Marvel Comics began way back in 1939 as Timely Comics. It became Atlas Comics in 1951 and then officially Marvel in 1961. The company is definitely at a high level now as Marvel is home to some of the most beloved characters in history and the movies based on their stories have grossed billions of dollars.
A lot of major Marvel stories have been adapted to screen. That includes the tale of the Infinity Gauntlet, Civil War, the rise of Ultron, the destruction of Asgard, and more. However, there are still plenty of stories that are going to be impossible to adapt into a film. For a variety of reasons, these are 10 of those storylines.
Zombies
Starting in 2005, a limited series of comics ran called Marvel Zombies. It was written by Robert Kirkman, who is best known as the creator of The Walking Dead. These issues are set in an alternate universe where the superheroes of the world have been infected by a virus that turned them into zombies.
Though it began as a five-issue arc, the series is still ongoing today. It has become quite popular among Marvel fans. Bringing it to the screen would be a success, but it can't happen. Most of the characters involved are part of the MCU and having them as zombies would be too big a change. The closest we'll get to this is the zombified Iron Man we briefly saw in Spider-Man: Far From Home. There's always a chance it could be a TV show, though.
Secret Wars
Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were hyped for how massive of a crossover event they were. They're nothing compared to the Secret Wars crossover. This series brought together every universe Marvel had. When you really start thinking about what that means, you get a picture of how impossible this would be.
616, Marvel Zombies, Ultimates, multiple versions of the same characters, you name it and it was possible here. While Disney's ability to seemingly buy up every property means this theoretically could happen, it won't. There's way too much going on for a single movie of two. The scale is simply too big.
Starfox Assault
For those who don't know this character, he's a member of the race known as the Eternals and the brother of the "Mad Titan" Thanos. Those aspects make him the kind of character you might see in a film considering what has gone on and what has been announced for the MCU.
Starfox has the ability to control the emotions of other people. At one point, he used it to seduce a married woman and it led to him being put on trial for sexual assault. His lawyer, She-Hulk, has to beat him up for his actions. Thanos even appeared at the trial. The thought of these mythical beings in an everyday setting like a courtroom is ridiculous. Plus, a superhero on trial for sexual assault isn't a good look in the current climate of the world. Better to avoid that situation.
House Of M
It's no secret that Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful characters in the entire Marvel universe. In Avengers: Endgame, she had Thanos beaten all on her own until things went awry. We haven't seen it much in the MCU, but Wanda can manipulate and alter reality.
House of M sees Scarlet Witch mourning the loss of her children. It causes her to have a mental breakdown. In her attempt to recreate her kids, she created a whole new reality where mutants no longer existed. This story caused a major change to the Marvel world. One that is too big to bring to the screen, especially since the X-Men movies are gone for a few years.
The Ultimates
Interestingly, 2012's The Avengers is similar to Bryan Hitch's Ultimates. It involves heroes fighting amongst themselves, coming together to stop a rampaging Hulk, and then saving the world from a Chitauri invasion. However, pretty much everything else about this story arc is way too dark for the big screen.
That's not to say that things haven't gotten dark in Marvel movies before. But this series takes it up a notch. Hank Pym beats his wife until she's hospitalized. Hulk eats people. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are incestuous. The Blob eats the Wasp. Most X-Men die. Manhattan is annihilated. Captain America is a xenophobe. It's too nuts for a movie.
Civil War II
When the MCU brought the Civil War storyline to the screen, there were skeptics. It was such a massive tale that putting it in one film was a tough ask, but they mostly pulled it off well. The comics saw a Civil War II story, which was wilder and bigger than its predecessor. In it, an Inhuman has a nightmare vision of the future, which works as a catalyst to pit Captain Marvel and Iron Man against each other.
Carol believes in the vision and wants to do something about it, while Tony doesn't. Civil War II is too much for the screen. For example, Bruce Banner gets killed by Hawkeye and Miles Morales is arrested for a crime he'll commit in the future. It all leads to Iron Man being put in a comatose state. There are too many wild beats in this plot and with no Iron Man around, it'll be impossible to find a suitable replacement if they wanted to try it.
Original Sin
Jason Aaron's Marvel story gets off to something of a basic start as our heroes are investigating a murder. But then things ramp up to the point where it's flat out insanity. Uatu the Watcher (who will be voiced by Jeffrey Wright in the MCU's What If...? series) was killed and had his eyes stolen. Since Watchers can observe everything throughout time, he saw it all and with his eyes gone, secrets were out.
That's where the problem with turning this into a movie happens. Things become too chaotic. Secrets were revealed that turned a negative eye on a lot of heroes. And the biggest issue was that none of it really had to do with Uatu's death. It turned out that an old Nick Fury was behind it all, making it more unlikely for the big screen.
Secret Invasion
Pulling off a feat like Secret Invasion would be something to behold. The idea behind this story arc was that our world had been secretly infiltrated by the shape-shifting alien race known as the Skrulls. That included many of the superheroes we had come to love and trust. It was another case of a huge change coming to the comics.
The main reason this won't work in film is because of the Skrulls in Captain Marvel. In a big twist, they aren't the bad guys and just want to be left in pace. The idea of them invading Earth is slim to none. Also, making a movie out of this means that a lot of what we've already experienced would dramatically be altered and that's not going to happen.
Punisher: Fade To White
With the Netflix series officially done, bringing Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher to the big screen is very possible. But you can bet that it won't be in the form of this story. In it, Castle was sent to prison where he had his face mutilated by his nemesis Jigsaw. Castle broke free but needed a new face.
A beaten Castle found a surgeon to give him a new face nobody would recognize. He got what he wanted as he was turned into a black man. Yes, there was an African-American Frank Castle. Almost immediately, he was mistreated by police and suffered through some moments of racism. That wouldn't fly as a movie any way you slice it.
Captain Marvel's Son
Carol Danvers made her successful debut in Captain Marvel and is set to be a huge hero for the MCU. That means that one of her wildest storylines will never see the light of day. It's so out of left field and strange that it would mess with the perception of a character that needs to be a beloved leader.
During her days as Ms. Marvel, Danvers mysteriously became pregnant. In just a few days, she birthed an adult son. While that's odd enough, it takes a turn for the worst when it is revealed that the child is actually also the father. An entity existing in a state of limbo, Marcus Immortus impregnated her without her consent so he could escape limbo. It remains one of the most controversial things in Marvel history.