11 Changes The MCU Wishes It Could Make
4. Ant-Man And Wasp As Avengers Co-Founders
There were two tiny but hugely significant holes in The Avengers lineup when Joss Whedon assembled it on screen for the first time. Ant-Man and the Wasp were founder members in the comic books, but the duo were thrown onto the MCU backburner for years, and the latter is still yet to make her full costumed debut.
Whedon originally wanted both characters to feature in the film, but Marvel convinced him to wait for Edgar Wright to introduce them in his Ant-Man solo film with a view to bringing them into the bigger picture in the future.
As most Marvel fans will know, Ant-Man was placed on hold while Wright completed The World's End, but when he finally got around to tackling the shrinking superhero, creative differences derailed the project and left it in a directorless limbo.
Ant-Man and the Wasp's omission from The Avengers represents missed opportunities for Marvel. The inclusion of two female team members would have helped silenced its critics on the topic of diversity, and given the studio the chance to adapt the comics in a more faithful way.
Directors have often been forced to play fast and loose with the source material due to unavailable characters. Having Tony Stark create Ultron, rather than Hank Pym like in the comics, is an example that springs to mind.
As founder members of the team, Ant-Man and Wasp staked solid claims for Avengers co-founder status in the MCU, but at least fans will get to see the pair battling alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Infinity War's sequel.