Daily News for Marvel Movie

Summary

• Introducing Ant-Man in Phase 1 would have diminished Iron Man's role and changed the MCU's narrative.
• Introducing Spider-Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron would have overcrowded the film and overshadowed his first appearance.
• Casting Tyler Mane as Thor and Eddie Redmayne as Star-Lord would have resulted in less successful performances and comedic chemistry.

On occasion, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been forced to alter its original plans, but some of these intended ideas actually proved to be narrowly avoided mistakes. As the biggest and most ambitious shared movie universe ever conceived, the scope of the MCU is truly something to behold. However, planning such a massive interconnected narrative is no mean feat, with the movies of the MCU often set out long before production even begins. Unfortunately, some of Marvel's well-laid plans fail to come to fruition, and though this may seem like a bad thing, it often turns out for the best.
When those involved with the films speak about what might have been, it becomes clear that many of these alternate plans could have changed the franchise specifically. Whether they would have altered specific characters or story arcs, the makeup of certain teams, or the direction of the franchise as a whole, many of these original plans are clearly narrowly missed mistakes in hindsight. Some of these plans would have changed the MCU timeline, whereas others simply would have had subtly damaging effects that were better off being avoided. With that in mind, here are 10 disastrous MCU mistakes that were only narrowly avoided by the franchise.
Your browser does not support the video tag. 10 Ant-Man’s Phase 1 Introduction Would Have Usurped Iron Man’s MCU Role In the early stages of planning the MCU, the original set of movies involved a bigger Phase 1 slate, which would have introduced Ant-Man to the franchise much earlier. However, doing so would have effectively lessened Iron Man's own role in the franchise, as the MCU used Stark as a stand-in for the then-absent Hank Pym in multiple stories (most notably as the creator of Ultron). Making Tony Stark a more pivotal character in the MCU was one of the franchise's best decisions, but it would almost certainly have never come about if Hank Pym had been present earlier in the MCU's narrative.
9 Introducing Spider-Man In Avengers: Age Of Ultron Was A Terrible Idea Though Spider-Man was eventually introduced into the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, there was an initial plan to introduce the hero earlier in Avengers: Age of Ultron (via SlashFilm). Doing so would have been a mistake, as Age of Ultron already introduced Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, Vision, and Ultron to the MCU alongside many returning Avengers. The addition of another new hero would have bloated the film horribly, potentially overshadowing Spider-Man's first MCU appearance. What's more, the hero's introduction in Civil War fed directly into his defining relationship with Tony Stark, meaning that introducing him sooner would have been a mistake on multiple fronts.
8 Tyler Mane As Thor Could Have Been Disastrous Before the MCU began, Tyler Mane was heavily tipped to play Marvel's God of Thunder in a TV series that never came to fruition. When Marvel's shared universe was being planned, rumors swirled that Tyler Mane would play Thor in what became the MCU, but this could have potentially been disastrous. Marvel's casting of another relatively unknown actor instead paid off massively, with Chris Hemsworth brilliantly capturing the pathos and levity of the MCU's Thor. Mane is primarily known for his roles as hulking, silent villains, so it's hard to imagine that he'd have brought Thor to life with quite the same energy as Hemsworth.
7 Eddie Redmayne As Star-Lord Would Have Made The MCU Less Funny Of the many actors considered for the role of Guardians of the Galaxy's Star-Lord, Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne stands out as a particularly odd choice. Per IndieWire, Redmayne was in the running for the role, and had he received the part, it could have been a poor choice for the MCU. Though Redmayne is an incredibly gifted actor, he isn't known for the qualities that have since come to make the character one of the MCU's most consistent comedic staples. Chris Pratt's goofy charm has become synonymous with the hero, making it difficult to imagine a more serious actor like Redmayne in the role.
6 Quicksilver Surviving Age Of Ultron Would Have Undermined 3 Character Arcs Though Quicksilver's fate in Avengers: Age of Ultron initially felt like one of the MCU's most unearned deaths, the reveal that an alternate ending (via CinemaBlend) in which he survived was filmed actually highlights how important his sacrifice was. His death was a big heroic moment that brought his own arc to an abrupt but emotional end, and it also inspired Wanda's own decision to join the Avengers. It also had a profound effect on Hawkeye, with the young man's sacrifice becoming a key part of Barton's own MCU arc. Had Quicksilver survived the film, all three character arcs would have been much weaker as a result.
5 Giving Peggy Carter A Scene In The Avengers Would Have Ruined Captain America’s Arc Though upcoming MCU movies will follow a new Captain America, its original arc for the hero involved Steve Rogers and his time spent with the Avengers. One of the most important threads of Rogers' story was his relationship with Peggy Carter, and though he does find her in the present day, she's much older. A scene was shot for The Avengers, which saw the pair reunite, and had it made it into the finished film, it would have undermined their story. They eventually reunited in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but had Steve encountered Peggy so soon, the pair's eventual happy ending would have been much less impactful.
4 10 Movies In Phase 1 Would Have Bloated The MCU’s Best Team-Up Marvel's original plan for Phase 1 of the MCU was incredibly different from the one that came to fruition, and the initial slate of films would have made the franchise's first team-up movie much less impressive. The original plan involved a ten-film arc introducing Ant-Man, Black Panther, Captain America, Cloak & Dagger, Doctor Strange, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Power Pack, and Shang-Chi, finishing the initial arc with its own Avengers movie. Though interesting, this almost certainly would have led to a less impactful Avengers story, attempting to balance ten heroes rather than six. The difficulty in achieving this balance would almost certainly have been a huge mistake for the franchise.
3 Tom Cruise As Iron Man Could Have Ruined The Infinity Saga Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark remains one of the most important in the MCU even after the character's death, with Iron Man proving a pivotal figure in the franchise as a whole. Ahead of his MCU debut in 2008, Tom Cruise actually lobbied for the role, and had he landed it, the franchise could have been much worse off. Cruise is undeniably a huge Hollywood talent, but his busy schedule and propensity for performing his own stunts could have been disastrous for the MCU. Had Cruise encountered scheduling conflicts or injuries, the MCU might have had to reduce Iron Man's role, thereby impacting the franchise's entire story.
2 Firmly Connecting To Agents Of SHIELD Would Have Caused Massive Continuity Issues The specific place of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD in MCU canon has always been something that the franchise has kept somewhat vague. However, in the series' early days, the MCU came incredibly close to establishing the connection, complete with character crossovers. This turned out to be a narrowly avoided mistake: the show's longevity meant that it would have put significant constraints on the wider franchise's canon and timeline, as well as casting decisions for the heroes and villains appearing on the show. Ultimately, keeping them as two semi-separate entities was a far better decision for the franchise as a whole.