When adaptations such as comic book movies hit theaters, they face a danger that other movies don’t need to worry about. That danger comes in the form of comic book fans looking for discrepancies in the stories from the books compared to what the filmmakers brought to the big screen. The backlash Warner Bros. faced when it made changes to Superman in Man of Steel is a perfect example of that fan anger. However, when making a superhero movie, there is another problem – creating an exciting sci-fi based fantasy film but retaining a bit of reality, so fans aren’t taken out of the movie.
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When it comes to Marvel and DC Comics movies, there is leeway when it comes to characters. Someone like Thanos, Reed Richards or Thor could do something, and most fans could just shrug their shoulders and say it makes sense concerning those characters. However, there are also times that characters do something that makes absolutely no sense or something happens in a movie that seems so convenient that it comes across as contrived. With that in mind, here is a look at 15 things that have happened in Marvel movies that make zero sense, no matter how hard the filmmakers try to explain it.
15 LET’S NOT HAVE OUR SUPER SOLIDER ACTUALLY FIGHT
The origin story in Captain America: The First Avenger was almost straight out of the comics. A scrawny kid wants to join the military to fight Nazis in World War II. He is rejected but gets the chance to take part in an unusual experiment to become America’s first super soldier. Because Nazis kill the scientist who developed it, Steve Rogers becomes America’s only super soldier.
Then the United States military sends him to travel with the USO and take part in stage shows with dancing girls. Sure, other soldiers don’t like him, and commanding officers treat him like a joke. But the military was drafting kids out of high school, and they won’t use a super soldier to help them fight the Nazis? It makes zero sense why they wouldn’t use him to help win the war, with him forcing his way into battle.
14 THOR STRANDED IN ASGARD (BUT NOT REALLY)
In the first Thor movie, Loki was trying to take over Asgard and had the perfect chance since Thor was banished to earth and had to find his self-worth before returning home. Thor had to leave his love Jane Foster on earth to go back to Asgard and battle his brother. The fight takes place on the Bifrost Bridge – the only portal available to send Thor back to earth. In the fight, the bridge is destroyed, and the movie ends with Thor looking out into space, realizing he can’t return to see Jane.
In The Avengers, Thor shows up in pursuit of Loki, and there is no logical explanation on how he gets there. There was the moment where Loki asks how much dark energy Odin used to send him there, but it was a contrived excuse to get Thor into the movie, and it still makes zero sense.
13 STARK KEEPS EXTREMIS FOR HIMSELF
The end of Iron Man 3 saw Tony Stark find a way to use Extremis to help cure both Pepper Potts of the virus and to heal himself, allowing doctors to remove the remnants of shrapnel from around his heart. It was a great use of the technology that AIM was trying to weaponize to heal and cure two different people, one that he loved and the other being himself... who he also loves.
So... why didn't Tony use Extremis to heal his teammates the many times they suffered injuries? Why didn’t he use it to help his best friend Rhodey after he fell from the sky and ended up paralyzed in Captain America: Civil War for example? Tony Stark has the technology to revolutionize modern medicine and kept it to himself and his girlfriend.
12 IRON MAN HOMICIDAL AFTER LEARNING THE TRUTH ABOUT BUCKY
In Captain America: Civil War, the MCU chose to change what caused the war. Instead of a group of young superheroes responsible for the deaths of school children in an accidental explosion, this was all about the U.S. government wanting to regulate heroes based on the destruction in the two Avengers movies. It was then exacerbated when Tony Stark learned that Bucky Barnes killed his parents, so he tried to kill him.
The fact that Iron Man seemed determined to kill The Winter Soldier is troubling enough for a superhero. The fact that he learned the truth – that Bucky was hypnotized and not in control when he killed his parents – and Tony still wanted to kill Bucky makes no sense. Yes, Tony's emotional devastation was a reason, but he is a superhero, so continuing to seek vengeance against another victim makes zero sense for one of the good guys.
11 IRON MAN’S MISSING METAL ARMADA
The end of Iron Man 3 featured a massive explosive climax: Pepper Potts was now superhuman with the Extremis virus in her, and both Iron Man and Rhodey were there ready to fight. Then the big moment came when Tony called all his suits of armor to show up and do battle with AIM. However, the fact that Tony was able to call all his armor to him to fight brought up a huge question.
Why did Tony Stark not call his armor to him when he crashed down in Tennessee? Why didn’t he summon the suits of armor when Mandarin was attacking him in his home? Tony showed that he could control these machines earlier as well when Mark 42 saved the president on Air Force One (and in Spider-Man: Homecoming). There were plenty of moments where Tony needed his armor, and he waited until the end of Iron Man 3 to call on them.
10 WHERE ARE THE AVENGERS WHEN YOU NEED THEM?
There are moments in the Marvel movies where filmmakers try to explain where superheroes are when the world is in great danger. Bruce Banner said he wasn’t interested in taking sides in Civil War while Thor was hanging out in Australia. There is also the timeline that shows that Thor was in outer space looking for Thanos during some of the bigger moments happening on earth. However, there are huge events that happen on earth in solo movies all the time, and the heroes fight alone.
Where was Hawkeye in Captain America: Winter Soldier? Honestly, if Nick Fury was in so much danger, wouldn’t he have had one of his most trusted agents by his side? Remember the giant mounds of glob that Ego unleashed on earth? Why were there no heroes trying to save innocent lives? It’s almost like The Avengers only come out of their tower when someone personally attacks them.
9 THE X-MEN’S CONFUSING TIMELINE
We can live with X-Men: Days of Future Past creating alternate timelines because that is what it did in comic books and that makes sense to us. Yes, they changed the past, so the future changes as well in their timeline; meanwhile, in the other timeline, Sentinels have still killed everyone, and Cable is born. We get that. However, changing the past might alter the future for mutants, but some things should never have changed.
Why did Angel go from a young rich kid in X-Men: The Last Stand in the aughts to a cage fighter that is the same age in the ‘80s in X-Men: Apocalypse? Why is Emma Frost a young teenage girl in X-Men: Origins – Wolverine (1979) but she is an older sexpot in X-Men: Days of Future Past (1962)? Changing timelines change the future but how did it alter the past and when these characters were born?
8 IS JOHNNY BLAZE INJURED WHEN GHOST RIDER GETS HURT?
There are a ton of problems with Ghost Rider, and they just got worse with Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. However, the first movie has a scene that makes things that happen later in the movie make zero sense. It all involves how injuries Ghost Rider suffers affect Johnny Blaze.
In the movie, there is a scene where Ghost Rider stops a mugger and delivers the Penance Stare. The scene is a geek-out moment for fans of the comics, but in that same scene, the guy stabs Ghost Rider, who just shrugs it off. However, when Johnny Blaze wakes up after reverting back, he is shown treating an injury from where the blade stabbed Ghost Rider. That is fine except later in the movie, the police fill Ghost Rider full of bullets. Shouldn’t Johnny wake up and die from shock after that?
7 IS DR. DOOM ALL-POWERFUL OR NOT?
Fantastic Four (2015) started out as a decent movie. The film changed the origin story to the more scientific explanation of the Ultimate Universe. That caused many changes and the film was rolling along nicely until the N-Zone and Doctor Doom showed up in the second half. The N-Zone ended up being a boring planet with green ooze instead of the awesome cosmic landscape with frightening creatures that we get in the comics.
But the biggest crime was committed with Dr. Doom. Forget about the poor character design. The thing that makes zero sense is how the film had no idea how powerful Doom was. At one point, he was dying ion the N-Zone, and at another, he said the planet was healing him. He could make people’s heads explode, but when he needed to ramp up his powers to fight the FF, he wasn’t as strong. The problem with Fantastic Four is that almost nothing made sense by the end.
6 HOW CAN DOCTOR OCTOPUS’ TENTACLES CONTROL HIS MIND?
There is little debate that Spider-Man 2 was the best movie featuring Spider-Man – at least out of the first five releases. Doctor Octopus was a great villain; tragic, sympathetic and scarily dangerous. Sam Raimi also got to cut loose in the film. Who didn’t love the operating room scene where the tentacles came to life? However, the tentacles are something in this otherwise great movie that makes zero sense.
How did the tentacles control the mind of Doctor Octopus? We get how they could control his body since they connected to his spine, but how could they control his thoughts and emotions? It makes no sense. You know what else makes zero sense? Doc Ock wanted Peter Parker to find Spider-Man, so he threw a car at him. If Peter weren't a superhero, it would have killed him, and Doc Ock wouldn’t have gotten Spider-Man.
5 WHY DOES ANYONE TRUST THUNDERBOLT ROSS?
Thunderbolt Ross was a brilliant military general who got where he was through his determined and ruthless aggression. Now, we are sure that his aggressive nature was also how he was able to move his way up to the position of Secretary of State a few years later. Likely, he was able to swing the blame of the devastation in The Incredible Hulk on anyone but himself – probably taking the credit for Hulk stopping Abomination.
But, why does Iron Man put so much faith in Thunderbolt Ross? Why does Black Widow put so much confidence in the Sokovia Accords that Ross has put together? The Avengers shows that Iron Man and Black Widow both have a close relationship with Bruce Banner – someone that Ross wanted to dissect to see what made him work in The Incredible Hulk. The fact that they partner with a man who wanted to murder their friend makes zero sense.
4 WHY DID BOR MAKE THE AETHER SO EASY TO FIND?
Odin’s father Bor knew exactly how dangerous the Aether was, especially knowing that it was an Infinity Stone. Because he knew at it was so dangerous, he hid it away so no one could ever find it. Bor knew that Malekith and his cohorts within the Dark Elves wanted it and that it could destroy the entire universe. Bor was an all-powerful and all-knowing god, so he knew that he needed to hide it somewhere that no one could find it. Ever.
And then Jane Foster found it. She ended up teleported exactly to where it was, and it was right there in the open for her to reach out and touch. Bor didn’t even try to find a way to shield it or put it in a protective container where no one could accidentally destroy the entire freaking universe. Nope, he just left it right there where an average human could take it.
3 HYDRA-CONTROLLED S.H.I.E.L.D. FORMED THE AVENGERS?
With the battle with HYDRA likely over with on the big screen after Captain America: Winter Soldier, there is an interesting question that comes up in regard to The Avengers. HYDRA controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. but moved Nick Fury into a commanding position in the organization. Maybe they thought they could control him, and their arrogance could account for that. But, Nick Fury was working with S.H.I.E.L.D. to form The Avengers – and they let him.
Arrogance explains a significant number of things, but why would S.H.I.E.L.D. actively help Nick Fury create a team of superheroes that could ultimately destroy them? Maybe HYDRA didn’t want The Avengers formed and were just playing along to kill the heroes when they discovered them. But, if that was their plan, they waited way too long. Their actions make zero sense for an organization that had become so powerful.
2 WHERE DOES STAR-LORD GET HIS BATTERIES?
In Guardians of the Galaxy, when Peter Quill was a young child, he visited his mother in a hospital where she was dying from cancer. Before her death, she gave him a present – a cassette tape with her favorite songs on it. After his mother died, Peter ran outside in tears, and a spacecraft of Ravagers led by Yondu abducted him. Cut to the present day, and Quill is still listening to the Walkman and the tape his mother gave him.
So, riddle us this: where does Peter Quill get his batteries? The original batteries should have died when he was a child, and the batteries are earth-made, so where did he find them? There is no way that other planets use earth-made AA batteries. Maybe Yondu got them for him? Also, as many fans reading this who grew up with cassette tapes would ask – how did this tape last for 26 years and still be playable in any way?
1 WHY HAS MARVEL NOT MADE A BLACK WIDOW MOVIE?
Ike Perlmutter has done so much to hurt Marvel movies, although he likely deserves some credit for their success as well. While he helped get Iron Man, Captain America and Thor into theaters, and ran the studio as The Avengers broke records, he also caused a lot of drama behind-the-scenes, as well as with other movie studios. Ike is also the reason that the Black Widow movie has never happened and it makes zero sense.
When Black Widow debuted in Iron Man 2, she was a hugely popular new character. It was a no-brainer that she should headline a spy/espionage movie of her own, but it never happened. Ike said that Supergirl, Elektra and Catwoman proved that no one wanted to see a female superhero film. Those movies sucked, and it makes no sense why DC beat Marvel to the punch in making a great one.
Can you think of any other instances in Marvel movies that make no sense? Let us know in the comments!