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April 16, 2024
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Before all the blockbuster movies and television shows, Marvel began as a publisher of American comic books. Over the years, and thanks to the excellent reception from comic book fans, Marvel Studios was founded, and with it, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or as many of us say, the MCU, which has become a bit of a cultural phenomenon.
So far, more than two dozen films have been adapted to the big screen, not counting the released series, such as WandaVision or Falcon & The Winter Soldier, which obtain millions of followers day after day.
But how close are these adaptations to the original comics? This article will showcase some differences between comics and movies many may not have known. So let’s get started.
One of the first significant differences we can see is the main heroes that make up the beginning of The Avengers. In the movies, they are Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. However, in the comics, the prominent superheroes that make up the Avengers are Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man, and The Wasp.
2. The Real Reason for the destruction of half the Universe at the hands of Thanos
In the movies, the destruction of half the universe was a personal ideology of Thanos himself, founded by the suffering of being raised on an overpopulated planet where people suffered from hunger and misery.
However, in the comics, Thanos destroys half of the universe to reestablish the balance and cosmic order that Lady Death had entrusted him. A curious fact is that Death was the love of Thanos’ life, and the creation of the gauntlet that carries the infinity gems was solely done to impress her.
Jarvis is another example that adaptations are not always faithful to the source material. In the movies, Jarvis was an artificial intelligence system that always helped Tony Stark to test or design his own weapons and battle suits. But in contrast, in the comics, Jarvis was a person, and he was the butler of the Stark family. However, in the movies, they mention that he is named Jarvis in honor of his butler.
Another great example of differences between the movies and the comics was the character of the Mandarin. In the Iron Man 3 movie, The Mandarin was an impostor as he was an actor who pretended to be this character.
But on the other hand, in the comics, the Mandarin is a real villain. In addition to being a genius and master of martial arts, he is the arch-enemy of Iron Man himself. This villain has sources of energy that come from ten power rings that he uses on each finger of his hands, and they were extracted from an alien ship space that he found many years ago.
The story behind Pietro and Wanda is much more complex than seen in the movies. The real story could not be implemented in the film for reasons such as character rights, but the reality is that the Maximoff twins are Magneto’s children in the comics.
They were first part of the X-Men before being recruited to be part of the Avengers. Then, it can be said that their powers come from the fact of being mutants and not from having been the product of many experiments with the Infinity Gems.
In the movie, after Thanos stumbles upon the ship where the few survivors of the Ragnarok are, Thor and his friends send Hulk as a messenger to Earth to warn others of what is coming. But in the comics, although the scene where the Hulk crashes into Doctor Strange’s sanctuary is similar, the hero who crashes is not Hulk but Silver Surfer.
The snap is the most memorable moment in the MCU movies. For the film, a whole battle was created to prevent Thanos from achieving his mission. The superheroes joined forces and faced him, but this did not happen in the comics. The snap was so quick and unexpected that it did not allow any superhero to prepare for battle.
It should be noted that, in the movies, the number of survivors was much greater than in the comics, where many of our favorite characters could not make it.
The most devastating moment of Avengers: Endgame was when Tony Stark (Ironman) died. Interestingly, this happens in the movies since, in the comics, depending on the villain, our superheroes die and constantly manage to revive.
One of the most devastating deaths in comics is Steve Rogers (Captain America) being handcuffed by the government and heading for a lawsuit against his name simply for rebelling against them.
We know that the soul gem is one of the six Infinity Gems necessary to make the snap, but an essential fact shown in the comics is that the soul gem can absorb people’s souls and retain them within them.
It is said that, in the comics, at the moment of the snap, all the souls of half the universe are trapped inside it, which in the movies does not happen. The closest we could appreciate was the world of souls, where Thanos meets a tiny Gamora.
In the MCU, they made us understand that the Infinity Gems have so much energy and power that nobody can manipulate them without incurring the consequences unless you can have a special gauntlet, for example. Still, the gems do not need artifacts to control them in the comics. There comes a time in the movie when the superheroes themselves distribute them to be able to return them to their original place and time.
You may never have known about these differences unless you are a true comic book fan. I recommend you read and understand all the details in depth. Overall, time is never wasted while reading a good comic. Trust me, my friends; the movie is never as good as the book!
