The MCU is an unprecedented feat of movie making and planning. There are nearly 20 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the lead-up to each successive story in the series has had fans clamoring for any evidence they could find in the hopes that they could figure out some hint at what would happen in the next movie. Sometimes, fans were spot on, but most of the time, fans had a tendency to take clues completely out of context, making wild assumptions that were nowhere near close to the final plot of the movies.
From comic book plots and characters that could have been to deaths that almost happened, it’s been impossible to predict exactly what was going to happen in any given moment -- something that is particularly impressive, but mostly possible because of Marvel’s tendency to take inspiration from the source material, rather than directly adapting any of their stories. In this way, they manage to please fans of the comics while still keeping everything fresh and new for the movie-going audience. Still, as great as the movies are, from time to time, a theory floats around the internet that picks up steam, and when the movie comes out, it doesn’t live up to the rumors that had been spread. Here are 19 theories about each Marvel movie (pre Ant-Man and the Wasp) that could have radically changed the shape of the MCU as we know it -- and they would have been pretty cool! Let us know which is your favorite or if we missed any!
19 IRON MAN - JARVIS WOULD BE HUMAN
Going into Iron Man, fans assumed that Jarvis, Tony’s butler in the comics, would be a live-action character like Tony, Pepper, or Happy. However, the MCU created a whole new version of Jarvis, making him the ever-present computer voice that eventually becomes Vision.
Fans also figured that Tony would hide his identity as Iron Man, pretending that Iron Man was his bodyguard - an idea that was referenced briefly during the film’s final press conference. However, that press conference ended with Tony announcing his identity. Had things played out as fans expected, we’d have a whole new Jarvis, Vision’s origin would be different and Tony’s identity might still be hidden. One thing is for sure, the Iron Man and Avengers movies would be remarkably different.
18 INCREDIBLE HULK - WOULD BE A SEQUEL TO HULK
Incredible Hulk focused on an already-established Hulk, so fans assumed that this Hulk movie, the second within five years, would be a sequel to 2003’s Hulk starring Eric Bana in the title role. However, the details of Hulk were retconned by the opening credits sequence of Incredible Hulk, which revealed its own version of Hulk’s origin story. Though the details were similar, they were not the same, and so the distance between the two films was firmly in place.
Had Hulk (2003) not been retconned, we would have had an MCU that began a full five years before Iron Man, extending the story and adding to Hulk’s characterization and history.
17 IRON MAN 2 - DEMON IN A BOTTLE
When Iron Man 2 was released, fans were excited to hear that it would be an adaptation of the iconic "Demon in a Bottle" storyline. However, the similarities were shallow at best -- Tony travels to Monaco in both stories, and Justin Hammer is the villain manipulating things from behind the scenes, but Tony’s struggle with alcohol was barely referenced.
There was a scene in which Tony had a bit too much at a party, fought Rhodey and upset Pepper, but outside of this scene, not much else from the story is explored. Had this been a closer adaptation of the comic storyline, we would have gotten a deeper version of Tony Stark, that was more relatable, making him an even stronger character than what we’ve got.
16 THOR - HAS SECRET IDENTITY
In the comics, Thor loses his memory when he is sent to Earth and accidentally stumbles upon his identity when he finds his hammer. Until then (and even afterwards), he maintains a secret identity on Earth: Dr. Donald Blake. The movie version of the character is not quite the same -- the only reference to the comic identity is the coat belonging to Dr. Donald Blake that Thor wears while sneaking to find his hammer.
Otherwise, fans hoped to see Thor face off against some of his earliest and best-known adversaries, the Wrecking Crew. They're a group armed with magically enchanted construction equipment, like Thor’s hammer. This would have given us a handful of new villains to play with, and a better final battle than what we got.
15 CAPTAIN AMERICA - WOULD BE ENTIRELY IN WORLD WAR II
Captain America: The First Avenger was likely the most anticipated of the solo flicks leading up to The Avengers -- not only was he the most popular of the comic characters Marvel owned at the time, but his origin story would take audiences into World War II.
Fans assumed that the movie would take place entirely in World War II. Instead, the movie saw Cap unfrozen and awakened after being found by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the modern era. Fans thought that Cap might be found and unfrozen in The Avengers, being a third-act savior that helped the team win the final fight, but instead he was one of the founding members of the team, even before Tony, Thor and Hulk got involved.
14 AVENGERS - ANT-MAN/WASP WOULD APPEAR
Speaking of The Avengers, in the comics, it is Ant-Man, Wasp, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk who are the original members of the Avengers. So, although Black Widow and Hawkeye had already been confirmed for the movies, fans thought that perhaps Marvel was just playing things quietly and hiding another few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, like the insect-themed superheroes.
While Ant-Man and Wasp didn’t appear in The Avengers, Ant-Man would eventually get his own movie, the sequel of which brings Wasp into the mix. Had fans gotten what they were hoping for, we would have gotten the heroes much earlier, and the Avengers would have had some extra help in their fight against the Chitauri. It would have added a whole new dimension to the fighting.
13 IRON MAN 3 - MANDARIN WOULD ACTUALLY APPEAR
The Mandarin that we saw in Iron Man 3 ended up being a hired actor named Trevor Slattery, in a second act twist that no one saw coming and few comic fans appreciated. Fans of the comic character felt cheated out of seeing the villain come to life on the big screen. Marvel had to release a Marvel One-Shot to explain that there really was a Mandarin out there, and that he wasn’t too happy with Slattery.
Imagine the movie we could have gotten. The Mandarin’s ten alien rings could have been connected to the Infinity Stones in some way. Plus, it would have resolved a plotline from the first Iron Man, as the Ten Rings terrorist organization kidnapped Tony in the first movie.
12 THOR: THE DARK WORLD - LOKI'S SURVIVAL
When Loki was returned to Asgard at the end of The Avengers, fans assumed that Thor: The Dark World would explore what had happened to him a little more -- after all, the post-credits scene in The Avengers had officially introduced Thanos, and so fans expected to get as much information about the Mad Titan as possible.
Really, we probably should have. Had Loki revealed the details of how he survived and came into Thanos’s presence, the villain could have gotten developed a bit more and made into more of a threat earlier in the series. It also could have given the movie a bigger looming darkness in the background of everything. Instead, Thor: The Dark World is one of the weakest chapters in the MCU.
11 CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER - NO MORE FURY
In the movie, Nick Fury fakes his death, but fans expected him to actually die. The theory was he’d eventually be living on in a Life Model Decoy. However, had his death been permanent, the direction of the MCU could have gone very differently. Maria Hill could have taken over S.H.I.E.L.D., as she had in the comics.
Granted, Samuel L. Jackson had a number of movies left on his contract, but bringing him back in a later movie would have made his death in this movie feel more impactful and if he had come back as a Life Model Decoy, this death would have been one of the few permanent deaths in the MCU.
10 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - NOVA APPEARS
When Guardians of the Galaxy was announced, a lot of fans had their doubts about the movie’s chances for success. As details about the movie emerged, fans speculated which of the Guardians characters from the comics would make the jump to the big screen. One character that was on many fans’ lists was Nova. It would have shaken up the line-up and given the whole team a different dynamic.
However, while the Nova Corps appeared in the movie, Nova (Richard Rider) was nowhere to be seen. Considering that Xandar was wiped out offscreen prior to Avengers: Infinity War, it’s still possible that Nova, who was given his powers by the last member of the Nova Corps, could appear in future chapters of the MCU.
9 AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON - THOR WOULD DIE
By the time Avengers: Age of Ultron was released, rumors that an Avenger would die were rampant, but fans were nearly certain that it would be Thor who kicked the bucket. However, this theory was misguided, as it was Quicksilver who died.
But what if Thor had died? We saw visions of Thor in Hel with a number of other perished Asgardians and this could have been a real experience for the God of Thunder. Thor’s death would have created the opportunity for Tony to create Ragnarok, the robotic clone of Thor who killed Giant-Man in the Civil War comic book. Ragnarok, had he been in Captain America: Civil War, could have played a similar role, perhaps being the one who injured Rhodes.
8 ANT-MAN - HANK PYM WOULD SUIT UP
When fans heard that the new Ant-Man movie would instead feature Scott Lang instead of Hank Pym, they were puzzled. Surely Hank Pym would play some role in the movie -- you simply couldn’t make the movie without mentioning the scientist who made the character possible. Fans hoped a last minute heroic moment in which Hank would show up in an Ant-Man costume of his own, teaming up with Scott to defeat Yellowjacket together.
This wouldn’t have changed very much about the movie, but it would have given us an opportunity to see Hank in action and while we did get to see a few quick flashbacks of his missions as Ant-Man, we didn’t really get to see him fighting very much.
7 CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR - A NETFLIX CROSSOVER
When Captain America: Civil War was announced, the idea that we were getting such a massive movie so soon made comic fans unwary -- how could they possible match the scale of the comic books on the big screen?
A lot of fans fully expected to see characters from the various successful Netflix series to be pulled into the action, particularly Daredevil, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. It would have made the MCU feel a bit more united -- as is, there hasn’t been much of any reference to the Sokovia Accords in the Netflix series, which have largely ignored the events of the MCU’s movies. Plus, we would have gotten to see Daredevil and Spider-Man on-screen together!
6 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 - THE ORIGINAL GUARDIANS
It had been announced that Ego the Living Planet would be the villain of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but it had also been announced that the original Guardians of the Galaxy team would be in the movie. Fans assumed that the original Guardians team, led by Sylvester Stallone’s Starhawk, would join alongside Star-Lord’s team in the final battle.
However, the battle that we got seemed to focus a lot more on Star-Lord and Ego’s physical representation, and less on the massive abilities of a full-size planet. Starhawk’s team didn’t even appear until a post-credits scene. Will we see them in the future? Probably not, as this was likely just a fun cameo for the sake of fan service.
5 DOCTOR STRANGE - OTHER SORCERERS APPEAR
When Doctor Strange was announced, fans had fingers crossed in the hopes that they might get a chance to see some big screen versions of their favorite sorcerers -- characters like Morgan le Fay and Brother Voodoo. Doing so, however, would have completely changed the plot from its very roots.
Morgan le Fay is the enemy of Merlin, and would require introduction of the famed wizard, as well. Brother Voodoo is a hero whose complicated origin story deserves its own movie. Both of the characters could show up in the future of the MCU, and it would certainly make more sense than squeezing them into the first Doctor Strange movie, but truth be told, both seem unlikely at the moment.
4 THOR: RAGNAROK - RAGNAROK AS AN ACTUAL CHARACTER
Once again, fans assumed that Thor would die, and that Thor: Ragnarok would explore his death and experiences in Hel. The next part of the movie would be a journey of sorts -- while Thor traveled through the mystical underworld, on Earth, Stark would resurrect Thor, whose soulless body, codenamed Ragnarok, would be wreaking havoc. Once Thor succeeded in his goals in the underworld, his soul would return to his body, and the plot would be resolved.
What we got instead of this was a combination of the "Ragnarok" and "Planet Hulk" comic book storylines. While an epic and fun movie, it’s hard to think that a dedicated "Planet Hulk" movie would have been better, and Thor could have stuck to something else.
3 SPIDER MAN: HOMECOMING - DONALD GLOVER IS MILES MORALES
This theory is wishful thinking at its best. When Donald Glover was first announced to be in Spider-Man: Homecoming, fans immediately thought/hoped that the talented actor would be playing Miles Morales, the other Spider-Man from the Ultimate Universe. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, but fans weren't so far off.
Glover ended up playing Aaron Davis, aka The Prowler, in the movie who has a pretty big connection to Miles. Davis is actually Morales' uncle in the comics and Glover's character even mentions his nephew in one scene. We truly hope Marvel didn't squander Glover's MCU appearance by having him play a B-list level supervillain.
2 BLACK PANTHER - VIBRANIUM HOUSES THE SOUL STONE
Black Panther was the MCU’s final chapter before everyone came together in Avengers: Infinity War, so fans expected to see the final Infinity Stone revealed. Theories about the stone’s appearance in Black Panther made sense -- after all, the vibranium came from outer space, the Wakandans hadn’t yet reached the core of it and the vibranium helped to create a flower that gives the Black Panther his abilities and allows one to temporarily access an otherworldly Soul dimension.
All signs seemed to point to the Wakandans unknowingly harboring the Soul Stone. However, the movie made no mention of the Soul Stone, and Avengers: Infinity War would show that the stone was elsewhere in the universe, not even on Earth.
1 INFINITY WAR - THE END OF CAP AND/OR IRON MAN
The most recent film in the MCU inspired tons of theories, from which characters would die to which would even be included. But people were nearly certain that Captain America and Iron Man would be getting killed in the movie.
Fans assumed that the characters would die off and be replaced in subsequent movies -- Iron Man by Iron Lad, who fans assumed would be the boy that Tony befriended in Iron Man 3. Captain America would then be replaced by Bucky. This would make for a very different version of the Avengers for the fourth movie. Though the characters survived this movie, the next movie is anyone’s guess.