When Adapting anything, there’s obviously going to be some changes. The MCU is no different and these are the ones that I think worked incredibly well.
10. Getting Rid Of The Donald Blake Persona.
This one is the simplest of the changes but it’s something that was absolutely necessary in my opinion.
Basically, in the comics, when Thor was cast out of Asgard he was transformed into this doctor that had a limp named Donald Blake and whenever he tapped his cane down he became Thor. It’s a very 1960’s Concept and isn’t necessarily a bad one but it was a very wise decision to simplify it in the films.
9. Getting Rid of Hank Pym’s Abusive Past.
Ah, now here’s an interesting one. Do you know of the one Founding Avenger to have been Personally punched by Captain America, Be put on trial and then lose that Trial to then be fired from the Avengers? Yup, it’s Hank Pym, cause he’s the worst.
In the comics, Hank Pym is a woman beater. Yup, Janet Van Dyne got beat up by Hank Pym and all of the Avengers have pretty much hated him ever since. Tony Stark and Reed Richards have given him a pass at times when the world was at stake but he’s never been reinstated as an official avenger and personally I don’t think he ever should be.
Now, the movie version on the other hand still has moments where he can be a jerk but they’re able to do it in a way where he’s still a likable and occasionally relatable character. It also makes more sense for Hank to be more of a mentor to Scott Lang. Also, Michael Douglas is great.
8. The Black Widow/Hulk Relationship.
This one seems like a No-Brainer now but back in 2015 when this was first revealed, it was a huge development for both Characters and one that a lot probably didn’t see coming. Bruce and Natasha see themselves both as Monsters and whereas Natasha is willing to try and move past it, Bruce is haunted by it. He truly believes that he could never have a happy life and it’s the largest detriment to their relationship. It’s a major “What If?” of if Hulk stayed on earth following Age Of Ultron. Obviously, CIvil War would’ve been very different but I also think that he and Natasha could’ve had something truly strong together.
7. Hiding The Infinity Stones In Plain Sight.
I mean, the first phase of the MCU is pretty wild in retrospect but I really love that with the exception of the Soul Stone, you saw every Infinity Stone as something different beforehand. This was incredibly effective with the Tesseract because until you saw Guardians Of The Galaxy in 2014, you probably still thought it was the Cosmic Cube(I did.)
The Mind Stone being in the scepter was great, the Aether being the Reality Stone was another good one, The Power Stone being the Orb in Guardians was good even if the deception didn’t last long and to me, the crowning achievement was the Eye Of Agamotto being the Time Stone. All Of these leading up to Infinity War was a great set up and one that paid off in full.
6. Giving Clint A Family.
This was one I was very conflicted on because one of my favorite comics involves Clint being a loner who finds a family in the tenets of the Apartment Building that he lives in but him having a family in the MCU was a brilliant choice. It immediately grounds him as an everyman kind of character, gives him something to fight for and makes the opening to Endgame that much more heartbreaking. Clint is strong because of his family and he is broken without them. It’s what makes him one of my favorite characters.
5. Thanos
What are heroes without a strong villain? Well let me tell you, I was not on the Thanos train until way after Avengers came out. Infinity Gauntlet is a good comic for a lot of reasons but Thanos isn’t anywhere near as good of a villain as he is in the films. 21 films led to him showing up and he’s well worth the wait. Brolin absolutely kills the role first and foremost and then there’s the fact that they ultimately changed his entire motivation from the comics.
In the comics, Thanos is basically a really bad version of an Emo Band Frontman. For reference :
He’s literally obsessed with the Mistress of Death in the Marvel Universe and for further Reference, here is a legitimate comic book panel :
That being said, the films fixed this by instead making him a nihilist who views himself as a pragmatist. Thanos never sees himself as the Villain or as any kind of monster. And the thing is that he’s so convincing that there were hundreds of articles of “Was Thanos Really Right?” but, naturally, if you really think about his plan longer than a fly’s lifespan then you’ll realize that ultimately Thanos isn’t right at all. Which is where the Avengers come in. Particularly with the “We don’t trade lives” comment that Steve has in Infinity War. Thanos works because he believes in what he is doing but he isn’t effective by any means because he isn’t willing to sacrifice for what he truly believes in.
4. Tony’s Motivation.
In the comics Tony is known for a lot of things but one of the defining “Demon’s” that he has is his alcoholism. Shown here in this incredibly subtle cover :
Yup, his struggle and overcoming it is one of the best moments in Comic History but why does it not work as well in the films? Well, for one, it’s there anyway just a bit more subtle and takes a bit of a backseat to the superheroing issues he has. But their choice to break Tony in Iron Man 3 by him having PTSD from the battle of New York is a genuinely great change. He’s terrified. He’s seen things that few other people ever have and none of the others truly understand it. Bruce and Clint are just happy it’s over. Thor and Natasha are basically just like “Eh. *Shrugs*” and Steve, as much as I love him is way too hopeful to understand that they just began a journey that they might not be ready for. Tony does and every aspect of his story following that moment is affected by it. Ultron, The Sokivia Accords, The Battle On Titan all the way to putting the Gauntlet on. Tony’s not trying to run away from his mistakes, he’s truly trying to better the world he lives in. His evolution from Self-Made Billionaire to True, Sacrificial Hero is one of the greatest things that the MCU changed and will go down as one of the greatest character arcs of all time.
3. Killmonger.
A lot of the aspects of Killmonger remain the same except for one central factor. Killmonger, in the comics, came out at a time where all of the villains were just these big burly guys that just wanted to kill the hero. The same could be said of Killmonger but he did maintain a nuance that many of the throw away villains lacked but no matter what you thought of him in the comics, the version they brought to the big screen will always be my initial thought when someone says his name. Instead of just being an average antagonist, Killmonger stands out by being the pure antithetical stance of T’Challa himself. Each character vies for a very similar goal and each one believes that it is theirs by right. Now, many people have complained about certain MCU Villains just being a mirror version of the hero (Yellowjacket, Obadiah Stane, ETC.) and Killmonger has been brought up in that conversation before but he’s so much more than that. He has a level of conviction that few others could even come close to and T’Challa understands that. Killmonger is a villain because of his methods but his passion is for the people of Wakanda, he was so close to being something of a hero and that’s what truly makes him tragic.
2. “Hail Hydra”
It takes a lot to stun me anymore, whether it’s opinion pieces or actual news leaks, it’s basically a minefield of Spoilers in the modern day world. Endgame was a huge accomplishment simply because of how few things were spoiled for people and even though we knew who The Winter Soldier was in the 2014 film it didn’t mean that we were without surprises in the Captain America Sequel.
The “Hail Hydra” reveal is one of the biggest in the MCU and if you don’t know it’s coming then it blows your mind. You literally have no idea who to trust anymore. You broke S.H.I.E.L.D., you surprised Comic Book Fans and you managed to use it as the Back Drop for one of the greatest character developments in the MCU. You’re probably wondering who I’m talking about but honestly, name a character. They’re all great in this film and they’re all affected by this reveal.
Literally the only issue I have with this is that it leads to Nick Spencer writing my most hated Captain America story of all time but that’s not the MCU’s fault.
1 . The Entire Civil War Conflict.
So this one was huge for me. A lot of people say that this one pales in comparison to The Winter Soldier and it might but honestly, this one is probably still my favorite of the MCU Films.
When it was first announced, I had no idea how they were going to do the central conflict or what the conflict would be anyway. The comic book conflict is basically a political battlefield that is erupting with heroes and villains alike. Literal Armies. So how were they going to pull that off and make us believe it? They didn’t.
The central conflict around in the film works so much better in my opinion because I can genuinely understand both sides of the argument, as opposed to the Comic Book version which very clearly paints Iron Man as the Villain of the piece. Centering the entire issue around the idea of registration was in both versions but they altered it in such a way that it fit so perfectly. This is a movie that has to follow up on the Winter Soldier storyline, introduce Black Panther, Spider-Man and Baron Zemo and still manage to juggle the Screen Time of about 10 other major players. All of which it’s able to do because every aspect of it falls back on the Sokovia Accords. Even Zemo’s motivation goes back to them.
Then, the final piece falls into place, Tony VS. Steve. In the end, it comes down to them and it’s played beautifully. Everything about this finale works, the fight is truly heartbreaking, the stakes never feel anticlimactic and even ending on a more upbeat note featuring Steve’s Message to Tony is a better way to do it. He’ll always be there. Just perfection.
