20+ Scrapped Marvel Cinematic Universe Plot Lines Expand Your Horizons

Millions of people from all around the world have been attracted to the web-like universe of interconnected storylines created by the entertainment behemoth Marvel. Yet making this seamless block is not simple. For a variety of reasons, the film's director had to carefully analyze and abandon some of its plots. Some even got filmed, but they were all abandoned because they seemed to conflict with previously published scenes. Below are the 21 scrapped Marvel Cinematic Universe plotlines as stated by the directors in interviews. For more information, keep reading!

#1. There was supposed to be a plot in Avengers: Endgame in which Thanos killed the Avengers in 2014 and then kept Captain America’s severed head as a reward in 2023.

Source: Marvel

Thanos would have ruled the universe while perched "on a throne of skulls" in the discarded plot. Thanos would have "tossed, like a bowling ball, Captain America's severed skull head, still in the cowl, to Captain America" to assert that he always wins, according to Kevin Feige. Despite not having recorded the sequence, Kevin claimed "I think it ended up in a set of pages at one point in the script. There might be a piece of concept art somewhere with it."

#2. The authors considered a sequence in which Hulk emerged in the Soulworld after using the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Endgame, and Bruce Banner and Hulk spoke face to face.

Source: Marvel

The conversation was written, but the concept was rejected before the scene was ever filmed, according to writer Christopher Markus. “Ruffalo showed up, but Hulk refused to come out of his trailer,” he joked.

#3. The Black Widow post-credits scene, which features Yelena whistling at Natasha's grave, almost included us hearing a whistle back.

Source: Marvel

Fans now wish they had included Natasha's whistle in the post-credits sequence, as director Cate Shortland admitted they "talked about" doing so since it might have hinted Natasha was still alive after Avengers: Endgame. But in reality, Yelena’s whistle received no response.

#4. WandaVision was supposed to have an episode addressing Wanda’s work-life balance, similar to The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Source: Marvel

Jac Schaeffer’s original pitch for WandaVision included this homage to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but the episode was scrapped once it became clear that the show was stronger if it tracked Wanda going through the five stages of grief, so a work episode didn’t really fit in.

#5. Moreover, the WandaVision series finale would have featured a plot in which Darcy, Monica, Billy, and Tommy band together in Agatha's basement to battle Seor Scratchy, who had transformed into a demon.

Source: Marvel

Director Matt Shakman said, “We abandoned it pretty early on because we were reformatting the structure of the finale and it no longer really had a place, despite having done some great shooting on it.”

#6. A sequence in Black Panther was planned to include Okoye and W’Kabi discussing their plans to have children and Wakanda’s future.

Source: Marvel

The scene was intended to take place after Killmonger vanquished T'Challa and depicts Okoye and W'Kabi as husband and wife on opposing sides of the conflict. Despite the excellent performances by Danai Gurira and Daniel Kaluuya, Ryan Coogler claimed the scene "just didn’t work inside the confines" of the movie.

#7. Wanda returns to the scene after being dusted by Thanos to discover Vision's body in a morgue, which was almost the post-credits scene for Avengers: Endgame. Naturally, WandaVision is in a similar scenario.

Source: Marvel

Paul Bettany revealed that there was going to be a tag where "Wanda" unlocked a sort of body bag drawer and the Vision was within. Even if it was just for a brief scene with Elizabeth Olsen, Paul wished he could have been a part of the scene that was eliminated from Endgame.

#8. The Avengers nearly had a scene where Steve and Peggy, in the present day, discuss him leaving and missing their dance at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger.

Source: Marvel

A wonderful and poignant scene between the two, according to the director and writer Joss Whedon, was finally removed because it was "killing the rhythm of the thing." The scene that Peggy and Steve eventually got in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but it was a little different.

#9. An original idea for Avengers: Infinity War included Doctor Strange sending Thanos through a mindscape - as the Ancient One did to Doctor Strange - and he would’ve had to face the Living Tribunal.

Source: Marvel

The idea was deleted very early on, but it was brought up because the writers didn't want to lose "the psychedelic nature of the [Jim] Starlin universe," according to Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Therefore, Doctor Strange was going to expose all of Thanos' errors, and then he would have had to confront the Living Tribunal. You can truly see a statue of the Living Tribunal's head in The Void in Loki Episode 5. The Living Tribunal's job in the Marvel comics is to guard and maintain the multiverse's balance.

#10. In reality, Aaron Taylor-Johnson recorded two possible scenarios in which Pietro survived Ultron’s attack in Sokovia and became an Avenger with Wanda.

Source: Marvel

Joss Whedon, the director, and writer said that they shot a scene in which Pietro wakes up after being shot and exclaims, “Ah, I didn’t really die from these 47 bullet wounds!”, “We did actually shoot him in the last scene, in an outfit, with his sister,” Joss said. These sequences were filmed in case Marvel/Disney decided to overturn Joss’ decision to murder Pietro.

#11. The Spider-Man: Far From Home writers played with the idea of Peter revealing his own identity during the final battle in order to defeat Mysterio, instead of being surprised when Mysterio did it in the post-credits scene.

Source: Marvel

“We played with the idea that Peter is the one who sacrifices his identity out of necessity during the final battle, then it seemed more interesting if Mysterio tricks him into doing it, but any time we wrote a version where he was being revealed to the world in that battle, it felt like it diminished the victory. So before it became a tag, it was really just the end of the movie.”, said writer Chris McKenna.

#12. There was a storyline in the early versions of the Avengers: Endgame script that had Wanda, who was intended to survive Thanos’ snap, going on a road trip with Rocket in search of an Infinity Stone.

Source: Marvel

Given that Wanda was grieving over Vision's death, this Wanda and Rocket plot seemed out of character for her. This plot was abandoned as a result, and Wanda was eventually dusted.

#13. Captain Marvel was almost introduced during the closing sequence at the Avengers base in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Source: Marvel

They even shot a sequence with a Captain Marvel stand-in in case they chose to fill the character straight away and have her make her big MCU debut. Talking about why they shelved Captain Marvel’s Age of Ultron introduction, Kevin Feige said, “It would have done that character a disservice, to meet her fully formed, in a costume and part of the Avengers already when 99% of the audience would go, ‘Who is that?'”

#14 There was a version of Avengers: Infinity War in which Spider-Man and Sam Wilson swapped places, so Spider-Man didn’t go to space while Sam did.

Source: Marvel

Writer Christopher Markus explained that “it was fun” and “interesting” to see their roles reversed, but it ultimately didn’t pack the emotional punch they wanted.

#15. And finally, the "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" montage at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy almost featured a moment with Grandpa Quill looking up at the stars.

Source: Marvel

The scene was ultimately removed, according to the film's director and writer James Gunn, because they were "a little afraid people wouldn't recognize that it was him from the beginning of the movie," and because it was a somewhat depressing moment given the film's upbeat conclusion. He said that Grandpa Quill would have been spotted holding a photograph of Meredith and little Peter and gazing up at the skies, indicating that he might have seen Peter being kidnapped all those years ago.

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