Warning: the following contains major spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.

Avengers: Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely reveal they almost cut a certain divisive moment from the film’s final battle scene. After a torturous year-long wait following Thanos’ genocidal snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Endgame finally brought to a close the MCU’s 22-film Infinity Saga. Interestingly though, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige recently confirmed that Spider-Man: Far From Home actually ends Phase 3, making it sort of an Infinity Saga epilogue.

In just a matter of days, Avengers: Endgame has destroyed multiple box office records in much the same way the Hulk smashes bad guys. Endgame earned over $1 billion worldwide in its opening weekend, and it would not at all be surprising to see it top Infinity War’s $2 billion-plus total gross before things are all said and done. The arguable centerpiece of Endgame was its enormous final battle sequence, which featured all the MCU’s surviving heroes squaring off against Thanos’ massive army.

While Avengers: Endgame’s final battle was packed full of applause-worthy moments, one which seems to be splitting the fanbase a bit is the part where the MCU’s female heroes band together to assist Captain Marvel’s attempt to get the Infinity Stones to Ant-Man’s time machine van. Many found this moment extremely satisfying to witness, while others thought it came off as pandering and contrived. It turns out Markus and McFeely debated whether or not to cut it from their script, as revealed during a New York Times interview.

Putting aside trolls who just dislike the scene due to sexism - which sadly, are always a thing on the internet - the main complaints against Endgame’s so-called “girl power moment” tend to be that it feels overly pandering in its execution, that the amount of heroes who get individually cut to is so long it creates unintentional humor, and that it feels like an odd thing to do after earlier killing off Black Widow, the MCU’s original female hero. It’s interesting to see that Markus and McFeely were seemingly aware of such possible pitfalls, even if they did ultimately opt to keep the scene in the script.

McFeely: There was much conversation. Is that delightful or is it pandering? We went around and around on that. Ultimately we went, we like it too much.

Markus: Part of the fun of the “Avengers” movies has always been team-ups. Marvel has been amassing this huge roster of characters. You’ve got crazy aliens. You’ve got that many badass women. You’ve got three or four people in Iron Man suits.

Of course, Avengers: Endgame’s gathering of female superheroes has been by no means universally disliked, with many finding it to be one of the most fun moments in the film. While it’s sad that Black Widow wasn’t around to participate, the moment really served to drive home just how many worthwhile heroic female characters the MCU now has, after early criticism due to its lack of them. Hopefully the still on its way Black Widow solo movie will serve to introduce even more.

More: Why Captain America’s Future After Avengers: Endgame Isn’t What You Expected

Source: The New York Times

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