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Not all adaptations are created equal! Join us as we explore the most questionable changes between Marvel's comics and their big-screen counterparts that stirred up controversy among fans. Our countdown includes whitewashed characters, power changes, and origin story rewrites that left comic purists scratching their heads!
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00:0010.
00:24The New Avengers It was always going to be difficult for the
00:27MCU to follow up the original Avengers team with a new lineup following Avengers Endgame.
00:32The Avengers are not walking through that door. We have no reliable heroes.
00:39Immediately, there was speculation that the franchise would go back to the comics and bring
00:43in the new Avengers, and they were right. Sort of. In 2025's Thunderbolts, the new team was
00:49introduced. However, the roster was vastly different from the source material, bringing
00:54disappointment from some fans.
00:57While the MCU lineup is depleted in obscene power and popularity, Brian Michael Bendis and David
01:11Finch's version was quickly shown to be filled with powerhouses and beloved characters. As well
01:16as Iron Man and Steve Rogers, New Avengers brought in Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Century, Wolverine,
01:22and Luke Cage, revitalizing the Avengers brand instantly.
01:25Who are the real Avengers?
01:26Well, that's the question the internet has been asking and judging by the very nasty memes
01:30that I've read. They don't think that it's us.
01:339. Uncle Ben?
01:35For Spider-Man fans, Uncle Ben is one of the most important characters in a hero's history.
01:40Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.
01:44After all, without his demise in uttering his iconic speech of, with great power there must
01:51come great responsibility, Peter Parker wouldn't have had the guilt to springboard him into becoming
01:55the web slinger. While most live action films brought him in, only to kick Ben's bucket
02:00to motivate Peter, the MCU series did not. Instead, while he existed in Peter's story,
02:18his Uncle Ben was barely mentioned. The MCU had Aunt May essentially act as a hybrid of May
02:23and Ben from the comics. So much so that she even did the famous speech in 2021's Spider-Man
02:29No Way Home and met her demise shortly after.
02:32You have a gift. You have power. And with great power, there must also come great responsibility.
02:41No. 8. Secret Invasion?
02:49In the modern Marvel comics, one of the most pivotal stories was Secret Invasion. Playing
02:54on fears of who you can trust, the Skrulls kidnapped and took the form of several heroes
02:59on Earth to take over the planet.
03:00There are Skrulls inside the U.S. government.
03:04This again? Skrulls in my security detail, Skrulls in the U.S. government, they're just
03:11Skrulls.
03:12Basically, every character in the comics was affected. Yet, in the MCU, that was very different.
03:18A far more scaled back version, the franchise released the miniseries Secret Invasion in
03:232022.
03:24You cannot let grief paralyze you, Gaia. This is your time! Now!
03:30Off to a rough start by being criticized for using AI in its intro, the show didn't use
03:35many of the main MCU heroes, which undercut its importance. Some fans believe it was a
03:40wasted opportunity, and the scale of the original comic story should have been a vital plot point
03:46in the film instead.
03:47You're right. You're right. I failed you. I failed you.
03:557. Comedy Thor When Thor first appeared in the MCU, he
03:59had a lot of similarities to his comic counterpart.
04:02With Shakespearean-esque language and drama, it all changed after Taika Waititi directed
04:16the Team Thor mockumentary short videos in 2016. From there, the Norse God became more
04:22of a comedy character in the MCU, creating jokes rather than being the fish out of water from
04:27before.
04:29While there was success, such as with Thor Ragnarok, it began going downhill after that for some
04:48fans. In 2022's Thor Love and Thunder, the drama and impact of the plot seemed unimportant
04:53compared to getting in the next punchline. Due to the negative reaction, Chris Hemsworth
04:57has spoken about Thor needing a tone change in the future.
05:046. Thanos' Love Motivation After being hinted at since 2012's Avengers,
05:13we finally got Thanos in all his dastardly glory in 2018's Avengers Infinity War.
05:27He instantly became the best villain to appear in the MCU. However, comic fans quickly noticed
05:32the difference from the source material. While MCU Thanos explained he believed he was saving
05:37the universe by removing half the population to prolong resources and prevent what happened
05:41to Titan from taking place elsewhere. His comic counterpart desired the Infinity Gauntlet for a vastly different
05:56reason. Love. The Mad Titan, a very dedicated nihilist, wanted to impress Death by wiping away half of the universe. As such, some fans hated the MCU's more altruistic change. However, we did get Death eventually in 2024's Agatha
06:03All Along.
06:045. Captain Marvel's Origins Fun fact for non-comic fans, long before Carol Danvers held the mantle of Captain Marvel, there was the Kree hero Mar-Vell. Debuting in 1967 as well as dating her, he was a catalyst in Danvers getting her powers.
06:10Which led to her becoming Ms. Marvel and eventually Captain Marvel, which led to her becoming Ms. Marvel and eventually Captain Marvel.
06:17How do I look?
06:24Fresh.
06:25However, in the MCU, the story is quite different. Instead, Danvers bypasses her Ms. Marvel era, Mar-Vell is in the MCU just in another format, rather than being
06:31lovers, Mar-Vell is a woman scientist, Wendy Lawson, who created the experimental engine that unlocked Danvers' abilities.
06:38Your power is a catalyst in Danvers getting her powers, which led to her becoming Ms. Marvel and eventually Captain Marvel.
06:43However, in the MCU, the story is quite different. Instead, Danvers bypasses her Ms. Marvel era, Mar-Vell is in the MCU just in another format.
06:52Rather than being lovers, Mar-Vell is a woman scientist, Wendy Lawson, who created the experimental engine that unlocked Danvers' abilities.
06:59Your power comes from us.
07:01You didn't give me these powers.
07:03The blast did.
07:04And yet, you've never had the strength to control them on your own.
07:07Some fans weren't happy that comic Danvers' vast history was wiped away. Yet for others, the MCU drastically simplified and rightfully skipped the more problematic parts of her story.
07:16I have nothing to prove to you.
07:184. Cause of Civil War
07:21Another pivotal story in Marvel's comic universe was 2006 Civil War, the effects of which have been felt since its release.
07:28For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate.
07:37With the new warriors making a reality show, they end up causing the villain Nitro to explode, killing hundreds of people.
07:43The scale of the story affected every character as they debated which side they were on. Team Iron Man with the Superhuman Registration Act or Team Captain America with anti-registration beliefs?
07:53Beyond the basic story and title, 2016's Captain America Civil War was a different entity, bringing criticism from viewers.
08:02I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart.
08:04You did that when you signed.
08:06One issue was that other plot points, such as Bucky killing Tony's parents, took precedence over the Civil War.
08:13Another problem involved vastly reduced rosters when the comic teams were stuffed with talent.
08:18What do we do, Cap?
08:19We fight.
08:21This is gonna end well.
08:25Number 3, The Ancient One
08:27Tilda Swinton is one of the most gifted actors around, so when she was cast in the MCU, this was fantastic news.
08:33What just happened?
08:34For a moment, you entered the astral dimension.
08:37What?
08:38A place where the soul exists apart from the body.
08:41However, when it became known what her part was, controversy spread into the mainstream media.
08:46In the comics, The Ancient One is depicted as an old Asian man.
08:49In the 2016 film Doctor Strange, the character was a shave-headed Swinton.
08:54This drew criticism, including from groups such as the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, that an Asian character was being whitewashed.
09:02How's our new recruit?
09:04We shall see.
09:06Any second now.
09:09No, not again.
09:11The movie's director, Scott Derrickson, defended the casting by claiming it was to avoid racial stereotypes.
09:16However, in 2021, the president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige admitted Swinton's casting was a mistake, which she also agreed with.
09:24I tried to protect you.
09:26From the truth.
09:27From yourself.
09:28Number 2, Miss Marvel's Powers
09:30Debuting properly in the comics in 2014, Kamala Khan quickly became a fan favorite.
09:36With her polymorph ability she got as an inhuman, she would embiggen herself as she took the discarded mantle of her favorite hero, Miss Marvel.
09:44It's not really the brown girls from Jersey City who saved the world.
09:50Sure they do.
09:54You're Kamala Khan.
09:58You wanna save the world?
10:00Then you're gonna save them all.
10:02With the Muslim protagonists arriving in the MCU in her own 2022 miniseries, fans of her comics were so disappointed several times over.
10:10To start with, Kamala's powers were changed to being light constructs similar to DC's Green Lanterns.
10:16Next, they removed her inhuman history.
10:18Kamala, there's something different in your genes.
10:22Instead, the show mentioned her mutated cells.
10:40As a result, Kamala was changed in the comics too.
10:43She morphed into an inhuman mutant hybrid, allowing her to become part of the X-Men team, as well as introducing the MCU's construct powers, confusing everyone.
10:53I'm still figuring it out.
10:55Of course you are.
10:57Hey, we're all still figuring it out.
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11:16Number 1. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's Origins
11:19For decades, even non-comic readers knew that twin siblings Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were mutants in The Children of Magneto.
11:26Yet, due to Fox owning the X-Men franchise and everything mutant at the time, the MCU couldn't have that.
11:32And the survivors?
11:34The twins.
11:37Sooner or later, we will meet the twins.
11:44Introduced in 2014's Captain America The Winter Soldier, the duo weren't mutants anymore.
11:49Instead, they were the result of HYDRA's experiments with the Mind Stone.
11:53Send out the twins.
11:55It's just hard.
11:57It's what they signed up for.
11:59My men can hold them.
12:01The comics then followed suit by retconning that the twins weren't Magneto's kids.
12:05Eventually, it was discovered they weren't even mutant, but had been experimented on by the high evolutionary.
12:11With Disney buying Fox's entertainment branch and getting the X-Men rights back, the change to Maximoff's histories have become even more hated as fans ask for the mutant Q to return.
12:20What other controversial change between the comics and MCU did we miss?
12:32Let us know in the comments down below.
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