Avengers: Endgame‘s A-Force moment was a very notable example of how not to treat women in superhero movies. While plenty of fans loved seeing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s roster of female heroes sharing the same frame, it felt unnecessarily forced in, not to mention hugely coincidental that they all ended up being in the exact same place at the exact same time.
Even ignoring the backlash from certain sections towards Captain Marvel, that movie along with Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey and Black Widow, all delivered solid superhero blockbusters that just so happened to feature a female protagonist. It was a deliberate decision on Widow director Cate Shortland’s part to leave out any notable cameo appearances from the MCU’s marquee male Avengers, as she explained in a recent interview detailing why plans for a Tony Stark cameo were ultimately abandoned.
“Initially, there was discussions about everything, about all of the different characters. What we decided was, and I think Kevin was really great, he said, ‘She doesn’t need the boys’. We didn’t want it to feel like she needs the support. We want her to stand alone. And she does.”
It’s largely the same reasoning as to why Benedict Cumberbatch’s WandaVision guest spot were nixed during the writing process, with Kevin Feige deciding that Wanda Maximoff didn’t need any help or assistance when it came to figuring out or harnessing the true extent of her capabilities, and we’ll be seeing them team up or face off in just a few months when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness arrives anyway.
Scarlett Johansson is a proven star with a track record of critical and commercial success both inside and outside of the action genre, so she was more than qualified to get the job done on her own, especially when Black Widow was already a decade in the making and looking to send one of the MCU’s longest-tenured fan favorites out in the best possible fashion.
