5 MCU Movies That Changed Drastically in Reshoots

Reshoots. That single word can instill viewers with a sense of dread. That phrase, fairly or not, has come to indicate that a big-budget feature desperately needs an overhaul. This perception hasn’t been helped by high-profile figures like DC Studios head James Gunn emphasizing that blockbusters like Superman don’t need extensive reshoots thanks to their scripts getting ironed out ahead of time. Marvel Studios and its various features have become especially synonymous with reshoots in recent years, particularly when it comes to the MCU movies made after Avengers: Endgame.

Not every case of reshoots has clinically improved or detracted from a Marvel Cinematic Universe film; the creative results of this process vary wildly from one movie to the next. However, for five Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, the reshoot process resulted in a drastically different motion picture than the one shot during principal photography. The kind of material created during these reshoots demonstrates just how impactful reshoots can be, even on super-costly blockbusters that had lots of advanced planning.

Thor: The Dark World

As if going through countless directors in pre-production wasn’t enough of a hassle, Thor: The Dark World also went through severe turmoil during its reshoots. This included shooting new sequences (some of which were penned by Avengers director Joss Whedon) that heavily focused on Loki (Tom Hiddleston), including a new post-prologue opening sequence showing Odin chastizing his adopted son after his Avengers wickedness. The Dark World director Alan Taylor has openly said these reshoots adversely overhauled his creative vision for the feature, which included Loki actually dying in the film.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had some of the most extensive reshoots of any Marvel Studios projects, which spanned over a month of shooting at the end of 2021, with further reshoots done just weeks before its release. The reasoning given for these extensive reshoots was to capture scenes that previously couldn’t be filmed due to COVID restrictions and to add more fan-friendly cameos to the runtime. However, the reshoots resulted in tons of further changes to already-shot footage, including making Defender Strange more hostile to America Chavez in the film’s prologue.

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Thor: Love and Thunder

Taika Waititi’s first MCU movie, Thor: Ragnarok, went through its share of reshoots, including overhauling Odin’s final scene with Thor and Loki. However, Thor: Love and Thunder’s reshoots made the Ragnarok reshoots look like a handful of pick-up shots! Lengthy sequences like a montage showing Jane Foster and Thor’s relationship were added during this process. Other deleted scenes have revealed that characters like Zeus had their entire character arcs discarded in the reshoot process. Reshoots also led to returning MCU characters like The Grandmaster not making it into the final cut. Thor: Love and Thunder greatly evolved during its reshoots – unfortunately it was for the worse.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Lots of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s story elements got changed or deleted in the movie’s reshoots, including a subplot that bound together Lord Krylar (Bill Murray) and Jentorra (Katy O’Brian). However, one last-minute change during a final round of reshoots overhauled Quantumania’s ending: In the early days of 2023 (just a few weeks before this feature hit theaters), reshoots were conducted that, allegedly, changed Quantimania’s ending from a bleak conclusion centered on self-sacrifice, to a happier one involving the five principal heroes eating dinner together in San Diego. That’s a drastic plot point to change so deep into production and reflects the artistic instability that kept plaguing Quantumania during its creative gestation.

Captain America: Brave New World

When Captain America: Brave New World was delayed drastically from summer 2024 to February 2025, it left the door open for some extensive reshoots conducted during the middle of 2024. Among the changes made to the feature was the addition of a new Serpent Society baddie played by Giancarlo Esposito, as well as cutting another supporting character played by Seth Rollins. Over 22 days of extra filming, Brave New World also added more action sequences to its runtime. So extensive were these reshoots that Brave New World cast member Tim Blake Nelson has gone on record comparing this process to just filming the same movie two times!

Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters everywhere February 14, 2025. The other MCU films in this list are streaming on Disney+.