On October 28 2014, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige took the stage at the El Capitan Theatre in California and announced the full movie slate of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 3. At the time, it was a massive event where Feige revealed the titles of eight upcoming movies, along with their release dates: Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and 2 and finally, as you might remember, Inhumans.
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While these plans were pretty much set in stone, there were some changes along the way. For example, the release date of Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok were pushed back, Infinity War Part 2 was eventually changed to an untitled Avengers 4, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Ant-Man and the Wasp were later added to the slate and, of course, the Inhumans film never came to be. But perhaps what's most intriguing about this film-that-never-was is that it was originally slated to release on November 2, 2018 -- this week.
Here, we look back at exactly what happened with the Inhumans film and, more importantly, how it might have affected the MCU, in another reality.
Of course, the ill-fated Inhumans franchise never got the big screen treatment it deserved. Instead, a dispute between then-Marvel bigwig Ike Perlmutter and Kevin Feige led to a change in leadership: Feige was now fully in control of film, while Perlmutter oversaw television properties.
As it so happens, the Inhumans were a casualty of this split, and the project was instead taken to the ABC network, where it became an eight-part television series. Unfortunately, despite its limited release in IMAX, Inhumans was skewered by fans and critics alike, and the television show was forgotten about even before it was unceremoniously cancelled.
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Thus ended the super-powered royal family's short-lived time in the live-action spotlight. As it stands, there are no plans to bring the characters back to television, or on the big screen. But what would Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been like if the movie was never cancelled in the first place?
Looking back on the original slate that Feige first announced, Inhumans was supposed to be set between Avengers: Infinity War parts one and two. Therefore, it was supposed to be the last film before Avengers 4, a spot that is now held by the Brie Larson-led Captain Marvel (in theaters March 8, 2019).
It's unclear how much Feige knew back then about what would happen in Infinity War. Did he know that the film would end with half of the Avengers -- as well as half of all life in the universe -- dead at the hands of Thanos? Given that the movie was already split in two at the time, there's definitely a strong possibility.
There's no way for us to know Feige's original plans for the Inhumans film, but it's possible that it bore many similarities to the upcoming Captain Marvel. What do we know of Marvel's first, female-led film?
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Well, we know it involves the alien race known as the Kree, and that it will introduce a powerhouse character who will arrive as a reinforcement of sorts in the fight against Thanos in Avengers 4. The Inhumans film could have likely been quite similar in these aspects.
After all, this movie could have been an origin story for the Inhumans, a race of super-powered individuals who were created by the Kree a long time ago. Therefore, we could have had a movie set in the MCU's past, involving the alien race and featuring the introduction of powerful characters who would have become potential allies to Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Given that Inhumans was slated to release before the fourth Avengers film, there is no doubt that they would have appeared in the movie, most likely as a small army who would have joined the fight against Thanos.
As it stands, we will never know what the Inhumans film was supposed to be. It's quite likely that it originally served the function that now falls on Captain Marvel's sole shoulders. Make no mistake, we are all excited to see Carol Danvers finally join the MCU, but we still wonder what could have been.
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In a parallel reality, alternate versions of ourselves are all currently lining up in theaters to see Black Bolt, Medusa and Lockjaw on the big screen before they inevitably join the ranks of the Avengers. And we're sure they're about to have their socks blown off.
The untitled sequel to Avengers: Infinity War will release on May 3, 2019. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Marvel’s Avengers 4 stars Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Olsen, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Benedict Wong, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, and Anthony Mackie.