Avengers Endgame: Shuri Deserves Better

There are so many secrets and mysteries surrounding Avengers: Endgame thanks to some unfair marketing trickery. Most of which have been driving fans as well as entertainment writers like myself insane. Yes, Marvel’s huge marketing campaign by way of posters, other films, and trailers has revealed certain aspects over time, like the arrival of Captain Marvel and Iron Man allegedly surviving space. OH! we can’t forget Ant-Man mostly-likely surviving the quantum realm - sorry it’s just that he’s so small. All of the above has led to speculation and theories.

One shocking revelation was confirmed today when Marvel released the individual character posters for the film. Before now we had no idea what happened to the fan-favorite leading lady and Wakandan Royal Shuri. Neither Shuri nor Valkyrie were shown on-screen during the devastating “OH SNAP” end scene in Avengers: Infinity War.

The poster groupings below reveal that SHURI WAS SNAPPED into dust making her one of the fallen. Her character poster is grouped in with everyone else who didn’t make it. What the hell!

NO! This is not OK.

The above survived the SNAP

The above did NOT survive the SNAP

Shuri was not given the same respect as the rest of the team. Every other character was snapped on-screen as they were turned into dust during some of the most heroic and heartbreaking scenes we’ve seen in the MCU. They were all shown in mid-battle while trying their best to save the entire world from Thanos.

Because Shuri wasn’t shown, we assumed she was safe from the snap, and our beautiful African QUEEN was alive and well ruling the kingdom of Wakanda. Someone has to rule Wakanda especially since her big bro Black Panther was snapped.

I’m sure I’m not the first one to freak about the shocking news that SHURI WAS DEAD THIS ENTIRE TIME and not having any clue about it. Fans were happy that she supposedly survived, until a huge smack in the face revealed SHURI IS GONE. If anyone can help avenge the fallen it’s her - she is one of the strongest, smartest, and complex female characters in the MCU. Most assumed she was creating brilliant Wakandan technology along with rest of the spared while preparing for the biggest fight in Marvel history: defeating Thanos, restoring the entire world, and saving the fallen.

Of course there is a slight possibility that Marvel is just tricking (or misdirecting) us but my god there’s no reason to destroy us, rip our hearts out and stomp on them with this whole “SHURI IS DEAD” bombshell.

Shuri Deserves Better and Here’s Why

Shuri is a fan-favorite for a reason. She was the first of many strong black females to grace the screen and fight harder than most men in the MCU. After the worldwide success of Oscar-nominated Black Panther and her solo comic book series she became a mentor for women, kids, and people of color. It was easily the first time many young black girls could look at the big screen and see themselves as a superhero. In this way may related to Shuri, as she just a kid herself. She gives her fans hope, more so than any other female MCU character. Her story including her death deserves to be told on-screen mainly because she is so very important to all of us.

Let me take a second and bring this up - it took Marvel a full 11 years to produce a female fronted film with Captain Marvel. They had plenty of chances, plenty of strong female heroines to choose from. Some thing it took so long because SOME executives previously thought that a solo female-led “comic book movie” might not make as much money at the box office and might not be worth the production dollars.

HEYOO! Guess what? DC stepped up with Wonder Woman and proved all the naysayers wrong, VERY wrong. And then came Captain Marvel proving the naysayers even MORE wrong. Audiences want more female-led stories, plain and simple.

In a total of 10 Marvel movies, which I adore, we got our lady hero fix in mini-doses from ensemble films. Gamora, Pepper Potts, Shuri, Nebula, Black Widow, Jane Foster, Mantis, Agent Carter, Lady SIF, Hela, The Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Valkyrie, Okoye, the Dora Milaje all deserve to have their stories told. Any one of them could carry an entire film on their own. These are the female characters we fell in love with before Captain Marvel ever even blessed the big screen. Shuri was one of these characters.

So why did Avengers: Infinity War do her dirty? Is it possible that the Russo brothers did not expect Shuri to be such an influential character in Black Panther and didn’t write her into the final scene? Sure, but it’s also possible that the Russo brothers were/are trying to be sneaky and mysterious only to break our hearts with this Shuri poster revelation. I don’t know what the answer is, but it sure as hell looks like Shuri was forgotten or left on the cutting room floor in post production.

Shuri deserved to die a noble death just like everyone else did. The fact that she wasn’t given the chance and audiences weren’t given a chance to see her turn into dust while in the middle of a heroic action is just wrong. Shuri has proven to be an integral part of the MCU in such a short period of time. We have no idea what she was doing, where she was, or who she was with when she died.

Was she alone? Why wasn’t she with the rest of the Avengers? It’s sort of too late for Marvel to flashback to the SNAP just to add in Shuri’s death. No one wants to live through that again. Fans left the theaters sobbing because most of our best friends had just perished before our unsuspecting eyes. Maybe Marvel will try to pull off a one-shot tie-in comic of Shuri’s death, which they have done before to explain inconsistencies in the MCU.

This leaves me and many others feeling sad, betrayed, hurt, and angry. We weren’t ready for this bombshell today, trickery or not.

But in the meantime, Shuri is just as important as every single other character in the MCU. Without an official comment from Marvel or the Russo brothers, we can only hope they bring back Shuri in all her glory - giving her the BRIGHTEST spotlight that she deserves.

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