The MCU has long been criticized for a lack of diversity in its gallery of heroes, both in terms of race and gender. But despite the lack of solo movies for MCU superheroines, the franchise has managed to put together a roster of strong and empowered female heroes over the years. This formidable group is going to be highlighted in an upcoming 12-month calendar to be released by Marvel, which sees an entire page devoted entirely to their superheroines, as can be seen in the promo art.

The artwork features Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, Gamora, Nebula, Valkyrie, Pepper Potts, Okoye, Mantis, Wasp, and Shuri, all in various states of posing in readiness for combat. The picture is a reference to the climactic battle of Avengers: Endgame, which saw all the above-mentioned heroines band together against the forces of Thanos.

That scene was embraced by some while being criticized by others for being too gimmicky. It was also the closest the MCU has ever gotten to a live-action adaption of A-Force, the all-female Avengers team from Marvel Comics.

Since then, many fans have been clamoring to see the A-Force in the MCU, an idea that has the public support of Brie Larson, Tessa Thompson, and many other Marvel actors. Kevin Fiege is also firmly behind the idea, since he was the one who fought long and hard to get the solo Captain Marvel movie made, and explained during a press junket for Ant-Man and the Wasp that he envisions a future where the majority of Marvel heroes will be women.

"Listen, it would be amazing to see all of our female characters the way we have seen ... most, never all male, but primarily male. I think we're getting to the point soon where we have so many great female characters that those are just our heroes as opposed to when are they all female, all male. It's just the Marvel heroes, more than half of which will be women."

Such lofty claims, unfortunately, do not reflect the reality that the MCU has only produced a single solo superheroine movie so far, and Black Widow had to wait until she was actually dead in the main continuity before she got her own, upcoming solo film.

Still, the popularity of characters like Valkyrie, Shuri, and Wasp has proven that the tired stereotype that comic fans don't want to see female heroes on the big screen is false. An A-Force movie could well prove to be a huge money-spinner for Marvel, provided it has a good storyline and makes proper use of its characters.

For now, fans of the female Avengers have Black Widow to look forward to, which will see Natasha Romanoff take some time off between the events of Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Endgame to confront the demons from her past and prevent the program that turned her into an assassin from ruining the lives of other women. The movie is scheduled for a November 6 release this year, provided theaters are fully open again by that time. This image was first shared at ComicBookMovie.com.