With every movie based off of anything, there is going to be change. Change can be for the better or for the worse Sometimes something is just too hard to put on the big screen, sometimes it just isn’t practical. But sometimes, change is unneeded. There are a lot of changes from the Marvel Comic Universe (or Earth – 616) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These are what I believe have been some of the more talked about, and more important changes in their storyline.
Nick Fury.
Now most of you are probably thinking I’m going to say “Oh he’s black!” Not the case. Nick Fury is originally white I know, but in the ultimate universe he is African-American. Not only has that but Samuel L Jackson played him well enough that it was a good change. The changes I’m referring too are in accord with his abilities. In the comics Nick Fury is along the lines of the super soldier that Captain America is. He also has long life and was in the Howling Commandoes that we see Captain America lead in his solo movie. Now are the changes necessary? And are these changes good or bad? Well both are a matter of opinion, but here is mine. Are they Necessary? In a way I say no, in Captain America they could have easily had the character played by Derek Luke just be young Nick, he then have a small explanation and leave it there. But that would have hurt them in the later years because Cap wouldn’t have the same need to follow Nick Fury’s commands in the Avengers. Any other changes could have really changed the movie and been a little too much for one little addition. Personally I am indifferent as to if it is a bad change or not. He isn’t really needed as the super soldier but it would have been nice to just see his full character even if not really used for his skills.
Jarvis
In the comics Edwin Jarvis is Tony’s butler. He actually plays a pretty cool role in the avengers and so on. In the movies as you know he is just an AI for Tony’s house and suits. Now do they really need Edwin in the movies? Not really, it’s not that big of a deal. However it could have been very easy to make him exist just not be alive. In the first Iron Man when pepper tells the reporter “That’s Jarvis he runs the house” She simply could have said “Tony named him after his childhood butler”. There you go, Tony needs an AI, why not name him after his butler? Obviously it isn’t very needed, if they don’t want Edwin in the movies you don’t really need to reference him.
The death of Bucky
In the comics Baron Zemo kills Bucky (Spoiler Alert: Before he’s revived), in the movies it’s done by a Hydra Agent. Now I think this is a necessary change unless they made Baron Zemo the Villain in the movie. To cram in another very important villain (who I think deserves a movie against cap like the skull) along with the red skull, and an origins story. It added an emotional sense in the movie and it doesn’t really matter that much how he dies, especially if he (Spoiler Alert) becomes the Winter Soldier.
Thor and Hawkeye Costumes
Thor didn’t drift far from his costume. He had the helmet in his movie, he just didn’t use it. He has the red cape; he just doesn’t have that much Gold or Blue on his suit. There are a lot of points in the comics where his uniform does look more like it do in the movies, and I think it was a good change. Was it necessary? Not really, but it wasn’t a painful change and it looks pretty cool now. Hawkeye had a MASSIVE change. He lost 90% of the purple, and the purple he did have was closer to maroon. It dulled him down a little but now he looks like an agent. Think about it, what the heck kind of an agent (He is a SHIELD agent and there’s not a lot of other ways to make him work in the movies) wears a Purple suit? It wouldn’t be practical. Now maybe they could have given him a little bit more of purple. Maybe his gloves, or some purple shades, but I think this change was almost necessary. It’s not normal for an agent to wear a very showy costume that will be pointless in a battle (in fact horrible for a stealth scene). Do I like the Hawkeye Costume? Yeah but it’s a tad crazy. Captain America didn’t change his, but he asked for his, Hawkeye doesn’t ask for stuff like that.
Now to the big one. The Mandarin and Cold blood.
Cold Blood in the comics is just an assassin. The change they make is that he’s an Extremes… Thing… To me he’s a small enough character that they can do whatever they want with him. If you don’t like the storyline they made then that’s the change you need to talk about. Now I won’t tell the Mandarin or the Adrian Killian spoilers. If you’ve seen the movie then you’ll know what I’m talking about. Now the Mandarin was seen as racist by Marvel. I disagree but I’m not a producer, they also did show a version of him at the end, he had the tats and such but not the rings. Now I don’t think it was necessary what they did, nor do I think it was good. It’s more now to look at if the damage hurts the big picture. If you accept the movie for what it is, it’s a good movie. It has a good plot and has good action. Having no Mandarin in my opinion doesn’t hurt anything. Iron Man is done with solo’s they say, and let’s be honest we are ready for Dr. Strange or Black Panther movies. The Mandarin vs. Iron Man is useless without his solo movies. So in the big scheme of things, it doesn’t really hurt if they ruin 1 villain. He was for 1 movie, and he didn’t look good. Oh well, there are thousands of other stories we can do and this one change doesn’t hurt us much other than we don’t get to see him the way we like him.
Iron Patriot
In the comic Norman Osborn is the Iron Patriot. Seeing as though Marvel doesn’t own him, and the story line would probably never be made anyway, it’s not that big of a deal to just give him a paint job.
Radioactive Man
They had Chen Lu in the movie but not as radioactive man. No comment because we never know if he will turn into radioactive man later in movies.
Ultron Origins.
We don’t know what’s going to happen in this origins but it never says that Hank won’t make Ultron. Maybe he has the AI and Avenger: AoU only shows Tony building the actual robot? Maybe Tony does build the whole thing which I don’t like. But it’s the origins, Ant Man can be successful in a solo movie against egg head, and since Tony has been in 4 movies now it would be a little more sad if he screwed something up then a guy who is only been in the movie universe for a half hour. Speculation and such, we don’t know what will happen. But I’m trusting that Joss can make it good any way.
How do we know none of these changes have ruined the universe? Maybe because two of the films are in the top 5 highest grossing films of all time, and maybe because just giving the name “Age of Ultron” to a film has caused more talk than DC announcing they are making a Man of Steel and Dark knight movie! That movie sounds AMAZING but we are getting more talk on a title of a movie that has 3 more movies before it. The show will go on and I have faith Marvel will stay close enough to the comics to continue to stay successful. Thanks for reading the long story, I hope new people have learned some of the changes, and those familiar with them have found a new perspective to look at.