The Infinity Saga proves that the MCU can tell a long, complex story with a satisfying
beginning, middle, and end. But there are a whole lot of stories along the way that
didn't get Endgame-style closure. These are the MCU stories that were abandoned, forgotten,
and axed.
Back in 2018, fans turned out by the millions to see Thanos trek around the galaxy, gathering
up the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Infinity War. A year later, they returned to theaters
to see how the story ended in Avengers: Endgame. While that film brought the Infinity Saga
to its thundering end, there was more than one potential villain attempting to amass
the universe-ruling power of the six Stones: Taneleer Tiva, also known as the Collector.
The obsessive Elder of the Universe manages to obtain the Aether at the end of Thor: The
Dark World, and in Guardians of the Galaxy, he briefly gets his hands on the Power Stone,
too. However, at this point, it appears that Marvel thought the Collector had done enough
collecting, and his tale wasn't worth following through on. The enigmatic fellow ends up losing
the Power Stone, and then, well, Thanos shows up and that's pretty much that. The big purple
bad guy trashes his place, then uses it as a trap to ensnare Gamora. Tivan's quest for
the Stones ends there, as does his story. Is he dead? Is his collection of C-list Marvel
characters gone forever? We don't know — and we likely never will.
Killmonger. Loki. The Mad Titan himself, Thanos. The MCU has had some pretty amazing villains
over the years. However, for every good villain with a great story and definitive ending,
there is a baddie with a storyline that's either never finished, or brought to an abrupt
and unsatisfying end.
Take Crossbones. Brock Rumlow made a splash in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where
he appears as a gritty Hydra agent that knows his stuff. He features prominently throughout
the movie, showing up in the famous elevator fight sequence, tussling with Sam Wilson,
and generally helping to reinforce the fact that Hydra has some genuine teeth beyond an
army of nameless sleeper agents and a few corrupt politicians. He even makes the shift
into legitimate villain status when he shows up in full costume as Crossbones in Captain
America: Civil War ... until he's casually blown up, that is. A pretty sudden ending
for a guy who, in the comics, is a Red Skull's right-hand man.
Speaking of the Red Skull, let's talk about the vague fate that befalls Captain America's
most unrepentantly evil villain. Sure, he shows up again as a weird space ghost on Vormir,
but let's be real: that role could've gone to anyone. These are bad dudes that deserved
decent storylines, and they're not alone. Rather than keeping them in the mix, though,
they've been shuffled off to atrophy on the sidelines as the MCU moves on without them.
Bruce Banner has had a long, tumultuous path through the MCU. One of few main characters
to be recast, Banner's journey started in the dark, brooding hands of Edward Norton,
only to shift to the lighter, more Avengers-friendly Mark Ruffalo once the first team-up film rolled
around.
"That's my secret, Cap: I'm always angry."
A good portion of Hulk's developing story was left in the dust after the recast — including
Betty Ross. This love interest is heavily featured throughout the Incredible Hulk as
she walks in line between being Thunderbolt Ross's daughter and Bruce Banner's friend.
And that's where the weird part about the whole Betty Ross story comes into play. While
she has been left behind, her father has gone on to play a key role in the events of the
Avengers franchise. The antagonizing military politician is slated to show up in Black Widow,
and might even be back for future MCU installments.
Betty, on the other hand, has been missing in action since 2008. While Jane Foster's
reappearance for a major role in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder after missing out on
Ragnarok shows that any love interest can make a sudden reappearance, Betty Ross and
whatever role she was meant to play in future Hulk stories have been dormant for over a
decade.
Bruce Banner's romantic relationships within the MCU have always been complicated. His
connection with Betty Ross is strained by Big Green, and his later "friendship" with
Natasha Romanoff ends up suffering from similar Hulk-induced tension.
Interestingly, both women are the catalyst to calming Hulk down and allowing Banner to
regain control, but in the end, the romantic part of both relationships peters out without
fanfare. When it comes to Bruce and Natasha's awkward tension, the relationship between
the pair of characters is primarily fleshed out in Avengers: Age of Ultron. At Hawkeye's
farmhouse, Nat offers to give everything up in order to run away with Banner. She even
argues that their inner monsters should be a unifying point between them. Of course,
it should probably be noted that her "monster" is a little more metaphorical, whereas Bruce
literally turns into a furious green behemoth who tears down buildings.
Either way, by the time the movie ends, we see Hulk in control as he heads off to guest
star in a buddy comedy with Thor, and the would-be lovebirds don't reunite until Infinity
War, when there's way too much going on to be concerned about romance. Much like Banner's
relationship with Betty Ross, the Bruce/Nat train never quite pulls out of the station,
leaving fans with more questions than answers.
One of the best things about the first two Thor films is that they include his entire
supporting cast. Odin and Loki are there, of course, but so are the friends that have
always been at his side in the comics: Hogun the Grim, Fandral the Dashing, and Volstagg
the Valiant, collectively known as the Warriors Three, and the formidable Lady Sif.
"Fandral! Hogun! Who led you to the most glorious battles?"
"You did."
The Warriors Three play integral roles throughout the first two films, but in Thor: Ragnarok
they are unceremoniously bumped off by Hela as she conducts her conquest of Asgard. That
movie also sees Odin's surprisingly peaceful end, and Loki's all over the MCU, even returning
in Endgame after his untimely death in Infinity War. That leaves Lady Sif as the lone member
of Thor's posse to be totally absent from Ragnarok, Infinity War, and Endgame.
Her whereabouts are an enigma. At the very least, it was eventually revealed that she
wasn't anywhere for a while. The Russo brothers explained in an interview that she had been
snapped away at the end of Infinity War, but that means she should've been brought back
by the reversal of Thanos' snap, right? So where is she?
Sif doesn't drop in for the Thanos-smashing final battle, which is where you'd expect
one of the mightiest warriors of Asgard to be. She isn't glimpsed in New Asgard at the
end of that film, either. It appears that the entire Lady Sif story is trapped in a
pre-Ragnarok time bubble — one that fans can only pray will burst with the release
of Thor: Love and Thunder.
The Nine Realms of Norse Mythology figure prominently in the Thor films. Obviously,
Asgard and Midgard better known to us as Earth are the two big ones, but six out of the remaining
seven also find their way into the MCU at some point or another. Vanaheim and the fiery
realm of Muspelheim are in the opening sequences of The Dark World and Ragnarok, respectively.
A big part of the first movie is built around an ill-fated trip to Jotunheim, frozen land
of the frost giants, and Svartalfheim is the literal dark world in Thor: The Dark World.
Infinity War even features a lengthy sequence where Thor visits the mystical forges of Nidavellir
in Infinity War.
The balance of the nine realms has always played a big role in Thor's story, both mythologically
and in the pages of Marvel Comics. But by the time we get to the end of the Infinity
Saga, almost all of them have been conveniently forgotten by the filmmakers and seemingly
forsaken by their gods.
The big sticking point here happens in Ragnarok when Thor initiates, well, Ragnarok, the cataclysmic
"twilight of the gods" where the nine realms will be destroyed.
"You can't defeat me."
"No, I know. But he can."
The ensuing destruction leaves his home in ashes and the remainder of his people exiled
and in search of a new home. They end up settling in a picturesque little colony on Earth, and
Thor proceeds to spend the next five years retreating into depressed hermitage. The colony
survives, but not a word is breathed about the condition of the rest of the Nine Realms.
Are we to assume that the dark elves and frost giants were just wiped out after Surtur laid
waste to Asgard? Did they also make it to Earth and set up colonies? Is that who's hassling
Korg while he's playing Fortnite? What the heck happened there?
The Sokovia Accords are a pretty significant part of Avengers history. While the Avengers
definitely saved the world from an alien invasion in their first movie, Age of Ultron is mostly
made up of the heroes cleaning up their own messes — and by "mess," we mean an army
of creepy genocidal robots with the voice of James Spader.
"Had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."
"You killed someone?"
"Wouldn't have been my first call."
The climax of the movie involves the destruction of Sokovia, which naturally leads to the Sokovia
Accords drama that takes center stage in Captain America: Civil War.
The question of whether or not the team should submit itself to government oversight is so
intense that it tears the team apart, leading to a huge fight that destroys most of the
Berlin airport and involves a handful of superheroes being locked in a secret prison. The illegal
nature of Team Cap's vigilante efforts is briefly alluded to in Infinity War when Rhodey
ignores Thaddeus Ross in order to help his friends, but beyond that, the legal consequences
of the group's actions aren't really mentioned with any seriousness again.
Eventually, the group reunites and manages to bring down Thanos ... but what about those
darned Accords that caused so much grief in the first place? The world certainly has a
lot more to worry about with half of its population snapped out of existence, but wouldn't blaming
the heroes for failing to stop Thanos make the argument even more intense among the survivors?
Ross is eventually present at Stark's funeral, but beyond that subtle presence, the MCU has
now had several movies where the Accords are either glossed over or ignored entirely. Will
they ever show up again, or is the entire question of government oversight a moot point
as far as Phase 4 is concerned?
Although we haven't seen a lot of Agent 13, she's played a pretty important part in Steve
Rogers' story. The great-niece of Peggy Carter, Sharon Carter helped Steve throughout the
entire Winter Soldier fiasco and continued to pop up after that, giving a moving eulogy
at her aunt's funeral and then ultimately helping Team Cap in Civil War.
The last time we saw Carter in action, she helped Cap and his fugitive squad get their
equipment, then sent Steve into battle with a kiss. Weird as it sounds, it appears the
powers that be were setting up Cap to fall for his dead first love's niece, which…
isn't the best look a superhero romance has ever had. Still, Sharon's been Cap's on-again,
off-again love interest in the comics for over 50 years, so we get it.
Except, after Civil War, Sharon Carter completely dropped off the radar, and Cap ultimately
ended up heading back in time to spend his life with Peggy Carter. So ... yeah, it looks
like the MCU gods decided to circle back to the original love story and leave Sharon in
the dust.
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