The Avengers: Every Deleted Scene (& Why They Were Cut)

The Avengers was a film that needed a lot of work to be made exactly right, explaining why so many scenes were cut from the final release. Released in 2012, Marvel Studios' first ensemble film remains to be fan-favorite years after. Thanks to the thrill of seeing all of MCU Phase 1 heroes come together for the first time, not to mention the fantastic pacing, it has high rewatch value. While the movie has been so well-loved as it is, there are several sequences that were shot that didn't make it to the theatrical cut for various reasons.

After going on their respective missions, Nick Fury finally assembles Earth's Mightiest Heroes once the threat brought by Loki becomes imminent. Plucked from different scenarios, each Avenger eventually came around and joined forces, although not without some conflicts along the way. In the end, they eliminated the God of Mischief following the intense Battle of New York. More than bringing together the MCU's premier superhero team, the success of The Avengers gave Marvel Studios the license to move forward with their bigger interconnected storytelling goals as it also teased the existence of Thanos who would eventually be revealed as the main villain of the Infinity Saga.

Director Joss Whedon revealed that his original cut for The Avengers ran for more than three hours. Once edited, it went down to 2 hours and 25 minutes which means a significant chunk of what they shot didn't make it on the big screen. Here are those deleted scenes and why Marvel Studios opted to leave them on the editing room floor.

Maria Hill's Alternate Opening Scene

Originally, SHIELD operative Maria Hill would've been featured in The Avengers opening sequence which was meant to preview how the narrative would pan out with shots of destroyed New York, although it doesn't spoil the film's actual ending. In it, Hill is interrogated about how the Tesseract incident could've been prevented; she was adamant that Fury was right in assembling the Avengers. According to Whedon, this scene was cut from the theatrical version because it was already too long as it was, and "audiences didn't respond to it as well in the movie as I think they would as a DVD extra." The director furthered by saying that at that point, viewers still didn't know who Hill was so it's odd to begin the film with her.

Captain America Learning About the Modern World

A waitress talking to Cap in 2012's Avengers

The Avengers also had a scene with Captain America learning more about the modern world in his apartment. He learns that Peggy is still alive but decided not to contact her, while the rest of his old comrades are already dead by then. The scene then cuts to him walking down the street and then sitting at a cafe with a view of the Stark Tower; a waitress informs him they have WiFi. A confused Steve is then interrupted by Stan Lee who cajoles him to get the server's number. Whedon explained that this long sequence showing just how out of place Steve Rogers felt was pretty much encapsulated on his time in the gym, furiously hitting a gym bag. It showed his frustrations about being lost so they edited the long sequence out.

Loki & The Other's Extended Conversation

Another deleted scene saw Loki talking to The Other about the Chitauri that would be loaned to him for his attempt to take over New York. In it, the God of Mischief cast some doubts about the capabilities of the army while The Other gets offended, insinuating that by doing this, Loki is also insulting him. The scene is a bit too slow and it drags on without adding to the story. Thanos' foreshadowing didn't really matter considering The Avengers' post-credits scene.

Black Widow Hides From The Hulk

During the Hulk's rampage in the Hellicarrier, Black Widow is seen hiding from the green-rage monster until SHIELD agents started firing at the creature. Cutting this part from The Avengers was a no-brainer since it basically only extends Natasha Romanoff's encounter with the Hulk without any story purpose. Considering that Marvel Studios had to work to bring down Whedon's three-hour runtime, it made sense that they're trying to cut meaningless footage.

After his rampage in the SHIELD Hellicarrier that put everyone's life onboard in danger, he crashes into a warehouse where a security guard played by Harry Dean Stanton found him. This bit made it into The Avengers, but not the subsequent conversation between the pair where the older gentleman, not intimidated by Banner despite seeing him as the Hulk, calmly asked him where he's going. Whedon said that this whole sequence was 12 pages long. Given the time constraints, it had to be scaled down. This is actually one of the few The Avengers deleted scenes that would've ideally stayed in the theatrical cut considering that it gives viewers a good idea of just how conflicted Banner is with his relationship with the Hulk.

Captain America Saves A Family

A segment in The Avengers' final battle reveals Captain America saving a family who's trapped in their vehicle in the middle of the Battle of New York. One Chituaro goes after them in a brief car chase. In the end, Steve saves them, with the kid handing Captain America's shield back to him. This deleted scene doesn't have polished VFX work so it's possible that they knew immediately that they would eventually have to cut it. In any case, since the whole battle showed the Avengers doing everything to fend off the Chitauris, there's really no need for this pocket moment that also disrupts the movie's pacing.

Captain America Makes Brief Eye Contact with Beth

Captain America in the Battle of New York in The Avengers

In conjunction with Captain America's previous scene at a café, another The Avengers deleted scene sees him re-encountering with the waitress who offered him WiFi and that Stan Lee forced him to approach for a potential date. Since that initial sequence was cut, it made sense that their later encounter was also edited out since there's really no context behind it. In hindsight, this was for the best given Steve's final fate in Avengers: Endgame where he ultimately reunited with Peggy. Trying to set him up with other love interests wouldn't look good, especially given what happened when they attempted doing that in Captain America: Civil War with Sharon Carter.

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