Top 10 MCU Moments That Caused Massive Backlash

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Integrating mutants into the MCU has been tricky. Many fans wanted to see the X-Men alongside the Avengers — and when the MCU introduced Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, fans thought this could be a possibility. Unfortunately, Wanda and Pietro had a bit of a bumpy start in this shared universe. Their status as mutants was scrapped, instead being referred to as “miracles.” Their family tree was also reimagined. Typically, Magneto is their father, but that wasn’t the case here. Sure, Marvel couldn’t lean into all of the X-Men goods back then, but ignoring who these characters were didn’t make fans happy. Maybe the real miracle here is how popular Scarlet Witch became despite all of the changes.

“Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022)
If you always wanted to see a floating head in a “Thor” movie, congratulations — this scene might have thrilled you. Unfortunately, the effect looks pretty unsettling. Heimdall’s son Axl relays a message to Thor and the gang about Gorr. But we’re willing to bet all words get lost in translation because audiences could only focus on the horrendous CGI. A multi-million dollar movie shouldn’t look like it belongs in the bargain bin. No offense to the VFX team, but this just was not it. There’s even a cleaned-up version on Disney+, but we’re not sure it’s much better. This laughably bad scene was one of several reasons this “Thor” entry is regarded as a weak point of the franchise.

“What If...?” (2021-24)
What if a human woman and a duck had a child? There’s a lot of fun stuff in the show “What If...?” but we’re not sure who was wondering about this specific scenario. An episode where Darcy Lewis has a child with Howard the Duck is going to ruffle feathers no matter what way you want to slice it. This exact scenario plays out in the fourth episode of season three, which sees the birth of Byrdie. It's an absolutely bizarre storyline to do, and given the limitless premise of the show, a bit of a disappointment. Out of all the boundary-pushing scenarios they could’ve done, they go with this? Seriously, what the duck were they thinking?

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023)
This guy was supposed to be the next big bad of the MCU. That’s kind of shocking considering he went out like a complete chump in the fight against Ant-Man. In “Quantumania,” Scott and Hope van Dyne push Kang into a multiversal engine core, defeating him. It’s a cool fight sequence, but a huge letdown too. Fans didn’t like the idea that this next-level supervillain died that easily. Even though there were multiple other menacing variants of him running around, this was supposed to be the main Kang. If the MCU revisits Kang, he’ll still be the guy who was taken down by the dude who talks to ants. Sorry, but that’s a bummer.

“Secret Invasion” (2023)
The long-awaited Skrull invasion turned out to be a flop. But as the miniseries ran, speculation flew over which fan-favorite characters would be outed as shapeshifters. Eventually, Rhodey would be revealed as a Skrull. But many fans were displeased at the vague nature of the reveal. When exactly was Rhodey swapped out? Had he been a Skrull since “Endgame?” Did the real Rhodey even know that his friend Tony Stark died? This plot twist just didn’t feel earned. It seemed like the show needed a big reveal and Rhodey squared that circle. “Secret Invasion” could’ve been a thrilling adaptation of an iconic comic storyline. But instead we got a dull show that just failed to live up.

“WandaVision” (2021)
While this show might not have fully jumped the shark, it had its own divisive moments. The most commotion was caused when the identity of Evan Peters’ mystery character was revealed. Fans initially believed that he might reprise his role as Quicksilver from the Fox universe. Could this mean we were going to get the X-Men in the MCU? Nope, sorry. It turned out that he wasn’t Pietro, and it was all a trick. Peters was actually just playing some guy called Ralph whose last name sounded like an immature reference. Fans didn’t love how “WandaVision” stirred fan speculation and wasted an actor cameo, all for a stupid gag.

“Avengers: Infinity War” (2018)
It was really hard to be a Star-Lord fan around 2018. He got a lot of blame for the Blip. When Thanos is cornered by Iron Man’s group of heroes, they come incredibly close to prying the Infinity Gauntlet from his grasp. But when Star-Lord discovers that Thanos killed Gamora, he attacks the Mad Titan. His rage during this moment allows Thanos to regain control and fight back. Many fans became split over this. Star-Lord’s grief was perfectly understandable, but he also had a job to do. Some also believed that the way this scene happened was out of character for Quill. Either way, his reaction cost our heroes everything.

“Captain Marvel” (2019)
How Nick Fury ended up with his signature eyepatch was a mystery fans were eager to see solved. But sometimes theories are more exciting than what we actually end up with. Near the end of “Captain Marvel,” a younger Nick Fury playfully holds up Goose, a dangerous alien that resembles a cat. But it turns out that this kitty’s got claws! Goose was actually the one who caused Fury to lose sight in his left eye. This wasn’t exactly the satisfying payoff fans wanted. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” made it seem like Fury suffered a dramatic personal betrayal, and well — this wasn’t that. Talk about a letdown!

“Captain America: Civil War” (2016)
On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with Captain America sharing a tender moment with Sharon Carter. But once you realize that she’s the great niece of Peggy Carter, Steve’s old flame from World War II, things get a little weird. Some fans didn’t see a problem, but many were a little creeped out by Steve’s decision to go from one woman in this family to another. It’s also strange because this kiss happened not long after Peggy’s funeral. And in retrospect, it’s even odder post-“Endgame,” where Steve rewrites his history to go back and grow old with Peggy. The time-travel shenanigans there only furthered the idea that the Steve-Sharon romance was doomed from the start.

“Iron Man 3” (2013)
The Mandarin had the makings to be a formidable supervillain when he was introduced in “Iron Man 3.” He was menacing, mysterious, and murderous. Except halfway through the movie, we learn that this is all a ruse. The Mandarin we thought we were seeing was actually just a washed-up actor named Trevor Slattery. While many in the fanbase have actually come to appreciate Trevor over the years, he didn’t get the warmest welcome initially. Fans disliked how the MCU made one of Iron Man’s greatest villains a joke. While we’d get a version of the real Mandarin eventually, we still never got to see him face off against Tony Stark — a total fumble.


Is there a controversial MCU moment we missed? Spill the tea down in the comments.