These MCU stories should have stuck with the source material.
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00:00More than 30 entries later, the Marvel Cinematic Universe shows no signs of slowing down as it
00:05makes its way through phase four. The colossal franchise has brought to life a myriad of
00:11characters and turned some of them into household names and seminal pieces of the pop culture
00:16mythos. That said, the following entries prove that the MCU still has a long way to go in treating
00:21the comics with more reverence. I'm Emil from WhatCulture and these are 10 MCU storylines the
00:27comics did better. 10. Captain Carter's story. What If was a fun and breezy exploration of the
00:33MCU's newly minted multiverse that unfortunately did not reach the dizzying heights on the comic
00:38series it was inspired by and played things disappointingly safe. This can be seen in its
00:43introduction of Captain Carter, an episode that felt like a condensed rehash of the first Avengers
00:48plotline with Peggy Carter as the lead despite a game lead performance by Hayley Atwell. The comics
00:53version of the World War II icon has a more storied life that saw her engage in multiversal
00:57adventures in a more inspired and zany manner compared to her animated counterpart. She took
01:03on the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers was assassinated and ended up in the
01:07present day much like Rogers did in the main timeline. She later joins the Exiles, a team
01:11of interdimensional heroes such as dystopic Kamala Khan and cartoonish version of Wolverine known
01:17as Wolvie in order to stop Kang the Time Eater, a version of Kang the Conqueror with Galactus's powers.
01:23Peggy shines in a story that embraces the oddities of traversing the multiverse with glee.
01:289. The Kree-Skrull War. Captain Marvel's debut film chose to portray the Skrulls in a more
01:34sympathetic light compared to their more sinister depiction in the comics. Although this bit of
01:38subversion worked in favour of Carol Danvers' character development, it meant that the Kree-Skrull
01:42War barely had any weight in the film. This was rather disappointing seeing that the actual conflict
01:47in the comics had a far-reaching scope and featured more moral complexities than the film's depiction
01:52of a one-sided conflict. The story follows a weakened Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell not Danvers,
01:57who requires the aid of the Avengers after his time in the Negative Zone left him at the mercy of a
02:02lethal dose of radiation. Unfortunately, the heroes are unable to help the Kree hero due to the intervention
02:07of the Kree warrior Ronan the Accuser and the Super Skrull who captures Mar-Vell and forces
02:12him to build a doomsday weapon to counter the Kree's plans to turn the Earth into a base for use in
02:17the war. The story is intimate by kicking off the Vision Scarlet Witch romance and also sweeping,
02:23showcasing how a planet such as Earth can be easily caught up in the often subtle
02:27but devastating machinations of an interstellar war.
02:308. Hawkeye. Much like What If, Hawkeye's first solo effort was a light and fun affair that helped
02:36flesh out Clint Barton's arc, introduce and reintroduce major street-level plays in the MCU,
02:40as well as a new legacy hero in Kate Bishop. The series explored Clint's tenure as Ronan and how
02:46his time as the feared vigilante eventually came back to bite him in the form of Maya Lopez's Echo,
02:51the daughter of a crime lord he killed during the blip. Although the story was well told,
02:56it sometimes played like a safe and familiar MCU effort that never lived up to the zany,
03:00stylish and weighty heights of the beloved comic run it's based on. Just like the series,
03:04the comic's tone is grounded and small-scale and features the first meeting between Clint and Kate,
03:09as well as the first appearance of Lucky the pizza dog. Where the comics excel in comparison to its
03:14live-action counterpart is in its execution. The beloved run commits to its irreverent tone and
03:19offbeat humour far more often than the series due to the latter falling into familiar MCU trappings.
03:24Furthermore, the comic's iconic moments have more room to breathe and are woven into the narrative
03:28in a more organic manner. I guess you could say they hit the target, right?
03:317. Demon in a Bottle. Iron Man 2 was the first sign that films based in a nascent cinematic universe would
03:38buckle under the weight of expanding said universe. The film had to juggle a lot of elements and set
03:42the stage for future instalments and this meant that it could not do justice to its own story and
03:47sources of inspiration. This was seen in its admittedly loose adaptation of Demon in a Bottle,
03:52the seminal 1979 Iron Man tale that explores Tony's struggles with alcoholism.
03:56The film depicts Tony's growing alcoholism as a side effect of grappling with his impending death
04:01as caused by his arc reactor. Although the film's concept was solid, the plotline simply had no room to
04:06breathe due to the film's many moving parts. The comic, on the other hand, built up towards
04:10Stark's addiction in a manner that was more sombre than expected. The hero's woes are explored in
04:14greater detail and his failures cannot be hand-waved by a clever but convoluted invention. Demon in a
04:19Bottle helped make the hero more relatable and its portrayal of Stark's allies showed that some of
04:23his greatest gifts in life are not always powered suits of armour. 6. Ragnarok. Thor Ragnarok helped
04:29revitalise Chris Hemsworth's character's story and introduced fan favourites such as Korg and Valkyrie. In addition to this,
04:35it infused the MCU with an unconventional sense of humour that was different from the quip-heavy
04:40weed-mesque writing that defined the franchise. Despite those achievements, the film somewhat
04:44faltered in its handling of the apocalyptic events in its finale. In all fairness, Asgard's destruction
04:49at the hands of Surtur served as a lesson for the God of Thunder in that he realised that there is
04:53more to Asgard's identity than a location. Beyond that, the film seemed more interesting in being an
04:58undeniably entertaining space-buddy comedy and this choice worked against the development of characters
05:03such as Hela and Scourge. Walt Simonson's legendary 80s run in the Thor saga was a better grasp of
05:08Ragnarok and gives the supporting characters such as the Warriors 3 and the villains much
05:12needed depth as compared to the film. Asgard itself and its people feel more fleshed out and this
05:17portrayal helps the stakes feel more palpable when the world-ending threat of Ragnarok came along.
05:225. Planet Hulk. In addition to slightly missing the mark with the end of Asgard,
05:26Ragnarok gave audiences a very surface-level exploration of one of the Hulk's most iconic storylines.
05:32To be fair, the Jolly Green Giant was a supporting character in the third Thor entry and this meant
05:37that Planet Hulk was not going to receive an adaptation worthy of the mighty hero.
05:43Much like Ragnarok itself, elements such as Sakaar, Korg and the gladiatorial battles felt
05:48like means to an end, that being reuniting Thor with the strongest Avenger, rather than a well-realised
05:54locale, characters and events. The actual Planet Hulk story is a far cry from the colourful events of the
06:00film, as it demonstrates the Hulk's sheer might and the threat posed by the planet to beings as
06:05powerful as him. Some fans have bemoaned the Hulk's less savage, more controlled nature in recent films
06:10and with a story such as Planet Hulk in the mix, it is understandable as to why they would want the
06:15iconic powerhouse to be let loose again. Hulk smash!
06:184. The Extremis Arc. Iron Man 3 is more so remembered for its, to put it mildly,
06:24controversial handling of the Mandarin and the twist surrounding the iconic villain than anything
06:29else. This is understandable as the subversion surrounding Iron Man's arch nemesis did not
06:33amount to much as Aldrich Killian lacked the menace to serve as the Mandarin. The inspiration for much
06:37of the film's plot, The Extremis Saga, is more beloved than the film and in many ways shaped Tony
06:43Stark's initial arc in the MCU. Some of the comics elements such as the design for Iron Man's suit were
06:47used in the first Iron Man film, so this entry will focus on the threequels relation to the storyline.
06:53Much like the movie, the comic book tale explores Tony's mental state, The Extremis Virus and its
06:58connection to the likes of Maya Hansen and Aldrich Killian. Unlike the film however, Hansen has a
07:02significantly larger and antagonistic role in the comics and the nature of The Extremis Virus and its
07:07application by Stark is more complex than its relatively simple cinematic counterpart.
07:123. Ultron. Contrary to popular belief, the sophomore entry in the Avengers franchise was not
07:17based on the 2013 comic of the same name. Instead, it was based on a collection of different
07:22Avengers stories featuring the genocidal robot and at best the film features superficial references to
07:27the comic storyline and is more focused on telling an original story. The film serves as an origin
07:32story for the villainous automation and explores his reasons behind wanting to destroy humanity and
07:37repopulate the earth with his sentry bots. Unlike the comedic nature of the villain in the film,
07:42comics Ultron is gravely serious, slow to emotional outbursts and is fixated on making Hank Pym,
07:48the original creator's life miserable. The eighth episode of What If feels more in line if ever so
07:53slightly with the Age of Ultron storyline than the film itself and features an all-powerful Ultron
07:58who has achieved his goal of destroying humanity. However, it still lacks the scale of the comic
08:03storyline and features significantly fewer characters and its plot is not as far-reaching and referential
08:09to past Marvel events such as the Kree-Skrull War.
08:122. Armor Wars. In addition to barely scratching the narrative potential of Demon in a Bottle, Iron Man 2's
08:17scattershot narrative was not able to fully capture the themes of industrial espionage,
08:22guilt and paranoia that defined the 87-88 Armor Wars storyline. Although both storylines take
08:28place at different points in Stark's life, the comic storyline is more coherent and showcases
08:33the consequences of the hero's single-minded approach to solving issues. The film more or less
08:38bypasses the industrial espionage element of the comic in favour of having Justin Hammer's suits
08:42solely built by Ivan Vanko. Now this personalises the conflict as Vanko's father Anton and Howard
08:48Stark work together but the change falls flat due to the younger Vanko's wanting characterisation.
08:54Right off the bat the comic has the advantage of having more heroes and villains in the mix,
08:58something the movie cannot be faulted for and this helps contextualise Stark's actions and fears.
09:03Antagonists such as Hammer, the Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man push the armored adventure to his
09:09limits and he is forced to come to terms with the consequences of his technology ending up in the
09:13wrong hands. One, Annihilation Conquest. 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy was a breath of fresh air
09:20for the MCU. A wacky yet heartfelt film that helped expand the MCU's scope into the cosmic realm and it
09:26brought characters such as Groot and Rocket Raccoon to the forefront of the pop culture discourse.
09:31It is a brilliant comic book film that deserved all its praise and success and this in turn makes
09:36Annihilation Conquest success all the more impressive. This 2007-2008 sequel to Annihilation
09:42took its predecessor approach in deepening Marvel's cosmic lore by focusing on an unlikely group of
09:47heroes as they go up against an overwhelmingly powerful threat. That was Annihilus in the original
09:52and the Phalanx in the sequel. While the first Guardians film took inspiration from Conquest,
09:56the comic storyline does a few things better than the film. For starters, the Phalanx as a villain may
10:01not be that compellingly executed but the techno-organic hive mind is leagues better than
10:06the forgettable Ronan the Accuser. As well as that, the film's scale is impressive but does not come
10:10close to incredible moments such as Nova collapsing a dwarf star to escape the Phalanx field. All in all,
10:15the gap in quality between these two pieces of Marvel media is not that wide but Conquest ever so
10:21slightly takes the edge. Luckily Kevin Feige's stash of Marvel source material is burning a hole in his
10:26closet so perhaps we will see these storylines adapted in the future phases of the MCU in a bit greater detail.
10:36So
10:42you