Throughout the filmmaking process, there are a number of stages where a scene can get cut. Sometimes, it doesn’t make it past a scrawled index card on a cork board. Other times, it makes it into the final draft of the script, past the table read, and actually ends up getting shot before being left behind on the cutting room floor during the edit. Given how carefully put together the MCU movies are, with fans analyzing every single frame in search of Easter eggs and canonical inconsistencies, deciding which scenes do or do not end up in the movie is important. So, here are five MCU deleted scenes that should have made the final cut, and five we're glad they axed.
Should’ve Stayed In: A Woman Leaves Valkyrie’s Bedroom in Thor: Ragnarok
In the comics, Valkyrie is bisexual, and Tessa Thompson was eager to bring that part of her character to the screen when she first played her in Thor: Ragnarok. She pitched a scene where we would see a woman leaving Valkyrie’s bedroom, confirming her sexuality, to director Taika Waititi, and he loved it. He shot the scene and kept it in the movie for as long as possible, but it was eventually cut. If the scene had stayed in the movie, it would’ve made Valkyrie the MCU’s first openly LGBTQ character instead of the grieving man played by Joe Russo in Avengers: Endgame.
Glad It Got Cut: Bruce Banner Attempts Suicide in The Incredible Hulk
The main reason for the fallout between Marvel Studios and Edward Norton was the fact that Norton kept rewriting the script for The Incredible Hulk on the set, while Marvel had carefully calibrated every moment to fit the tone of the universe they were building up. In an alternative opening for the movie, Bruce Banner went out to the Arctic Circle to kill himself but turned into the Hulk before he could do it. A version of this is mentioned by Mark Ruffalo’s Banner in The Avengers, which was more in line with the MCU’s family-friendly tone that actually seeing the gun in his hand.
Should’ve Stayed in: Black Widow’s Backstory in Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Instead of a solo movie like everyone else, Black Widow got a sidekick role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. At one point, Robert Redford’s Alexander Pierce was supposed to detail her backstory, “Budapest, Osaka, and the Children’s War," but it was cut from the film. We never saw Black Widow’s origin story, so the least the MCU could do was give us a hint that she does actually have an origin story. Now that it’s looking like the Black Widow solo movie will be a prequel going back to her early career as a spy, the scene mentioning her backstory would’ve had even more importance.
Glad It Got Cut: Aaron Davis Calls Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Homecoming
There’s a scene in Spider-Man: Homecoming that confirms the existence of both Aaron Davis and Miles Morales in the MCU. In the comics, Davis is the supervillain the Prowler, and Morales is his nephew, one of the characters who have taken on the Spider-Man mantle. In the final cut of Homecoming, Spidey interrogates Davis for information on Adrian Toomes’ operation and Davis mentions he has a nephew in the area.
In a deleted extended version of the scene, Davis takes out his phone and calls Miles to tell him he won’t be home. The mention of the nephew was enough. Literally calling Miles would’ve made this tease too on-the-nose, so it’s a good thing it was cut.
Should’ve Stayed in: Gamora Argues with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War
If there was a main character in the gargantuan ensemble of Avengers: Infinity War, it was Thanos and his relationship with Gamora was central to that arc. The movie digs quite deep into their complex, strained father-daughter relationship, but it almost went even deeper. There was a scene in the movie in which Thanos confronted Gamora with a vision of her deceptions towards him and they got into a huge argument. Infinity War was a crowded movie already, and Thanos and Gamora still got plenty of screen time without this scene, but it would’ve added a little bit of extra depth.
Glad It Got Cut: Quicksilver Lives in Avengers: Age of Ultron
According to Joss Whedon, he shot an alternate ending for Avengers: Age of Ultron in which Quicksilver survived the sacrifice he made to save Hawkeye and the kid. While Evan Peters’ Quicksilver in the X-Men movies is a fan favorite with a great sense of humor, Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s version from the MCU was just as boring as his sister. He just made the same “You didn’t see that coming” joke about three times and then died without leaving much of an impact. Plus, as Whedon himself has pointed out, it would’ve felt “disingenuous” to have a final battle scene with zero lasting consequences.
Should’ve Stayed in: The Ten Rings Yattoo in Ant-Man
Many fans were bitterly disappointed by the plot twist in Iron Man 3 that revealed the Mandarin to be a beer-swilling actor named Trevor Slattery because, in the comics, the Mandarin is a fearsome terrorist leader. Marvel fixed this with their short film All Hail the King, which revealed that the real Mandarin was still out there, as was his terrorist group known as the Ten Rings. A scene in Ant-Man confirmed this where Darren Cross was showing the Yellowjacket technology to potential buyers and one of them had a Ten Rings tattoo, but it was cut from the film. It would’ve been a nice way for Marvel to let us know they hadn’t forgotten about the Mandarin tease.
Glad It Got Cut: A Longer Version of Thor’s Dream Sequence in Avengers: Age of Ultron
There was originally an even longer version of Thor’s dream sequence in Avengers: Age of Ultron in which Loki showed up to do an impression of Odin. That sequence as a whole felt like a rough and underdeveloped segment of the film simply thrown in to give Thor something to do. So, to make it even longer would’ve hurt the underwhelming sequel even more. Tom Hiddleston is good at impressions, but a scene where the actor does an impersonation of Anthony Hopkins to give Thor a kick during a life-altering vision sounds like it was made for the DVD bonus features.
Should’ve Stayed in: Tension Between Steve Rogers and Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The First Avenger originally included a very early teaser for Captain America: Civil War, as Steve Rogers had a disagreement with a young Howard Stark. The two butted heads on their assessment of Hydra’s weaponry. Setting up tensions between Rogers and Stark would’ve been a great way to foreshadow the events of Civil War in which Rogers falls out with Howard’s son Tony over some legislation—and later, the circumstances surrounding Howard’s assassination. Captain America arguably has the strongest trilogy of MCU solo movies, but this neat bow of narrative and character development would’ve made it even stronger.
Glad It Got Cut: Tony Stark’s Dying Vision of his Daughter as a Teenager in Avengers: Endgame
MCU fans were confused when Katherine Langford was nowhere to be seen in Avengers: Endgame. Her mystery role was one of the most tantalizing teases leading up to the film, so it was confusing when the 13 Reasons Why star didn’t appear. As it turns out, she was supposed to play a teenaged Morgan Stark in a vision of the Soul World that Tony Stark would have seen after donning the Iron Gauntlet and snapping his fingers. Since we haven’t yet seen this scene, we can’t really comment on it, but test audiences found it confusing and emotionally weak. Plus, the final version of Tony’s death scene is perfect.
