Summary

Warning : This clause hold spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine .

Whilethe Marvel Cinematic Universe ’s movieshave effectively adapted many of the publisher ’s properties , some of this has been at the expense of originality . Though the studio ’s projects deviate in tone and fashion , they generally only do so to a certain extent , take to some complaints aboutthe MCU timelineas a whole , with the franchise make efforts to create a broader assortment ofupcoming Marvel handout . look back at some of the superhero films that nearly came together over the years , it does seem clear-cut that a raft of untapped picture potential never number to twinkle .

From the WWII Captain America sequential film to the heavily - knock Fant4stic , some of the most challenging Marvel movies are n’t in the MCU .

Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange in Multiverse of Madness and the MCU

10Kathryn Bigelow’s Wolverine and the X-Men

Starring Bob Hoskins As The Titular Mutant

In 1990 , Kathryn Bigelow , the award - winning director ofThe Hurt LockerandPoint Break , nearly made the first major X - Men movie . A treatment was take to producer James Cameron , the director ofThe Terminator . Cameron liked it enough to require to get it made , and his then - wife Kathryn Bigelow seemed a good fit for the undertaking . The two would after collaborate onStrange day .

tenner - Men has been incredibly pop since 2000 , yet Fox ’s franchise did fail certain mutants that can be redeemed in the MCU .

9Sinister Six

Drew Goddard Was Slated To Direct The Film

The Amazing Spider - Manand its sequels were criticized for test too hard to build a cinematic universe . These plan were in the beginning specify to build to aSinister Sixmovie , withThe Cabin in the Woodsdirector Drew Goddard attached to write and direct . The picture would have see to it a squad of villains coming together after the close ofThe Amazing Spider - Man 2and would have led to another Andrew Garfield subsequence . Harry Osborn ’s Green Goblin , Paul Giamatti ’s Rhino , and a young Doctor Octopus would likely have appeared in the film .

Everything known about the new teasedSinister Sixmovie suggest that the studio apartment still want a version of this chronicle to happen in another shape . Sony has worked hard to build a universe of their own withVenom , Morbius , and the upcomingKraven the Hunter . A baddie teamup film could wind up being successful for the studio one twenty-four hours . Unfortunately , this looping , limit inTheAmazing Spider - Man ’s universe , did not fall together .

Sony has been working on various versions of a Sinister Six movie for years , but Venom ’s new title may mean the latest try is in problem .

Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson in Captain America: Brave New World and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Civil War

8Quentin Tarantino’s Luke Cage

The Filmmaker Nearly Made A Marvel Film Instead Of Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino has a very specific style , and the thought of him adapting a major property is thus somewhat jarring . However , Tarantino really developed two unmade Marvel photographic film , withLuke Cagebeing an peculiarly exciting proposition . The film maker was a big lover of the character ’s amusing books farm up , and was hungry to adapt a comic - Scripture take on the blaxploitation genre .

regrettably , Tarantino reportedly butted heads with some disagreement about casting . He wish to cast Laurence Fishburne as the nominal Cuban sandwich , while others pushed for Wesley Snipes . In the close , the plastic film never made it past meetings with manufacturer Ed Pressman . The undertaking fell aside , and aLuke Cage moviewas never made , with a Netflix serial finally introducing the character to the forward-looking on - screen Marvel mankind and incorporate him intoThe Defendersteam .

Mike Colter has recently expressed uncertainty regarding his return as Luke Cage , think of the character could be recast for any number of brilliant worker .

Split image of Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man in 2002 and in No Way Home

7The Hands of Shang-Chi

The Director Of Blade Signed On To Helm Shang-Chi Long Before The MCU

In 2001 , the popularity of soldierly artistry films was tremendous , andBladedirector Stephen Norrington wish to take advantage on that . The filmmaker require to make a genuine martial artistry movie while adjust another Marvel property . Other intimate names came on plug-in , with Avi Arad raise and Stan Lee executive - grow . The picture show go through slow development for several class before eventually being forgotten .

Marvel did make aShang - Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsmovie in the MCU , and that adaptation changed a great softwood about how the comics exhibit the part . The comic book character ’s controversial past tense of using Asian stereotype was change to or else look more at espouse genuine component part of the culture it represented . It is unreadable whether Norrington ’s version would have done the same , but it would have certainly been curious to see .

With Disney refocusing its MCU freeing strategy , Shang - Chi worker Simu Liu break the secretiveness on concerns that Shang - Chi 2 will not chance .

Split image of Doctor Strange and Spider-Man

Image Made By Zoe Miskelly

6Guillermo Del Toro’s Doctor Strange

The Film Would Be Written By Novelist Neil Gaiman

In 2007,The Shape of Waterdirector Guillermo Del Toro signed on to train aDoctor Strangemovie . occur off ofPan ’s Labyrinth , interest in the director ’s future was gamy , and for the most part , it seemed he could have made whatever flick he wish well for . The movie maker , however , became impound to many project , andDoctor Strangewound up falling by the wayside .

With his creepy , cinematic style , Del Toro would have likely made a dark version than theDoctor Strangein the MCU.American Godswriter Neil Gaiman was attached to indite the screenplay , which would have been the first live - action photographic film for the hero . While the MCU ’s iteration is a satisfying version of the character , this billet raises many questions about how a Del Toro adaptation would have modify his story .

While Doctor Stange has been an integral penis of the MCU ’s heroic tune - up , many of his appearances have notably squandered his potential .

Non MCU Marvel Movies

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.

5X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Deadpool, And Daredevil: Civil War

A Fox Crossover Event Film Nearly Happened

The MCU has delivered where Fox ’s crossover fail to come together , and much of the movie ’s intentions have been explored since . However , it would have been compelling to see all of these heroes coming together . It is unclear if the moving-picture show would have featured the existing looping of theFantastic Fourincluding Chris Evans and Ben Affleck’sDaredevil , or if the eccentric would have been newly cast . Either way , it would have made for an incredible and exciting event movie .

The events of Julius Onah ’s Captain America : Brave New World are undo what happened in the Russo Brothers ' Captain America : Civil War .

4Gambit

Channing Tatum Was Set To Play The New Orleans Mutant

In 2014 , Fox announced that aGambitmovie would be made and that Channing Tatum would star . The character is a darling part of the ten - Men comic books and recreate serial , and is perhaps the most notably left out type from the celluloid , only appearing inX - man Origins : Wolverineplayed by Taylor Kitsch . Rupert Wyatt , Doug Liman , and Gore Verbinski all rotated through as music director , and the projection ultimately was never made . With Tatum ’s passion for the character reference , this was a important disappointment for the actor .

The failedX - Men picture got justicewith the dismissal ofDeadpool & Wolverine , where the actor is finally feature in the role . However , Tatum ’s motion picture never got made , and at this point , it belike never will . The character of Gambit is now potential to be a part of the MCU ’s inevitableX - Menreboot , but will for certain get a newly cast actor . Some have speculated Austin Butler would be idealistic for the part .

3Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4

Tobey Maguire Nearly Starred In Another Spider-Man Film

Sam Raimi ’s rules for a Spider - Man 4 with Tobey Maguire allow for one of Spider - Man ’s best comic storyline to be adapt in Raimi ’s universe .

2Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man

Wright Left The Project Due To Creative Differences And Peyton Reed Took Over

Several old age ago , the musical theme of anAnt - Manmovie seemed like a prank . This remain the case untilEdgar Wright , the celebrated author / theater director ofShaun of the DeadandBaby Driver , put together an incredible piece of test footage showing how the paladin could operate in a alive - action film . Fighting while speedily change sizing , the visual made a compelling subject and convince Marvel to move forward with anAnt - Manfilm in their universe .

unluckily , things did not add up together , and the theater director leave the project shortly before it was localise to begin filming . With such a specific trend , Edgar Wright’sAnt - Manexithas been presented as come from disagreements about interconnectivity . The film had been a passion projection for the film maker since before the MCU survive , andall of the concessions that Wright would have to make to locate in the universe did not allow him to proceed with his imagination . He left the labor , and only some spare elements of what he wanted to make remained in the last celluloid .

1James Cameron’s Spider-Man

The Aliens Director Nearly Made The First Spider-Man Film

For years in the 1990s , James Cameron - perhaps the most successful filmmaker of all metre - worked hard to get aSpider - Manmovie off the land . The director ofAvatarandTitanicwrote a handwriting , and many features of that script made it into the eventual Sam Raimi film , including the grapheme ’s internet - shooters being natural . However , Cameron ’s hand would seemingly have focused much more on the consistency horror aspects of being Spider - Man , and leaned into the discovery of Peter ’s powers as a metaphor for puberty .

Full details of the movie seem to be contested . However , Cameron wanted either Leonardo DiCaprio orTerminator 2 : Judgement Day ’s Edward Furlong to play the lead role . The flick was potential to feature multiple baddie , reportedly include Arnold Schwarzenegger as Doctor Octopus , and would have end with an enormous bridge fight , just like the Raimi film . guess about how such an forward-looking , famous , and creative filmmaker might have executed his ownSpider - Manleaves this as perhaps the most disappointing of all theMarvelprojects that were never produced .

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia system superhero dealership that start in 2008 with Paramount ’s Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. The franchise promptly grow in popularity , with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009 . The MCU dwell of dozens of film and boob tube show , most notably Avengers : Endgame , WandaVision , and Loki .

X-Men Collage Featuring Jean Grey, Rogue, and Emma Frost

Upcoming Marvel picture

Release Date

Captain America : Brave New World

A split image of Kraven the Hunter and Eddie Brock, aka Venom, in the Sony Spider-Man Universe

February 14 , 2025

Thunderbolts *

May 2 , 2025

Screenshot 2024-05-28 144252

The Fantastic Four : First footfall

July 25 , 2025

Blade

Simu Liu looking sideways in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

November 7 , 2025

retaliator : Doomsday

May 1 , 2026

MCU Franchise Poster

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.

Avengers : Secret war

May 7 , 2027

Marvel Cinematic Universe