If there is one thing for which the MCU has consistently been criticized it is the lack of meaningful female representation. Female characters and heroes have existed, sure. Black Widow was, after all, the second Avenger introduced in the main continuity when Scarlett Johansson took down a hallway full of goons in Iron Man 2. But while female characters have always been included in MCU films, it wasn't until 2018 that Marvel allowed a female character to co-star in a title (Ant-Man and the Wasp) and it wasn't until this year that one got her own film in Captain Marvel. It was this lack of commitment to these characters which actually hurt Endgame’s ability to properly stick the landing on some of their biggest moments.

During the epic final battle of the film, Captain Marvel arrives at just the right moment — as you do when you’re a gun so big you could probably have taken on Thanos’ entire army single-handed — destroying Thanos’ ship and dropping in on Peter Parker to pick up her leg of the Infinity Gauntlet relay. In a moment obviously designed to elicit a visceral reaction from the women in the audience, as Peter asks how she’s going to get the Gauntlet where it needs to go, Okoye responds “She’s got help.” as the camera pulls back to reveal every woman in the MCU (minus the late Black Widow) battle ready and primed to clear a path for Marvel’s newest addition. In the moment, yeah, it works. The distinct lack of female representation up to this point in the MCU means female fans never had their own version of the Avengers Assemble moment and now we had it. Except there were noticeably few women — only nine in a sea of male characters — and while it was thrilling to watch them dominate for a little while on screen, the moment could never pay off the way it could or should have.

In a film like Endgame, the biggest moments are going to be reserved for the biggest characters, wrapping up their storylines in a satisfying way which allows them to nab the biggest victories. Because, even 21 installments in, Marvel had not spent time in their original slate of films, in that first Avengers line up, to fully develop female characters as a core element, an all-female team up could only be empowering to a point. They were allowed to get close, but they could not take it over the finish line. This isn’t their story. They are not the heroes. This is the same reason it was deemed okay for a character like Black Widow to give her own life halfway through the film. Would such a thing have ever happened to Tony Stark or Captain America?

Heading into Phase Four, Kevin Feige has said that they are committed to stories starring female characters and people of color. After Endgame, it’s painfully obvious that if they intend to include moments like these in future films, they’re going to have to keep that promise, or risk frustrating and alienating their female fans, who have already grown impatient.