WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Raya and the Last Dragon, now playing in theaters and on Disney+.
As much as it's a princess movie, Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon feels like a superhero flick when Raya gathers her team of heroes to free the various peoples across Kumandra from the clutches of the shadowy Druun. They've all lost their families to the entities, which turn people to stone. The film culminates with Raya taking her crew to the Fang's land to steal the final piece of the dragon-gem.
With the gem, Raya hopes to repel the monsters forever. But as Raya and her squad prepare for an intense battle as the creatures swarm, Raya and the Last Dragon carves out its own epic Avengers Assemble moment.
This moment is arguably one of the most iconic in Marvel Comics' history, the ultimate battle cry for Earth's Mightiest Heroes and something fans couldn't wait to see on the big screen in the MCU. While it wouldn't be said by Captain America until Avengers: Endgame, we already had two epic takes on it, the first being in 2012's The Avengers.
As they fight the Chitauri on the New York bridge, there is a glorious shot of the camera circling them, as well as one later that shows them in action using all their powers and tech against the alien invaders. There's another signature shot in Age of Ultron as the heroes battle the robots in Sokovia that features a wrap-around shot and triumphant slow-motion framing of the battle scene for dramatic effect and to highlight how badass the Avengers really are as they swat away Ultron's minions. But more than just a cool piece of cinematography, these moments are where the heroes realize working together, with strength in numbers, is the path to victory as opposed to just fighting tyranny alone.
Now, there's a very similar moment in Raya, thematically and in terms of visual aesthetic that's every bit as awe-inspiring. It happens when the Druun raid the Fang kingdom, coming out in full force in the final act now that Sisu has been killed. Raya's hoping that by uniting the stone pieces, she can bring Sisu and all the other dragons back to cure the land, but the problem is Namaari doesn't subscribe to her plan. As chaos ensues, Raya's team takes a selfless path and attempts to rescue the villagers as Namaari's kingdom falls apart.
Their decision leads to a pretty amazing sequence where they all use their respective pieces of the gem, not only to save people but to drive the shadows away. Everyone gets their heroic piece of screen-time as we see Boun and Tong dramatically touching down, as well as baby Noi flipping around, each dropping into a warrior pose as they land next to each other. It's all to clear a path for Tuk-Tuk to escape with innocents, but just when it seems like they're outnumbered, Namaari arrives too and clears a path using her piece of the gem.
As the creatures scream and flee, the choreography and timing are all influenced by the Avengers as the camera pans around the collective performing their deed to reinforce that cavalry has indeed arrived. And it's this legendary scene of unity with the group that actually inspires Raya. As she sees them together, she finally believes in and trusts Namaari, giving her all the shards so she can make the orb whole again and save the tribes.
Directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada from a script by Paul Briggs and John Ripa, Raya and the Last Dragon stars Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong, Izaac Wang, Thalia Tran, Alan Tudyk, Lucille Soong, Patti Harrison and Ross Butler.