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Thanos' destruction of Xandar is a glaring MCU omission.
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00:00The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about as expansive as modern movie franchises get.
00:05And yet, even with such a massive canvas on which to tell basically any kind of story they want,
00:10Marvel Studios hasn't always found room for everything, for better or worse.
00:15There are many, many pivotal or amusing MCU moments that ended up taking place largely off-screen,
00:22leaving fans to basically fill in the blanks in their own imagination.
00:25So, with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here with 10 off-screen MCU moments we all want
00:31to see.
00:32Number 10. The Fallout of the Blip in Avengers Endgame
00:37In terms of sheer global impact, the most glaring MCU emission to date is surely the five years' worth of
00:43trauma and chaos
00:45that transpired during the Blip before Thanos' decimation of the universe was finally undone in Avengers Endgame.
00:51In the four-plus years since Infinity War was released, we've seen only fleeting snippets of life during the Blip,
00:57despite the absolute goldmine of material it offers for both movies and especially more expansive Disney Plus shows.
01:04The psychological impact of the snap on those left behind, both regular civilians and superheroes, speaks for itself,
01:10not to ignore the volatile power vacuum as various unsnapped villains scramble to take advantage of the situation.
01:16This would be a fascinatingly eerie setting for future MCU stories,
01:21and it's frankly baffling that we've seen so little of what is undeniably the most pivotal and transformative event in
01:27the MCU's history to date.
01:29While there's likely never going to be a time where fans won't want to see more of life during the
01:33Blip,
01:33it nevertheless makes sense to strike while the iron's hot and tell these stories while Infinity War and Endgame are
01:38still fresh in fans' minds.
01:40Number 9. Hulk becomes Sakaar's champion in Thor Ragnarok
01:45Though Thor Ragnarok lovingly incorporated elements of the beloved Planet Hulk comic storyline,
01:51many fans decried the fact that it was ultimately adapted in such a piecemeal fashion,
01:55effectively serving as a relatively minor portion of Ragnarok's story.
01:59By the time we first see the Hulk on the alien planet Sakaar, he's already a much-Ballyhooed champion gladiator,
02:05when the journey getting to that point would arguably be much more interesting and entertaining.
02:09Ultimately, it would have been ideal for the MCU to simply adapt the Planet Hulk story in a more overt
02:15way,
02:15showing the Hulk's rise through the ranks as an unmatched combatant who wins himself a legion of adoring fans in
02:21the process.
02:21A Planet Hulk movie styled as a parody of classic sports films could have been a lot of fun,
02:26an array of awesome gladiatorial combat crossed with a giddy satire of the cult of celebrity Hulk enjoys on Sakaar.
02:33Sadly, it feels like the boat has well and truly sailed on this one,
02:36especially with Marvel still not pulling the trigger on a solo Hulk film.
02:40Though it's not entirely out of the question that we might catch a flashback to Sakaar in the upcoming She
02:45-Hulk series.
02:478. Peter No. 3 as a bitter, vengeful Spider-Man in Spider-Man No Way Home
02:52One of Spider-Man No Way Home's greatest triumphs was in doing justice to Andrew Garfield's iteration of Peter Parker,
02:59who was of course done so dirty by the wildly uneven Amazing Spider-Man films.
03:04By the time we reconvene with him in No Way Home, it's clear that Peter No. 3 isn't in a
03:09good place.
03:10He confesses that he's still wracked with guilt over the death of his love Gwen Stacy,
03:15and in the years since her demise, he's become a bitter shadow of his former self.
03:19Though Peter No. 3 doesn't go into specifics, he basically implies that he's shifted away from being a friendly neighborhood
03:24Spider-Man
03:25and instead transformed into a more violent, merciless type of superhero,
03:29while using his persona to distract himself from the realities of his grief.
03:33While Peter No. 3 thankfully wound up in a far better spot by the end of No Way Home,
03:37it sure would be fascinating to see a down-and-out, ruthlessly unforgiving Spider-Man,
03:42vengefully prowling the streets in the wake of Gwen's death.
03:45The fact that Peter No. 3 anguished over his loss for so many years
03:48would have surely seen him embark on some uniquely dark adventures as Spider-Man,
03:52ones quite unlike those undertaken by either Tobey Maguire or Tom Holland's variants of the character.
03:58We'll almost certainly never get to see anything from the period between The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and No Way
04:04Home, sadly,
04:04but the storytelling possibilities are nevertheless massive.
04:08Number 7. Cap returns the Soul Stone to Red Skull in Avengers Endgame.
04:13There are many things that fans would love to see because they'd simply be awesome as hell,
04:18and then there are moments so outrageously weird and awkward that the novel curiosity factor speaks for itself.
04:24Case in point, when Captain America returns the Infinity Stones to their original places in time
04:29at the conclusion of Avengers Endgame. As Cap had to visit Vormir to return the Soul Stone,
04:34that surely guaranteed he had a surprise encounter with the Soul Stone's Stonekeeper,
04:39his own former nemesis, Red Skull.
04:41One can only imagine the look on both of their faces when they each cast their gaze upon the other.
04:46What would they have said and done? Would they have fought?
04:49While the countless possibilities are perhaps more exciting than the franchise ever actually committing to a concrete answer,
04:54this potential-filled belated reunion between Cap and Red Skull is still consistently one of the MCU's most requested missing
05:02scenes.
05:03Number 6. Hulk's Nightmare Vision in Avengers Age of Ultron
05:07Though Scarlet Witch ends up joining the Avengers during Age of Ultron's third act,
05:12she and her brother Quicksilver are initially presented as antagonists,
05:16hell-bent on revenge against Tony Stark and his comrades.
05:20Scarlet Witch uses her abilities to attack the heroes with horrifying visions,
05:23such as Stark witnessing an illusion of Earth being successfully invaded by the Chitauri.
05:28Wanda also subdues Bruce Banner by forcing him to witness a vision,
05:32one which causes him to uncontrollably Hulk out, requiring Tony Stark to stop him with his new Hulkbuster armor.
05:38Yet unlike with Stark, we never actually see the content of Banner's vision,
05:42though the implication is clearly that it's something intensely disturbing enough to make him transform into the Hulk.
05:47Given that all of Wanda's other visions were either reminders of a horrific past,
05:51or premonitions of a painful future,
05:53it's reasonable to assume that Banner may have been witnessing his worst nightmare,
05:57losing control of his abilities and causing a mass catastrophe.
06:01Whatever the content, it's certainly a shame we didn't get to see it,
06:04because anything traumatic enough to freak out the big green guy sure must be bad.
06:08Number 5. The Secret Avengers Fighting Crime in Avengers Infinity War
06:13Captain America's Civil War concludes with Cap breaking his imprisoned allies out of the rough,
06:19which of course leads to the events of Avengers Infinity War,
06:21where Team Cap is effectively working as the Secret Avengers.
06:25Despite their awesome new looks, especially Black Widow's blonde hair and Cap's thick beard,
06:30the Secret Avengers' time as off-the-grid heroes is disappointingly short-lived,
06:34with them rejoining the Cool Revengers' line-up in an attempt to stop Thanos.
06:38Considering that roughly two years pass between Civil War and Infinity War,
06:42that's a lot of unexplored time for Cap, Black Widow and Falcon to be off around the globe fighting crime.
06:48One can only imagine the more minor comic book villains they could have battled during that time,
06:53and which could have made for a thrilling movie or limited series in its own right.
06:57This is another corner of MCU lore we probably won't get to see much,
07:01if any of, unfortunately, especially given the monumental cost of getting Chris Evans,
07:05Scarlett Johansson and Anthony Mackie back together for even a six-episode Disney Plus show.
07:11Number 4. Mordo Tries to Kill Strange A Lot in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
07:17The first Doctor Strange concluded with the revelation that the villainous Carl Mordo
07:21was effectively plotting to purge sorcerers on Earth,
07:24with the implication being that he was coming for Doctor Strange 2.
07:28Mordo reappears in the recent Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,
07:32albeit not quite how anyone expected.
07:34The version of Mordo in the film is a sorcerer supreme from the alt-universe Earth-838,
07:40while the Mordo from Strange Prime's own universe is never actually seen.
07:44However, Strange does make a comment about the original Mordo having dedicated his life
07:48to trying to assassinate him ever since we last saw him,
07:51with all of these attempts evidently being unsuccessful.
07:54Considering the apparent gravity of Mordo's heel turn in the first film's post-credits scene,
07:59it is a bit of a cop-out that this still hasn't been properly followed up almost six years later.
08:04A montage showing off Mordo's various botched attempts to kill Strange in a multitude of wacky
08:09scenarios could have been insanely fun, but with credible rumours suggesting that a scrapped
08:14scene saw Mordo being executed by Wanda at the start of the sequel,
08:17we may never see the original Mordo again.
08:20Number 3. Young Loki turns into a snake and stabs Thor in Thor Ragnarok
08:26While many of the moments on this list are broader and more conceptual,
08:30there's one incredibly specific moment mentioned in Thor Ragnarok that just about everybody would
08:35love to see. In the film, Thor hilariously mentions that when he and Loki were just eight
08:39years old, Loki transformed himself into a snake. Thor, being a great lover of snakes,
08:44went to pick the reptile up, at which point Loki turned back into himself and stabbed his brother,
08:49confirming he's been a sneaky trickster from a most tender young age. Incredibly funny though
08:54the story might be, as told by Thor, actually seeing it would be something else entirely.
09:00We can only hope that we might see the scene play out for real in the upcoming Thor Love and
09:04Thunder, especially as the trailer confirms that the film will feature flashbacks of Thor's youth.
09:09Sometimes the story is only as good as you tell it, but in the case of young Loki turning
09:13himself into a snake and stabbing Thor, we definitely need to see it.
09:17Number 2. Thanos destroys Xandar for the Power Stone in Avengers Infinity War
09:22Avengers Infinity War kicked off with a big surprise, revealing that Thanos had actually
09:27already picked up the Power Stone from Xandar, with it later being confirmed that he sacked the
09:32planet and annihilated the Nova Corps in the process. The Mad Titan then used the stone to intercept and
09:38attack the Statesman, the ship harboring the Asgardian refugees as well as Thor, Loki,
09:43the Hulk and Heimdall, and acquire the Space Stone. While earlier drafts of Infinity War's
09:48scripts did indeed show Thanos destroying Xandar, it was ultimately cut to avoid repetitious scenes of
09:54Thanos wrecking locations and pinching coloured stones, even if it left many fans disappointed
09:59regardless. More than four years since Infinity War's release, fans still regularly lament the scene's
10:04absence, while holding out hope that the recently announced MCU Nova project will feature a flashback
10:10to Thanos' destruction of the planet. While the event has arguably now been built up so much that
10:15it'll struggle to satisfy everyone, it'd still be quite the sight to witness Thanos wreaking havoc on
10:20Xandar. Number 1. Peter and May argue over him being Spider-Man in Spider-Man Homecoming
10:27Spider-Man Homecoming ends on an extremely funny and unexpected exclamation point, when Peter dons
10:34his recently-returned Spider-Man suit, only to be greeted by an unsuspecting Aunt May, who loudly
10:39shouts, what the ffff, as we abruptly cut to the credits. Given that sequel Far From Home picks up
10:45many years later after the blip, we never get to see any sort of confrontation or discussion between Peter
10:50and May about this shocking superheroic revelation. The heavy dramatic lifting all takes place off-screen,
10:56with May having fully accepted Peter's web-slinging superheroism by this point in time. And yet,
11:02considering both the awkwardly comedic and character-driven potential of such a scenario,
11:07it's a shame that we never got to see it. Knowing the headstrong, fiercely protective May's foul-mouthed
11:12reaction to seeing Peter in the spidey suit, we can only imagine that the two didn't exactly have a
11:17calm exchange of words before she came around to the idea, or more likely realised she was powerless
11:23to stop her nephew. There isn't an immediately obvious place where this scene could have been
11:27slotted in, really, beyond appearing as a credits scene in Homecoming, or an establishing scene in
11:32Infinity War. But even then, it likely would have felt pretty rushed in either case.
11:37And that concludes our list. If you can think of any we missed, then do let us know in the
11:41comments
11:41below, and while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
11:45Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias just
11:49by searching Ellie Little Child. I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day,
11:54and I'll see you real soon.
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