10 Superhero Movie Staples That Weren't In The Comics

9. The Lack Of Secret Identities - The MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken a surprisingly liberal approach to adapting classic comic book characters and storylines to date, yet thanks to the generally solid quality of the franchise's writing, fans haven't generally seemed too miffed by it (except, that is, for Iron Man 3's Mandarin debacle).

One major overarching change from the source material is the radical decision to dispense with the notion of secret identities right from the very beginning, with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) hilariously outing himself at the end of the first Iron Man.

Since then, the overwhelming majority of the MCU's superheroes have had their real identities known to the general public, which required some creativity when the Russo brothers decided to adapt the Civil War arc.

In the comics, Civil War revolved around the conflict over the Superhero Registration Act, an initiative that required all superheroes to reveal their identities to the government, with Iron Man supporting it while Captain America opposed it.

Though the battle lines were drawn in near enough the same directions in the film, the Act itself was replaced with the Sokovia Accords, which more broadly sought greater oversight and accountability for superheroes following the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The idea of ditching secret identities in the MCU was reportedly pitched by Kevin Feige, who felt that it would open up more creative possibilities for the characters and allow them to escape the rather cliched, goofy nature of superhero alter-egos.