Just because the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has become one of the most globally recognized franchises and brand names on Earth doesn’t mean that it’s the same in every country.
For one reason or another, MCU movies have had to make some changes when they’re shown in a country outside of America. These edits range from minuscule details to big, story-changing divergences that can attract attention for all the wrong reasons.
10 Captain America’s To-Do List Changes Per Country
Captain America: The Winter Soldier doubles down on Steve Rogers’ comics interpretation as a man out of time, with him constantly playing catch-up when it comes to things like pop culture. This was the set-up for a joke where after getting some music recommendations from Sam, Steve jots it down on a list of other references.
In the original version, the list includes the moon landing, Star Wars and/or Trek, and Nirvana. There are almost ten variations of this list, with a constantly changing number of references. For example, the British list has The Beatles, the Latin American one mentions Mexico’s first astronaut Neri Vela, and the South Korean version recommends an Oldboy viewing.
9 UK Renamed The Avengers To Avoid Confusion
Many jokes have been made about people’s favorite Avengers movie being 1998’s The Avengers, which starred Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, and Sean Connery in a bear suit. This silly coincidence led to a significant change in the British marketing, with Marvel hoping to avoid their first ensemble movie being confused with a better-forgotten flop.
The Avengers was renamed Avengers Assemble in the United Kingdom so that people wouldn’t think it was based on or connected to the ‘60s spy TV show or the aforementioned ‘90s bomb. This rebranding didn’t become a trend since the sequels had subtitles instead of numbers, making the distinction unnecessary.
8 France Changed Tony’s Spongebob Reference In Avengers: Infinity War
Whether it’s for goofy or morbid fun, Avengers: Infinity War is a goldmine of memes and quotable quotes. An easy favorite was Tony Stark insulting Ebony Maw by calling him Squidward, but this Spongebob Squarepants joke was changed for the French dub for an equally funny reason.
In French, Tony compares Thanos’ herald to Harry Potter’s main villain Voldemort, which does make sense. The reason for this change is because in the French version of Spongebob Squarepants, Squidward is named “Carlo,” for some reason. Mockingly referring to Ebony Maw as “Carlo” wouldn’t make any sense, given how generic a name it is in almost every country.
7 Taiwan Called Yondu Totoro In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
The second Guardians of the Galaxy is filled with some of the MCU’s best jokes and moments, with the Mary Poppins shout-out being an instant favorite. Here, Star-Lord endearingly compares Yondu to Mary Poppins, which the Ravager mistakes for a compliment. However, the reference to the British nanny is lost in some countries, like Taiwan.
Since Mary Poppins isn’t that popular in Taiwan, the country’s dub instead had Star-Lord comparing Yondu to Totoro, which ends with Yondu yelling “I’m Totoro, y’all!” The switch actually makes chronological sense, since My Neighbor Totoro was released in 1988. Plausibly, Peter Quill could’ve watched the Studio Ghibli classic before his abduction in the same year.
6 The Avengers Censored Coulson’s Bloody Death For Region 2 DVDs
Back when Agents of SHIELD was just starting and theories about Agent Coulson’s apparent resurrection were all over the internet, fans were quick to point to edited down death in the Region 2 DVDs (i.e. DVDs sold in the UK, Europe, and other territories) as evidence of his return. While the editing is real, Disney and Marvel did this for really mundane reasons.
Simply put, the UK deemed Loki’s spear going right through Coulson’s chest as “inappropriate” for Avengers Assemble’s 12 Accompanied/Advisory rating. The only visible change was that Coulson’s stabbing basically happens offscreen, with the protruding blade edited out. Loki’s killing of Coulson remains unedited in every other version of the movie.
5 China Had Exclusive Iron Man 3 Scenes
To cozy up to the lucrative Chinese audience, Marvel shot four minutes of exclusive scenes for Iron Man 3’s Chinese release. The scene was just a glorified cameo that interrupted the conflict, especially since it happened right after Tony challenged The Mandarin on live TV.
After that press con, the Chinese cut jumps to China-based Dr. Wu, who calls a Mandarin-speaking JARVIS to say that “China can help” Tony. Later when Tony has his arc reactor removed, it’s retroactively revealed that Dr. Wu and a cameoing Fan Bingbing were pivotal to the operation. These, plus the blatant product placement, only attracted ire and ridicule from the world over (China included). Marvel has yet to collaborate with China again after this, while Disney continued with the incredibly controversial Mulan remake.
4 China Omitted References To Russia In Iron Man 2
Russia plays an important part in Iron Man 2 because its main villain, Ivan Vanko (aka Whiplash), has a past directly tied to the Soviet Union. This wasn’t the case in China, where any reference to Russia was obscured or cut out. Any time someone said “Russia” or “Russian,” the audio would either be muffled or the subtitles left them untranslated.
For example, when Justin Hammer yells “I don’t speak Russian!,” the Chinese subtitles read “I don’t speak your mother tongue” and Hammer’s saying of “Russian” was heavily distorted. No concrete explanation for this has been given, though many theorize that the Chinese government didn’t want to portray one of its closest allies as a villainous force in its entertainment.
3 Russia Erased Any LGBTQ+ References In Avengers: Endgame
Avengers: Endgame caught some flack for its overhyped gay scene, which was really just a passing mention in the movie’s opening act that viewers could miss by accident. This wasn’t the case in Russia because the scene was completely rewritten, with any same-sex implications eliminated.
Originally, the scene shows Steve Rogers heading a grief support group where one of the attendees says that he went on a date with a man the other day. The Russian version removes all romantic subtext so that Joe Russo’s cameo just talks about going to a restaurant with a male colleague. Though not confirmed, some speculate that Disney permitted this change to end the two-week ban Russia implemented on Endgame after the gay scene’s inclusion generated online buzz.
2 Some Countries Dropped “Captain America” From The Title
It is fair to say that America isn’t exactly held in high regard around the world. Marvel took heed of this and fearing that anti-American sentiments could negatively impact Captain America’s movies, they allowed international markets to remove “Captain America” from the titles. Cases in point, Russia, South Korea and Ukraine promoted Cap’s first movie as The First Avenger.
Korea dropped this by the time of the sequels, but Russia and Ukraine continued and marketed them as First Avenger: Another War and First Avenger: Confrontation. Germany did the same, renaming them as The Return of the First Avenger and The First Avenger: Civil War (above). Some see Germany’s omission of “Captain America” as being influenced by the controversy of the NSA tapping German chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone.
1 Some Countries Banned Marvel Movies For Unexpected Reasons
Simply put, some countries never get to see a Marvel movie because of outside politics and reasons beyond Disney’s control. Take Captain Marvel for instance, which was banned in Pakistan because Disney’s regional offices are based in India. The two nations have a long heated political history, to say the least, and this didn’t help in their distribution negotiations.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia didn’t show any MCU movie before 2018 because of its strict ban on cinemas themselves, with Black Panther being its first Marvel movie and cinematic premiere in decades (above). This reality led to Doctor Strange’s controversial rewriting of The Ancient One from a Tibetan man to Celtic woman, as China threatened to ban the movie if Tibet – a country China claims is its territory – was even acknowledged or mentioned.