When you think of movies with alternate endings, we'd imagine the likes of Blade Runner and I Am Legend immediately come to mind.
While studios do occasionally test contrasting endings, that's rare, and it obviously helps any movie to have a definitive conclusion set in stone when cameras start rolling. For each of the Marvel and DC Comics adaptations listed here, however, things once looked vastly different to what we eventually saw in theaters.
Whether it's studio interference, last-minute reshoots, or scrapped plans for future stories, each of these blockbusters came close to wrapping up on a-now unrecognisable note.
Would they have been better or worse? We'll leave you to decide, but you can check these out by tapping the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.
8. Suicide Squad - Joker vs. Task Force X
Neither filmmaker David Ayer nor many DCEU fans will stop harping on about the "Ayer Cut" of 2016's Suicide Squad. We know that Warner Bros. made a lot of changes to his vision, though, including a complete overhaul of the movie's final act.
In the original, much darker version of the movie, The Joker threw Harley Quinn from that helicopter in an attempt to kill her for being loyal to Task Force X. The chopper still crashed, leading to the Clown Prince of Crime returning - with a burnt face - during the final act to destroy the team and take Harley back.
She'd have rejected him and chosen her new teammates over their abusive relationship, meaning we'd have never seen her broken out of Belle Reve by the villain. It's a better ending and a far superior arc for both characters, but c'mon people, it's time to move on already.
7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - Richard Parker Lives
Entire subplots from both The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ended up on the cutting room floor, explaining why we never actually got to see the widely touted "Untold Story" in that 2012 movie.
In the sequel's case, a scene featuring Norman Osborn's severed head being kept in storage by Oscorp was scrapped, as were plans for the movie to end with the return of Peter's father, Richard Parker. He'd have delivered Uncle Ben's "Great Power" line and encouraged his son to return his wall-crawling superheroics.
With The Amazing Spider-Man 3 set to revolve around a concoction which could raise the dead, we'd guess Richard was going to be a pivotal part of Peter's battle with the Green Goblin and the resurrection of Gwen Stacy. Alas, we never got to see the franchise jump the shark.
6. Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania - Kang Escapes
In an earlier cut of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne were going to don new, hi-tech costumes for the final battle with Kang the Conqueror.
Just like in the theatrical cut, Janet, Hank, Cassie, and Hope all returned to Earth, only for Scott to be confronted by a vengeful, battle-damaged Kang. They fight, but the villain escapes even after The Wasp returns to lend Ant-Man a helping hand. With that, they're left trapped in the Quantum Realm like Kang and Janet before them.
Kang is then free to conquer the Multiverse, but we'd have seen Cassie running countless simulations across multiple computers, with her eyes going wide after seemingly tracking Scott and Hope down. This ending was clearly meant to lead straight into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
5. The Wolverine - Wolverine's Classic Suit
The Wolverine ends with Logan, now wielding bone claws, returning to the U.S. alongside Yukio. However, an alternate ending saw her hand him a suitcase which, when opened, revealed the character's classic brown and yellow comic book costume.
Filmmaker James Mangold decided to cut the scene because he didn't want to force whoever helmed a possible sequel to include that suit. Ironically, he ended up taking charge of that follow-up with Logan, though there was no sign of anything resembling this suit in either X-Men: Days of Future Past or X-Men: Apocalypse.
This would have been an awesome tease and a great way to set the stage for Wolverine to finally embrace his comic book roots. On the plus side, not getting it way back in 2013 just made this year's Deadpool & Wolverine all the sweeter.
4. Iron Man 3 - Trevor Slattery Dies
Marvel Studios upset a lot of fans with Iron Man 3, a movie that ended by revealing The Mandarin was, in fact, an actor called Trevor Slattery. Employed by the "true" Mandarin, A.I.M.'s Aldrich Killian, he was a stooge and many didn't appreciate such a comedic spin on the iconic villain.
In a deleted scene from the threequel's closing moments, we were once going to see Slattery inject himself with "Extremis" and subsequently explode. It was a definitive, weird end for the character that was perhaps best left on the cutting room floor.
By not heading down that route, Marvel Studios was able to bring Trevor back for the "All Hail the King" one-shot and even Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (where we first met the real Mandarin, Wenwu). He'll even take on a supporting role in Disney+'s Wonder Man.
3. The Marvels - The Heroes Team Up To Save The Day
The Marvels failed to strike a chord with fans, explaining why it's gone down as Marvel Studios' biggest box office disappointment to date. Love or hate it, though, the ending certainly left us with plenty to discuss.
In the Captain Marvel sequel's closing moments, Monica Rambeau used her powers to close a tear in reality, stranding herself in a parallel universe inhabited by the X-Men. However, an earlier version of the movie saw Photon receive a helping hand from Carol Danvers and Ms. Marvel.
What we don't know - at least not as we write this - is whether this means Monica wasn't always going to head to another reality. In fact, it's possible there wasn't always a Multiversal element to the sequel, with the idea being for the three heroes to unite and save the universe without laying the groundwork for a future story.
2. Avengers: Age Of Ultron - Captain Marvel's Debut
Avengers: Age of Ultron was always going to end with Captain America and Black Widow assembling a new team of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. However, Joss Whedon hoped to introduce at least one more major character from the comic books in this sequence.
That was Captain Marvel and the stand-in above was used while Whedon attempted to figure out who could play her. Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige had other ideas, though, and later replaced Carol Danvers with the Scarlet Witch (much to the filmmaker's chagrin).
It would, in many ways, have been strange for Captain Marvel to debut here as it meant throwing her into the mix with no explanation or origin story. Still, we can't help but wonder how much different the MCU would have looked had it happened.
1. The Flash - Crisis On Infinite Earths
The Flash got caught up in a number of different regimes at Warner Bros., and that led to its ending changing more than once. The first idea was for Michael Keaton's Batman and Sasha Calle's Supergirl to show up in the DCEU, confronting a shocked Barry Allen.
After that cliffhanger, a post-credits scene would have seen Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne plead with the Scarlet Speedster for help, setting the stage for Crisis on Infinite Earths. Henry Cavill's eventual return led to Henry Cavill being added to the scene with Batman and Supergirl, with only the original Bruce now missing.
When DC Studios got involved, everything changed, and the two Multiversal heroes died. As for the ending, we watched as Barry met George Clooney's Caped Crusader in a world we almost certainly won't ever visit again. What a mess.