History MarvelCinematicUniverse / TropesA

* AdaptationalProtagonist: In ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'', the Avengers are basically there to help up the death toll and make for an exciting battle with the all-but-godlike Thanos. In particular, Iron Man has his head unceremoniously pulled off and Captain America is the last man standing before Thanos shatters his shield and snaps his neck. Instead, Adam Warlock is the one who plans and finally carries out a plan to bring Thanos down. As Warlock didn't exist in the MCU at the time, when the story was adapted into the events of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', the Avengers take centre stage, with Iron Man being the one to put Thanos down once and for all.

** In ''Captain America: Civil War'', ComicBook/BlackPanther's father is killed in the present day by [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/BaronZemo Zemo]]]], the film's BigBad, and a large chunk of the story revolves around Black Panther trying to kill ComicBook/BuckyBarnes, who has been blamed for the deed. In a broader sense, it could be argued that Black Panther's origin is tied to the Avengers, as the whole reason he and his dad come to Europe in the first place is to address the events of ''Avengers: Age of Ultron''. His origin was fairly isolated in the comics, as his dad was killed by a Dutch scientist named Ulysses Klaw many years ago. This film also sees Iron Man taking a young ComicBook/SpiderMan under his wing, and later providing the boy with his trademark costume and upgraded web-shooters. In the comics, Peter's outfit was something he designed himself.

* AnArmAndALeg: A motif in Phase Two - every movie has a character lose an arm or part of one. It's a RunningGag in tribute to ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
** ''Iron Man 3'': [[spoiler:Aldrich has an arm cut off by Tony, but regenerates it thanks to Extremis]].
** ''Thor: The Dark World'': [[spoiler:Loki cuts off Thor's hand, but it's actually an illusion.]] In addition, Malekith's [[spoiler:defeat by PortalCut starts with him losing both his arms.]]
** ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'': The Winter Soldier lost his arm before the movie, having it replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic.
** ''Guardians of the Galaxy'': Gamora chops off both of Groot's arms in their initial confrontation ([[GoodThingYouCanHeal they grow back]]) and during the prison break, Rocket has Star-Lord steal a prisoner's prosthetic leg, later revealing that he only had him do it because he thought it would be funny. Later on, [[spoiler:Nebula removes her own robot hand near the climax in order to escape the battle]].
** ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'': Ultron cuts off [[spoiler:Klaue's arm]] after the latter compares him to Tony Stark.
** Even ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' gets in on the fun in season 2, with two characters getting their hands cut off to save them from [[TakenForGranite Diviner petrification]]: [[spoiler:Izzy]] in the season premiere and [[spoiler:Coulson]] in the season finale.

* ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: Among the MCU's higher-tier cosmic characters, the Asgardians and Kree favor melee weapons. Aside from [[DropTheHammer Thor's Mjölnir and Ronan's Universal Weapon]], {{cool sword}}s are also quite common, and several characters use knives. Many of the characters who prefer such weapons have SuperToughness, SuperStrength, and/or SuperReflexes and many are {{Blood Knight}}s or from {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}}s.

*** In the comics, ComicBook/{{Karnak}} is a BadassNormal with {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s and the ability to [[AttackItsWeakPoint find the impurities in anything]]. The TV version of Karnak is explicitly superhuman and seems to possess some sort of nebulously-defined "[[AwesomeByAnalysis super analysis]]." Karnak's change is likely because they wanted the FantasticCasteSystem to apply ''only'' to Maximus.

** Due to the massive success of his solo movie just a few months prior, T'Challa and his supporting cast were heavily featured in most of the later marketing for ''Avengers: Infinity War''. In the actual film, they don't really get to do much until the last act. ComicBook/{{Shuri}} in particular (who was very prominent in the print advertisements) only gets about two scenes before she disappears from the movie.

** ComicBook/{{Shuri}} is present from the very beginning of ''Black Panther'', even though she wasn't introduced until the 2005 run of the comics. Same goes for the Dora Milaje, one of whom even appeared in ''Captain America: Civil War'', despite not existing in the comics until TheNineties. Somewhat a JustifiedTrope though, as in both cases, the characters were RememberTheNewGuy and depicted as having ''always'' been part of Black Panther's cast; later stories set during T'Challa's early years or flashbacks to previous eras in the comics have depicted them as being around the whole time, and just never mentioned/seen during these previous stories.

* AdaptationalProtagonist: In ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'', the Avengers are basically there to help up the death toll and make for an exciting battle with the all-but-godlike Thanos. In particular, Iron Man has his head unceremoniously pulled off and Captain America is the last man standing before Thanos shatters his shield and snaps his neck. Instead, Adam Warlock is the one who plans and finally carries out a plan to bring Thanos down. As Warlock doesn't exist in the MCU, when the story was adapted into the events of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', the Avengers take centre stage, with Iron Man being the one to put Thanos down once and for all.

** In the comics ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} spent a large part of his run being partially deaf, wearing a hearing aid, and is able to use American Sign Language. In the film incarnation none of this is included. (At first, anyway. As of ''Hawkeye'' he's developed hearing loss.)

* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: Nearly every film takes a break at least once to have the characters catch their breath, talk, and process just what's going on.

** In the comics Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}} spent a large part of his run being partially deaf, wearing a hearing aid, and is able to use American Sign Language. In the film incarnation none of this is included. (At first, anyway. As of ''Hawkeye'' he's developed hearing loss.)

** ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' seemed to be hinting at a romance between Steve Rogers and [[Comicbook/{{Agent 13}} Sharon Carter]], with the two even kissing in the sequel, ''Captain America: Civil War''. This element was dropped in subsequent films, with Sharon not even appearing (or even getting mentioned by name) in ''Avengers: Infinity War'' or ''Avengers: Endgame''. She eventually returns in ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' and reveals that she's rather bitter about being left behind like that.

** ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'' incorporates Comicbook/{{Ultron}} and Comicbook/TheVision's intro story (''Avengers'' #54–58), Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}} and Comicbook/ScarletWitch leaving a terrorist organization to join the Avengers (''Avengers'' #16) (in the case of the film, HYDRA, though Scarlet Witch orchestrate's Ultron's creation and serves him with Quicksilver until he goes too far), the Sentient Armor story-line in which Iron Man created an AI suit that went insane and tried to kill him (''Iron Man'' vol.3 #26–30), Ultron using multiple bodies (''Comicbook/UltronUnlimited''), and the name of the CrisisCrossover ''Comicbook/AgeOfUltron''.

** ''Avengers: Infinity War'' is an adaptation of ''The Thanos Quest'' and ''Comicbook/TheInfinityGauntlet'' (notably the fact that this is the film where he goes after all the Infinity Stones), but takes elements from ''Comicbook/{{Infinity}}'' as well in order to make Thanos' plot tied more closely to Earth. It also has elements of ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}'' and ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion''.

** In ''Captain America: The First Avenger'', Comicbook/RedSkull was a recipient of a previous version of the Super Soldier serum. In the comics, he was just a guy that Hitler trained and given a mask to be more scary. For a time, he did possess a cloned body of Cap and an accident did turn his head into a shriveled red skull looking thing, but that's not how he was in WWII.

** ''Guardians of The Galaxy'' ties Ronan the Accuser with the origin story of Comicbook/DraxTheDestroyer by having Ronan be a puppet of ComicBook/{{Thanos}} that performed the killing of Drax's family, so Drax switches targets to Thanos once Ronan is dead by film's end. In the comics, said atrocity was all Thanos' doing and he was the sole target of Drax's obsession.

** In ''Captain America: Civil War'', ComicBook/BlackPanther's father is killed in the present day by [[spoiler:[[Comicbook/BaronZemo Zemo]]]], the film's BigBad, and a large chunk of the story revolves around Black Panther trying to kill ComicBook/BuckyBarnes, who has been blamed for the deed. In a broader sense, it could be argued that Black Panther's origin is tied to the Avengers, as the whole reason he and his dad come to Europe in the first place is to address the events of ''Avengers: Age of Ultron''. His origin was fairly isolated in the comics, as his dad was killed by a Dutch scientist named Ulysses Klaw many years ago. This film also sees Iron Man taking a young ComicBook/SpiderMan under his wing, and later providing the boy with his trademark costume and upgraded web-shooters. In the comics, Peter's outfit was something he designed himself.

** Likewise, in ''Spider-Man: Far From Home'', [[spoiler: Comicbook/{{Mysterio}} turns out to be a bitter former Stark International employee who tried to con people into thinking he was a superhero after being fired for his unstable demeanor]].
** It's left ambiguous, but there are hints in the season finale of ''Jessica Jones'' that the car accident that granted Jessica her powers may have somehow been connected to the SuperSoldier program that Simpson ([[ComicbookMoviesDontUseCodenames "Nuke" in the comics]]) is involved with.

** In the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' comics, Comicbook/DraxTheDestroyer and [[Characters/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyModern Mantis]] were both humans originally from Earth; their powers and unusual appearances come from being genetically altered/trained by aliens. In the film and its sequel, both are aliens. It's also possible that Rocket, before being [[UpliftedAnimal granted intelligence by experiment]], was not a terrestrial raccoon but some alien animal that happened to look like one.

** Thanks to rights issues[[note]]The ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' rights belonged to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox rather than Marvel Studios and Disney until 2019 when Disney acquired them outright, meaning mutant characters like Comicbook/{{Magneto}} could not be used in the first three phases of the MCU.[[/note]] the ComicBook/ScarletWitch and ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} are not depicted as {{mutant}}s. In ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'', it's shown that they were ordinary humans who received special abilities from experimentation done with Comicbook/{{Loki}}'s cosmic scepter. This [[RetCanon change carried over to the comics]], where their powers were {{Retcon}}ned into being the result of experimentation from the High Evolutionary combined with coming from a [[MageSpecies magical bloodline]], with Magneto no longer being their father.
** Redwing in the comics is a bird with a telepathic link to Comicbook/TheFalcon. Here, Redwing is reimagined as a drone of entirely technological origin, in part because Falcon here is a BadassNormal in this universe.

** ''Avengers: Infinity War'' reveals that ComicBook/{{Thanos}} is a member of a race called the Titans who hail from a ''planet'' called Titan (which is apparently ''not'' UsefulNotes/{{Saturn}}'s moon of the same name). In the comics, he was an [[Comicbook/TheEternals Eternal]], one of a splinter race of humanity who were forcibly altered by [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens the Celestials]] and chose to leave Earth to resettle on Titan (Saturn's largest moon).

*** In the ''Comicbook/SecretWarriors'' comics, both Quake and Slingshot were human women who gained superpowers as a result of having superhuman fathers (Mister Hyde and Griffin, respectively). In the show, they're both {{Series/Inhumans}}.
*** Likewise, Hive was a human Comicbook/{{HYDRA}} agent who was subjected to an experiment involving ravenous parasites that ended up bonding with him. The series has him as an ancient and powerful Inhuman.
*** In the comics, Hellfire's powers are supernatural in nature, and stem from him being the grandson of Carter Slade, the original Comicbook/GhostRider. In the show, Hellfire is yet another Inhuman.

*** Molly is a mutant in the comics, but because the ''Comicbook/XMen'' franchise was off-limits at the time, the TV show depicts her as a human who got powers from [[GreenRocks extraterrestrial rocks]] that her parents had been studying.

** ''The Avengers'' has both Comicbook/BlackWidow and Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}} as original members, even though both characters joined later rosters in the comics.

** The Avengers had already been published for about a decade when Comicbook/{{Thanos}} first appeared in 1973. In the MCU, Thanos has essentially been the franchise's GreaterScopeVillain since the first ''Avengers'' movie, where he was revealed to be the ManBehindTheMan in TheStinger.
** In the comics, James Rhodes didn't appear as part of ComicBook/IronMan's supporting cast until 1979, and didn't become Comicbook/WarMachine until 1992. He's part of Tony's supporting cast from Day 1 in the first ''Iron Man'' movie, and becomes War Machine in the very next movie. In this continuity, he effectively predates a bunch of characters who have been around a lot longer in the comics, like Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and Hawkeye.

*** As an {{Expy}} / RaceLift of Comicbook/MaryJaneWatson, Michelle, A.K.A "MJ," would count as well, since she's introduced as Peter's high school classmate in Spidey's first solo MCU outing, while Gwen Stacy has yet to be introduced in this continuity.
*** Also by extension, pretty much every other teen character and young hero in contrast; Peter was a grown man by the time other teen heroes started showing up, and is OlderAndWiser than most of them now. Here, Peter's at least decade younger than Comicbook/JessicaJones (who he went to high school with) and Daisy Johnson (who is almost a decade ''younger'' than him in the comics), and is the same age/younger than such heroes like the Runaways and Cloak and Dagger.

** In the comics, Franchise/SpiderMan predated ComicBook/IronMan and the formation of ComicBook/TheAvengers, and was not a member of the team when the book first launched. Because Spider-Man's movie rights were off-limits during the first two Phases of the MCU, he doesn't show up in the movies until several years ''after'' the Avengers have already been formed. In fact, his idolization of the Avengers (especially Iron Man) is a plot point. Then done retroactively after the release of ''Spider-Man: Homecoming'', via the creators that the kid in the Iron Man mask that Tony rescues from the Hammer Drone in ''Iron Man 2'' was a young Peter.

** In the comics, the Mandarin was one of Comicbook/IronMan's earliest villains, and his {{ArchEnemy}}. Although a charlatan claiming to be the Mandarin shows up in ''Film/IronMan3'', the ''real'' Mandarin doesn't appear until the 2021 movie ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'', a full 13 years after the release of the original ''Iron Man'' movie. Because of this, the Mandarin [[RoguesGalleryTransplant instead fights]] Comicbook/ShangChi, as Iron Man was killed off at the end of ''Avengers: Endgame'' 2 years prior.
** [[ComicBook/Warlock1967 Adam Warlock]] doesn't join the ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' until the third movie (though his cocoon appeared in TheStinger of the second movie), while his comic counterpart was one of the founding members of that version of the team.
** Because their film rights belonged to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox until Disney bought the company in 2019, the Comicbook/FantasticFour and the Comicbook/XMen were legally barred from appearing during the first 3 phases of the MCU. In the original comics, the Fantastic Four predated the Avengers (and kickstarted the entire Marvel Universe), while the X-Men debuted in 1963, the same year the Avengers first came together. Instead, the MCU has the Avengers as the team that kickstarted the universe, and many characters who came much later in the comics (like the Guardians of the Galaxy) ended up making their debuts years before the FF or X-Men. Additionally, certain characters who were originally created for those series (like Comicbook/BlackPanther, who started off as a ''Fantastic Four'' supporting character back in TheSixties) ended up having their own movie debuts ahead of them as well. A further consequence of this was that movies adapted from stories that included those characters had to [[AdaptedOut omit them]], meaning that the FF were not in the movie version of ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'', and that Comicbook/{{Wolverine}} and the Comicbook/SilverSurfer could not join the fight against Comicbook/{{Thanos}} in ''Avengers: Infinity War'' or ''Avengers: Endgame'', even though they did in [[Comicbook/TheInfinityGauntlet the original story]].

** In the films, ComicBook/{{Thanos}} is a WellIntentionedExtremist, [[spoiler:believing that if he doesn't do something, the universe will suffer from overpopulation, environmental damage, and wars for resources, and leaving half of Gamora's species alive.]] In the comics, he worshiped Death the entity, was a nihilist, killed half the universe to as an offering to Death and actually enjoyed reliving his crimes when subjected to Comicbook/GhostRider's Penance Stare. Though in the films and ComicBook/{{Gamora}}'s people were decimated by Thanos who [[AdaptationalJerkass abducts her from her mother]], whilst in the comics Thanos rescues Gamora from the genocide of her people at hands of zealots [[PetTheDog and adopts her]].

** Zig-zagged when it came to magic-users in phases one and most of two. Comicbook/{{Loki}} from the ''Thor'' movies and the [[RealityWarper reality warping]] Comicbook/ScarletWitch from ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'' had their powers described in pseudo-scientific terms instead of mystical ones in order to not break disbelief, though Thor makes clear in his first film that [[ClarkesThirdLaw "magic" is just another name for the same things]]. Wanda's abilities were originally psychic in nature and ''heavily'' toned down, while Loki's weren't explained but could be the result of Asgardian super-tech. Then ''Doctor Strange'' came out, and [[DoingInTHeScientist they didn't have any reason to play coy with magic anymore]]. Loki described his abilities as magical in [[Series/Loki2021 his show]], and Wanda's powers were {{Retcon}}ned to being magic as well brought up to her reality warping level from the comics.

** The MCU incarnation of Comicbook/TheVision adds SuperToughness to his powerset, with vibranium incorporated into the 3-D-printed cells of his body. The laser beam he projects from his forehead gem has also ramped up in power, since the jewel is [[spoiler:an Infinity Stone]] here.

*** Comicbook/BlackBolt still has his trademark SonicScream, but is no longer a FlyingBrick. In fact, while he still has enhanced strength (just nowhere near the level he has in the comics), he can't fly at all. He does not appear to possess the [[ShockAndAwe power to manipulate electrons]] like his comic counterpart either.

*** In the comics, Comicbook/{{Karnak}} is a BadassNormal with {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s and the ability to [[AttackItsWeakPoint find the impurities in anything]]. The TV version of Karnak is explicitly superhuman and seems to possess some sort of nebulously-defined "[[AwesomeByAnalysis super analysis]]." Karnak's change is likely because they wanted the FantasticCasteSystem to apply ''only'' to Maximus.

** In the final minutes of ''Avengers: Endgame'', [[spoiler: Sam Wilson, a black man, [[PassingTheTorch takes up the shield and mantle of Captain America]] from the retired white Steve Rogers, while Comicbook/{{Valkyrie|Marvel Comics}}, a bisexual woman of color, becomes the new [[OfferedTheCrown Asgardian ruler]] once Thor abdicates. Interestingly, Valkyrie's character progression is completely original to the films; unlike Carol as Captain Marvel or Sam as Captain America, there is no comic-book precedent for her as Thor's successor.]]

** ''Iron Man 3'' combines elements of the "Extremis" arc by Creator/WarrenEllis, most notably the Extremis itself and many characters from that comic such as Aldrich Killian, the "Sentient Armor" arc by Creator/JoeQuesada, the Mandarin's origin story, [[Film/IronMan2 more]] plot points from the "ComicBook/ArmorWars" arc, "The Five Nightmares" arc with Ezekiel Stane, and the Comicbook/CivilWar story.

** Because their film rights belonged to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox until Disney bought the company in 2019, the Comicbook/FantasticFour and the Comicbook/XMen were legally barred from appearing during the first 3 phases of the MCU. In the original comics, the Fantastic Four predated the Avengers (and kickstarted the entire Marvel Universe), while the X-Men debuted in 1963, the same year the Avengers first came together. Instead, the MCU has the Avengers as the team that kickstarted the universe, and many characters who came much later in the comics (like the Guardians of the Galaxy) ended up making their debuts years before the FF or X-Men. Additionally, certain characters who were originally created for those series (like Comicbook/BlackPanther, who started off as a ''Fantastic Four'' supporting character back in TheSixties) ended up having their own movie debuts ahead of them as well. A further consequence of this was that movies adapted from stories that included those characters had to [[AdaptedOut omit them]], meaning that the FF were not in the movie version of ''Comicbook/CivilWar'', and that Comicbook/{{Wolverine}} and the Comicbook/SilverSurfer could not join the fight against Comicbook/{{Thanos}} in ''Avengers: Infinity War'' or ''Avengers: Endgame'', even though they did in [[Comicbook/TheInfinityGauntlet the original story]].

** While Creator/RobertDowneyJr's take on Tony Stark / ComicBook/IronMan is still a JerkWithAHeartOfGold like in the comics, there's much more emphasis on the "heart of gold" than the "jerk" part (in particular, he's surprisingly good with kids). For one thing, while comics Tony still initially remained an arms dealer even after becoming Iron Man, this version began shutting down that part of the business the moment he got back to America. This difference particularly comes through in ''Captain America: Civil War''; in the original ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' comic, Tony willingly adopts ever more extreme (to the point of downright villainous) methods in order to enforce the Superhero Registration Act, while in the film, he's visibly bothered by the more extreme means used by the government to enforce the Sokovia Accords.

** ''Captain America: Civil War'' introduces the Raft, an underwater prison apparently built for the sole purpose of containing the Avengers if they go rogue (or, really, any superpowered individuals, but we only ever see it used for that purpose). [[spoiler:Following the airport fight, it's used to contain Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch, although Steve and Bucky break them out after defeating Iron Man at the Hydra Facility in Siberia.]] It's essentially the MCU's version of Prison 42 from the original ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' storyline, which was an extra-''dimensional'' prison used by Iron Man and his allies to hold non-registered superheroes before their trial.

*** Comicbook/BlackBolt still has his trademark [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic scream]], but is no longer a FlyingBrick. In fact, while he still has enhanced strength (just nowhere near the level he has in the comics), he can't fly at all. He does not appear to possess the [[ShockAndAwe power to manipulate electrons]] like his comic counterpart either.

** Traditional magic users Comicbook/{{Loki}} from the ''Thor'' movies and the [[RealityWarper reality warping]] Comicbook/ScarletWitch from ''Avengers: Age of Ultron,'' have had their powers altered in such a way that they're not [[StoryBreakerPower using their godlike powers to the point of negating narrative suspense]] - for instance, Wanda's have been scaled back to telekinesis and mind manipulation. Also, at least in the case for Loki, he sometimes uses his powers in ridiculous ways in the comics, such as transforming an entire street into ice cream. Effects such as this might not translate well to the big screen. The powers are also described in pseudo-scientific terms instead of mystical ones in order to not break disbelief, though Thor makes clear in his first film that [[ClarkesThirdLaw "magic" is just another name for the same things.]]
** ComicBook/IronMan's foe the Mandarin is usually known for wearing ten [[RingOfPower Rings of Power]]. In ''Iron Man 3'', [[spoiler:the apparent Mandarin is only an actor and completely powerless; while the film's mastermind and "real" Mandarin, Aldritch Killian, has heat powers and a healing factor thanks to Extremis]]. However, [[spoiler:a short film makes the claim that a ''true'' Mandarin exists and that Killian stole his identity for the actor to use; so the possibility is there that he ''does'' have the rings of his comic counterpart, especially since this real Mandarin is confirmed to be the BigBad of ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'']].

*** This movie's poor box-office returns created a big one involving [[MadScientist Dr. Samuel Sterns]] and his StartOfDarkness. Though the studio was able to continue Bruce Banner's character arc with his appearance in ''The Avengers'', the lack of direct sequels to ''The Incredible Hulk'' meant that we never got to see the fallout from [[spoiler:Sterns using Banner's gamma-irradiated blood to turn himself into the Leader]]. This plot thread was [[AllThereInTheManual eventually continued]] in the ''Fury's Big Week'' comic that was released as a prequel to ''The Avengers''. In it, [[spoiler:Sterns uses his new abilities to attack Black Widow, only to end up knocked out and taken into custody by ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}.]]

* ApocalypseHow:
** Successful:
*** ApocalypseHow/Class6 (Planetary Scale, Total Extinction): Not that far off from a ApocalypseHow/ClassX. In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', the Collector shows recordings of the Power Stone being used by a Celestial on at least one sapient world in the past, unleashing a WorldWreckingWave which turns a relatively-green world into a cracked cinder scorched with the stone's signature energy.
*** Thanos's home planet Titan suffered one somewhere between ApocalypseHow/Class4 and ApocalypseHow/Class6, which reduced it from an idyllic world to a stormy-skied, ruin-littered wasteland, as revealed in ''Avengers: Infinity War''. Thanos claims that an OverpopulationCrisis caused the extinction event, but Peter [[OneSteveLimit (Quill)]] notes that the planet itself is off its axis and that gravitational pull is "all over the place", indicating that a lack of resources wasn't the ''only'' reason for Titan's demise.
*** ApocalypseHow/ClassX (Planetary Scale, Physical Annihilation): Calling Asgard a planet in its own right might be a stretch, but in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', it's ravaged by Surtr's fire and finally blasted to pieces, completing the prophecy of Ragnarok. Fortunately, a handful of Asgardians escape and survive. [[Recap/WhatIfS1E8WhatIfUltronWon The Sacred Timeline isn't the only universe where Asgard meets this kind of end either]].
*** ApocalypseHow/Class1 (Planetary Scale, Social Disruption): Thanos basically inflicts this on ''every'' inhabited planet in the universe with the Snap in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', causing half of all sapient and animal life to near-spontaneously turn to dust at random. ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' shows the aftermath on Earth, with cities and suburban neighborhoods around the world looking near-deserted, world governments "in pieces", and the surviving half of the population deeply traumatized -- one gets the implication that it could have slid into total collapse without the Avengers doing all they can to help the world hold together. Most of the planets in the universe are implied to have it at least as bad as Earth if not worse, with Captain Marvel trying to pick up the slack on her own.
*** ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 (Universal Scale, Physical Annihilation): In "[[Recap/WhatIfS1E4WhatIfDoctorStrangeLostHisHeartInsteadOfHisHands What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?]]", Strange Supreme triggers a RealityBreakingParadox which ultimately destroys [[AlternateUniverse his entire universe]] and everyone in it but himself, causing it to collapse around him into a tiny crystallized remnant.
*** Infinity Ultron unleashes ''a bunch of them'' all over his native universe in "[[Recap/WhatIfS1E8WhatIfUltronWon What If... Ultron Won?]]". First, he inflicts at least a ApocalypseHow/Class4 on Earth via total nuclear holocaust (probably a ApocalypseHow/Class5, based on Clint and Natasha's lack of even animal companionship and lack of views of what the countryside looks like). Then after Ultron takes his genocidal campaign universal, he inflicts a series of Class X's on multiple familiar worlds -- and at one point he even creates a blast of power that seemingly causes a ApocalypseHow/ClassX2 to Xandar's star system -- until all sapient life (possibly even all life of any kind '''period''') in his universe is functionally extinct, with only Hawkeye and Black Widow being known to survive.
*** ApocalypseHow/ClassX3 (Galactic Scale, Physical Annihilation): And after Infinity Ultron escapes into the multiverse, in one universe he seemingly causes this when he chomps down on an entire galaxy. There's no telling just how much devastation to how many universes he managed to cause before the Guardians of the Multiverse stopped him for good.
*** The backstory of ''Series/Loki2021'' reveals that the current iteration of reality (the "Sacred Timeline") is set after a Class X-5; [[spoiler:There once was a "Great Multiversal War" going on, presumably involving all variations of the villain Kang the Conqueror, and the last survivor (going by the name "He Who Remains") created the [[TimePolice Time Variance Authority]] to prune any and all derivations from the Sacred Timeline so that another, possibly crueler Kang, isn't created and result in another Multiversal War (which, according to He Who Remains himself, [[NothingIsScarier would have as its end result]] "everything burning"). This gets undone when Sylvie kills He Who Remains, causing the Sacred Timeline to erupt into numerous different timelines and re-creating the Multiverse.]]
** Attempted:
*** In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Loki attempts to turn the Bifrost Bridge on Jötunheim to cause a Class X to the planet and eradicate the Frost Giants.
*** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Ronan intends to use the Power Stone to inflict a Class 6 on Xandar and all its inhabitants, just as the Stone was used long ago to inflict such an apocalypse on other worlds. And he comes scarily close to success.
*** ApocalypseHow/Class4 (Planetary Scale, Multiple Species Extinction): In ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', Ultron intends to inflict a [[UsefulNotes/{{Dinosaurs}} K-T level]] extinction event by turning Sokovia into [[spoiler:a Chicxulub-like impactor for a ColonyDrop]]. He at first indicates he wants to push humanity to evolve and improve (in which case, it would likely be a ApocalypseHow/Class2 for the human race alone), but his reasoning is InsaneTrollLogic at best with his fractured mindset. Friday states when Ultron is enacting his plan that the blast will likely cause "global extinction", and after losing Vision, Ultron implies he'll probably try to inflict a Class 5 so that he's the only thing left alive.
*** [[spoiler:Ego the Living Planet]]'s AssimilationPlot to remake every inhabited world into an extension of himself, as revealed in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'', would likely spell a series of universe-wide Class 6's. The seeds of himself that he's planted on the "thousands of worlds" he's visited (which include Earth) are shown aggressively turning into ''very'' fast-spreading {{Blob Monster}}s which crush everything in their path, and they're specifically intended by their creator to cover ''every inch'' of those planets' surfaces.
*** In ''Thor: Ragnarok'', Hela getting what she wants would spell ''very'' bad news (read: multiple Class 2's) for any of the Nine Realms, given how much she's looking forward to "drenching them in blood" in the name of conquest.
*** Class X-4: In ''Avengers: Endgame'' [[spoiler:after seeing that his plan ultimately fails, a past version of Thanos comes to the present with a new plan; to use the Infinity Stones to "shred this universe down to its last atom" and [[InTheirOwnImage make a new one the way he envisioned]], with nobody from the old one besides him alive to remember the way things used to be.]]
*** Once Infinity Ultron escapes from his own universe into the multiverse, he intends to repeat his systematic genocide of all sapient life upon all the other universes, resulting in a Class [=X-5=].
*** At the climax of ''Series/{{Moon Knight|2022}}'', it's revealed that the BigBad Arthur Harrow's {{Evil Plan}} is to [[spoiler:re-awaken his goddess [[DarkMessiah Ammit]] so she will extend his VampiricDraining PrecrimeArrest powers to ''all'' of his fellow cultists so they can all collectively "judge humanity and make a Heaven on Earth"]]. Considering how the Cult of Ammit seems to consists of at ''least'' several thousand people scattered all across the world and Ammit herself makes it clear that she desires to "judge" the whole planet, it's all but outright stated that Ammit and Harrow's plan -- if not thwarted -- could cause a Class 2 (Planetary Scale, Societal Collapse) across the Earth.

** In ''The Avengers'', the eponymous team is comprised of one hero, four anti-heroes, and one anti-heroine. Moreover, the anti-heroic characters exemplify [[Analysis/AntiHero different shades of anti-heroism]]: [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce]] is a ClassicalAntiHero (Hulk is a NominalHero), [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony]] and ComicBook/{{Thor}} are [[KnightInSourArmor Disney Anti-Heroes]], while ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} and ComicBook/BlackWidow are {{Unscrupulous Hero}}es. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is the only proper hero on this superhero team - though Thor is on the borderline.

** In ''The Incredible Hulk'', the Abomination is a soldier working under Thunderbolt Ross who gets a dose of Captain America's Super Soldier serum and then doses himself with a vial of [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner's]] blood obtained from Samuel Stern, rather than merely a KGB spy who bombarded himself with gamma rays. Speaking of Samuel Stern, the [[AbortedArc forgotten]] SequelHook implied that the Leader's origin would be tied to the events of this film[[note]]Stern is last seen mutating after accidentally becoming infected with a sample of Banner's gamma-irradiated blood.[[/note]], rather than him having been a janitor who accidentally broke open a container of gamma waste.

** In ''The Avengers'', the eponymous team is comprised of one hero, four anti-heroes, and one anti-heroine. Moreover, the anti-heroic characters exemplify [[Analysis/AntiHero different shades of anti-heroism]]: [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Bruce]] is a ClassicalAntiHero (Hulk is a NominalHero), [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony]] and ComicBook/{{Thor}} are [[KnightInSourArmor Disney Anti-Heroes]], while ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} and ComicBook/BlackWidow are {{Unscrupulous Hero}}es. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is the only proper hero on this superhero team - though Thor is on the borderline.

** [[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} Adam Warlock]] doesn't join the ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' until the third movie (though his cocoon appeared in TheStinger of the second movie), while his comic counterpart was one of the founding members of that version of the team.

** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' was based on the comic book ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet''. However, [[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} Adam Warlock]], a protagonist of the comic, did not take part in that film.

*** The titular character is not a FlyingBrick here. Instead, she starts out with SuperStrength and learns how to perform powerful jumps with it.

* AdaptationalSympathy: MCU has a habit of making the origins of its villains more sympathetic than those of their comic book counterparts. The Ghost, Eric Killmonger, Loki, the Taskmaster and the Vulture all get this treatment. The full list of examples can be found on [[AdaptationalSympathy/MarvelCinematicUniverse its own page]].

*** Thanos's home planet Titan suffered one somewhere between ApocalypseHow/Class4 and ApocalypseHow/Class6, which reduced it from an idyllic world to a stormy-skied, ruin-littered wasteland; as revealed in ''Avengers: Infinity War''. Thanos claims that an OverpopulationCrisis caused the extinction event, but Peter [[OneSteveLimit (Quill)]] notes that the planet itself is off its axis and that gravitational pull is "all over the place", indicating that a lack of resources wasn't the only reason for Titan's demise.

*** At the climax of ''Series/{{Moon Knight|2022}}'', it's revealed that the BigBad Arthur Harrow's {{Evil Plan}} is to [[spoiler:re-awaken his goddess [[DarkMessiah Ammit]] so she will extend his VampiricDraining PrecrimeArrest powers to ''all'' of his fellow cultists so they can all collectively "judge humanity and make a Heaven on Earth"]]. Considering how the Cult of Ammit seems to consists of at ''least'' a few thousand people scattered all across Western Europe, it's implied that if their plan would succeed, his plan -- if not thwarted -- could cause a Class 0 (Regional Scale, Societal Disruption/Collapse) across the European continent.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: has its [[ArbitrarySkepticism/MarvelCinematicUniverse own page]].