After Looking At All The MCU’s Releases, I’m Convinced These Are The Franchise’s 10 Biggest Wasted Opportunities

There is no doubt that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a huge entertainment engine, but there are a couple of missteps along the way that could have been so much better with a little tweaking. Since 2008, the MCU has been defying all expectations and creating an enormous shared story that continues to earn billions at the box office. However, that doesn"t make it infallible.
While the MCU has delivered some home run stories like Avengers: Endgame, the wider MCU has occasionally set its sights on projects that were unattainable. Or, on occasion, a story from the comics with a lot of potential was adapted in a disappointing way. Whatever the case, the fact is that the MCU has had its fair share of sour moments.
10 Secret Invasion's Story Has Some Huge Missed Potential Close One of the most disappointing outings in the Multiverse Saga was something with so much potential. Secret Invasion is one of the most spectacular comic book stories ever made, spanning dozens of comics and years of time. In the story, there are numerous heroes who are unmasked to be Skrull"s hiding on Earth, and the showdown to end the invasion is epic.

Related Which MCU show is the absolute worst? I fully believe that Secret Invasion is the worst MCU show of all time. I"m a pretty big optimist when it comes to the MCU, and I can often find the positives in every project. While I did like Nick Fury"s relationship with Talos, I"ve never been more frustrated with a show and its largely wasted potential from start to finish. From Maria Hill"s death in the premiere to G"iah"s dumb CGI powers battle with Gravik, Secret Invasion was so aggravating when it could have and should have been so much more (like a full-on Avengers movie).
Posts However, in the MCU"s version, the story was scaled way back in order to work in a TV format, with a smaller budget, and less crossover with the headline movies and characters. And ultimately, this made a story that should have been epic and sprawling, seem small, and unimportant. This would have been so much better as a Saga, rather than a limited series.
9 Hulk's Son Skaar Appeared With No Backstory Close So, Hulk was able to roam freely on Sakaar without the intervention of Bruce Banner. However, upon returning to Earth, and Bruce Banner gaining control of their shared body, it"s revealed that Hulk has a son named Skaar. But this moment comes so suddenly, and with no explanation or expansion, because it"s simply dropped in as a post-credit tease in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Marvel has a lot to explain with this one, including if Bruce has any actual connection to his new "son," since Hulk was in the driving seat. And does Skaar like Bruce, or feel cheated that his father, Hulk, is now just a body occupied by Banner"s brain? It"s so complex, and so bizarre, but the MCU did nothing to further explain or ensure the origin would eventually be revealed.
8 Not Giving Scorpion An Actual Villain Story After Spider-Man: Homecoming Close When Michael Mando showed up in the Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scene playing Mac Gargan, it was a revelatory moment. The character has never appeared in live-action before, and Mando is the perfect casting for the role. But then, Far From Home came out and Mac was nowhere to be seen. A few years later, No Way Home arrives, and again, Mac is AWOL.

Related I'm Convinced These 10 Spider-Man MCU Movie Scenes Prove He's A Perfect Street-Level Marvel Hero Tom Holland"s Spider-Man may be known for being a world-saving Avenger, but he has also starred in several grounded, street-level MCU scenes.
Posts Scorpion is one of the most terrifying rivals in the animated shows and comics, and Mando is a phenomenal bad guy as seen in his other works. Not capitalizing on this casting is an affront, and the fact that it"s almost been a decade with no update since Homecoming is disappointing. Potentially it can still happen in the future, but Marvel needs to get on top of this character ASAP.
7 Donald Glover Was Ready To Introduce Prowler & Miles Morales Years Ago Close Speaking of unrealized potential from Spider-Man: Homecoming, another incredibly exciting moment that plays out early in the movie is when Donald Glover shows up as a weapons dealer by the name of Aaron. He reveals that he has a nephew, and quickly, fans put two and two together that this was none other than Prowler, and his nephew was Miles Morales, aka, the next Spider-Man.
Glover is an outstanding actor, and someone who has long had a passion for the character of Miles Morales, and while he may be a little too old to play that character in the MCU, it"s not too late to bring him back as the Prowler, as he was set up to be in 2017. With Spider-Man: Brand New Day coming out in 2026, there is a chance this could come full circle, but it needs to happen now.
6 Starfox Is The Brother Of Thanos In The Comics Close It"s exciting enough that global pop star Harry Styles was cast in a role in the MCU, but having him play Starfox and appear in the post-credits was a mind-blowing reveal. In fact, since the movie ended up being so poorly received, it"s possible that this scene alone was one of the most exciting parts of the movie, especially because of the character that Styles is playing.

Related I Still Can’t Believe The MCU Introduced A Perfect Way To Explore Thanos’ Story More After His Death & Have Totally Ignored It For 4 Years The MCU set up a perfect way to make Thanos" story relevant to the franchise in a new way following his death - but this hasn"t been followed up on.
Posts Styles plays Starfox, aka the brother of the Mad Titan, Thanos. In the comics, this relationship is a pivotal part of their stories, and it"s one that could have been incredible to see adapted on the big screen. However, with the fate of the Eternals not looking good, Starfox may be retired before he ever gets a chance to tell his side of the story. But hopefully the character and his origin can be revisited down the road.
5 Bill Foster's Giant-Man Never Came Back After His First Appearance Close In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott Land meets an old friend of Hank Pym, Bill Foster, who used to team up with Hank on missions. Foster is played by Laurence Fishburne, a legend in his own right, who added gravity and intensity to his complex role. And while this was a clear set-up for Bill Foster"s Giant-Man to make an appearance down the line, it never materialized.
Considering his connection with Ava Starr, there were some plans to have him return for Thunderbolts* alongside his adopted daughter (via The Wrap), but that also didn"t happen. Now, the character appears to have disappeared into the background, with dwindling hopes that he will ever return again.
4 Agents of SHIELD Was Sidelined Despite Efforts To Connect To The MCU Close After the MCU was a proven concept, with Phase One establishing a successful foundation for the sprawling universe, and The Avengers proving a big hit, Marvel wanted to branch out in other mediums. As a result, Marvel established Agents of SHIELD as a spin-off TV show for the MCU, which would still be connected to the events of the movies. Phil Coulson returned from the dead, and his role as a secret spy helped to explain the disconnect from the heroes.

Related Are the Agents of SHIELD Getting Back Together? Marvel Just Opened the Door The ABC Agents of SHIELD show may be long over, but prominent members of Coulson"s famous team are slowly cropping up again in Marvel"s comics.
Posts 3 However, the show did feature cameos from Nick Fury and Maria Hill, as well as a handful of other characters who were involved in SHIELD or HYDRA. Despite the best efforts of the show to keep up and remain connected to the MCU, eventually, they were left behind, and forced to fend for themselves. The show continued for seven seasons, and continued to get more adventurous with the storytelling, but the disconnect was disappointing.
3 Peter Quill Could Have Explored His Celestial Powers A Little More Before They Disappeared Close In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Peter Quill meets his father. However, Quill learns that Ego, the Living Planet, is not a good guy. Despite an initial connection and a desire to reconnect, Peter saw how his father was evil, and the harm he caused wherever he went, so he and the other Guardians worked together to destroy Ego.
However, this also severed Quill"s connection with his father, who possessed Celestial power that his son also shared. Quill could materialize things with his mind thanks to these Celestial powers. But, Marvel likely needed to nerf his powers, and ensure he stayed the lovable goofball he always was, so rather than limited powers, Peter became completely mortal once his father died.
2 Gorr The God Butcher Barely Fought Any Gods In Thor: Love & Thunder Close Christian Bale is one of the most incredible actors of his generation. He can transform for his roles, and become whatever the project calls for, whether that"s a hero, a monster, or something somewhere in between. So, when he was tagged to play Gorr the God Butcher, it was an incredibly exciting premise for this terrifying character to arrive on the big screen.

Related 7 Years Later, I Still Can’t Believe The Complaints About Thor’s Avengers: Infinity War Story Given How The Movie Begins Considering the harrowing opening scene in Avengers: Infinity War, I don’t understand why people can still blame Thor for his actions throughout.
Posts 8 However, while Gorr in the comics manages to tear through countless gods, the version that appears in the MCU is considerably less impressive. Yes, he stands up to gods, and he can be intimidating, but the full impact is not felt when this character amounts to something far less powerful. Seeing even a handful of other battles between Gorr and the gods could have significantly enhanced how terrifying he is as a villain.
1 The MCU Barely Showed The Avengers Interacting In Between Battles Close The Thunderbolts* really put into perspective how much of a family The New Avengers became. In the same way, the Guardians of the Galaxy were given time and space to build their connection with each new release. But, when it comes to the original Avengers, the team was actually largely a group of strangers and solo acts.
With solo movies, the characters got time to explore their stories, but the team-up movies were a fast-paced race to the end. If the heroes were given a little more time to bond, rather than a post-credits clip of them sharing shawarma silently, it might have made their dynamic even better. They did form some friendships in the group, but there was a lot more potential to explore this than was ended up appearing on-screen in the MCU.
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