23 Storylines In The Marvel Cinematic Universe That Went Through Drastic Changes

Some interesting and wild concepts didn't make it to the final cut of the films.

May

• Published in Film & TV
• July 27, 2022

It's no secret that films, even the ones from the MCU franchise, go through a lot of changes during the editing process. Sometimes entire subplots are cut out, while other times only small scenes are removed.

But why do these changes happen? A lot of times, it has something to do with the plot.

Remember that stories of the MCU are interwoven. The studio wants to make it a point that everything in the universe is consistent.

Sometimes, the filmmakers realized that a particular subplot won't work well with the film, so they decided to cut it out. Furthermore, studios often worry that audiences won't be able to follow a complex plot, so they simplify the story by cutting out unnecessary subplots.

Remember that films also can't be too long. Most studios want their film length to be around two hours, so they often cut out subplots that they think will make them lengthen the movie.

They will also cut out scenes that will make the film too controversial. Some studios are afraid of making films that will offend or alienate audiences, so they remove the ones that they think would get them into trouble.

Today, we're going to explore the specific subplots and storylines that were removed from MCU films.

Despite the fact that the number of MCU films has steadily increased in recent years, Marvel Studios still has to scrap a shocking number of subplots and concepts from all its movies.

Although removing some parts make a lot of sense for the film, it still makes you wonder about the result if they were kept.

1. Stephen Strange went from knowing the dangers of messing with things in the original Spider-Man: No Way Home to a person who didn't know about the universe in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

2. Following Aunt May's death, Peter Parker was supposed to be introduced to his two variants (the characters of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire) by a new character. The concept art indicates that it could have been multiverse traveler America Chavez.

3. In an early draft of the script, the antagonists raided a Department of Damage Control's Stark tech container and used it to enhance themselves.

4. Ezekiel Stane, Obadiah Stane's son, was written as a secondary antagonist in an early draft of The Avengers by director Joss Whedon because he felt Loki wouldn't be a strong enough antagonist.

5. Whedon write a number of pages starring the Wasp in place of Black Widow since he believed Scarlett Johansson wouldn't reprise her role.

6. In the event that Joe and Anthony Russo were unable to secure Robert Downey Jr.'s participation in the third Captain America movie, they intended to concentrate on the 1976 Madbomb plot by Jack Kirby.

7. In an early draft of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Arnim Zola sought a compromise with Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff in which they would aid in their escape in exchange for Steve flipping a switch that would allow Arnim to upload Steve's preserved mind online.

8. Clint Barton was originally intended to be among the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents assigned to find Steve Rogers in a different version of the plot, but he later admitted that he was actually fooling S.H.I.E.L.D. to aid in Steve's escape.

9. Carol Danvers, Jessica's closest friend in the comics, was originally going to appear in Jessica Jones on ABC, but Marvel Studios ended up giving the character her own film after Ms. Marvel was changed to Captain Marvel.

10. More new Avengers, including Carol Danvers, were expected to be introduced towards the conclusion of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Here's that deleted scene.

11. Spider-Man was another character Whedon planned to introduce, but Marvel Studios' agreement to use the Sony-owned character in their films wasn't confirmed until after Whedon had finished Age of Ultron.

12. In early drafts of Thor: The Dark World, Thor beat Malekith by simultaneously conjuring lightning from each of the nine realms.

13. Early teasers suggested that Thor: Ragnarok will be among the "darkest" MCU movies yet. The initial plan for the film was to continue Thor's search for the Infinity Stones that he began in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

14. Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger was meant to live and leave his empty iron suit behind when Jeff Bridges was given the role in Iron Man.

15. Mickey Rourke talked to Theroux and Favreau in an effort to add depth to his character in Iron Man 2, instead of just making him a bad guy who's full of vengeance and murderous.

16. Maya Hansen was supposed to be the main villain, but it didn't push through because they wouldn't be able to sell a female action figure of her.

17. Peyton Reed, the director of Ant-Man, wanted Rick Moranis of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids to make a cameo appearance.

18. The character Howard the Duck was located by Peter Quill in the early draft of Avengers: Infinity War, and he disturbed his poker game to gather info.

19. The Midgard Serpent, who is related to the Ragnarok story in Norse mythology and the comic books, was depicted in some concept art as Thor and Rocket Raccoon preparing to fight the two enormous snakes.

20. Additional concept art for Avengers: Endgame suggested that the Frost Giants seen in Thor would make a comeback in the decisive fight.

21. In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, scenes that would have provided more background on Razor Fist's recruitment to the Ten Rings were filmed.

However, they were all removed.

22. The finale of Eternals was initially planned to be depressing.

23. Eros was nearly a main character in Eternals.

But, without Harry Styles, he would not have appeared at all.

Although it's a bummer that some storylines were cut, the studio has still done an amazing job with the films in the MCU.

The films have been both critical and commercial successes, and it's clear that the fans love them. We can't wait to see what Marvel has in store for us now that they're on Phase 4!

May