The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a huge franchise that brought together a plethora of writers, directors, and actors. Different writers have their unique set of ideas on what they want to bring to the universe. Some stories and characters from comic books are adapted loyally, but some are tweaked during the translation. While we are exploring the character arc of Loki, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes in-depth, several significant characters were tossed unceremoniously by the directors. These were brought to the screens only to be discarded soon after. Find out the 10 MCU characters who were introduced only to be wasted later.
Pietro Maximoff
No hero, especially a speedster, has ever been unceremoniously killed like Pietro. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were the only X-Men characters that the MCU could have used in their movies. But instead of utilizing them, they introduced Quicksilver and killed him. What was the point of bringing such a major character from the Comic Books if you had to dispose of him like that? Was he used only for Wanda’s character arc?
Black Widow
While all the six Avengers were equally valuable, only three of them got the most spotlights. Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were always in the front seats with maximum space and attention on them. Even Thor has enjoyed quite some importance with three standalone and one upcoming film. The remaining, especially Natasha Romanoff, was projected as a side hero, even though she had much more to contribute according to the books. This franchise never dug into her past. Even though her movie is coming out, it’s already too late to understand the character arc of someone dead.
Pietro Maximoff 2
There are plenty of instances of MCU discarding a major character, but the biggest disappointment was Quicksilver in “WandaVision”. God knows how many theories were built after Evan Peters from the X-Men franchise reprived his role in “WandaVision”. It was the finale that revealed how far the truth was from what we had thought. But just like Mandarin, a major villain in Iron Man, this Pietro also turned out to be a bad joke. Instead of introducing the X-Men in this universe, they just played with our emotions.
Betty Ross
What happened with Bruce Banner and his universe in the franchise is super weird and inexplicable. MCU recast the Hulk with Mark Ruffalo without any acknowledgement and totally ignored the existence of “The Incredible Hulk”. While the same General Ross is still in the universe, there is no mention of his daughter, Betty Ross whatsoever. Not only was she his daughter, but Betty was a major love interest of Banner. Is MCU never going to address the dent in the continuation? We hope they remember that fans have seen Betty and are wondering why Bruce has forgotten about her.
Hawkeye
The original Avengers was founded by all the six members, yet Hawkeye featured like a minor character throughout the franchise. As one of the founding members and front-line warriors, he should have received the same spotlight as his colleagues. Sadly, MCU never paid attention to his arc and how he came to join the Avengers. Clint Barton had a thrilling backstory and a character development in the comic books, none of which was even slightly mentioned on the silver screen.
Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner was one of the most crucial parts and the oldest members of the Avengers team. Even though fans love Mark Ruffalo’s natural portrayal as Banner, no one has really known him that closely. One moment he is the angry Hulk and in the next, he is the cool professor Hulk signing autographs. MCU failed to throw light on his character development the way it did to Tony and Thor’s.
Aaron Davis
When it comes to Easter Eggs and forewarnings, MCU is the master of this game. It is always leaving breadcrumbs for fans to pick up on which they base their theories. Aaron Davis or the famous Uncle Aaron or Prowler had also appeared in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” for the same purpose, at least that’s what we assumed. Donald Glover’s Aaron mentioning his nephew aka Miles Morales was a huge Easter egg, but the character neither appeared nor was brought up again.
War Machine
James Rhodes was Tony Stark’s best friend and partner during wars and missions. Yet, he didn’t get enough screen time as Bucky Barnes got as Steve Roger’s BFF. Rhodey started out well in “Iron Man 2” but the character’s space gradually shortened with every movie. Fans were also bummed at War Machine’s super short and one-time appearance in TFATWS.
Mar-Vell
Can we pause for a moment and process the fact that Mar-Vell made a debut on the silver screen, followed by an immediate death? This is not the first time when MCU cast an A-list actor for a much-awaited role, only to kill them immediately. There are many great characters from Marvel Comic Books that were not utilized to their full potential. Annette Bening is one of them. She starred as the iconic Mar-Vell in Captain Marvel’s universe but got killed by Yon-Rogg before the end of the film.
Battlestar
Translating comic book stories to the screen is not an easy task. It has to be to the point and well-explored within the given time limit. That’s why MCU has to often kill characters to make space for others in future projects. Lamar and John Walker existed in the comic books and had their own set of adventures. But when they finally got to debut on the screen, Battlestar was killed and tossed long before “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” ended.
