20 Canceled Marvel Movies We’ll Never Get To See
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a ton of awesome movies in the works. Unfortunately, many of them will never see the light of day.
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Marvel has become one of the biggest movie producers in Hollywood, giving rise to a massive franchise. After all these years, the MCU looks so effortless, with movies planned years in advance, crossovers on the books for all of the appropriate characters, and future plans already set in stone. There has never been a film franchise like it.
However, making a movie is tougher than Marvel makes it look, especially when dealing with superheroes. Before they started their own movie studio, Marvel’s characters were, and still are. loaned out to other studios who try to make their own films as well. Sony, FOX, and Universal all got a piece of Marvel’s pie before the MCU took over.
With popular characters like Spider-Man, X-Men, and Hulk all on the table to receive their own films, it wasn’t long before studios had several sequels and spin-offs planned for the characters. However, there were many of these projects that were canceled due to production nightmares or a lack of success with previous franchise entries. As a result, there are a lot of movies from FOX, Sony, Universal, and Marvel that we’ll never see. Even the MCU had several projects that were scrapped before its final movie lineup was decided.
Marvel movies are some of the most popular flicks in Hollywood, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t had their struggles with multiple studios. Here are 20 Marvel movies that were canceled and likely will never resurface. This list includes any film based on Marvel Comics characters.
20 The Amazing Spider-Man 3
When Sony rebooted Spider-Man from the Sam Raimi trilogy into The Amazing Spider-Man, the tried to create a new universe with the wall crawler’s characters. They had a trilogy planned as well, with The Amazing Spider-Man 3 on the table. Unfortunately, the critical failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 caused them to rethink their initial plans, and was ultimately the reason they struck a deal with Marvel to reboot Spider-Man yet again, but include him in the MCU. Some plot details for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 were later dug up, and it was rumored to include resurrection for Captain Stacy among some other odd choices.
19 Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man
When Marvel launched the MCU, they wanted Ant-Man to join the initial roster of the Avengers, just like in the comics. As such, they brought Edgar Wright to direct the film. After several delays, it was a shock to fans that Wright eventually dropped out of the project. The reason for this was that Wright wanted to make his movie, and that vision conflicted with Marvel’s. Marvel decided to move forward with an Ant-Man film regardless, and brought in Peyton Reed to direct the film, featuring Scott Lang as the main character rather than Hank Pym. To this day, no one knows what Wright’s version would’ve looked like.
18 Spider-Man 4
Sam Raimi dominated pop culture with his first two Spider-Man films. Spider-Man 2 is still widely considered one of the best superhero movies of all time. It was clear that his vision for the wall-crawler and the characters around him was concise and proved successful. However, Sony meddled during the production of Spider-Man 3, and forced Raimi to throw Venom in the mix. The movie ended up being a critical failure (but a financial success), which led to the cancellation of Spider-Man 4. The film was rumored to include characters like Mysterio and Carnage and bring more iconic faces to the franchise.
17 X-Men Origins: Magneto
After X-Men: The Last Stand, FOX decided that the next direction they wanted to take the franchise was by going into the past. Their first attempt at this new direction was X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This was meant to start a series of “origin” movies featuring prominent characters. The next on the list was X-Men Origins: Magneto. The movie was set to deal with Magneto hunting down the Nazis who killed his parents. However, FOX wanted to de-age Ian McKellen, which proved out of budget. They eventually carried the framework of the film over to X-Men: First Class, where a young Magneto was cast.
16 The Silver Surfer
It was more than pleasing the fans that FOX threw in the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. They wanted to build up the character to gain his own solo film in the future. However, Rise of the Silver Surfer was an outrage once Galactus was changed from his massive, celestial appearance into a giant cloud. The film was a critical failure, which prompted FOX to halt the Silver Surfer film. It’s likely that such a movie would’ve taken a lot of money to make, meaning that FOX needed a successful franchise to fund the special effects.
15 Sinister Six
While The Amazing Spider-Man was a much more concise story that set up the mystery surrounding Peter Parker, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 blew the doors wide open. With several villains being introduced, Sony was building toward the creation of the Sinister Six, who were planned to star in their own movie rather than appear as adversaries to Spider-Man. The pieces were in place too, as Green Goblin and Rhino were already players in the universe. The failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was more than enough to halt the production of the movie, though, despite Sony leaving it on the books a little longer.
14 The Incredible Hulk 2
The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton is the MCU’s red-headed stepchild. After Norton was lost and Ruffalo replaced him, the movie was often forgotten by Marvel. However, that didn’t stop them from announcing plans for The Incredible Hulk 2 with Ruffalo in the starring role. Two of the original film’s actors were still signed on for more films, meaning that it was possible. It was said that the movie would take place after Avengers: Age of Ultron, following the Hulk’s departure of Earth. Those plans were scrapped, though, and the Hulk became a supporting role in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War.
13 Daredevil 2
One of the Marvel characters FOX had the movie rights to was the Man Without Fear himself, Daredevil. This prompted them to create a Daredevil movie in 2003 starring Ben Affleck. While the film wasn’t a critical success, it was deemed worthy enough to get a spin-off film: Elektra. That film proved to be a failure, which prompted FOX to stop any attempts at a sequel. Daredevil 2 was already planned, with Kingpin and Mr. Fear rumored to appear, but it never came to fruition. FOX eventually let the license expire, to which Marvel swooped in to create the Daredevil Netflix series.
12 Fantastic Four 3
The third entry in the Fantastic Four franchise was on the books for some time. However, the failure of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer prompted FOX to seize their plans. No details about the movie were confirmed, other than the return of the four main characters and Doctor Doom. There was talk that Black Panther and Franklin Richards were being considered for the project. On top of that, the Negative Zone was discussed, leading some to believe that the movie could’ve featured Annihilus: a prominent Fantastic Four villain from the comics. We’ll never know what the film would’ve looked like, though.
11 Blade 4
The Blade franchise proved to be a surprising yet successful hit among superhero movies. Being an R-rated flick with a half-vampire who hunts other vampires, it was a popular series. However, Blade: Trinity undid all of that. Introducing a new and uninteresting cast of characters, the film was trying to set up more adventures, but poorly juggled all of its plots. This led to the end of the series. That said, it’s possible that Wesley Snipes could pick up the sword again. He has been talking to Marvel to revive the character, and that could lead to Blade 4 or him appearing in a Netflix show. Only time will tell.
10 Hulk 2
Ang Lee’s take on the Hulk is arguably the worst interpretation of the character. The 2003 Hulk film was a bit too long for its premise, featured some ugly CGI, and had action that made no lasting impressions. However, this didn’t stop Universal to talk about a sequel to the film. The screenwriter for the first film teased that was going to be on some sort of “Native American reservation” and feature elements of radioactivity and politics. However, the critical failure of Hulk prompted Universal to cut ties with the franchise going forward. Their next attempt at the character would be in association with Marvel.
9 Inhumans
When Marvel first discussed their Phase 3 plans, the Inhumans were high on that list. Among films like Captain Marvel and Thor: Ragnarok, The Inhumans was planned, in some ways, as their answer to FOX’s X-Men franchise. It was initially set to debut between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, but was pushed back to take place after those two films. However, Marvel eventually decided that those characters would be better suited for a TV show. Unfortunately, the Inhumans TV series proved to be a flop and one of Marvel’s least-interesting properties to date. There’s no telling if they’ll ever appear in a film going forward.
8 Power Pack
Marvel has been determined to give some of their lesser-known characters a time to shine in the spotlight. On their list was the Power Pack, a family of young superheroes. They wanted the team to be thrown into a live-action film and worked Artisan Entertainment initially. However, once they began their own studio, they continued the plans themselves to try and adapt the team. Years went by without any updates to the movie, though. It was said to be inspired by Spy Kids, but nothing further came of it. Kevin Feige stated that he is still interested in adapting the property, so it’s possible we could see it in the future.
7 Taskmaster
Taskmaster is a fairly popular Marvel villain whose power is replicating the fighting style of anyone that he watches for a few seconds. He teaches his own school of villains and takes on several Marvel heroes. There was a time when Marvel wanted to make a movie about the character and had Joe Carnahan as the director. Not only would the film introduce Taskmaster to the big screen, but Moon Knight as well. The film would follow the villain after he was defeated by Moon Knight. However, the film has been entirely silent for 10 years. It’s all but confirmed that the project was canceled.
6 Werewolf By Night
Marvel has more than just superheroes in their pantheon. There were talks with Crystal Sky to create a film adaptation of Werewolf By Night. This character was a man named Jack Russell, who was the son of a man cursed with lycanthropy, or becoming a werewolf at night. He tried for a while to find a cure for himself, as he harmed people when he changed. It’s not clear if the film would’ve adapted this storyline, but it was a change of pace for comic book adaptations at the time. Most studios were more focused on bringing superheroes to the big screen rather than mythological monsters.
5 Warriors Three
Thor not only introduced us to the gods of Thunder and Mischief, but Thor’s three friends: Volstagg, Fandrall, and Hogun. Known as the Warriors Three, they were Asgardians who would often go to battle with Thor and put their lives on the line. Kevin Feige talked about the potential of a film with these three characters, but talks were slow. Following their immediate demise at the hands of Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, it was clear that Marvel had given up hopes of creating this movie in favor of rebooting the Thor franchise and giving the titular character more interesting companions.
4 Nick Fury
Along with films about Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk, it seems that Nick Fury was set to receive his own origin story as well. While the initial version of the script wasn’t intended to work with Samuel Jackson’s version of the character, the writer stated that it could easily be reworked for the MCU. However, Marvel didn’t seem to express interest in using the film, preferring Nick Fury to work as a supporting character who would be the figure that brought together the Avengers. Since then, Director Fury has had a secondary role in many Marvel films, including the upcoming Captain Marvel.
3 Nighthawk
Kyle Richmond was a character who had everything handed to him in life. He was explosive and cared little for others, often using his money to get out of trouble. He was eventually given powers by the Grandmaster and became the supervillain known as Nighthawk. However, some dark events turned him into a hero, leading him to work with the Defenders. Marvel reportedly wanted a movie to made about this character and started talks in 2009. However, nothing ever came from it. However, one of Nighthawk’s alter egos has made an appearance in the MCU before, though it’s unclear whether that was supposed to lead to anything.
2 Silver And Black
It wasn’t just the Sinister Six Sony was planning on giving a movie to after The Amazing Spider-Man 2. They also wanted a movie with Black Cat and Silver Sable. While The Amazing Spider-Man franchise tanked, Sony was still insistent on creating the Silver and Black film. However, plans fell through, and they recently brought the project to a standstill. Preferring to work on the upcoming Venom movie, it’s unclear whether they’ll try to bring Silver Sable and Black Cat to the big screen again. It’s possible Marvel could want to use them in other MCU films and struck a deal with Sony.
1 Fantastic Four 2 (2017)
After the rousing failure that was Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, FOX wasn’t about to give up on Marvel’s first family. Getting Josh Trank, the director of Chronicle, they decided to reboot the Fantastic Four with the Fantastic Four movie in 2015. However, the film was a production nightmare, leading to reshoots that led to some inconsistent scenes. There was subpar acting and a finale that shot a sky beam into the air. The movie was an immediate flop, critically and financially. Despite having a sequel on the books, FOX decided to pull the plug on their new Fantastic Four franchise.
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