Iron Man's post-credits scene is one of the most pivotal moments in the history of superhero films, but a slightly alternate version of Tony Stark's first interaction with Nick Fury would have made things very different for the MCU. Now considered the first film in what would become the Infinity Saga, Iron Man was far from having the same ambitions that recent superhero movies have. On the contrary, as stated by Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau's film was primarily focused on getting the character right and being profitable for the studio.
That didn't stop Iron Man from setting up some elements in the case of future sequels. The decision proved to be the right one, as the great reception of both the movie and Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark assured that Iron Man would be the beginning of a new universe. However, moments like Rhodes' "next time" and the mention of the Avengers initiative are small compared to what was left out of the film.
Had Nick Fury’s mention of a wider universe of superheroes stayed in the movie, then the MCU as audiences know it today probably wouldn’t exist. That's not to say it would be better or worse, just very different. Although the MCU has adapted some of the most important Marvel stories for the screen, the franchise had to restrict itself to using only the Avengers universe in its stories, and elements such as mutants or Spider-Man became simply non-existent. In a what-if scenario in which Iron Man's original post-credits scene would have been kept, however, Iron Man and the Avengers would have been just one part of a much more complex puzzle involving other Marvel superheroes.
Iron Man’s Post-Credit Would Have Mentioned Spider-Man & Mutants
Iron Man's post-credits scene was originally much more suggestive in of setting up a universe. While the presence of Nick Fury and the mention of the Avengers initiative was enough to spark an interest in that fledgling franchise, there was a version of that scene in which the teases of a broader Marvel universe were even more significant. Nick Fury would have not only revealed to Tony Stark that Iron Man wasn't the only hero causing trouble, but also would name-drop "radioactive spider-bites" and "mutants".
Considering Iron Man came out in 2008, then references made in the original post-credits scene weren't just referring to famous characters from the comics, but rather to Marvel movie franchises that were going on at the time. The Spider-Man mentioned couldn’t be other than Tobey Maguire, whose Fox's X-Men franchise was already established, meaning that those were the mutants Fury was referring to.
Why Was Iron Man’s Spider-Man & Mutants References Cut?
Iron Man was almost an experimental film. Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. have mentioned that many of the lines were being created as they went and that the script was constantly changing. Marvel Studios had not yet been purchased by Disney, and the money invested in Iron Man could be considered a big gamble. This helps explain why so many ideas were being tossed around, including that all of the Marvel movies were set in the same universe. Kevin Feige and many other creators at Marvel Studios had previously worked on films like X-Men, and even though they were from different studios, there was a sense of collaboration.
However, it would have been very difficult to pay off the original post-credits scene. The Marvel IPs were spread out between Marvel, Sony, and Fox, and while there was a sense of collaboration as mentioned, the films of each franchise were completely independent productions of each other. As an example, it wasn't until 2016 that Sony and Marvel Studios reached an agreement to have Spider-Man crossing over to the MCU, and even then it had to be a new reboot of the character in very specific . These legal, as well as narrative complications meant that any references would have inevitably hit roadblocks further down the line.
Iron Man’s Original Post-Credit Scene Would Have Made The MCU Very Different
Even if legal reasons prevented Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man or the X-Men from appearing in a Marvel Studios film, the mere acknowledgment of the existence of other heroes would have set the MCU down a very different path. The first major implication would be that Iron Man wouldn’t have been the first modern superhero in that universe, so a lot of weight would be off Stark’s shoulders. Much of Iron Man's arc, and by extension the entire MCU Phase 1, revolved around how a single man had “privatized national security”, with firepower that sured anything the governments of the world had available. However, in a world where Spider-Man and especially mutants were running rampant, Iron Man's feats would not have stood out all that much.
Another more direct consequence of MCU Phase 1 is that Loki's attack on New Mexico as seen in Phase 1's Avengers initiative would not have been a response to the world's discovery of the existence of aliens, but rather to superpowered beings like Spider-Man and the millions of mutants acting unsupervised. This would have been similar to what happened in the Ultimate universe, with the Ultimates being almost a political response to all the strange events that were happening across the world. The public reception of the Avengers would also be an interesting element to analyze, and the age-old question of why so many humans despise the X-Men but root for the Avengers would be brought up.
In of structure, MCU Phase 1 could have stayed the same. There would be a problem, however, with explaining the absence of Spidey and the X-Men during the Battle of New York. The simplest solution would be to say, as in the comics, that other superheroes were busy at that moment or acting in other parts of the battle. Most of the fighting between the Avengers and the Chitauri was confined to the same perimeter around the Stark Tower, meaning that other superheroes could have been around somewhere. For other Phases, the situation would be more complicated, considering that the stakes for the Avengers throughout the Infinity Saga were always increasing.
The MCU built its successful trajectory without having Spider-Man, mutants, and the Fantastic Four, but that doesn't mean Iron Man's original post-credits scene couldn't have made the universe better. It would be a challenge to claim the existence of said heroes without being able to show them, but the result could have been something very interesting. Either way, Spider-Man is now part of the MCU, as will the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.
