10 MCU Storylines The Comics Did Better
These MCU stories should have stuck with the source material.
More than 30 entries later, the Marvel Cinematic Universe shows no signs of slowing down as it makes its way through Phase 4. The colossal franchise has brought to life a myriad of characters and turned some of them into household names and seminal pieces of the pop culture mythos.
One of the franchise's greatest strengths is its distillation of nearly 60 years' worth of source material from the annals of Marvel Comics into its films and TV series. This approach for the most part makes every MCU entry largely easy to take in by both die-hard fans and casual viewers.
Despite its success, this approach has its downsides as well. Its fast and loose nature means that some stories are adapted in name only, meaning that treasured moments from the comics will only receive a surface-level nod at best. To be fair, these loose adaptations stem from various complications such as rights issues of various characters and budgetary/logistical limitations.
However, this has not hindered the MCU from crafting its own universe and it has done certain stories (such as Civil War) much better than the comics. That said, the following entries prove that the MCU still has a long way to go in treating the comics with more reverence.
10. Captain Carter's Story Plays Out In A More Unique Manner In The Comics
What If...? was a fun and breezy exploration of the MCU's newly minted multiverse that unfortunately did not reach the dizzying heights on the comic series it is inspired by, and played things disappointingly safe.
This can be seen in its introduction of Captain Carter, an episode that felt like a condensed rehash of The First Avenger's plot line with Peggy Carter as the lead despite a game lead performance by Hayley Atwell.
The comics version of the WWII icon has a more storied life that saw her engage in multiversal adventures in a more inspired and zany manner compared to her animated counterpart. She took on the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers was assassinated and ended up in the present day much like Rogers did in the main timeline.
She later joins the Exiles, a team of interdimensional heroes such as a dystopic Kamala Khan and a cartoonish version of Wolverine known as 'Wolvie' in order to stop Kang the Time-Eater, a version of Kang the Conqueror with Galactus' powers. Peggy shines in a story that embraces the oddities of traversing the multiverse with glee.