The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a lot of things, but gory is not one of them. Despite being an incredible tale of zealous and righteous superheroes saving the day from some or the other deadly enemy, the franchise has largely managed to remain far from what most would associate as ‘gory’ and ‘ghastly’.
While there have been movies and series with extreme and incessant violence, these have largely remained confined to the general display of gruesomeness. Even Avengers: Endgame, which featured one of the biggest showdowns in the entire MCU, remained largely gruesome-less. However, all this would have changed had one scene too dark for the family-friendly MCU had made it to the movie.
Marvel Would Have Turned Too Dark Had They Included This One Scene In Endgame
Every Marvel fan knows what an epic movie Avengers: Endgame was, and most of us would literally sell our souls to the devil to watch it all over again. The movie marked the end of an era within the MCU, but above all, it gave one of the most satisfying battles ever by featuring multiple Avengers in one single frame.
However, most of us would have a very different recollection and reaction to the movie, had this one scene made it to the final draft. While at Entertainment Weekly‘s San Diego Comic-Con video studio back in 2019, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo revealed that they had been toying with the idea of having Thanos murder the 2014 version of the Avengers and then make it to the present day through a portal and throwing the severed head of Captain America at the present-day Avengers’ feet.
“We clung to that story line for so long just for that moment of Thanos walking through a portal and dropping Captain America’s severed head.”
Stated Anthony, however, not being able to make it happen without causing major alterations to the entire script made them let go of the idea. While the duo accepted that it would have turned too dark and gruesome for the MCU, the scene seemed to make sense seeing it was Thanos they were up against.
Fans Have Mixed Reactions to This One Shocking Plot Detail
To have the Mad Titan butcher the entire Avengers is gruesome enough, but to have him carry Captain America’s decapitated head would have been some Wes Craven-level gory for the family-friendly MCU. Kevin Feige, on the other hand, went way ahead and instead wanted Thanos to sit atop a throne made of bones and have him throw Captain America’s severed head at present-day Cap like a bowling ball (via Empire).
Fortunately-unfortunately, none of the scenes made it to the final film, but fans had some mixed reactions to the news.
That would’ve been dark af
— TheExplosiveGamer (@Donomite_) March 8, 2024
This would have been cool and they could have started a trend of going darker which I feel is sorely needed to fix MCU. Like Harry Potter you get everyone invested and as kids grow up watching they get more adult themes and the new kids have the older films with less adult…
— Jakey (@CarringtonJakey) March 8, 2024
I still wish they did this
— Brandon (@Xx__BR4ND0N) March 8, 2024
If Endgame only had the sauce 😔😭 we could have had one of the most legendary scenes in the MCU for drastically different reasons
— Marvelous Gamer (@Mar_DC767620022) March 8, 2024
That’s crazy.
I still wonder what timeline branch was the one Tony saw when Scarlet Witch messed with his head and he looked into the future.
Or did all that change because he sacrificed himself, therefore avoiding the vision he saw.— leMel (@__leMel__) March 8, 2024
While fans continue to debate whether the scene should have made it or not, one thing is for certain, the scene would have undeniably changed the face and image of the MCU.
Avengers: Endgame can be streamed on Disney+.
