The MCU seems to always have very calculated moves when it comes to the Avengers. Avengers: Endgame closed the storylines to our favorite original heroes in the final movie of Phase 3. Any Marvel fan would look at the MCU and think these stories were meticulously planned out for each phase. However, the franchise has become a great example of how often the best stories come from freewheeling. Random moments like the Tesseract, Loki’s scepter as the mind stone, and the Infinity Gauntlet housed in Odin’s vault are great examples.

Since the release of Endgame, it is hard for Marvel fans to see any other roads ending with Thanos. Marvel Studios admits that this was not always the plan for Phase 1. This last-minute decision to introduce the power hungry Titan lead to storylines that weren’t firmly laid down until years later. Marvel Studios went through many different iterations of the Avengers Initiative over the years. The Avengers were always supposed to be the ending for Phase 1, but Earth’s greatest heroes almost looked very different.

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Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk Were Setting Up Different Avengers

     Marvel Studios

The first time The Avengers were introduced into the MCU was in the post-credit scenes in Iron Man. The first Iron Man film was meant to be a standalone, while only introducing S.H.I.E.L.D to hint at a rather wider universe instead of setting up The Avengers. Typically, end-credit scenes in the MCU were more for gags. At the end of Iron Man, Nick Fury emerges from the shadows and offers Tony Stark a place in his Avengers Initiative.

Fans first thought this was a tease that the filmmakers made without any real action plan. The end of The Incredible Hulk post-credits scene removed any notion of this being a coincidence. Tony Stark approaches General Ross about a team that he was putting together, which begins the start of The Avengers. Screen Rant writes this as a connection to The Avengers #1 from 1963 that shows Loki tricking the Hulk into destroying a bridge. This destruction accidentally unites Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, and the Green Goliath, and, through defeating Loki, creates a super-team.

The Avengers that the MCU delivered is not quite what the 2008 movies were trying to accomplish. Tony was thought to be the leader and then pushed out when he takes things too far. He was brought back later only when the team was desperate, while the Hulk comes back completely different in 2012 than when fans first saw him. This only proves that the MCU in Phase 1 was ever-changing.

Original Avengers Cast was Different

     Marvel Studios / Disney

The early Avengers story could have been extremely different from what was produced; this includes the cast that makes up our favorite superhero mashup. Don Cheadle took Terrence Howard’s place as James Rhodes in Iron Man 2 due to a pay dispute between Howard and the studio. In The Avengers, fans saw that Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk following creative differences. The changes don’t end there.

Emily Blunt was originally set to play Black Widow, according to Buzz Feed. Blunt had some contractual obligations to star in Gulliver’s Travels, so Scarlett Johansson stepped up to take the part. It’s also been widely known that Tom Hiddleston auditioned for Thor instead of Loki, and Sebastian Stan auditioned for Steve Rogers instead of Bucky Barnes. Luckily, they were offered other roles in the MCU, and the fandom is now glad they didn’t get rid of these beloved actors.

It is hard to see how these situations can have a direct impact on the trajectory of The Avengers. However, the writers and directors started to play to these actors’ strengths and tailored the story to their performances. All of these tiny adjustments had an impact on the development and reshaped the beginning stages of the MCU.

Iron Man 2 Changed the Trajectory of Phase 1

Iron Man 2 started to steer the course for the MCU’s Phase 1 plan. The movie introduces Black Widow, who seems to be around to assess Tony Stark’s ability to work with a team. She deems him an unfit team member, which creates a plot hole in the franchise. Iron Man 2, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk all happen around the same time, so when Stark approached Ross to keep the beast locked up, it would have posed quite the inconsistency in the Marvel universe.

In May 2011, Thor was released and key plot points of The Avengers were being set up, all the while there were still several confusing components still at play. Iron Man 2 seemed to be playing with three different plot points: Ivan Vanko, Tony’s Legacy, and the introduction of The Avengers. Collider says that Kevin Feige knew The Avengers was happening, but didn’t have a lot of it mapped out. S.H.I.E.L.D needed a bigger presence and more Nick Fury.

Marvel continued to develop the power behind the Tesseract while blending the stories of Thor and Iron Man together. Up until Captain America: The First Avenger was released, everything seemed to click together for the MCU. The script for The Avengers started in 2006 and continued to change as actors and characters were introduced. This influenced the trajectory of Phase 1.

How These Changes Shaped the MCU

Filmmakers and audience members used to question whether bringing multiple characters from various films would actually work. All the choices that the MCU had made up to this point led to a shared universe and comic book focus that had not been seen in movies before. The superhero era has never been as cohesive as it is today, which fans of Marvel say started with Iron Man.

Audiences see how different actors can lead to different stories. For example, Howard’s War Machine would have had him as the star per his deal with Iron Man. Norton’s role in The Incredible Hulk has become a black sheep within Marvel as he kept asking for more creative control over his character. MarkRuffalo, on the other hand, has given The Hulk a personality and more opportunities for his story to open up.

Marvel saw that they had a hit when they first released Iron Man. When it was finally time to assemble The Avengers, the audiences were already receptive towards the massive storyline that the MCU started teasing. Phase 1 was far from a well-thought-out master plan. Every step of the way was met with suggestions and ideas that led into unknown territory for every filmmaker involved. The Marvel formula was far from well established during this time, but the fandom ultimately welcomed the idea that characters and actors drove the stories of their favorite superheroes.