The Marvel Cinematic Universe is, at its heart, a franchise of superhero action movies. Every film has plenty of fight scenes. Epic battles form the climax of many MCU movies and smaller skirmishes dot its projects. However, sometimes a film or TV show makes the odd choice of having a fight happen off-screen.
The audience might see the fight's beginning and its aftermath or they simply hear about it afterward. However much the film shows, it doesn't go all the way. The viewer never sees most of the violence, which can happen for comedic purposes, to better fit the storytelling, or because showing the fight would be redundant.
10 Thanos' Decimation Of Xandar
Thanos is one of the deadliest individuals in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. He repeatedly shows his mettle against some of the MCU's heaviest hitters. Every fight scene he's in is a delight. One of his grandest and most extravagant battles, however, takes place outside of any movie.
Thor meets the Guardians of the Galaxy in Avengers: Infinity War and tells them that Thanos has overcome Xandar's defenses and stolen the Power Stone. Infinity War already has more than enough massive battle sequences, so it's understandable why the MCU omitted Thanos' decimation of Xandar. However, some fans still want to see Thanos take on the entire Nova Corps without a single Infinity Stone.
9 Gorr The God Butcher Fighting Lady Sif And Falligar The Behemoth
Gorr the God Butcher is the villain of Thor: Love and Thunder. As his name implies, he spends a lot of his time hunting down and killing gods. Thor and Korg come across the aftermath of one of these battles. Lady Sif and a god named Falligar the Behemoth attempted to hunt down Gorr, but he lured them into a trap.
The fight is long done when Thor gets there as Falligar is dead and Sif is missing an arm. Fans would have liked to see the fight and see more of the popular Lady Sif. Furthermore, Gorr is only ever shown butchering one god in the entire film. In terms of onscreen battles, the audience never sees him kill a sympathetic god.
8 The Howling Commandos' Operations Are Turned Into A Montage
Captain America: The First Avenger tells the entirety of Steve Rogers' early career as Captain America. The film follows him from before he receives the serum to his freezing in ice. As such, The First Avenger can't show every aspect of his outings and the bulk of his work with the Howling Commandos is turned into a brief montage.
Steve goes on countless missions with the Commandos, fighting against HYDRA. Other than him liberating prisoners of war, raiding a train with Bucky, and infiltrating HYDRA's main base, none of these missions are shown in full. Instead, there are dozens of fights that take place off-camera during this time. It would have been fun to see Steve take part in battles while in the early stages of his career.
7 Moon Knight Stealing The Scarab
Moon Knight has plenty of fight scenes that take place off-camera. This is an integral part of the narrative, rather than being done for convenience. Steven Grant has Dissociative Identity Disorder and experiences times when an alter becomes prominent. During this time, he has no memory of what's happening.
Sometimes, Moon Knight skips over these scenes to disorient the viewer. In the very first episode, Steven wakes up in the Alps after Marc Spector had stolen a scarab artifact from a nearby castle with implied violence. The audience never finds out the exact events, which contributes to an air of mystery.
6 Thanos' Army Being Defeated In Wakanda
In Infinity War, a chunk of the cast fights against Thanos on Titan while the rest of the cast face his army in Wakanda. The fight quickly turns against the heroes, only to turn back when Thor arrives from Nidavellir. Infinity War shows a few more scenes of the characters fighting Outriders before switching its focus to Vision.
Captain America and Vision take on Corvus Glaive. Then, the rest of the Avengers gather to try to slow Thanos. No Outriders are left once Thanos acquires the Infinity Stones. It's implied that, in the meantime, Thor and the Wakandan army finish the job of wiping them out, which would have been an epic battle to see.
5 The Uprising In The Nine Realms In Thor: The Dark World
Thor: The Dark World takes place during a time of extreme upheaval in the Nine Realms. Thor joins the narrative by intervening in the last moments of a war in Vanaheim. He quickly settles matters by killing an enemy champion. However, it's only the final act in what is suggested to be a very long war.
The destruction of the Bifrost in Thor allows for factions on the Nine Realms to begin causing trouble. The film suggests that the characters have had to fight a lengthy war across the universe. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three had to fight for a long time in Vanaheim before Thor's arrival.
4 Stephen Strange Fighting Curt Connors
Spider-Man: No Way Home's plot kicks into gear when villains from alternate universes begin attacking Peter Parker and Stephen Strange's home universe. Otto Octavius and Norman Osborne attack Peter almost immediately. Curt Connors, by contrast, ends up in a scrap with Stephen Strange.
The fight is suggested to be impressive. Strange manages to sustain at least one wound in the fight, despite being a powerful Master of the Mystic Arts. Connors is out of focus for most of No Way Home, but some fans wish they could have seen that fight, even if it's just to give Strange an impressive showing.
3 Nebula Trying To Assassinate Thanos
Nebula switches sides several times throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. By the time of Avengers: Infinity War, however, she's firmly on the side of the heroes. Nevertheless, she's also been Thanos' prisoner since before the film. Thanos reveals her to Gamora during Infinity War's second act as an interrogation tactic.
Thanos explains that he captured Nebula after an attempted assassination that nearly killed him. Thanos is a near-unstoppable powerhouse, while Nebula is one of the universe's best killers. Plenty of fans wish that they'd gotten to see what nearly took Thanos down.
2 Mordo's Many Attempts To Kill Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange ends on a cliffhanger, seemingly ready-made for a sequel. Mordo turns his back on Kamar-Taj following the film's events and begins hunting his fellow sorcerers. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness takes place several years later, but the Mordo of Doctor Strange never appears.
Instead, Strange says that he's been targeted by Mordo several times throughout the years. In Multiverse of Madness, he has one fight with an alternate version of Mordo, but the original remains unseen. Instead, years of battles between Strange and one of his iconic nemeses are given a single throwaway mention.
1 Thanos Attacking Statesman And Massacring The Asgardians
Thor: Ragnarok ends with Thanos' Sanctuary II ship coming across the Asgardian Statesman. It's left as a cliffhanger and Avengers: Infinity War picks up shortly after. However, Infinity War begins with the aftermath of the battle. Although there's some fighting, it's clear that Thanos' forces have won.
Statesman is protected by Thor, Loki, the Hulk, Heimdall, Valkyrie, and other warriors. The audience never gets to see just how the defenses are overwhelmed. Instead, Infinity War starts with Thor beaten, Heimdall wounded, and half of the Asgardians butchered.