As vast and sprawling the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, Marvel Studios did manage to do a splendid job of trying to include as many characters as possible to make the 22 movie saga a pop culture extravaganza. The movies were a part of a decade long process of bringing the acclaimed Infinity Gauntlet saga to the big screens in a live action adaptation. With the final Avengers: Endgame movie, that saga has come to its definitive end. A lot of our heroes bled and suffered and even more died protecting the Earth and the rest of the Universe from the wrath of Thanos. The audience was flabbergasted at the number of superheroes the MCU brought into the Big Screens. And yet, there were so many that could not make it to the list. This list is an ode to the heroes who played a significant role in the comic book storylines that the MCU was inspired from to make up its continuity, but they never got a chance to shine themselves since they were taken out of those arcs when the live-action adaptations happened. Presenting – 10 Amazing Characters that needed to be but were left out of MCU movies!!
Balder the Brave
In Norse mythology, Balder is the true heir to the throne of Asgard. Many do not know but it is Balder who is the rightful ruler, not Thor. Thor is Balder’s half-brother. Balder was the fiercest and most potent warrior Asgard had to offer. His powers allowed him to be virtually invincible when he was in Asgard. But Balder soon met with a curse that ensured that his death would bring about the end of days in Norse mythology – Ragnarok. Ragnarok happened and yet Balder was nowhere to be seen. What is even more perplexing is that Thor did not get just one movie but an entire trilogy. Both Thor and Thor 2 – The Dark World, expanded on the Asgardian World building and introduced a lot of characters. Why was Balder left out? In the then-upcoming fight against Thanos, Balder would have been a huge asset, considering he is supposedly even stronger than Thor – the mightiest Avenger.
Nightmare
When Doctor Strange was announced, everyone thought that the origin story for the Sorcerer Supreme will include Baron Mordo as the primary antagonist. That turned out to be untrue. When rumors started to circulate that an extra-dimensional entity will take up the role of the villain of the day, everyone believed that Marvel will probably have Nightmare play that part. That also turned out to be untrue. Dormammu was revealed to be the supervillain of the movie. And it made sense then. But the fact is Nightmare is a much more significant adversary to Doctor Strange since he has already managed to do the impossible – defeat Doctor Strange in a one on one magical trial by combat. The entry of the King of the Dream Dimension to the MCU sure raised a lot of hopes. We hope the Doctor Strange sequel will ensure it becomes a reality.
The Living Tribunal
The cosmic being that watches over the Universe and has the job of maintaining the balance between chaos and order, the Living Tribunal is not someone to be trifled with. He is so powerful that he could undo the effects of the Infinity Gauntlet in a snap. That’s right – if Living Tribunal was around, he could have undone whatever Thanos did at the end of Infinity War with his infamous Thanos Snap. Most of the times, the Living tribunal tries to stay neutral. But one time he decided that humanity must be destroyed to ensure the survival of creation until Doctor Strange reasoned with him and made him rethink and retrace his next step. There were attempts at bringing in the Living Tribunal into Infinity War but the writers felt that it would be too cosmic in nature and the story would no longer stay grounded.
Rick Jones
Many believe that The Incredible Hulk movie of 2008 was a standalone venture. But it is actually a part of the MCU. That movie would have allowed the entry of Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, a role that is now played by Mark Ruffalo. That movie was also supposed to feature another popular character – Rick Jones. Rick Jones was the reason Bruce Banner met with an accident that led him to absorb deadly levels of gamma radiation that eventually turned him into the Hulk. Throughout his life, Rick Jones has been a sidekick to the Hulk, Captain America and even Captain Marvel. Recently, it was revealed that he was transformed into the successor to the Abomination called the A-Bomb.
Supergiant
Supergiant is the little known fifth member of the Black Order, Thanos’ army of his trusted and loyal generals. She is a mentally unstable individual with incredible powers of telepathy and mind control. Her powers allow her to turn anyone she gets a psychic hold of into becoming her mental slave and then she feeds off of their intellect, turning herself even smarter as the slave starts to lose all psychoanalytical functions, effectively turning dumb. The reason the Directors cited for not including Supergiant in Infinity War was that there were already four members in the Black Order and adding one more would have overcrowded the bunch. Moreover, she bears too much of a resemblance to Nebula so there were merchandise issues as well.
Perrikus
Perrikus was supposed to have a huge role in Thor: Ragnarok. Taika Watiti, director of the third Thor movie, himself confirmed this. As a Dark God in Asgardian Lore, Perrikus is the ruler of the Energy Infinite and Power Unlimited. This allows him to do incredible feats like slicing Thor’s hammer Mjolnir into two by one swift swing of his scythe. Perrikus was finally decided to be excluded out of Thor 3 because the relatively Thor exclusive character is not as popular as the other villains that were in the movie. The Leader of the Dark Gods was taken out to make room for more screen time for the other villains.
Nova
The Human Rocket Nova is part of an intergalactic police force hailing from Xandar that operated to protect the peace and harmony of the universe. While Richard Rider is the more popular Nova, Sam Alexander is the one that is currently in the news of being the one in the crosshairs of the Marvel writers of being featured in a Nova movie (if such a thing is even being planned in the first place). Nova was actually going to be the one that crash-lands on Earth after Thanos wipes out Xandar, with Rider (or Alexander) being the sole survivor. That role was eventually given to Hulk, who became the new messenger that warned the heroes about Thanos.
Adam Warlock
While he did make an appearance of sorts in GOTG Volume 2, Adam Warlock did not make an appearance in the Infinity War saga, something that the fans clearly were not happy with considering Adam Warlock is a huge part of the Infinity Gauntlet saga, the comic book series that inspired Infinity War. While it is still unknown whether Warlock will make an appearance in MCU Phase 4, the fact that the superhero already exists in the MCU should provide some form of assurance.
Beta Ray Bill
The guardian of the Korbinite race was going to make his debut in Thor: Ragnarok but Taika Watiti could only provide him with small screen time and Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, realized that a character as popular as Beta Ray Bill deserved more than that. Beta Ray Bill and Thor started off as enemy warriors until the former picked up Mjolnir in a fight with the latter, proving he was worthy. Odin would then make the Stormbreaker axe for Beta Ray Bill, the same axe that Thor now wields in the MCU. Maybe GOTG Volume 3 will show us more of Beta Ray Bill action.
Goliath
Bill Foster was an assistant of Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man. He would then unlock the secrets to Pym particle manipulation by himself and would become Goliath, the superhero who can grow into a gigantic force of nature. Lawrence Fishburne plays Bill Foster in Ant-Man and the Wasp and even mentions Project Goliath, but never actually dons the suit to help the shrinking superhero in his fight against Ghost. Director Peyton Reed claims that Bill Foster was supposed become Goliath in a flashback sequence in the movie but he decided against it as Ghost’s backstory was already there and such a twist would have only made the movie’s plot too thick and confusing.
