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Marvel Studios has a reputation for long - term planning , but in realness the studio is a lot more flexible than most viewers believe , making quite a few course discipline in their 10 year history . Back in 2008 , when Marvel launched the MCU withIron Man , it was an open enigma that everything was building up toThe Avengers . But the studio apartment was new , comparatively unseasoned , and idea of a shared cinematic universe had never been try on this kind of scale before . As a upshot , there were a bit of stumbles on the route toThe Avengers , and Marvel were drive to adjust their access .
The ascent of Marvel seer Kevin Feige saw the studio begin to intrust to retentive - term plans , most notably inthe Phase 3 announcementback in 2014 . An organisational restructure in 2015 finally deplume the movie studio out from under Marvel ’s Ike Perlmutter , with Feige set solely in charge of Marvel Studios , reporting directly to Disney . The controversialMarvel Creative Committeewas exclude down , bring an end to the situation political relation that had chevvy Marvel Studios since its inception . Under Feige , Marvel has given their directors a far outstanding degree of creative freedom than they previously enjoyed . This tractability has , by its very nature , increased the number of course of study chastening along the way .
Over the course of this tumultuous journey , then , there have been a whole pot of course correction . Here , we ’ll take you through some of the biggest in Marvel ’s history . Examples let in Marvel ’s ever - changing plans for the Hulk , the decision to make Thanos the primal scoundrel of Phase 3 , and the addition of Spider - Man into the MCU .
The (Real) Mandarin As The Main Villain Of Iron Man 3
When Marvel releasedIron Manback in 2008 , the post - credits vista made it clear that the studio apartment had a long - term plan in the works . Marvel was already design to release an Iron Man trilogy , with Jon Favreau fructify to helm all three films . Favreau disclose this programme in interviews to observe the home release of Iron Man , even tellingSuperHeroHypethat the trilogy was intended to build up to the Mandarin .
That ’s why the first two Iron Man movies are wedge - full of Mandarin references , most notably the terrorist organization have sex as the Ten Rings . Favreau foresee the Mandarin as leader of the Ten Rings , the Emperor figure who he hoped would become an iconic and memorable baddie .
" So the Mandarin , to have that sort of weight to him is really a matter of using all the narrative tricks to do it , but a sheik running and jumping around in robes shooting these beams and rays that have king that really , if you take them literally , would give off the balance of the whole universe . So how do you do that and keep the whole matter together , but yet fulfill the expectations from the book ? "
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alas , whatever Favreau ’s plans may have been , behind - the - scenes drama led to his stepping down afterIron Man 2 . His replacement , Shane Black , was concerned in recount a very unlike story . " We quickly latched on to … the idea of the double personality of Tony as an out superhero who is basically using his ego - definition through the assumed face of Iron Man,“co - author Drew Pearceexplained . They wanted a scoundrel who serve as a mirror for that theme , and so ditched the theme of the Mandarin as the architect of the Ten Rings . The Mandarin became nothing more than an thespian - a fake terrorist hiding the bodily process of the real baddie .
critic loved the twist , but comic book fan of the Mandarin were furious . The pushback from fans was so fierce that Marvel actually made a one - shot , All Hail the King , that retconned this decision and revealed there is a actual Mandarin in the MCU after all . " We all remember they ’d eat it up because it never occurred to us the Mandarin is as iconic to people as , say , the Joker in Batman , " Black let in ruefully in an audience withUproxxin 2016 . " They just wanted to see the magic halo shoot laser . "
The Hulk As An Enemy, Not An Ally
This was a pretty needlelike gulf , and Marvel decide to fix it by flash their first ever one - shooting , The Consultant . This revealed that the World Security Council were push for Emil Blonsky , the Abomination , to be part of the Avengers Initiative . Given Blonsky was being held prisoner by Ross , S.H.I.E.L.D. figured they ’d have to antagonize the General into refusing to play ball . That ’s why they broadcast in Tony Stark , " someone so inept that General Ross will refuse to relinquish Blonsky . "
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Asgard Cut Off From The Nine Realms
Thorwas another important footstep on the route toThe Avengers , but the film terminate in a sequence that caused Joss Whedon major vexation . The photographic film saw Thor thwart his chum Loki ’s scheme by destroying the Bifrost Bridge , in effect cutting Asgard off from the respite of the Nine Realms . This was a essential plot - point , but it left Whedon faced with an cumbersome question : how could Thor be part of the Avengers if he could n’t get back to Earth ? Whedon explained it with a discarded line to " non-white push , " hint the All - Father had used his own magic . Even Whedon himself was n’t particularly happy with this solvent , as he noted in the commentary track .
The Bifrost was fleetly restore forThor : The Dark World , and it fell to an prescribed Prelude laughable to reveal that the Asgardians used the Tesseract to repair it . Amusingly , the idea of " dark magic " being used to trigger the Bifrost is actually revisited inInfinity War .
Page 2 of 3:Thanos Causes Problems
Thanos Becomes the Big Bad
In an interview withSlash Film , Kevin Feige admitted that the idea of using Thanos inThe Avengerswas " Joss . Joss , Joss , and Joss . " Whedon had always loved Thanos , and his script called for a major cosmic villain to be behind Loki ’s flack on Earth . He set about Marvel with the idea of it being Thanos , and to Whedon ’s delectation , Marvel signed off on it . As a result , he film the post - credits scenery in which Thanos memorise his invasion has been unsuccessful . Whedon hinted at the comic - book - precise version of Thanos , though , showing him smile with delight when told , " To challenge [ the human ] is to courtyard death . "
The post - credits panorama intelligibly place Thanos up as a major scoundrel , but Feige swiftly decided the best place to explore his character was inGuardians of the Galaxy . But James Gunn ’s portrayal of Thanos dovetails more with the laughable - Scripture depiction too ; there ’s no concept of " rebalancing the universe , " and the motion-picture show explicitly states Gamora ’s people were wiped out .
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Thanos ’s floor , and his motives , would n’t be fleshed out until Marvel began work on the book ofInfinity War . The Russo chum completely rewroteThanos ’s motif and origins , to the extent that the MCU ’s Thanos does n’t seek to romance Death - he believes he ’s serving the cause of life . The Thanos of the MCU believes the cosmos is out of residuum , tap towards an extinction - level case , and only a dramatic cut in population number can forefend the end of all life history . For unsung years he ’s been traveling the galaxy , massacre half the population of every major planet he jaw . A flashback sequence reveals that ’s what he did to Gamora ’s homeworld , directly contradictingGuardians of the Galaxy .
The Infinity Gauntlet
The determination to focus on Thanos really do a major job for Marvel . The cosmic side of the MCU had been launched by 2011’sThor , a moving-picture show that was steep in Marvel ’s cosmic mythology . The movie featured some scenes set in Odin ’s Treasure Vault on Asgard , and Marvel populated the burial vault with a issue of cosmic item . They even bring some samples along to San Diego Comic - Con to show them off to fans . And , crucially , those treasures had included the Infinity Gauntlet .
Though Marvel did n’t have sex it , the decision to include the Infinity Gauntlet would cause one of the longest - running continuity job in the entire MCU . Because , back in 2011 , Marvel had no idea they ’d be using Thanos as a major scoundrel going forward . Odin ’s Infinity Gauntlet was finally explained away in 2017’sThor : Ragnarok , with Hela dismissing it as a fake .
But even that fix has now been undermined . The Russo brothers introduced a raw twist in the narrative ofthe Infinity Gauntlet . Infinity Warrevealed that Thanos was the first being to exert more than one Infinity Stone , and he ’d only recently had the Infinity Gauntlet made . So what was Odin ’s Gauntlet a fake version of in the first place ?
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The decision to swivel towards the Infinity Gauntlet also induce Marvel to retcon some of their early decisions . The Tesseract , for example , was in the beginning the MCU version of the Cosmic Cube - another powerful artifact from the comics , utterly unrelated to the Space Stone . That ’s why the Tesseract was portrayed more as a tycoon source than a portal inCaptain America : The First Avenger . Changing the Tesseract into the Space Stone allowed Marvel to at last return to the character of the Red Skull , who had been killed while have it inThe First Avenger . The Russo brothers ultimately bring the Red Skull back inInfinity War , revealing he ’d been transported to the major planet Vormir , and had become shielder of the Soul Stone .
Iron Man No More
Shane Black’sIron Man 3left Marvel faced with another major problem : the film understandably set itself up as the destruction of Tony Stark ’s superhero journeying . The flick ’s conclusion sees Tony Stark assume the frailties of humanness , destroying his old home and all the Iron Man suits . He even has the Arc Reactor take away from his chest . Its a powerful , emotionally evacuant moment , but Marvel still want to use Tony Stark inAvengers : Age of Ultron . In an interview withTwo Kyd and a Coupon , Kevin Feige remember Whedon enquire , " Now what am I supposed to do ? What am I go bad to do in Avengers 2 ? "
In the ending , Whedon ’s resolution was a simple one - he ignored the problem all . eld of Ultronsees Stark suit up without any reference to the events ofIron Man 3 , severely disrupting his character electric discharge . The yield was n’t addressed until 2016’sCaptain America : Civil War , when the Russo brothers had Stark compare superheroism to an addiction , a design of conduct that he just could n’t break .
Page 3 of 3:Spider-Man Enters the MCU
Spider-Man Enters the MCU
In 2014 , Marvel take the unprecedented tone of announcing their intact Phase 3 slate . It included a number of sequels , including the likes ofCaptain America : polite WarandThor : Ragnarok , but also promise to found some whole Modern franchises : Captain Marvel , Inhumans , andBlack Panther . This promulgation , more than any other , earned Marvel a reputation for advancing provision . At the same time , though , it ’s crucial to note that the studio apartment stay outstandingly compromising . In 2015 , in an audience withSlash Film , Kevin Feige explained that most of the plans were n’t " top-notch specific . "
" For the most part in broad strokes that are broad enough and loose enough that if through the development of four or five picture show before we get to the culmination , as you say , we still have room to rock , and to go , and to storm ourselves in situation that we terminate up . So all the movies ultimately when they are complete can find like they were all interconnected and meant to be and planned far out front , but can survive and breath as item-by-item movies that can be satisfy by themselves . "
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Behind the scenery , though , dialogue were afoot that would radically change the Phase 3 architectural plan . Marvel had draw close Sony with the estimation of share the right to Spider - Man , take into account Marvel to add Peter Parker into the upcomingCaptain America : Civil War . Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely really worked on two drafts of the script , one with Spider - Man , and the other without . As McFeely noted , “ We had him in , and sometimes a month or two later Kevin would come back and say , ‘ No , dialogue are not going quite as well . Do n’t design on him ! ’ ‘ The deal was finalise in early 2015 , just months before filming began onCivil War .
The Spider - Man deal thrust Marvel Studios to seriously adjust their plan for Phase 3 . The deal with Sony qualify that Marvel would bring forth a solo Spider - Man film , Spider - Man : Homecoming , which would be financed and distributed by Sony . Adding a young picture show to the form force Marvel to rethink the journeying toInfinity War . A number of release date were shuffled around , whileInhumanswas dropped completely , with Marvel studio apartment passing that project down to Marvel Television for an effect series .
Was Age of Ultron Setting Up Planet Hulk?
Perhaps the most amusing course chastening was the last ofAvengers : Age of Ultron , which envision the Hulk entrust the Avengers in a Quinjet . Joss Whedon originally specify to have the Quinjet head into outer space , with an former draft of the script even saying the Quinjet ’s signal was lose near Saturn . Then , much to Marvel ’s horror , aninternet scoophit the Internet claiming the studio apartment were setting up aPlanet Hulkfilm . At the time , they were n’t , and Marvel approached Whedon to expect him to change plan . The Quinjet had to begin with been seen flying in space , but that was changed in post - production for blue skies . Dialogue was adjusted too , revealing that the Quinjet ’s signal had been lose somewhere in the Caspian Sea . It seemed Marvel had dodged the heater .
In an wry twist , by 2016 Marvel had settle they were going to place the Hulk into blank after all . Marvel need to do something big forThor : Ragnarok , and Chris Hemsworth was pushing for a major cameo . Executive Producer Brad Winderbaum came up with the melodic theme of plunge thePlanet Hulkstory intoRagnarok . " So , " Feige reminisced , " I had to differentiate Joss … We were like , ‘ You get ta change it Joss , he ’s not going to distance . ’ A year after I go , ‘ Joss , guess where he ’s going ? ’ ‘ He ’s going to distance . ' ”
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Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War
The first two Thor moving picture are generally considered among Marvel ’s weak films . WithThor : Ragnarokin the works , Kevin Feige was determined to swivel to make the franchise successful . Recognizing both the comedic acquisition of Chris Hemsworth and the phenomenal popularity of Marvel ’s cosmic films , Feige decided this film should be more amusing , more playfulness , and certainly not Earthbound . Executive Producer Brad Winderbaum fell in love life with Taika Waititi’sBoy , and settle he was the perfect paroxysm .
Tonally , Ragnarokis completely dissimilar to the former Thor motion-picture show . It ’s a straight - up superhero comedy , one with more humor than any other Marvel film to date . Meanwhile , the plot of ground see Waititi transform Thor ’s creation ; lowly characters are swiftly killed and replaced , lovemaking - interests are write out in an offhand manner , and the intact history of Asgard is transformed into a metaphor for British Imperialism . Thor himself is reworked , losing both his hammer and an eye , ultimately ascertain that his powers are part of his identity and not simply a gift bestowed by an enchanted weapon .
funnily , Avengers : Infinity Waractually feels likeanother path rectification , vacate the changes made inRagnarok . Waititi ’s fresh petty character are entirely absent , and Thor make headway both a unexampled artillery and a replacement bionic woman eye . It ’s notable that the God of Thunder does n’t even handle his lightning power until Stormbreaker has been forged , a fact that sits uncomfortably withRagnarok ’s climax .
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Marvel Studios is uphold to plan in front . According to Kevin Feige , the studio apartment has " more than 20 movieson the docket . " Disney CEO Bob Iger late revealed that the studio is even believe " a Modern franchise beyond Avengers , " a tantalizing jot that evoke the House of Ideas really do have some pretty ultra concepts in play . No doubt those plan will still be subject to change , though , especially ifDisney ’s proposed purchase of the bulk of 21st Century Foxis approved . That would see theX - man and Fantastic Fourfinally unite the MCU , althoughFeige has warned that the impact will be some old age away .
But it ’s possible some of the future line correction will be hard to spot . Feige has imply Marvel really made something of a error in announcing their entire Phase 3 slate . He feelsInfinity Warstole the limelight fromAge of Ultron , while the speculation aboutthe form of address ofAvengers 4has " start out out of hand . " It ’s noted that Marvel do n’t seem to be in a hastiness to annunciate their Phase 4 plans , indicate Feige prefers to keep his cards close to his chest plump forwards .