With so many movies in the pipeline, it’s easy for the MCU to lose touch with the source material at times. Not everything added to the films is bad, some actually end up making the story even better. Agent Coulson from phase one was an original character who fans ended up loving, and he was even added to the comics after his movie debut. Other characters like Darcy Lewis from Thor, Katy Chen from Shang-Chi, and Luis from Ant-Man are also original characters.
Considering how many different writers and contributors there are to the MCU, they manage to stay consistent with their work and choose some of the best comic book storylines to adapt. With as many movies and TV shows as the MCU is putting out, it’d be impossible to always get it right. So here are some of the top moments where the MCU should have followed the comics instead of doing their own thing.
Kang’s First Appearance Should Have Been in Fantastic Four
It almost feels like Marvel has something to prove when it comes to Kang, it’s like they want the audience to be more than aware that they’re setting up the next Thanos. We get it, Jonathan Majors is a fantastic actor, but Kang doesn’t need to be shoved in our faces for us to appreciate him.
There is a lot of debate surrounding Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, especially due to his fate at the end of the movie. Instead of making him look menacing, it has viewers asking – well, is this guy even a threat? His appearance in Loki definitely played out better and still kept an air of mystery to him. In the comics though, Kang’s first major appearance was in Fantastic Four, and it could be argued that it would have been more impactful if the MCU did that as well. Considering the FF movie will take place in the 60s, it would have been interesting to see how Kang has actually been around for years. Fantastic Four is also rumored to focus on the family dynamics of the team, just like Quantumania.
Namor Should Have Been the First Mutant
Namor was so perfectly brought into Black Panther: Wakanda Forever that there isn’t even room to complain about how he’s actually a Fantastic Four villain. There is one little irritating thing about his character though.
Namor briefly mentions being a mutant in the movie; of course, this isn’t actually in reference to the mutant gene as the people in the MCU’s Earth 616 aren’t aware of mutants yet. The irritating part is that he was so close to being the first confirmed mutant in the MCU, just like he was in the comic books. While this probably isn’t the most awfully inaccurate thing to happen in the MCU, it would have been a nice touch. It also hurts a little more knowing that the first mutant in the MCU wasn’t even a mutant in the comics, which we’ll get to next…
Ms. Marvel Should Be Inhuman
Iman Vellani’s portrayal of Ms. Marvel was amazing and incredibly reminiscent of the comics, but her powers were totally off. First of all, Ms. Marvel is Inhuman in the comics, whereas by the end of the show she was revealed to be a mutant. We get that her comic creators originally wanted her to be a mutant, but this show came out just a month after they brought back Black Bolt in Doctor Strange 2, so disregarding Ms. Marvel as an Inhuman just shows the MCU completely ignoring Inhumans yet again.
Secondly, it was pretty disappointing to see her powers look like a cosmic light show. Ms. Marvel having polymorph powers is so relevant to her character, as having overly stretchy skin was something she was embarrassed about as a teenage girl. In the show, her powers are cool and visually appealing, which takes a lot of her comic book struggles and insecurities away.
Jacob Batalon Should Have Played Ganke Instead of Ned Leeds
Peter Parker was briefly friends with Ned Leeds in the comics, but their friendship was nowhere near as relevant as his friendship with other characters. It’s understandable that the MCU didn’t want to repeat the same stories and characters from past Spider-Man movies, but it was irritating seeing Jacob Batalon play Ned Leeds when his character has the same personality as Ganke from the Ultimate Spider-Man comics.
Also, do they really expect us to believe Jacob Batalon could ever be the villainous Hobgoblin? We don’t see it, in any universe for that matter. Even though Ganke was actually a friend of Miles Morales in Ultimate Spider-Man, having Ganke already be part of the MCU would be perfect if they ever wanted to adapt Peter Parker’s death. Ganke could still be relevant to the story and help Miles the same way he did with Peter.
Sylvie Should Have Been Lady Loki, Not the Enchantress
When it was revealed that the Loki series would be casting a female variant of Loki, pretty much everyone assumed that it would be Lady Loki. It just doesn’t make any sense that Sylvie is practically a made-up character when there is actually a female version of Loki already in the comics, which would have been amazing to see on screen.
While Sylvie the Enchantress is a real character from comics, she’s nothing like the one on Loki. She’s actually a villain to the Young Avengers, meaning she’s also much younger, and she’s also the less popular Enchantress. Amora the Enchantress is the actual character with who Loki has a relationship within the comics. So basically, it seems as if the MCU combined Lady Loki, Sylvie, and Amora all into one character. This was also sort of weird because it meant Loki basically fell in love with himself. Amora the Enchantress is such an amazing villain in the comics, so it’s disappointing that the MCU used her title on a Loki variant that shouldn’t have any association with her.
Civil War Could Have Been Bigger
Civil War in the comics was a massive event that so many heroes and even villains were part of. Other than the main storyline, there were plenty of spinoffs that showed different perspectives and how the registration act affected each individual.
While the movie did involve many heroes, this is a story that would have been so much better if it was told a little later, especially now that there are more heroes in the MCU who were actually part of the event in comics like Daredevil, She-Hulk, and the Young Avengers. This isn’t to shame Civil War, it’s clearly a fantastically made movie and probably one of the best in the MCU, but it could have been even better.
The Mighty Thor Would Have Been Perfect in the New Avengers
The Mighty Thor was certainly killed off way too soon. It was such a moment to finally see Jane Foster as Thor in the MCU and there was so much hype surrounding it, to have her character dismissed after one movie is probably one of the most disappointing things the MCU has ever done.
In the comics, The Mighty Thor becomes part of the New Avengers, which consists of Sam Wilson as Captain America, Ms. Marvel, and Vision. Since those characters are all part of the MCU already, it would have been awesome to see that team come together. It’s likely that her character was killed off because Natalie Portman has expressed disinterest in being in Marvel movies, so it’s possible she asked to have her character die. There’s no confirmation on this, but we hope that it isn’t the case because we’d love to see The Mighty Thor return somehow.
Iron Man Should Have Never Been Part of Spider-Man
One thing that made Spider-Man so special in the comics is that he was always relatable. He was a teenager who had to help support his old aunt all on his own, work side jobs while attending school in order to stay afloat, all while secretly being a superhero. Well, the superhero part wasn’t relatable but the point remains. In the MCU, Spider-Man had it way too easy because Iron Man was always there to give him more than what he needed. His Aunt May was pretty young and in good shape, so she didn’t need much help either. His spidey suit was also full of Stark tech, so at times he hardly even felt like Spider-Man.
It does seem like the MCU knows they messed up when it came to Spider-Man, considering the ending of No Way Home felt like a soft reboot for him. He ends the movie without the technology or support he got from Iron Man, no support system at all really, since he lost his Aunt May and all of his closest friends forgot about him. While they did start off Spider-Man’s story completely inaccurately, there’s still a chance we’ll finally get to see Peter Parker struggle in future films.
No Way Home Should Have Featured the Sinister Six
Electro, Sandman, Lizard, Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus have all been members of the Sinister Six in the comics, and they were all the villains in Spider-Man: No Way Home. It was mildly infuriating how we were so close to finally getting to see Spider-Man battle the Sinister Six, but they were short of one villain.
Was it really that hard to just add one more villain into the mix? It’s not like there weren’t any options. They were dealing with alternate realities! It would have been awesome to see Jake Gyllenhaal return as Mysterio from a different reality, or even Vulture could have joined in somehow, considering he’s still alive. It was also pretty weird how the Venom 2 post-credits scene made it seem like he would also be part of the movie, but then Venom was only featured in the No Way Home post-credits scene. Venom isn’t originally a member of the Sinister Six, but they misled fans to believe he would be part of the film.
Hawkeye and Thor Should Swap Personalities
MCU’s version of Hawkeye is so far off from the comics, it’s easy to understand why so many people thought he should have died instead of Black Widow. He’s serious, smart, and doesn’t take any of his battles lightly. In the comics, he’s a totally different person. Comic book Clint Barton is so carefree that Kate Bishop is often the more logical one between the two. Overall, Hawkeye is comedic and doesn’t take himself so seriously in the comics, even during fights, whereas Thor knows when to stop joking around and show that he’s not a force to be reckoned with.
This isn’t to say that Thor is never funny in the comics, he can be, but it’s more similar to how comedic he was in the first Thor movie and The Avengers – the joke is that he doesn’t understand humanity. In Thor: Love and Thunder, Thor is amongst his own people and still manages to be a complete joke. Thor should be wise and powerful amongst Asgardians and even earthlings, whereas the MCU made his character far too silly to be taken seriously.
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