10 Biggest MCU Controversies Ever

It's only inevitable that a movie franchise as phenomenally popular as the Marvel Cinematic Universe will weather its fair share of controversy - such is the nature of any sufficiently popular thing consumed by literally billions of people at this point.

With almost 30 movies under its belt over the last 14 years - not to mention the glut of TV shows produced in the periphery - it'd be shocking if there weren't headline-grabbing moments that split the fanbase straight down the middle.

These controversies range from beloved filmmakers quitting the director's chair amid strained relationships, to divisive character changes from the comics, various debates related to gender, race, and sexuality, and of course, a certain plot twist that pissed a lot of people off.

While these controversies ultimately didn't sink their respective movies for most viewers, there were those left so categorically offended by what happened that it tainted the film for them forever more.

It goes without saying that the MCU will continue to court controversy for as long as it continues to exist, but to date these remain the most vocally discussed and contentiously debated...

Personnel changes are nothing new where mega-budget blockbusters are concerned, but there are two instances of dismissed directors which truly stoked the ire of the MCU fanbase.

Firstly, fans rejoiced when Edgar Wright was announced to helm Ant-Man - his energetic filmmaking style was simply a perfect fit for it.

Yet Wright ultimately departed the project just three months before shooting started amid the ever-troubling "creative differences," with it later being suggested that Wright balked at having to include connections to the wider MCU in his self-contained story.

Despite Wright's script being rewritten, he still received screenplay and story credits, and was swiftly replaced in the director's chair by Peyton Reed.

Reed delivered a fine end product, but hardly one that lives up to the potential of a Wright-helmed Ant-Man movie. It's the MCU's single biggest "What if?" moment.

And then there's James Gunn, who after turning Guardians of the Galaxy into a blockbuster franchise in its own right with two hit movies, was fired from helming a third film in mid-2018 after controversial tweets he made years earlier resurfaced.

Fan outrage was volcanic, both that a third Guardians film could be made without Gunn's distinctive voice and that Disney appeared to be kotowing to the whims of alt-right trolls who spammed Gunn's offending tweets across the platform.

Unlike Wright's predicament, however, this had a happy outcome, as Gunn was re-hired once Disney saw sense a few months later, and Guardians Vol. 3 is now in post-production awaiting release next May.