10 Comic Book Films That Ignored The Source (That Fans Still Loved)

The sequel to Captain America: The Winter Soldier might have looked drastically different if MCU overlord Kevin Feige and directors Anthony and Joe Russo opted to adapt the Mark Millar and Steve McNiven bestselling comic book event Civil War beat for beat.

The third chapter in the Captain America movie franchise saw the 2006 comic book storyline vastly toned down, and transformed more into an international political thriller rather than an all-out superhero fight. While we still got the famous “airport scene” that pitched the First Avenger against Tony Stark aka Iron Man, the original material offered us an army of characters, including the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and even the Punisher. If that wasn’t enough, the roster included tons of villains and even a crazy cyborg-Thor.

Characters aside, Captain America: Civil War shaped its story around the state the MCU was already in, giving us a natural lead into the famous fight, rather than spending precious screen time setting up the exact circumstances of the source material. Giving the story a surprise villain helped gel the conflict together and surprise a good part of the audience well familiar with the original story.

Captain America: Civil war stands as the perfect example on how to adapt a beloved story into its own original creation – to take the core concepts of the narrative and characters, and mould them into something different.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, while not a stranger to altering or merging storylines from the source material, always understood the heart and character behind those stories, and the audience has been overwhelmingly happy with the results.