Marvel Adds Danai Gurira’s Name to ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Poster After Fan Backlash
Following a backlash from fans, Marvel Studios has added Danai Gurira’s name to the “Avengers: Endgame” poster after it had been missing from the original version.
“She should have been up there all this time,” the company tweeted on Thursday.
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She should have been up there all this time. Check out the official Marvel Studios' #AvengersEndgame poster. @DanaiGurira #WakandaForever pic.twitter.com/5V1veWMxlz
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) March 14, 2019
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Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Gurira’s name was absent from the top billing of the star-studded poster despite her character being one of the 13 people displayed. About seven hours after revealing the promo and a new trailer for “Avengers: Endgame,” Marvel Studios added her name between Karen Gillan and Bradley Cooper.
Fans were vocal on Twitter about the fact that one of the lead actresses from “Black Panther” and one of the few black female Marvel heroes was conspicuously missing.
I mean, they've got Bradley Cooper's name in there and he's just the VOICE of Rocket. Danai Gurira is the ONLY person on the poster not to be listed by name. https://t.co/zPUVRQBrDf
— Christopher Golden (@ChristophGolden) March 14, 2019
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Black women always get the short end of the stick. Why isn’t @DanaiGurira’s name on here but everyone else’s is? Literally everyone else but her. Tf?!
— xoNecole (@xonecole) March 14, 2019
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BLACK PANTHER star Danai Gurira is the only actor pictured whose name isn’t billed at the top. Her image is larger than some actors who do get that billing. The only one from the franchise’s best and most profitable movie, and yet? @MarvelStudios, this isn’t difficult. Fix this. https://t.co/22miymysgj
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) March 14, 2019
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WE KNOW OKOYE ON THE POSTER IS TOKEN WAKANDAN REPRESENTATION BUT THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS PUT DANAI GURIRA’S NAME UP TOP LIKE EVERYONE ELSE’S. PAY YOUR DIVERSITY TAX.
— Nichole
(@tnwhiskeywoman) March 14, 2019
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Every actor who appears on the poster has their name listed at the top………except Danai Gurira, the one Black woman. https://t.co/owZYC6yYXs
— Donovan (@cxcope) March 14, 2019
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Gurira plays Okoye, the general of the Dora Milaje, a troop of fierce female bodyguards who first appeared in “Black Panther.” She is a powerful ally to T’Challa, the king of Wakanda who eventually teams up with the Avengers. In “Avengers: Infinity War,” she helped defend her nation from Thanos’ attack, and she survived the cosmic supervillain’s finger-snap that wiped out half of the galaxy’s population. She briefly appears in a flashback in the new trailer for “Avengers: Endgame.”
Ryan Coogler will return to write and direct a sequel to “Black Panther,” the first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to win an Oscar, but Gurira has not yet been confirmed to appear.
Gurira has played Michonne on AMC’s hit zombie show “The Walking Dead” since 2012, but the upcoming 10th season will be her last.
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