Before we get started, this is your official spoiler warning. If you haven't seen Avengers: Endgame yet then 1. What are you doing? 2. Proceed at your own caution. It goes without saying but THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD.
Anyway, as I'm sure you've already guessed, after a year of waiting, Avengers: Endgame is finally here and boy oh boy was it worth the wait.
If you ask me, which you didn't but I'm going to tell you anyway, Endgame is the perfect conclusion to an incredible 22-movie franchise. Watching it truly feels like an instantly iconic pop culture moment, and something that will definitely be remembered for years to come.
Of course, Endgame is already receiving rave reviews and looks set to completely obliterate the box office in its opening weekend. Seriously, it could earn more than a billion dollars in less than a week.
But now that the initial wave of fans have seen the movie, one criticism in particular has also popped up, with fans pointing out one character's lack of screen time...
THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!!! SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: ENDGAME AHEAD!!!!
So, Danai Gurira — aka badass Dora Milaje warrior, Okoye — has had a somewhat rough ride in the lead up to Endgame. You remember the poster drama, right?
Back in March, when Marvel revealed the official Endgame poster, fans immediately noticed that although Okoye was featured amongst the other Avengers, Danai's name was missing in the credits.
After receiving backlash, Marvel swiftly pulled the original poster and released an updated version with Danai's name now included.
I just saw an Endgame teaser that showed a brief glimpse of Valkyrie. They really starved the Okoye stans huh?
In fact, people were incredibly confused by it all considering Danai was heavily involved in the promo tour for Endgame.
okoye is on all of the endgame posters and danai is part of the press tour bUT OKOYE HASNT BEEN IN ANY OF THE TRAILERS SO WHERE IS SHE, WHAT IS SHE DOING, I NEED TO KNOW
Prediction/spoiler: Endgame Either Marvel hates Okoye or she dies/MIA bc she's in no current trailers unless it's flashbacks to Infinity War, they forgot to put Danai Gurira's name on the official poster and now Okoye isn't in any other posters. Something really isn't right.
So, by the time the movie was released, people were desperate to know what role Okoye would play in the movie and how she was dealing with the events of Infinity War.
But...uh...they might've been a little disappointed. Okoye's role in Endgame is minimal at best, appearing briefly at the beginning in a group scene before disappearing again until the final battle with Thanos. Even then, her role is overshadowed by what the other Avengers are doing. Altogether, Okoye appears only a handful of times in the full three-hour run.
I guess you could say that people weren't happy.
Marvel really put Okoye in all of endgame posters but only include less than a minute of her in the actual movie. Yikes.
they keep promoting okoye but like..
People said that Marvel had "over-emphasised Okoye's role" and accused them of doing so to make the cast seem more diverse.
A non-spoilery #Endgame thought: The promo tour definitely over-emphasized Okoye's role to make the cast seem more diverse than it was. She has less screentime than some of the un-advertised white characters.
Minor Endgame spoiler? It's about Okoye I know themovie is about the OG Avengers but why include Danai/Okoye in the press tour and get our hopes up? They are clearly using her for woke points/to get Black Panther fans. I'm 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕
The criticism was made all the worse by the fact that people had been genuinely excited to see where Okoye's story arc would go, considering what she went through in Black Panther and what she lost in Infinity War.
I am ready for Okoye’s anger in Avengers: Endgame. Thanos stripped Wakanda of its safety, it’s King and it’s Princess and part of the population got dusted... I hope she gets to kick some ass.
Seeing okoye be the leader of wakanda during Endgame is what is necessary https://t.co/ajNJ5HEHxh
90% of the reason I’m going to see Avengers: Endgame is to find out how Okoye is doing. I hope the first 45 minutes is just her going about her day, holding it down in Wakanda, rising to the challenge of leadership, filling out paperwork, etc.
However, not all hope is lost. During Endgame's final scenes, Okoye is shown standing alongside T'Challa and Shuri, while another scene later shows Wakanda, which looks to be thriving once more. So, here's to hoping Okoye gets a little more screentime if there's a Black Panther sequel in the works.
