10 Incredible MCU Scenes Ripped Straight Out Of The Comics

Many of the most iconic and memorable scenes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been adapted almost shot-for-shot from the pages of Marvel Comics. While the live-action MCU has often veered quite far from the storylines, characterizations, and major events depicted in Marvel Comics, some moments have stayed very faithful to the source material. With almost nine decades of notable panels to draw from, Marvel Studios has adapted some of the best into live-action almost perfectly.

It’s always exciting for fans of Marvel Comics to spot some of our favorite panels from the page brought to the screen. In recent years, Marvel Studios has paid more attention to creating more comic-accurate costumes, bringing characters more in line with their Marvel Comics counterparts, and bringing some of the best scenes to life in the MCU. This is surely set to continue – especially since the Russo brothers are so determined to adapt Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars faithfully – so even more scenes will be joining these ten memorable moments.

10) Hawkeye Fires Ant-Man On His Arrow

2016’s Captain America: Civil War brought Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) together for the first time, creating the opportunity for this brilliant moment from Marvel Comics to be seen on-screen. Both fighting on Team Cap, Scott Lang used Clint Barton’s arrow as a projectile during the battle at Leipzig Airport in Civil War, bringing the cover of 1982’s Avengers #223 to life in the MCU. Hawkeye and Ant-Man team up in this story to the Taskmaster’s men at a carnival, but this MCU scene had wider implications.

9) Captain America Punches Adolf Hitler

One of the Timely Comics’ – Marvel’s predecessor – first issues was 1941’s Captain America Comics #1, which depicted Captain America punching Adolf Hitler on the cover. While Hitler himself hasn’t appeared in the MCU, as it was Johann Schmidt’s Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) who opposed Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, Rogers did punch an actor dressed as Hitler repeatedly during his embarrassing USO tour. It was brilliant to see one of the comics’ first covers adapted for the live-action MCU.

8) The Punisher Chains Up Daredevil On the Roof

Many MCU viewers might not have realized that Daredevil and the Punisher’s first meeting from 2016’s Daredevil season 2 was actually taken straight from Marvel Comics. During the Defenders Saga series – which has recently been confirmed to be MCU canon – Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) chained Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) to a roof while preparing to kill Kitchen Irish member Grotto (McCaleb Burnett). This scene was taken from 2000’s Punisher (Vol. 5) #3, which includes the same moral battle, but replaces Grotto with one of Ma Gnucci’s men. Gnucci is expected to finally appear in The Punisher Special Presentation.

7) Spider-Man Fights Robbers Disguised As Avengers

It was incredible to see Tom Holland’s Peter Parker embrace his life as a friendly neighborhood hero in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. One of his exploits saw him fight bank robbers sporting Avengers masks who were equipped with the Vulture’s (Michael Keaton) alien weapons, which was a scene seemingly inspired by this panel from 2003’s Ultimate Spider-Man #42. This scene explored the Spider-Man of Earth 1610, rather than the original Peter Parker, and while this isn’t the only aspect of the MCU inspired by the Ultimate Universe, we still haven’t see other Ultimate Spider-Men such as Miles Morales.

6) Thanos Retires to the Garden

The final confrontation of Marvel Comics’ The Infinity Gauntlet event from 1991, which inspired 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, saw Thanos and Adam Warlock go up against Nebula – who then possessed the titular glove. After Nebula was defeated and Adam safely claimed the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos decided instead to retire and live out a quiet life in contemplation of his actions. This was explored in The Infinity Gauntlet #6, and was adapted for the ending of Infinity War and opening of Endgame, which saw Thanos (Josh Brolin) retired in the Garden.

5) Thor Looks at Falligar the Behemoth

2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder is one of the MCU’s most divisive projects, but it featured one of the most beautiful and accurate remakes of a scene from Marvel Comics. After leaving the Guardians of the Galaxy in Love and Thunder, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Korg (Taika Waititi) look on the corpse of the giant Falligar the Behemoth, a god slain by Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale). This touching moment was taken straight from the pages of 2012’s Thor: God of Thunder #3, where Thor also found Falligar killed by Gorr.

4) Killmonger Throws Black Panther Over the Waterfall

While Marvel Studios drastically changed the context of the battle between T’Challa’s Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) for 2018’s Black Panther, this iconic moment was retained. In the MCU, Killmonger throws T’Challa over the waterfall when defeating him in ritual combat, becoming Wakanda’s new King for a brief time. In Marvel Comics’ Jungle Action (Vol. 2) #6 from 1973, however, Killmonger throws T’Challa over a waterfall during his rampage through Wakanda and the Black Panther’s fight with Killmonger’s leopard, Preyy. In both cases, this scene is one of Marvel’s most memorable.

3) Wolverine is Crucified Over a Field of Skulls

After being captured by Donald Pierce in Marvel Comics, Wolverine was beaten, bruised, and left to hang on a giant X outside the X-Men’s base camp. The cover of 1989’s Uncanny X-Men #251 has since become iconic, so it was fantastic to see it adapted extremely faithfully for a brief moment in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. This scene saw Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) scouring the multiverse in search of a Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) capable of replacing the dead version from Earth 10005. This hung iteration was clearly not a good candidate, but it was great to see this scene adapted so brilliantly.

2) Wolverine’s Claws Reflect the Hulk

Another variant of Wolverine seen in Deadpool & Wolverine is the version of the clawed X-Men member who battled the Hulk in 1988’s The Incredible Hulk #340. Wolverine and the Hulk have battled each other many times since the former’s first Marvel Comics 1974’s The Incredible Hulk #180, but this scene saw Wolverine sport a yellow-and-brown costume, and showed the reflection of the Hulk in his claws. This was adapted wonderfully into Deadpool & Wolverine, where Deadpool came upon Wolverine fighting the Hulk, and we caught a glimpse of the green Avenger in the X-Man’s claws – perfection.

1) Captain America & Iron Man Go Head-to-Head

We end as we started, as 2016’s Captain America: Civil War not only partnered Hawkeye and Ant-Man, but also adapted this legendary moment from 2007’s Civil War #7 in Marvel Comics. The ending of the live-action Civil War saw Steve Rogers and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) battle each other over the fate of Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in Siberia. Iron Man fired his repulsor beams at Captain America’s shield, just as he does in Marvel Comics, marking the end of their friendship and the dividing of the Avengers – though this ultimately, thankfully, didn’t last.

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