The world that Marvel has built through their comics is one that is as fantastic as the superheroes that inhabit it. There’s always something amazing in the stories that Marvel Comics tell and translating these stories into the real world isn’t exactly an easy feat. Telling stories through art in a comic panel is one thing, but bringing these fantastic depictions into the real world is a whole new ball game. Needless to say, any production team hoping to make a film that is based on Marvel’s comics have a lot of work cut out for them.
This task is even made harder given the pressure of the fans who want these types of films to justify the characters they’ve known and loved in the comics. With so much plot intricacies found in Marvel’s comics, it’s quite a gargantuan task to be able to adapt every little detail onto the big screen. It also doesn’t help that the superheroes themselves seem to change in appearance from one iteration to another making them even harder to accurately depict on the silver screen. With all that said, films adapted from Marvel’s beloved stories become either a hit or a miss.
While there are some that truly nail the spirit of their comic counterparts, there are others that just miss the spot. Some Marvel-based films even end up with a plot that’s so far-off from its source material that it leaves fans scratching their heads. These odd film decisions either don’t jive with the plot of their comic counterparts or they completely disrupt the interconnecting story-lines of the Marvel Universe. Here are 20 bizarre decisions and scenarios in Marvel-based films that simply made no sense when compared to the comics they’re based on.
20 Mistaken Identity
Iron Man had a long list of notorious adversaries and one of his most iconic foes is undoubtedly the powerful crime lord known as Mandarin. When Mandarin was teased as the main antagonist in the 2013 Iron Man 3 film, it made fans more eager to find out how well the infamous villain will be depicted in the silver screen. However, what fans received was a fraud who only claimed to be Mandarin. The film’s main antagonist was actually Aldrich Killian, the person who weaponized the explosive extremis virus and of course, someone who doesn’t even come close to becoming a valid substitute for Mandarin himself.
It’s another case of fantastic expectations meets harsh reality.
In the comics, Aldrich Killian was a scientist who helped develop the volatile Extremis virus. While Aldrich might have been a formidable enemy for Iron Man, in the movies at least, his skills in the comics don’t even compare to the caliber of the Mandarin’s powers. Based on the comic version, Mandarin not only gave both Iron Man and War Machine a hard time, he also became too much of a threat that the Avengers and the X-Men had to intervene. According to CinemaBlend, the film’s director opted to catch fans by surprise by introducing a different take on Mandarin instead of creating a traditional representation of the villain. Regardless, it’s still a shame that such an iconic villain like Mandarin wasn’t given the proper movie debut that fans were expecting.
19 Oops, Wrong Timeline!
It seems like there is yet another plot inconsistency in the 2013 Iron Man 3 film aside from its odd Mandarin twist. Some fans might be wondering why Iron Man’s friend James Rhodes, aka War Machine, was introduced later in the film as the Iron Patriot. In the film, James apparently got his hands on the iconic iron suit way before he did in the comics. To make matters even more weird, James wasn’t even the first one to don the iconic star-spangled iron suit nor was he the first to take on the Iron Patriot moniker.
While Rhodey eventually got his hands on the shiny Iron Patriot armor, he wasn’t able to do so until during the Skrull invasion, in the comics. Of course, the timeline that the Iron Patriot was introduced in the films was nowhere near the same time as the comics, which makes the whole Iron Patriot scenario oddly out of place. In addition, there’s not much reason to introduce the Iron Patriot in the films other than for fan service purposes. Aside from giving Rhodes a shiny-new revamped look, the introduction of Iron Patriot didn’t really had much impact nor significance to the film’s plot either.
18 The Merc Without A Mouth
If there was one supporting character in the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine film that made quite an impression on fans, it’s Deadpool. It’s a huge understatement to say that Deadpool talks a lot since it’s nearly impossible to shut him up. Of course, there’s a good reason why he is referred to as the “Merc with a Mouth” after all. When Deadpool was initially introduced in the film, fans were pleased to see that he still had his signature comical quips and jaw-dropping blade-swinging skills intact.
Unfortunately, good things do come to an end as the film’s creators strangely decided to sew Deadpool’s mouth shut during the final portions of the film. The film not only took away Deadpool’s personality, it also removed his signature quips by sealing his mouth, making him a generic and emotionless villain in the process. To make matters worse, the film even went as far as depicting Deadpool as an entirely different character who’s near unrecognizable when they gave him bizarre powers that were quite uncharacteristic of him. Who knew that Deadpool had the ability to sprout swords out of his arms or that he had the capability to shoot lasers out of his eyes? Nobody did, because that film rendition of Deadpool simply was not the Deadpool that fans recognized from the comics.
17 Gone Too Soon
The 2002 Spider-Man film certainly had its shining moments, from its spectacular visual effects to its intriguing yet familiar cast of characters. One of the most notable characters adapted in the film was Norman Osborn, otherwise known as the Green Goblin. The billionaire head honcho of tech conglomerate Oscorp was quite an intricate character as he served as both a friend of the protagonist, as well as the film’s main antagonist. However, he eventually met his untimely end during the conclusion of the film which was quite off-putting given his significance in the comics.
Norman indeed played quite a significant role in the Marvel comic universe as he eventually became the leader of the new Avengers team. The Green Goblin went from being just another one of Spidey’s notorious foes to becoming known as the iconic Iron Patriot of the future. The infamous villain was actually a lot more dangerous than how he was portrayed in the film and he has a presence that’s vital to future Marvel comic storylines. In fact, the Green Goblin had enough corporate power to pull strings in his favor, even from behind bars. Unfortunately, Norman’s significance was very much undermined in the film as his role was cut short in the end. Fans can only hope that the future Spider-Man reboot films give Norman another chance by making him the sinister, larger-than-life villain that he was supposed to be in the first place.
16 Great Big Mass Of Disappointment
Marvel certainly has such a varied roster of villains in its universe. Out of all of Marvel’s devious miscreants, not many can quite compare to the stature of the notorious enemy known as Galactus. The 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer film finally had the chance to portray the menacing “Devourer of Worlds” on the silver screen but the result isn’t quite what fans were expecting. In the comics, Galactus was an ominous force that threatened not just the Earth, but the entire universe as well. Galactus holds powers that surpass almost every other character in the Marvel Universe. Galactus can’t even be destroyed permanently as every time he meets his end, he eventually comes back stronger than ever.
It’s hard to give the film rendition of Galactus a pass when it looks like an underwhelming mass of gas.
However, when Galactus was portrayed in the Fantastic Four film, it was hard to imagine how he had such an omnipotent presence in the comics. The movie version of Galactus doesn’t just look unimpressive, it doesn’t resemble Galactus at all! As if that wasn’t bad enough, the film didn’t give one of Marvel’s most iconic baddies a chance to show off his unstoppable Power Cosmic abilities, nor was he given a physical form to wreak havoc in. Given the technological advancements of CGI films that were around at the time, there really shouldn’t be any excuses why Galactus wasn’t depicted the way he should be.
15 As Grainy As Sand
Spider-Man 3 had an interesting and quite ambitious premise, but most of it felt rushed and was executed rather poorly. Having Venom, Sandman, Symbiote Suit Spider-Man and new Green Goblin all in one movie does sound promising but seeing all of them come together on the big screen was quite underwhelming. The film made a lot of absurd decisions that made the plot appear more grainy than its comic counterpart. The introduction of villains like Sandman felt so rushed that it barely made any sense. In the comics, Sandman was trying to escape captivity by laying low near a beach far away from his home but radiation from a nearby atomic testing facility eventually turned him into a super-powered villai.
On the other hand, the movie version of Sandman fell victim to a lot of dumb decisions. Instead of hiding in a place far from his hometown, this Sandman was already being pursued by the law. It’s even more strange that the nuclear-testing facility that he stumbled upon was left completely unguarded as it carried on its extremely dangerous experiments. On top of all that, Sandman was even made as the person who ended Uncle Ben’s life which basically served as nothing more than a plot device. Sandman’s lazy transformation segment is only made worse when most of his role is one plot device after another.
14 Easy Come Easy Go
The Avengers are one of Marvel’s biggest band of superheroes with members that constantly change over time. Some Avengers stay while others come and go, which is also the case in both the comics and in the movie versions of the group. While some members might eventually leave the team at some point, by no means does this mean that they would leave the world permanently. However, one newly-inducted Avenger found himself in an early grave in the final segments of the 2015 Avengers: Age Of Ultron film. Quicksilver was certainly a fast Avenger but what he didn’t know that his time with the superhero dream time would be just as brief as his arrival.
Quicksilver didn’t just took one for the team, he bit the dust for them!
Quicksilver had such a significant role in the comics as a member of The Avengers, X-Factor and Inhumans groups, which led to vital interactions with his family members Scarlet Witch and Magneto. Of course, all of this was brushed off in the movies since his life was prematurely ended before he could even make his mark on the team. Although Quicksilver isn’t the only one taken away from Scarlet Witch, since even her love interest Vision was also removed out of the picture in Avengers: Infinity War. These decisions weren’t just odd, they were downright ruthless, especially to Scarlet Witch since these just made her even more lonelier than before!
13 An Unfamiliar Face
There are many familiar characters in the 2016 Doctor Strange film, but strangely enough, not all of those familiar names came with equally familiar faces. The character design choices in the film are indeed strange, from Baron Mordo’s drastic appearance change to the dread Dormammu’s weird intangible form. One of the biggest names in the film was the original Sorcerer Supreme known as the Ancient One, but he looked nothing like his comic counterpart. In fact, the Ancient One in the film wasn’t even a “he” as the iconic character was played by a female actress instead. This also meant that the Ancient One won’t be bearing the iconic features that he is know for such as his signature bearded look and Tibetan heritage.
The gender change is far from a major issue, but changing the character’s heritage upset fans.
Based on Marvel’s database, the character was referred to as “the man who became known as the Ancient One.” Furthermore, the Ancient One’s physical appearance isn’t the only inconsistency in the film when based on its comic counterpart. In the movie, the Ancient One was mortally wounded by Kaecilius causing her to accept her passing and to move on. The movie version not only strayed away from its source, it also left an even more interesting scenario out of the picture. The original version of the Ancient One actually instructed Strange to destroy his physical form before the malevolent being Shuma-Gorath could take over his mind. That outcome would’ve been more mind-blowing, both figuratively and quite literally.
12 Being Bad Is Overrated
The Doctor Strange film had another iconic villain in its cast, Stephen Strange’s arch enemy known as Baron Karl Mordo. Aside from his welcomed change in appearance, the comic version of Baron Mordo is one of Doctor Strange’s sworn enemies instead of his loyal ally. He was driven to jealousy over the fact that the Ancient One chose Strange over him, in becoming the next Sorcerer Supreme. Baron Mordo even worked under the dreaded Dormammu on multiple occasions. However, the movie version of Baron Mordo found himself working for the good guys as he becomes one of Doctor Strange’s allies in the film.
Baron Mordo even helped Doctor Strange in defeating Dormammu instead of being the one who’s aiding the dreaded being. In fact, Baron Mordo was the one who convinced the Ancient One of Strange’s potential as well as the one who taught the doctor how to master his capabilities. The decision to make Baron Mordo one of the good guys might be an unusual move, but the director does have a good explanation to this perplexing scenario. According to Comicbook, director Scott Derrickson wanted to first establish Baron Mordo’s identity by depicting how he originally was before he became the notorious villain fans know today. Of course, fans can expect the Baron to turn to the dark side in future adaptations, as hinted in the film’s ending.
11 It’s Complicated
Living the life of a spy isn’t an easy one, especially for someone who has relationships as intricate as Natasha Romanova, aka the Black Widow. While Natasha herself is already quite a complicated character, the Avengers films made her even more complex. In the 2012 The Avengers film, there were only brief moments where both Hawkeye and Black Widow were loving with each other. The pair only drifted further apart in the sequel Avengers: Age Of Ultron, to a point where their feelings for each other were nearly nonexistent. That’s not the case in the comics though, as Black Widow is often romantically involved with Hawkeye.
Love is complicated for a spy who doesn’t want a piece of Hawkeye.
There was even a point where Black Widow even received a marriage proposal from Hawkeye. The way the film versions portrayed Black Widow and Hawkeye made it seem like they were strangers instead of partners-in-crime. It really didn’t made much sense how the two were depicted as feeling quite indifferent to one another. To make things even more awkward, the film even developed a love interest between Black Widow and Bruce Banner. There’s barely any significant interactions between Black Widow and The Hulk in the comics that it’s quite difficult to fathom how they got so close to each other in the movies.
10 Master Of None
Another iconic Captain America villain is the notorious evil scientist called Baron Zemo. Although the Baron Zemo in the 2016 Captain America: Civil War flick didn’t exactly have the same terrifying presence he had in the comics. One of the most drastic changes that the films made to Baron Zemo was his appearance. Baron Zemo appeared as a normal-looking human scientist, albeit with criminal intent. This doesn’t make much sense when compared to the comic version since Baron Zemo basically wore a mask.
This was not just any regular mask, the scowl that Baron Zemo wore was basically attached to his head permanently. Unfortunately for Zemo, his appearance wasn’t the only thing that was changed in the film as his stature was significantly diminished as well.
Zemo was downplayed from being an evil mastermind to being a mere plot device for The Avengers to fight each other.
In the comics, Zemo was even responsible for creating his very own super villain dream team akin to The Avengers, a menacing group known as the Masters Of Evil. Of course, this didn’t materialize in the film version as Zemo was reduced to only causing The Avengers to turn on each other instead of having his very own band of evil henchmen to command.
9 Misery Comes In Threes
The title alone of the 2017 Thor: Ragnarok film suggested that something bad was going to happen. Ragnarok does signify the end of days, so it was highly likely that it would also mean the end of the road for some iconic characters in the series. While the passing of some characters were given a lot more emphasis and importance, such as the passing of Thor’s father Odin, others were literally cut-off from the film. The Warriors Three served as Thor’s closest friends, a team of hardy veterans who bravely fought alongside Thor in battle. Unfortunately, Hela’s arrival in the film marked the impending doom of the Warrior’s Three.
The Warrior’s Three were slashed out of the film courtesy of Hela’s unstoppable wave of devastating blades. It was quite an unfitting and dishonorable end to the Warrior’s Three as they barely put up a fight against the Mistress of Darkness. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige explained that the elimination of the Warrior’s Three was vital in order to show just how powerful Hela truly is, according to ScreenRant. Feige revealed that the three did have “noble ends” and will be remembered but admitted that their lives were cut short mainly because they wanted Hela’s arrival to “start with a bang.” Unfortunately, that “bang” cost the lives of the three heroes.
8 Brother From Another Mother
It’s not easy for the Fantastic Four film franchise to redeem itself especially after coming up with films that don’t even come close to the success of The Avengers series. The 2015 Fantastic Four reboot only made things worse by failing to revitalize the franchise. The supposed “re-imaging” of Marvel’s original superhero team not only added very little from its predecessors, it also strayed from its comic counterpart. In the film, Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, and Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman, are not of the same background. While having a more diversified cast is always a terrific idea, the problem lies in the fact that they are supposed to be siblings, which made it look like the film disregarded its source material.
The issue has nothing to do with race and more about making sense.
In comics, both Johnny and Sue are related by blood and not just by name, making the film decision of casting them this way quite opposing and nonsensical in nature. According to TheGuardian, director Josh Trank defended their decision of casting characters that are different from the comics by explaining that they didn’t want to tell the story “the same way over and over again.” Surely enough, they ended up with a film unlike any other Fantastic Four adaptation out there. Although this type of inclusive change is good for superhero diversity, fans just shouldn’t expect any logical explanation behind these types of changes as it just wouldn’t make sense.
7 Parental Issues
Ultron certainly owes a lot to Tony Stark and his technology. Stark Industries accidentally helped bring The Avengers’ robotic nemesis to life, as well as help him obtain his arsenal albeit indirectly. It’s quite ironic how Iron Man ended up creating a formidable enemy capable of destroying humanity, all while he was trying to create a means to save the world. Instead of creating a solution, Tony Stark actually started a big problem for The Avengers team by accidentally creating Ultron, so it’s no wonder he looked so distressed in the film. While this might hold true in the 2015 film Avengers: Age Of Ultron, this scenario isn’t entirely accurate in the comics version.
Iron Man might have felt the burden of almost causing the extinction of mankind in the films, but in the comics, Dr. Henry Pym from Ant-Man was actually the one to blame. Dr. Pym, otherwise known as Giant-Man or the original Ant-Man, was working on artificial intelligence when he accidentally created a robot that hated him and the entire human race. This could’ve been a more interesting introduction for Ant-Man and a way to not have everything center around Tony. There was a point in time when Stark built Ultron under the robot’s influence but it’s still safe to say that Tony isn’t Ultron’s father. Needless to say, Ultron doesn’t just have issues with his parents, he has issues with basically every human in the planet.
6 Out Of Place
It’s strange how an ancient and omnipotent being such Azazel ended up being a mere lackey of Sebastian Shaw in the 2011 film X-Men: First Class. In the movie, Azazel served Sebastian as a member of his infamous Hellfire Club. In the comics, Azazel wasn’t a servant nor was he part of the Hellfire Club at all. In fact, he is the one being served, as the ruler of an ancient race known as the Neyaphem. Azazel was banished to another dimension due to his ruthless and sadistic nature. Azazel is unable to leave the Brimstone dimension for long periods of time so he had to use his children, such as Nightcrawler, in order to open a portal out of his place of banishment.
The Azazel in the X-Men films was far from being a banished mutant as he spent most of his time on Earth. To make the movie version even more far-fetched, Azazel was caught in a mere firefight and was eventually exterminated in the process. How can such a powerful and fiendish supernatural entity expire in such a mundane way? It’s puzzling enough that Azazel was made into a member of a team he didn’t belong to, but it makes even less sense that he was treated as nothing more than a feeble casualty. This basically throws the logic behind Azazel being a terrifyingly powerful presence in the comics, out of the window.
5 More Brains Than Brawn
When Eddie Brock inherited a parasitic alien symbiote, it made him into the hulking predator known as Venom. Venom’s size and appearance had a lot of significance in the comics, which is unfortunate since it’s also something that the Spider-Man 3 film shamefully overlooked. The Eddie Brock in the movies was a witty and clever reporter who seemingly beats Peter Parker at his own game, more often than not. Brock often woos Gwen Stacy and humiliates Parker when he’s not busy rubbing shoulders with his boss. He’s a schemer, he’s a charmer and he’s anything but his comic counterpart!
That’s not the case for Brock in the comic version as he was basically humiliated by Spider-Man which eventually led to the downfall of his career. Brock had to alleviate his stress by going on an intensive training program. Brock’s workout-filled regimen payed off, giving him a a very muscular, buffed exterior but this also filled his head with even more hatred towards Spider-Man. His overbearing hatred attracted an alien symbiote who attached itself to Brock in hopes to feed on his strong emotions. The alien suit gave Brock an even bigger and more menacing physique along with almost the same powers that Spider-Man himself had. With that said, the film version of the notorious villain was more like diet Venom or Venom Lite than the real deal.
4 A Meaningless Departure
Scott Summers, otherwise known as Cyclops, is one of the most iconic member of the super-powered band of mutants known as the X-Men. In fact, Cyclops is also one of the most vital members of the mutant hero dream team, well, in the comics at least. Cyclops is more than just a laser-beam-shooting, sunglasses-wearing mutant rebel with a cause, as he was portrayed in the movies. Scott ended up becoming the leader of the X-Men team in the comics when Professor X was no longer capable of leading the group. Scott even had some extremely-powerful and noteworthy children such as Cable and Marvel Girl.
Cyclops certainly did not see his end coming so cheaply, nor did the fans.
However, all of Scott’s future accomplishments and aspirations just disappeared in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand. It’s no exaggeration to say that Scott’s future impact on the story, along with Scott himself, were quite literally disintegrated out of existence courtesy of Dark Phoenix. Sure, the film had such a messy timeline and plot sequencing when based on its comic counterpart, but the decision to just eliminate Cyclops outright was not necessary. Instead of making an impact on the movie, the scene only created a rift in the X-Men universe, as well as the fans and their broken expectations.
3 The Galaxy’s Extended Family
If there’s one character that truly stood out in the Guardians Of The Galaxy films as both a scoundrel and a hero, it’s going to be the blue-skinned hunter known as Yondu Udonta. Yondu started out as a bounty hunter befor becoming a formidable adversary of the Guardians team. While Yondu’s fearless demeanor made him look like an enemy, he eventually became one of the Guardians Of The Galaxy’s trusted ally, even becoming Star-Lord’s father figure too. Yondu’s film adaptation might have been unique and refreshing but it’s quite a different take on the character compared to the one in the comics.
The blue-skinned hunter served as an extended Guardians member in the films, but that’s not actually the case. In fact, the original version of Yondu was even one of the founding members of the original Guardians Of The Galaxy team. It’s safe to say that he was a part of the team even before Star-Lord became leader. Aside from Yondu’s original role, there were also some alterations to his abilities and physical attributes. Yondu also carried a traditional bow-and-arrow that compliments his mystical alien heritage, which would’ve been awesome to see in action, but they decided to completely nix it.
2 Who’s Your Daddy?
The 2017 film Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 didn’t just feature the return of the galaxy’s most iconic heroes, it also came with a startling revelation, with the identity of Star-Lord’s father being revealed. Star-Lord, aka Peter Quill, was shown to be the son of a living planet known as Ego. It’s quite strange how a planet bore a human child, isn’t it? If this scenario wasn’t familiar for fans of the comic version, it’s because it didn’t happen at all. Star-Lord’s comic counterpart had a different father. In the comics, Star-Lord’s mother, Meredith Quill, gave birth to him after falling in love with an intergalactic prince known as J’Son of Spartoi. This explains a lot since Star-Lord’s superhero appearance even resembles a lot like the alter-ego of his real father, J’son.
Having a planet for a father doesn’t really make sense.
With that said, it’s no wonder Star-Lord looked nothing like his moldy, bearded planet of a father. There is a huge difference between the omnipotent being known as Ego and the royal heir known as J’son, so the question now is, why switch their roles? Director James Gunn explained that he wanted Star-Lord’s father to be an“incredibly powerful being” and that he didn’t want J’son to play the part because “he reeked very much of Star Wars,” according to io9. Well, it seems like the change in the overall impact and essence of the film is what kept poor Star-Lord from meeting his real dad.
1 Tyrant With A Heart
This year’s Avengers: Infinity War film came with a lot of shocking twists and surprises. Despite the film’s brilliant pacing and masterful story sequencing, the film still had many plot holes and pointless plot devices along the way. The movie gave Thanos an almost human personality, complete with regret, remorse and even the capability to feel sadness. Thanos wasn’t just a power-hungry mad titan with an appetite for destruction, he was a complex being with a mission driven by reason. Thanos strangely becomes a reasonable villain who justifies his actions with his purpose, which is helping the universe by ironically destroying half of it. The film couldn’t decide if Thanos was a good guy or a bad guy.
Sure, it’s awesome to see a multi-faceted Thanos with a sensitive side. However, this makes it hard for him to live up to his notorious reputation in the comics. If Thanos was being true to his comic counterpart, he would forget about explaining his illogical population culling mission to anyone. In the comics, Thanos’ fascination with Lady Death is what drove his rise to power. While there was a point when Thanos felt like he should restore balance to the universe by wiping out half of its population, in the end, he only wanted to be its ruler to impress her.
