One has to agree that over the past decade Marvel has given us many memorable films. It has defined a generation. But there are projects which were canceled, and fans would have just loved them. Not many know that at one point, Marvel went bankrupt and they had to sell off rights to their major characters. Sony has Spider-Man (now in a shared deal with Marvel), Hulk was with Universal (now with Marvel) and Fantastic Four was with Fox (now with Marvel). These studios (barring original Spider-man trilogy) made pathetic films. Now, that the rights are back with Marvel we can hope for some great films.
Now, it has happened that a Marvel movie was announced in the past. Fans got excited, but then the project was canceled.
Here are 10 exciting Marvel movies that were cancelled:
1)An X-Men/Daredevil/Deadpool/Fantastic Four Crossover
Back in 2010, long before we saw The Avengers (2012) team up, Fox hired Zack Stentz and Ashley Edward Miller to make a crossover project involving the X-men, Daredevil, Deadpool and Fantastic Four.
The plot was believed to be similar to that of the Civil War where two teams of heroes battled against one another against the superhero registration act. We saw a mutant registration code in the X-men series as well. So, it could have been a build-up. However, the project never really saw the light and was shelved later.
2)Spider-Man 4
Among all the canceled projects, probably this one hurts the fans the most. Also, not many know that Sam Raimi had plans for another Spider-man trilogy with Tobe Maguire. Yes, we would have got Spider-man 4,5,6. But, Sony executives and Sam Raimi had a falling out. Sam Raimi said there was a lot of interference from Sony in the project and they had to part ways due to creative differences.
Sam Raimi’s plans involved Spider-man fighting against Vulture, the Lizard, and Mysterio. Spider-man 3 had a lot of issues, but they were mainly due to executive decisions by Sony. Sam Raimi was honest about his departure and Sony respected his decision.
3)Luke Cage
After Reservoir Dog’s success, Quentin Tarantino became a sought after director in the ’90s. He planned a Luke Cage film starring Laurence Fishbourne but it never happened. Tarantino went on to make Pulp Fiction instead which turned out to be another historic film.
The Netflix series starring Mike Colter was a great adaption and was a great show until it was canceled with Disney launching Disney+. We can only hope they bring it back on Disney+ in the future.
4)X-23
Kevin Feige’s plans to include mutants in X-Men are completely different from the Fox films (with the hopeful possible exception of Deadpool). So, sadly goodbye X-23!
5)Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom is a very important Marvel character. He is surely going to play a big role in upcoming Marvel movies. Now, before the Disney Fox deal, a stand-alone Doctor Doom project was in development. Noah Hawley was supposedly working on the project. But, all the talks have died now and we might see a completely new take on the character in the MCU.
6)Daredevil
Remember Ben Affleck’s Daredevil? It was a big miss. We have seen Charlie Cox’s Daredevil on Netflix and it was amazing. We are just awaiting his return on Disney+. Hopefully, it happens.
But there was one more project, which planned to star Jason Statham as Daredevil. It was a Daredevil reboot and most people agreed that Statham would make a great Daredevil. With the stunt and athletic experience, Statham has he surely would have been great. Unfortunately, the project hit a roadblock and we never saw it.
7)Wolverine and the X-Men
We have seen them in animation. But back in the ’80s, there was a project, Wolverine and the X-Men planned for the big screen. Stan Lee and Chris Claremont had approached James Cameron’s production house to develop the project. Had it been approved, we could have seen the superhero revolution in the cinema quite early.
8)Doctor Strange
Scott Derrickson directed Doctor Strange and it was successful. What many don’t know is that the Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro had a plan for Doctor Strange and for screenplay, the fantasy author Neil Gaiman was on board. Sadly, the studios were just not interested then.
Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water both which were del Toro’s amazing works in the dark fantasy genre and are proof enough that he would have done something really mystical with Doctor Strange.
9) X-Men Origins: Magneto
X-Men Origins: Magneto was planned to be released right after X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But, fans were disappointed with the film and it bombed at the box-office. Thus, X-Men Origins projects came to an end.
It would have been amazing to see Magneto’s origin story (we saw a brief in First Class). He is X-Men’s central character and probably would have been a good film.
10)Ant-Man
We got Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and we love him. No doubt about that. But before Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man came to MCU, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish worked extensively on Ant-Man for years. However, due to creative differences, Edgar Wright had to leave the project.
So, these were some of the Marvel movies that never saw the light. So, which among these movie cancellations disappoint you the most. Do tell us in the comments.
