Avengers: Endgame's final battle scene featured the largest gathering of MCU superheroes to date. According to Marvel Studios, that line up was almost a little bigger.
A recently released photo of concept art by Andy Park, a concept artist for Marvel Studios, revealed that Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia was supposed to appear during the battle scene.
The concept art posted on Twitter featured many of the female Avengers going into battle for that "A Force" scene, including Captain Marvel, Gamora, Nebula, Shuri, Wasp, Mantis, Okoye, Scarlet Witch, Pepper Potts/Rescue and Valkyrie. In the back, Nakia can be seen holding a pair of weapons.
There is no official word on why Nakia didn't make it into the film. Though Nyong'o will likely reprise the role in the upcoming Black Panther sequel, she has not been officially announced to be returning. Ryan Coogler, director of the first Black Panther film, will be returning to direct. Black Panther 2 is set to release on May 6, 2022.
Next up for Marvel Studios is the Black Widow solo film starring Scarlett Johansson. The film is directed by Cate Shortland and is set to release on May 1, 2020.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos. The film is available on Digital HD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD.
(via Heroic Hollywood)