the Keeper of the Soul Stone, said the following:

"“Soul holds a special place among the Infinity Stones. You might say it has a certain wisdom… In order to take the Stone, you must lose that which you love. A soul for a soul.”"

Now, Endgame makes it seem that Captain America was successful in returning all of the Infinity Stones. Assuming he was, as the film wants us to believe, that means he went to Vormir (a.k.a. The Dominion of Death, as stated by Nebula) and met his old pal Red Skull, having not seen him since 1945. Then, since he returned the Soul Stone, that means that either 2018-Gamora or Black Widow should’ve come back to life, if all conditions still stand of course. Those conditions being “a soul for a soul.”

It’s entirely possible that once a sacrifice has been made, one can no longer take back what was lost. But if that is the case, then there’s no reason at all to return the Soul Stone. So, as it appears, in order to return the Soul Stone to its dominion, “a soul for a soul” still stands. Which means that Black Widow should still be alive. Add to that Hulk’s last words in Endgame, before he sent Cap back in time, where he said that he really, really tried to get Black Widow back, then perhaps there’s something to this theory.

To recap, we argued that Black Widow and 2018-Gamora’s souls are within Soul World and that Soul World works akin to the Quantum Realm, in which there’s only one and where time and space work differently. Since the Soul Stone requires a spiritual trade, a soul for a soul, we argued that if you return the Stone, then those conditions work both ways. The returnee should get a soul back. And since Cap only knows of Black Widow’s sacrifice, then it’s likely the case that Black Widow was the one brought back to life after Avengers: Endgame came to an end. If this happens to be true, then we are in for one crazy of a Black Widow movie.