8 Alternate Marvel Endings That Would’ve Completely Changed the MCU

The MCU is full of dramatic endings, from the Avengers shockingly ending Avengers: Infinity War having lost to Thanos and witnessed half of all life being snapped away to the devastating conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, which confirmed the death of beloved character (and in many ways the character who started it all) Tony Stark. Yet, some of these endings looked very different when they were first written.

In fact, some of these alternate endings were so drastically different from what was ultimately used in the movies that they would have had a massive impact on the MCU overall, including pivotal upcoming movies like Avengers: Doomsday. Of all the alternate endings in the MCU’s movies and TV shows that have been tossed around over the years, here are 8 that would have had a serious and lasting impact not only on those specific projects but also on the franchise overall, well into the future.

Loki Almost (Actually) Died In The Dark World

Loki is the God of Mischief, but in the MCU, he is also a god of constantly returning after seeming to die—or, in the case of Infinity War and Loki, actually dying but returning in another way. One of these fake-out deaths was in Thor: The Dark World. Yet, originally, Loki was actually going to die in this scene and stay dead.

This would have meant a massive change to the MCU, as Loki continued to play a key role in multiple stories following The Dark World. In truth, it’s difficult to imagine a modern MCU without this character based on the projects that he has been in since, from Infinity War (as a major motivator for Thor to kill Thanos following Loki’s real death in the beginning of the movie) to the Loki show.

Sinister Strange Almost Played A Shocking Role

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness missed the mark for a host of reasons, from the movie not focusing heavily enough on the titular lead to the fact that the story felt like it had minimal awareness of what had transpired in WandaVision, particularly in terms of Wanda’s growth in the end. There were also some goofy moments, including the two Doctor Stranges from different universes fighting each other with music notes.

Yet, the movie almost had a much more compelling ending, which would have improved the movie overall and set up an incredible next step in Doctor Strange’s story. Specifically, the original Multiverse of Madness ending was going to confirm that Sinister Strange had swapped places with 616 Doctor Strange, meaning that the entire universe was now in grave danger and 616 Doctor Strange’s fate was hanging in the balance.

Scott Lang And Hope van Dyne Nearly Had A More Dire Fate

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is one of several examples of an MCU movie that didn’t perform very well in the years following Endgame, for myriad reasons. In part, this was due to the larger MCU issues with the plan for Kang. However, the story also simply didn’t land for many viewers.

It’s interesting to consider how the alternate ending for the movie would have changed this. Originally, Scott Lang And Hope van Dyne were going to remain trapped in the Quantum Realm at the end of the movie, leaving their fate unclear and in a much more dire position. This would have been a much greater narrative risk, which makes it a bit of a shame that the movie didn’t go for it and prove the MCU is still willing to take major risks.

The Avengers Almost Reunited At The End Of Civil War

Captain America: Civil War was a shocking movie in the MCU, as it ended with the Avengers torn apart. However, in an alternate ending, the movie was nearly changed to show the Avengers coming back together in the end and fighting as a team once more. The most significant change in light of this ending would have been the impact on Infinity War.

By leaving the Avengers still divided at the beginning of Infinity War, the emotional stakes felt higher than they had ever been. This ultimately made the emotional payoff of Endgame, in which the team does come back together, even better as well, and it would have been a true shame to lose out on that.

Captain Marvel Almost Died In The Marvels

The Marvels was generally not well received, perpetuating a troubling MCU trend of movies post-Endgame not landing with audiences. It’s unclear how the scrapped alternate ending for the movie may have affected that reception, but it’s a shocking one with major implications regardless. Namely, Captain Marvel almost died at the end of the movie.

With Captain Marvel seemingly positioned as an important character in this next phase of the MCU (although she isn’t confirmed to be returning in Doomsday), this would have meant the removal of a significant character. What’s more, Marvel has received more than a few complaints about how many major female characters have died in and since Endgame, which would have perpetuated this.

Black Widow’s Ending Was Almost Even More Emotional

Black Widow is arguably among the MCU’s most underrated movies, which may have something to do with it being released after Endgame, meaning after Natasha’s death, and in 2021, which also meant movies were still being fairly affected by COVID-19. Nevertheless, the story of the movie is an emotional and meaningful one, especially because of the family dynamic revealed.

In an alternate ending, this family bond would have been represented even more and reinforced that this was actually meaningful to her (despite what she’d said many times throughout Black Widow). Specifically, Natasha was going to return to her childhood home in Ohio, which would have done even more to connect Yelena and Natasha as sisters and would have been a beautiful and even better send off for the character.

Loki Was Going To Save The Temporal Loom

Loki is undoubtedly one of the MCU’s best TV shows and arguably one of the best MCU projects overall, particularly following Endgame. A key component of that was the beautiful but also rather painful end to Loki’s story in the show, in which the Temporal Loom effectively implodes and Loki steps into the role of the God of Time, holding the branches together.

This had seemed to seal Loki’s fate, although he is curiously confirmed to be among the characters returning in Doomsday. Nevertheless, this ending was nearly quite different, with Loki saving the Temporal Loom rather than having it be destroyed, requiring him to hold it together. Presumably, this would have made it less restrictive in terms of Loki’s future role, but it also would have been less of a sacrifice, which was crucial to his character development in the show.

Endgame’s Writers Considered Keeping Tony Stark Alive

One of the most pivotal moments in Endgame is when Tony Stark decides to sacrifice himself to defeat Thanos once and for all. Not only was this a heavy, emotional scene, but it has also come to have a major influence on the MCU since. However, the writers reportedly considered leaving him alive in the end, which would have meant many major changes. For one, there is no way Robert Downey Jr. could be coming back as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, the implications of which are yet to be revealed.

Even outside of RDJ’s role in the movies, though, Tony’s death has impacted other characters significantly. As just one example, in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it’s very unlikely that Peter would have gotten into the situation that he did had his friend and mentor Tony Stark been there to help. This therefore would have massively shifted multiple storylines.

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