The MCU has been teasing the Living Tribunal, considered one of the most powerful entities in the MCU multiverse, only second to the One Above All, since the first Doctor Strange. Since then, the character, who serves as the judge, jury, and executioner in universe-trembling affairs, has been teased several times, most notably in Multiverse of Madness and Loki.
But long before the multiversal saga kickstarted, the character almost made its debut in Avengers: Infinity War, and per the initial draft of the film, he’d have judged Thanos’ actions.
Avengers: Infinity War Almost Saw the Living Tribunal Deeming Thanos Guilty
According to the initial drafts of Avengers: Infinity War, the Living Tribunal would’ve played a notable part in the film’s climax. Considering the Cosmic entity plays a major part in the Infinity Gauntlet storyline, the writing duo of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely originally incorporated the character in the film’s initial draft. Per their initial plans, during the Titan fight, which saw Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians going against the Mad Titan, Strange would’ve blown Thanos’ mind, “and sent him through the mindscape.”
As a result, the Mad Titan would’ve found himself in front of the Living Tribunal, who would’ve judged him for his atrocities and deemed him guilty. During their panel (via CBR) on SDCC, Markus said:
“It was partly inspired by Kevin Feige… he came into the conference room in Atlanta, where we were trapped for years, and he had brought a bunch of comics panels with him… we were pretty far down the road… and he wanted to make sure we didn’t lost the psychedelic nature of the [Jim] Starlin universe… and so we stuck the Living Tribunal in the movie. So, as Thanos and Doctor Strange came to blows, Doctor Strange blew Thanos’ mind and sent him through the mindscape.” McFeely added, “In the end, he would have been dumped in front of the Living Tribunal, who judged him guilty.”
Fans are reasonably disappointed that the scene never materialized, as the writing duo took the character out of the later drafts of the film.
We were so robbed… pic.twitter.com/uUD9qutqSx
— Geeky (@thegeekycast) March 19, 2024
Usually when they do this it’s because they think they can save it for a bigger more epic moment later on. They’ve been teasing beings like Eternity and the living tribunal for forever
— Kizit YT (@Kizit_Gaming) March 19, 2024
We always get robbed
— JT57 (@dub0890) March 19, 2024
What!? 😭 i would've loved to see that
— Hunter (@hunter_C08) March 19, 2024
I really hope the deleted scene scene Doctor Strange sends Thanos to be judged by The Living Tribunal (from Infinity War) ends up released at one point or another. I'd accept an animatic!
— Thoughtform (@3RZL) December 26, 2019
But while we were robbed of witnessing the Living Tribunal back in 2018, it seems Kevin Feige hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of introducing the character at some stage in the future.
The Living Tribunal Might Be Still in the MCU’s Scheme of Things
Previously speaking to the New York Times, Stephen McFeely elaborated on why the scene was cut out, stressing that it’d have been just “too much to just throw.” However, he revealed that the idea is still cooking in the Marvel headquarters, stating, “We probably just spoiled it.”
Considering the cosmic entity has been teased numerous times since then in the MCU, it’s reasonable to assume, sooner or later, we’ll witness the Living Tribunal interfering with MCU affairs.
Avengers: Infinity War is available to stream on Disney Plus.
