With so many entries in the MCU, there have been a number of comics storylines that have been needed to influence these films. While some storylines got adaptations that were not received half as well as their comics counterparts, there are some Marvel movies that actually surpassed their source content.
A few movies in the MCU directly adapted certain storylines, and even got the same name as those stories. Still others had only elements of other stories that combined to tell a larger plot in a movie. Over the years, a fair few comics storylines got the MCU treatment, and became all the better for it.
10 "Iron Man: Extremis" Was Made Better By Iron Man 3
While Iron Man 3 was not particularly well-received, especially when compared to Iron Man, it did successfully adapt a few storylines from the comics. In fact, some fans considered its use of “Iron Man: Extremis” to be the most successful part of the movie.
This aspect of Iron Man 3 was inspired by the story arc “Extremis” by Warren Ellis and Adi Granov, in which Tony Stark saw the Extremis nanotech improving his Iron Man suits. The movie improved on the storyline, and even utilized it in order to clean up some of Iron Man’s story in the MCU up to that point.
9 "Secret Warriors" Was Made Better By Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier pulled from many different comics from the storylines. Bucky Barnes got his influence from multiple places, as did Cap himself. One of the storylines that influenced this movie was the series Secret Warriors, created by Brian Michael Bendis, Jonathan Hickman, and Stefano Caselli.
This series saw Nick Fury assembling a secret team in order to fight against a more nefarious secret team: HYDRA, as they infiltrated SHIELD. The Winter Soldier not only used this storyline, but it integrated well into the universe, creating a seamless flow to the story.
8 "Age Of Ultron" Was Made Better By Avengers: Age of Ultron
Unfortunately, one of the least-liked comic storylines to come out of Marvel Comics in recent history was “Age of Ultron.” This miniseries was created by Brian Michael Bendis, with art by Bryan Hitch, Brandon Peterson, Carlos Pacheco, and Joe Quesada. Despite this excellent group, “Age of Ultron” wasn’t great.
The movie Avengers: Age of Ultron wasn’t much better, but it did try to fix the story a bit to make it make more sense for the films. While it did improve the storyline slightly, it wasn’t enough to save the movie, in the end. Now, WandaVision is going to great lengths to continue cleaning up the mess that Age of Ultron made, and that series only continues to improve upon both versions of the story.
7 "Civil War" Was Made Better By Captain America: Civil War
Another storyline from Marvel Comics that gave its entire plot and title to an MCU movie was the crossover “Civil War.” This short limited series was created by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, and tied together a number of previous storylines into one much larger plot.
This story was a huge fight across all of Marvel; unfortunately, the MCU couldn’t bring in every character, but it was able to clean up some aspects of “Civil War” that weren’t well-received. Critics were mixed on “Civil War” in the comics, and the MCU tried to improve on those criticisms when the story was loosely adapted to film.
6 "Secret Avengers" Was Made Better By Captain America: Civil War
Another comics storyline that Captain America: Civil War used was the series “Secret Avengers.” Creators Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato started “Secret Avengers” to tell the story of a more elite version of the Avengers. This black-ops take on the team, called the Secret Avengers, were led by Captain America.
In a way, Civil War adapted this storyline by creating a secret secondary Avengers team led by Captain America that persists after the film. Integrating this story into the MCU gave the franchise a lot of clarity, as well as giving each character their own space on a new and different team.
5 "Ragnaroks" Was Made Better By Thor: Ragnarok
Much like Civil War before it, Thor: Ragnarok pulled from multiple movies in order to influence its plot. Its title and a great deal of its plot were pulled from the Marvel Comics storyline “Ragnaroks,” a six-part story by Michael Avon Oeming, Daniel Berman, and Andrea Divito. “Ragnaroks” not only gave Thor: Ragnarok its title, but a great deal of its plot, too.
However, Thor utilized his team, the Avengers, in the comics. In the movie, Thor needs to take on Ragnarok with Loki and those closest to him. Thus, the event becomes a story of growth for Thor, in addition to just the story event it was in the comics.
4 "Planet Hulk" Was Made Better By Thor: Ragnarok
Another storyline that fans were somewhat surprised to see show up in Thor: Ragnarok was the Marvel Comics story “Planet Hulk.” Created by Greg Pak, Carlo Pagulayan, and Aaron Lopresti, “Planet Hulk” grappled with the Hulk’s isolation, as well as his attempts to return back to Earth after he was forcibly sent away.
One huge difference the MCU made to this story is that Bruce Banner’s exile was self-imposed. Changing this up gave Bruce a lot more space to grow alongside his friends, including Thor. Rather than seeing a Bruce hell-bent on revenge, Thor: Ragnarok saw a Bruce who wanted to get to know and help his friends.
3 "The Infinity Gauntlet" Was Made Better By Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame
There were many stories that needed to come together to influence the grand finale of the Infinity Saga. The two-part closer to the Avengers’ storylines throughout the MCU came to a close with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Part of the title of the first movie was pulled from the Infinity storylines in the comics; specifically, “The Infinity Gauntlet” heavily influenced Infinity War.
This six-issue series, created by Jim Starlin, George Pérez, and Ron Lim, saw Thanos creating his gauntlet, collecting the Stones, and becoming the monstrous god-like being that wipes out half of all life in the universe. While the movie may not feature Mistress Death, it focused heavily on the effect this event would have on the Avengers, as well as the world.
2 "The Infinity War" Was Made Better By Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame
Another comics storyline that heavily influenced the finale for the Infinity Saga was “The Infinity War.” Besides the fact that the storyline obviously gave Avengers: Infinity War its name, this six-issue series featured Adam Warlock in a starring role, much like the series before it.
While the MCU doesn’t have Adam Warlock just yet, it was still able to use this storyline well. Similarly created by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim, this time with Ian Laughlin, Al Milgrom, Jack Morelli, and Christie Scheele, “The Infinity War” was made a lot clearer when the story entered the MCU.
1 "Secret Invasion" Was Made Better By Spider-Man: Far From Home
The very last movie in the Infinity Saga was Spider-Man: Far From Home, though its title did not help audiences guess what stories this film would be adapting. It was a surprise, then, that Far From Home adapted the crossover storyline “Secret Invasion” from the Marvel Comics.
This eight-issue series was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu, and saw the alien Skrulls shape-shifting to replace important MCU characters. In Far From Home, this was humorously and intelligently well-utilized, with Peter Parker finding out that Nick Fury had been replaced with a Skrull.