5 Deleted Scenes That Would've Completely Changed Marvel Movies

The Incredible Hulk (2008) once started very differently from the final cut, which opts for a fast-paced montage infused over the opening credits. The alternate opening, which is available on the DVD, gives the movie a much darker tone. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) goes to the Arctic to end his own life before The Hulk takes over, changing the character’s trajectory. When Banner becomes Hulk, he smashes his fist into the glacier, causing a literal and figurative ripple. It’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fast, but frozen Captain America is in that ice. The MCU was so new that it hadn’t recast and retooled Bruce into the version we see in The Avengers (2012). 

This alternate opening presents an intention for The Incredible Hulk to cement its place in the shared universe. It would’ve paired nicely with the end-credits scene with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). It would’ve been a bit like Thor (2011) introducing Clint Barton/Hawkeye before The Avengers, but far more discreet. It also wouldn’t necessarily step on the ending of Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). I also find it fascinating because Captain America: Brave New World (2025) and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) brought the movie’s character back into the MCU’s narrative.

I vividly remember a time when paparazzi photos of Shailene Woodley as Mary Jane Watson first floated around the internet. I was excited to see her take on the character after growing up with Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. However, as Woodley has spoken about recently, those scenes were cut from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). 

I understand why the scenes were cut. It would’ve been slightly jarring to see Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) meet Mary Jane in the same movie where Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) dies. Yes, it would’ve signaled that he can find love, albeit differently, again, and that he can’t stop living in the absence of Gwen. However, it would’ve felt a bit like emotional whiplash. I mean, I’m still not over Gwen’s death, and it’s been more than a decade. Likewise, since Sony Pictures shelved the third movie in Garfield’s Spider-Man trilogy, it would’ve been so disappointing to meet Mary Jane, only never to see her again and not know where their story goes next.

Every time there’s a new Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) included, I wonder if the MCU will finally call back to one of its most memorable deleted scenes. There’s potential in Brand New Day’s end credits, but nothing has been more explicit than a Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) deleted scene starring Donald Glover as Aaron Davis, Miles’ uncle. 

The deleted footage continues from a parking garage scene that remains in the movie. In the final cut, Peter Park/Spider-Man (Tom Holland) tries to interrogate Aaron about whoever’s dealing weapons in their neighborhood. Aaron mentions his nephew as a reason why he doesn’t want the weapons making the neighborhood more dangerous. That’s the wink to the deleted scene’s nudge, in which Aaron calls his nephew and says, “Sorry, Miles. I’m not going to make it.” So, Miles Morales very much exists in the MCU’s world, but fans may not know that if they haven’t read between the lines of the original scene and watched the deleted one. 

This deleted scene is one that I really wish had stayed in Black Widow (2021). When I watched the movie for the first time, I loved it from that harrowing opening title sequence. However, one of the characters that didn’t always work well for me was Rick Mason (O-T Fagbenle). It felt like I never got to know his character or his relationship with Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow all that well. Their dynamic is already established before the movie, but Mason’s scenes in Black Widow are so short and so sporadic that it’s hard to really grasp his importance to Natasha.

There is a deleted scene with Mason that could’ve changed that. At one point, Mason is apprehended by Thaddeus Ross to set Natasha up. During the wiretapped phone call, Mason talks to Natasha in code that she instantly understands. This exchange captures Mason’s loyalty to Natasha and Natasha’s trust in Mason, as well as Thaddeus’s determination and reach. Ultimately, this scene could’ve made one of the movie’s weaker elements stronger. However, I understand why it ended up on the cutting room floor. Keeping it would mean having to properly explain or show how Mason escaped Thaddeus, and maybe there just wasn’t time for that.

Sometimes, I think that Katherine Langford playing an older Morgan Stark (Lexi Rabe) in Avengers: Endgame (2019) is a fever dream that I had. I blame the fact that I saw that movie so many times that I probably convinced myself I saw the scene during one of the showings. I obviously didn’t because it was cut from the theatrical release, and I’m glad that it was. I understand the desire for Tony to get some closure and to see Morgan again. However, this scene would change the emotional impact of Avengers: Endgame’s final act. 

The deleted scene shows Tony Stark in the Soulworld after snapping Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) gauntlet. Tony, who doubts his choice, meets Langford’s Morgan. She tells him that she got to live and is happy. Tony replies, “If you’re happy, I’m happy,” and the scene ends with the now iconic phrase, “I love you 3000.” Keeping this scene in the movie rephrases Tony’s death. It dampens the conviction in his choice with that “I am Iron Man” moment. It also disrupts the movie’s pacing and satisfaction to cut from that to the Soulworld. It’s better to sit there in the aftermath of Thanos and his team disappearing and the team reacting to Tony’s death. Ultimately, Avengers: Endgame makes the right choice by deleting this one. But who knows, maybe it’ll be in the movie’s extended cut, which will be in theaters this September.