Avengers: Endgame’s A-Force scene was originally totally different, and, frankly, a lot better. One of the emotional highlights of Avengers: Endgame was its so-called “A-Force” scene, in which all of Marvel’s female characters teamed together. It was intended as a celebration of the fact that the MCU — which only had a single female superhero in the entirety of Phase One — now has a number of remarkable, powerful women.

The A-Force scene is a crowd-pleasing moment, but it has received quite severe criticism from some viewers. The core problem is that it’s arguably superfluous, given that the women all team up to support Captain Marvel, a powerhouse who doesn’t really need their help at all. The end of the sequence seems to underline this, with Carol Danvers effortlessly blasting her way through Thanos’ army. As a result, while it may be cool, this scene is somewhat of a gimmick.

The Art of Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame includes a fascinating comment by Senior Visual Development Artist Jackson Sze. He reveals that Marvel initially intended the A-Force team-up to be very different, and it sounds far more exciting:

It’s becoming clear that the original Avengers: Endgame’s third act was very different. The Avengers were forced to fall back into a trench in a deleted scene that’s now been released on Disney+. While they attempted to push through, Captain Marvel and some other airborne Avengers conducted what Marvel called “the Battle of the Sky,” with Carol Danvers tasked to take down Thanos’ Sanctuary II. In the initial version, she found the task much more difficult, with other Chitauri fighters running interference until she was blasted unconscious. The female Avengers gathered around Captain Marvel to keep her safe until she recovered and could launch herself into the sky once again.

“Captain Marvel, being intergalactically powerful, would help take care of Thanos’ ship, which at this point is just shooting blasts down onto the battlefield and making things really difficult for everyone, and she gets shot down on the ground. Pepper Potts, in her Rescue suit, sees that, rushes to her, and tries to protect her from another blast from the ship. So she raises her shield-protection powers and, as she’s getting bombarded, calls to all the female Avengers to come help, and they all jump in around Captain Marvel in a circle… and they’re all trying to fight off the Outriders and protect her. Eventually, she comes to, realizes what’s happening, thanks everyone, and then powers up full Binary. Pepper just goes, ‘Do your thing, Captain.’ And then she zooms into space and shoots through all the fighters and goes in and wrecks the big ship just like she does in the movie, taking the whole thing down.”

It’s easy to see why the A-Force scene was changed: the original concept doesn’t fit with the narrative thrust of the theatrical cut at all. But this earlier iteration was a lot more organic, and it also felt far more high-risk. Even Captain Marvel, the most powerful superhero in the MCU, is taken down at one point in the final battle; far more superfluous, the A-Force team-up is essential to keep her safe. What’s more, it all kicks off with the First Lady of the MCU, Pepper Potts, as she lives up to the “Rescue” codename. The interesting question is whether or not this alternate A-Force sequence was actually filmed. It’s possible there are more deleted scenes from Avengers: Endgame that have yet to be released by Marvel.

More: Marvel Reveals Thanos Has Different Names In Infinity War & Endgame

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