10 Huge What Ifs That Could Have Changed The MCU Forever

[jordanherkowski]

What if Fox had just let the Fantastic Four rights revert back to Marvel instead of rushing out Fant4stic?

[abgbdwlf]

Captain America’s last line before snapping “I can do this all day.” SNAP!

[MrJWTH]

Another question, why if Marvel never declared bankruptcy in the 90s and still had the film rights to Spider-Man and The X-Men?

[alvinraybawar]

If E. Norton fullfilled his contract, there is sequel and there is the red hulk.

[sideshow]

Ruffalo's not bad, but I'd love to still have Ed Norton's Hulk. Far more intimidating. Especially now

[pest]

My big "What If" question is; "What If" Marvel/Disney had not turned the Hulk into "Moopy Hulk" and instead had given us The Hulk that actually gets stronger the madder he gets?

[Zethonring]

I think the better question is "What if Avengers bombed?", Iron Man may have started the MCU but it was the Avengers that really made it and started this whole "Cinematic universe" arms race, it was after that WB started developing the DCEU, Universal with the Dark Universe and Sony with their Amazing Spider-Man universe. Plus the success of the MCU also spurned Disney onto other ventures like the Lucasfilm acquisition and Fox merger. The entire cinematic landscape would be completely different.

[WolfofWexlerStreet]

Ed Norton hulk is the best hulk. Both as banner and the hulk transformation. Its hard to see "that" hulk losing to thanos so easily.

[scotthaliday]

I wish Marvel would keep the actor that played Daredevil, he did a good job.

[coreyalcorn]

All I can say is thank you to the actors that stuck it out. Without their commitment I have no doubt the MCU would have crashed just like the DCU. So if any of them ever see this comment. Thanks again you guys. It means alot.

[ClassifiedRanTom]

As much as I hate to say it, you don't really need Tim Roth to bring Abomination back... But if he were up to it, all the better.

[_________]

I liked the Ed Norton Hulk infinitely better than the comic-laden Mark Rufallo.

[deanchrisjohn]

I'll always think Edwards Norton Hulk is the best Hulk

[SpocksEvilKlone]

I always bring this up regarding Edgar Wright, who is a great director: he was developing 'Ant-Man' for 8 years and managed to produce 60 seconds worth of footage. The film was originally supposed to be released around 2009-2010, and the character was supposed to be in 'The Avengers'. Maybe Marvel Studios did want to make an Edgar Wright movie, but he could not get anything produced and he had to be replaced so the studio could actually get the character on film.

[raynor]

You missed the single-biggest what-if, and it's directly related to #1: what if Tom Cruise had accepted the role of Tony Stark?

Iron Man is still probably a success, considering that Tom Cruise is one of the most consistently bankable actors in history. But the entire tenlr of Tony Stark is completely changed without RDJ's personal journey as subtext, and it's hard to imagine the character connecting with the public as deeply as it did in real life.

This is not just the biggest MCU what-if, but the biggest what-if in all of cinema in the new millennium.

[johnryder]

With the loss of Edward Norton you got the first time since Bill Bixby that David Banner was actually scared of himself. Its worth noting that Reed Diamond (Daniel Whitelaw) was young Bruce in the old series, the longest gap between playing Comic Characters surely.

[clark]

Re: Norton, the original plan for the early incarnation of the MCU was Hulk was suppose to be 2nd/3rd in terms of command within the Avengers, but then you had all the issues (Norton being a diva, not doing as well at the box office, Universal owning the distribution rights etc....) so things were changed and Cap was given 2nd spot and Hulk related to a supporting slot. Had he stayed on, I think we would have got a second solo movie, but ultimately Norton would have probably walked by Age of Ultron.... this is where it would have got complex, as you can change a character early, but not 4/5 movies in.... so ultimately they would have probably pushed ahead with Professor Hulk much earlier, and cut Banner out completely (which they did to a degree in Thor Ragnarok).

[kenroykentish]

What if Terrance Howard stayed as War Machine

[kcollier]

The new What If? series may not tackle these specifically but I imagine some aspect of this list will be addressed.

[RomaroBrandon]

The Runaways was also supposed to be a movie instead of a TV show.