Ever since the release of X-Men nearly two decades ago kicked off the world's love for superhero films, Marvel has dominated the box office. Eighteen movies based on Marvel Comics' most iconic characters are in the Top 100 All-Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses, and with highly-anticipated films like Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix coming out later this year, that number is likely going to increase very soon.
Comic book lovers initially flocked to theaters simply to see their favorite heroes and villains face off on the big screen, but Marvel's ever-growing film fanbase and the continued success of the superhero genre is largely thanks to the fantastic writing involved in most of Marvel's top cinematic entries. Some Marvel movies have done well because they did a great job of staying true to the source material that inspired them and felt like a comic book come to life, while others actually excelled because they added some unique and unexpected twists that kept even the most comic-savvy readers on their toes and unsure of what exciting developments could happen next.
While some Marvel twists come to mind as being far more game-changing than others, nearly every Marvel movie includes some sort of unexpected turn to avoid predictability. A few of these alarming plot devices hurt their films for being too far-fetched or ridiculous, but most of Marvel's biggest and most memorable twists succeeded in helping their films. Here are 10 Wild Twists That Hurt Marvel Movies (And 10 That Actually Made Them Better).
HURT MARVEL: THE MANDARIN IS AN ACTOR
The most memorable twist in Marvel Cinematic Universe history thus far was definitely the reveal in Iron Man 3 that the Mandarin was actually just derelict actor Trevor Slattery, because it was also the franchise's worst twist.
The film initially set up the Mandarin to be one of Tony Stark's most formidable enemies, as he openly spread fear throughout the entire country. When Tony challenged him, the Mandarin answered by sending his minions to attack the Avenger at his own home, destroying the billionaire's mansion and nearly ending his life. When Tony mustered up enough strength and technology to fight back, he discovered that the Mandarin was just a diversion tactic created by the real antagonist, Aldrich Killian.
Since the Mandarin is a real villain in the comics, and an incredibly powerful one at that, fans understandably couldn't get behind this disappointing development.
MADE MARVEL BETTER: X-MEN 3 WAS UNDONE
Comic book fans have had mixed reactions towards nearly all of Fox's X-Men entries, with some viewers praising the films' fun action sequences and performances from stars like Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman, and others criticizing the writing and a few changes the films made from the source material. That being said, the response towards the third entry in the original trilogy, X-Men 3, has been overwhelmingly negative.
Fans didn't like the film's treatment of the Dark Phoenix, criticized its take on the mutant cure, and couldn't get over Vinnie Jones' over-the-top portrayal of the Juggernaut. So when X-Men: Days of Future Past ended with a reveal that all of the time-traveling changed Wolverine's future and resulted in the events of X-Men 3 being completely undone, audiences were actually relieved.
HURT MARVEL: DEADPOOL STOLE EVERYONE'S POWERS
Another X-film that failed to satisfy nearly any fans was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, because while it did a good job explaining Wolverine and Sabretooth's unique connection and featured Taylor Kitsch's excellent portrayal of Gambit, it was also filled with weak writing and completely wasted Ryan Reynold's flawless take on Deadpool.
Origins reduced Deadpool to a minor character at the beginning of the film, and then brought him back in the finale as a villain that didn't resemble the Merc with a Mouth at all. He apparently was given all of the powers of the film's fallen mutants to become a ridiculously over-powered super-mutant, something that never happened in the comics. Worst of all, his mouth was glued shut, taking away Deadpool's ability to make viewers laugh. Luckily, Deadpool ret-conned all of this and Reynolds has gotten to do the character justice.
MADE MARVEL BETTER: RED SKULL IS STILL ALIVE
When the Red Skull held onto the Tesseract at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger and disappeared in a beam of blue light, most viewers assumed they'd seen the last of Steve Roger's most iconic adversary. Some fans speculated that the Red Skull might still be alive when it was revealed that the Space Stone was hidden inside of the Tesseract, but no one was expecting to find Johann Schmidt on Vormir, acting as the guardian of the Soul Stone.
This major twist made Avengers: Infinity War even better. The Red Skull spent his life on Earth in pursuit of power, but when he finally obtained it, the notorious HYDRA leader was sent to another planet and cursed with having to watch over another Infinity Stone as its unwilling protector.
HURT MARVEL: MYSTIQUE'S CONNECTION TO XAVIER
When Fox launched their First Class series of X-Men films set several decades before the events of the original trilogy, the studio was given the chance to explore the origin stories of some well-known, popular characters. These new films have given us new information about beloved mutants like Professor X, Beast and Magneto, but the changes to Mystique's origin have been both alarming and disappointing.
Rebecca Romijn's take on the shape-shifting villain was praised because she was powerful, manipulative and dangerous, just as Mystique always has been in the comics. Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique, however, was apparently close friends with Xavier and a member of his first batch of X-Men. It seemed like Lawrence's Raven was finally heading down an evil path in Days of Future Past, but she's now back with the good guys and void of any characteristics comic fans expect of Mystique.
MADE MARVEL BETTER: HYDRA INFILTRATED S.H.I.E.L.D.
One of the best twists to ever take place in the MCU was the big reveal in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that HYDRA has been infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. since the organization's inception. When S.H.I.E.L.D. foolishly took in the Red Skull's top scientist Armin Zola, he secretly started recruiting HYDRA agents to corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D. from the inside. HYDRA leader Alexander Pierce managed to climb to the top of his rival organization and used its resources to launch Project Insight, a program which nearly gave HYDRA absolute control over the world.
The film was filled with nonstop excitement, as the Star-Spangled Avenger was forced to fight off an organization he once trusted and people he used to work with, all while battling his brain-washed former best friend. The twist then carried into Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television show, strengthening its connection to the MCU.
HURT MARVEL: STAR-LORD IS EGO'S SON
When Star-Lord managed to hold onto an Infinity Stone at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy without instantly evaporating from its unparalleled power, it became clear that he wasn't fully human. Fans scoured Marvel's comics to figure out who his father might be, but Marvel Studios provided viewers with a twist that no one could have expected—Peter Quill was actually Ego the Living Planet's son.
While Kurt Russell was a welcome addition to the MCU and did a solid job bringing a classic character to life, comic fans couldn't get over the idea of a human personification of Ego or the dramatic change to Star-Lord's origin story. The twist didn't really add anything significant to the franchise and seems like it was created just to alarm fans. Peter no longer has his god-like gifts, so his once seemingly-important family drama didn't really affect the MCU in any significant or lasting way.
MADE MARVEL BETTER: LOKI'S ODIN DISGUISE
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a tendency to eliminate villains before viewers can really get to know them or witness any sort of character development. Tom Hiddleston's Loki is one of the few exceptions to that, as we've gotten to see him grow from being Thor's jealous brother to Earth's near-conqueror to a fairly well-intentioned (yet still occasionally selfish) antihero.
When Malekith and his army ended Frigga's life, Loki put aside his feelings towards the rest of Asgard and swore revenge on the Dark Elves. Fans were distraught when he sacrificed his own life to help Thor take down Malekith, but we discovered at the end of Thor: The Dark World that he survived and managed to claim the throne of Asgard by impersonating Odin. It made an otherwise weak film significantly better and had audiences actually cheering for a villain for a change.
HURT MARVEL: VENOM'S ALTERED ORIGIN STORY
Ever since 2007's Spider-Man 3 tried and failed to provide viewers with an acceptable live-action depiction of fan-favorite Marvel character Venom, fans have been desperate to see a more comic-faithful representation of Eddie Brock and his symbiote. It seemed like Sony was finally going to make that happen in Venom, but the film completely altered the character's origin story by removing Spider-Man from it entirely.
During filming for Venom, rumors spread that Tom Holland was seen on set, so the Internet speculated that Peter Parker would appear in the film as the symbiote's rightful first host. Spidey wasn't in the film, however, and Eddie Brock bonded with the symbiote and became an antihero without squaring off against the wall-crawler first. The film still did well and earned slightly positive reviews, but Marvel would have been better off sticking to the Venom and Spider-Man rivalry source material.
MADE MARVEL BETTER: SPIDER-VERSE'S DOCTOR OCTOPUS
Sony has released six different live-action Spider-Man films since 2002, so audiences have already gotten to know most of the friendly neighborhood web-slinger's top villains. Alfred Molina's portrayal of Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 was practically flawless, so fans understandably didn't think the character could really be improved upon or changed significantly in future films.
Then Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse shocked everyone by altering Otto's gender and making Doc Ock a female villain for a change. This twist caught everyone off-guard, including Peter Parker himself, who didn't expect the seemingly mild-mannered female doctor he was talking to, to reveal herself to be his notorious tentacled adversary. In a film that was all about supplying Spidey fans with fresh content and new characters, this twist was much-appreciated, even if it strayed from the comics.
