10 Dream MCU Projects Disney Will (Probably) Never Make

10. Dark Reign (Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers)

Dark Avengers
Marvel Comics

Spider-Man will no longer be in the MCU by the time he next appears on the big screen, and that brings with it a whole host of storylines that'll likely never see the light of day.

While there are certainly positives to be gleaned from Sony's decision to take their webbed-ball home and refusing to play with Marvel - not least because we may now get to see a Spidey film that isn't overshadowed by Iron Man's legacy - if rumours are to be believed it means that the fallout will prompt a major rethink for Phases Four and Five.

It was heavily speculated in the wake of and even before Avengers: Endgame that Norman Osborn would be the key overarching antagonist of Marvel's next phase. That might seem a little strange to those who consider the stripy-haired goblin a Spider-Man villain first and foremost, but it's actually the case that he's been deployed primarily as an antagonist for the Avengers over the last ten or so years.

Osborn's tenure as public enemy number one was realised best during Dark Reign, where he took over S.H.I.E.L.D., renamed it H.A.M.M.E.R., and fashioned his own group of Dark Avengers. It's easy to see how Kevin Feige et al. could've implemented such an event onscreen, and even though they probably won't be sweating too much over the change, it's still a huge shame Osborn and his cronies won't come together the way fans hoped they would - save for the possibility of Sony and Disney reconciling in the months ahead.

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Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.