7 Marvel Comics Moments Too Dark For The MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a lot of stories it can pull from comics, but some Marvel Comics storylines are way too dark for the MCU. There are a lot of things that go into making movies and streaming shows in the MCU, not the least of which is meeting Disney standards when creating mostly family-friendly entertainment. There are some instances where the MCU pushes boundaries, such as the Marvel Zombies series on Disney+ or the R-rated Deadpool movies. However, even these are mostly safe and free of overly sensitive or offensive content. Over the years, Marvel Comics hasn’t had a problem with these stories, though.

Here are seven Marvel Comics moments that are too dark to make it into the MCU, either as a movie or a Disney+ streaming series.

7) The Mutant Massacre

Marvel Comics has plenty of dark storylines that have made their way into the movies. There have been plenty of deaths, too, with even major heroes like Iron Man dying at the end of Avengers: Endgame. That said, there is one Marvel moment that includes some deaths that could never make it into a movie or streaming series without some severe alterations.

This is the X-Men Mutant Massacre storyline. This storyline saw the Mauraders head into the underground tunnels, where the mutants who couldn’t pass in real society lived in peace. Under orders from Mister Sinister, they went into the tunnels and slaughtered almost every man, woman, and child they could find. It was a terrible moment and one of the worst in X-Men history. Even if they wanted to make it, the MCU would likely have to change many of the deaths to get made, even with an R-rating.

6) Wolverine: Red Right Hand

This Wolverine storyline could make for an incredible movie, but it is really too bleak, dark, and demented to work outside of a hard R-rated release, and the MCU doesn’t do movies that dark. This storyline introduces the Red Right Hand, a criminal organization formed by those driven to do so by Wolverine’s actions. Everyone in this group had either been wronged by Wolverine or had a loved one killed by the X-Men member.

Their plan was simple. They wanted to send Wolverine’s soul to Hell, and to do so, they recruited Wolverine’s son, Daken, and he went and found all the children Wolverine had sired over his life. They then trained them and sent them after Wovlerine. What happened next was horrific as Wolverine killed all of his children in battle. After this, Wolverine found the Red Right Hand, and they told him the truth about his children. They then all died by suicide, going to Hell themselves to celebrate their “victory.” There is no way the MCU does anything this dark and demented.

5) Iron Man Demon in a Bottle

The MCU already proved they were not willing to deal with a dark storyline like Iron Man’s Demon in a Bottle. The closest they came was in Iron Man 2, where Tony Stark got drunk and made a mess with his armor. There was also a scene where he was drunk and throwing up on a plane with Pepper Potts. However, the MCU avoided the real storyline of Stark dealing with his alcoholism.

The Marvel Comics storyline showed Tony so deep in the bottle that he lost his company and went into hiding, living in the slums since he couldn’t take being sober and facing his real-life problems. Even with Captain America and James Rhodes looking for him, Tony wouldn’t clean up. It is a real-world problem, and not one the MCU would do with a character like Iron Man in the movies.

4) The Immortal Hulk

The Immortal Hulk would make a fantastic horror television series. The MCU has shown it can do horror, both on the big screen in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and on TV in Marvel Zombies. However, the horror in those was either animated zombies or mystical supernatural elements, although Doctor Strange did include some gross death scenes with the Illuminati.

That said, The Immortal Hulk is a very different kind of existential horror. This entire series was pure horror, including a trip into the Gamma version of Hell, the Below-Place, where the Green Door allows the dead Gamma mutates to return to life. However, on top of the Below-Place, there is also the intense body horror that premiated the storyline. There is little chance the MCU would ever want to go that deep into R-rated territory.

3) Absolute Carnage

Absolute Carnage is one of the scariest Marvel Comics series in the main run of the comic book line. This took place in the world of Spider-Man and Venom, where their deadly enemy, Carnage, took his murderous impulses to a cosmic level. This is because Carnage knew there was a higher power out there that created the symbiotes, and he wanted to bring that force to Earth, which would be devastating.

Spider-Man movies in the MCU are mostly fun action fare, and even Venom movies at Sony are not too overly dark, with even Carnage’s appearance nothing more than another supervillain Venom had to defeat. However, Absolute Carnage took the villain to the extreme, where he killed countless people and eventually helped free Knull. Those events happened in the Venom movies, but not on the level of this comic book event series.

2) Ruins

One of Marvel’s most broken multiverse Earths is Earth-9591, introduced in the dark, disturbing series Ruins. The idea for Ruins came from the brilliant, uplifting series Marvels, which retold several events from Marvel history from the point of view of people on the streets. That series, with art by Alex Ross, was a love letter to superheroes. Ruins was a nightmare for superheroes.

Once again told from the point of view of regular people, Ruins didn’t present Marvel history but an alternate history in which the world was destroyed. Written by Warren Ellis, this story had the Fantastic Four die before becoming heroes, and the Avengers all die during a rebellion. Hulk and Spider-Man were mutated creatures, and Professor X kept mutants prisoner rather than educating them. Maybe this could work as a What If…? episode, but it would be the darkest the MCU has ever made.

1) Ultimatum

There is no possible way the MCU would ever even consider making a series as dark as Ultimatum, even as a What If…? episode. Too many messed-up things happen in this series for it to ever make its way into the MCU. It all starts with Magneto breaking Professor X’s neck, killing him on the spot. Magneto then uses his power on the Earth’s axis, causing mass floods and weather anomalies that kill thousands of civilians.

Things get even worse as it goes on. There is a disgusting scene where Blob eats the Wasp. When Hank Pym catches them, he then grabs Blob and bites his head off. These are the kinds of things that guarantee it will never see the light of day in the MCU. Ultimatum was only made to shock readers, and remains one of Marvel’s worst event series, although its improved follow-up helped the comic line rebound slightly.

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