Top 10 Abandoned Marvel Projects That We Never Got to See

The folks behind the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” are well known for scheduling films years in advance, and fans were hyped to see an “Inhumans” film on the docket for Phase 3 of the MCU. However, several films, such as “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and other Disney-owned properties, forced “Inhumans” to be pushed back. Eventually, its plot, which was to focus on the Inhuman royal family, was reworked into a television series. And while its first two episodes were released theatrically, the end result probably discouraged executives from revisiting the Inhumans property anytime soon.

Near the turn of the millennium, Artisan Entertainment acquired the rights to over a dozen Marvel franchises to turn into film or TV projects. One of these was Morbius, the Living Vampire. A member of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery and an occasional anti-hero, Dr. Michael Morbius seems like he would have been an ideal Marvel character to capitalize on the momentum of the Blade films and the vampire craze of the 2000s, but sadly, it was not to be. Thankfully though, a Morbius movie is reportedly currently being developed by Sony.

In the early 1990s, Jennifer Walters, the cousin of Bruce Banner, also known as She-Hulk, seemed as if she might be getting her own film, no doubt capitalizing on the cult status of the 1980s “Hulk” TV series and TV movies. The proposed project would have starred Brigitte Nielsen, an actress whose tall stature would have fit the role well. However, despite concept photos being shot with Nielsen in costume, and Larry Cohen reportedly being in talks to direct, an apparent lack of funds meant that She-Hulk ultimately failed to smash her way onto the big screen.

During the 2000s, there were plans to create a whole host of standalone origin movies focusing on “X-Men” characters. Though the first and only one to actually hit theaters was “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” one starring Magneto was in development. However, a number of obstacles, including the 2007-2008 Writers Guild Strike, as well as Ian McKellen’s age, led to its dissolution. Elements of its planned story did make their way into “X-Men: First Class” though, so while we may never have gotten the Magneto solo movie we were promised, we still thankfully got to see more of his origin.

Though the 2018 “Black Panther” film was a smash hit, it wasn’t the first time the African superhero has been proposed for an adaptation. Wesley Snipes attempted for several years during the ‘90s to get the film made. However, despite the actor’s success during the period, he had difficulty convincing people to back the project, as well as convince them that it wasn’t about the political movement, reportedly getting into disagreements with writers and directors. Ultimately Snipes’ efforts did lead him to him to another iconic black superhero though: Blade.

Believe it or not, in the mid-1990s, James Cameron was tapped to direct a “Spider-Man” adaptation. Several scripts were written, with some versions reportedly featuring heavy profanity and even Spider-Man and Mary-Jane Watson having sex on the Brooklyn Bridge. In terms of villains, Electro, Sandman, and Dr. Octopus were all alleged possibilities, with Arnold Schwarzenegger in mind for the last of these. Leonardo DiCaprio has also been rumored to have been in mind for Peter Parker/Spider-Man. However, legal issues between studios tied things up for years and the bankruptcy of multiple companies involved ultimately killed the film. That being said, some ideas, such as organic webs, made their way into the Sam Raimi version.

In 2007, Guillermo Del Toro pitched himself to Marvel as the director of a “Doctor Strange” film, with Neil Gaiman as the screenwriter. However, Marvel passed on the idea, and, given that they weren’t the powerhouse they are today, we can understand their reticence. Still, we can only dream at how Del Toro and Gaiman’s distinctly weird and wonderful styles could have meshed to bring about an even stranger “Doctor Strange” than the one we got; probably with more practical effects than CG, if the director’s previous work is anything to go by.

Edgar Wright, famous for his collaborations with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, was long slated to direct the Marvel comedy heist film, “Ant-Man.” Wright was attached to the project for almost a decade, though he made several films in the interim. Ultimately, Marvel parted ways with the director because, to paraphrase Edgar Wright himself, he had become a “director for hire” on the project. That’s a shame, since Wright’s frenetic, signature style is fantastic and would’ve likely leant itself nicely to Ant-Man. Wright, as well as the crew he’d already hired, ended up turning their talents to another comedy heist movie, “Baby Driver.”

Donald Glover and his brother Stephen were working on developing a “Deadpool” animated series for the network FX. The same animation studio who worked on a “Black Panther” miniseries, was approached to animate the show and some test footage has even been released. Unfortunately, FX decided to pull the plug, apparently disagreeing with the direction that the Glover brothers wanted to take the series. Stephen Glover has joked that an episode involving Taylor Swift is what led to the cancellation, while Donald released a mock “finale” script on Twitter. Unfortunately, if we do get a “Deadpool” cartoon, we probably won’t see either Glover involved.

Following the success of the “Spider-Man” trilogy, director Sam Raimi was preparing to work on a fourth movie starring the wall crawler. The script went through a number of revisions and some actors were in mind for roles, such as John Malkovich as the Vulture and Anne Hathaway as Felicia Hardy. However, Raimi was reportedly dissatisfied with the script, which is rumored to have featured Peter Parker becoming a father, but cheating on his wife and giving up being Spider-Man. And while we can’t say we’re thrilled by those developments either, if Raimi could have found a story that worked for him, we’d have loved to see him continue Spider-Man’s journey.