WHAT IF I controlled the MCU movies? What follows are the release orders and synopsis, with casting

WHAT IF I controlled the MCU movies? What follows are the release orders and synopsis, with casting

Ahead is a different take on Phase 1 of the MCU. It moves quicker and brings in more characters early on to keep things fresh. The cast is generally actors that auditioned for the MCU.

Editorial Opinion
By ager - Jun 12, 2025 11:06 PM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Studios

Phase 1

Iron Man 2008

Enemies: Madame Masque, the 10 Rings

Premise: Born the daughter of a man many don't know to truly exist, the mysterious Mandarin, Whitney was given away to a wealthy family in debt to the villain in order to lead a respectable life. A socialite, she was often attached to the hip of billionaire, Tony Stark. Following the death of her adoptive parents, Mandarin sent his minions to reveal to her, her true lineage, asking her to inherit his position and prove her loyalty by killing Stark. Whitney reveals to Stark who her father is, hoping to begin a new life in a marriage to Stark and disconnect from the Mandarin. He ends their companionship out of fear that her connections to a known criminal would hurt his prospects. Heartbroken, Whitney accepts her father's offer and she and the 10 Rings organization capture Stark, leading to the birth of Iron Man. She dies in his arms ashamed of the scars she acquired and regretting her choices. She was only ever seeking love from her father and Stark. 

Mid-credits: Stark, with Pepper, reveals his secret to Rhodey and Happy 

Alternate Casting: 

Stark: Sam Rockwell

Rhodey: Idris Elba

Pepper: Bryce Dallas Howard

Happy: Lochlyn Munro

Whitney: Zhang Ziyi

Captain America 2008

Enemies: Hydra, Red Skull, Baron Zemo

Premise: A well-crafted movie with the only changes being the swap to Zemo and Red Skull never being zapped away by the Cosmic Cube. Instead, he dies in battle with Captain America.

Mid-credits: Russians discover an armless Bucky dragging himself and barely alive.

Alternate Casting: 

Cap: Zachary Levi

Peggy: Jodie Whittaker

Bucky: Wilson Bethel

Red Skull: Peter Green

Philips: Tom Selleck

Zemo: Barry Pepper 

Erskine: Christoph Waltz

Howard Stark: Timothy Olyphant

Ant-Man and The Wasp 2010

Enemies: AIM, Baron Von Strucker, Ghost

Premise: When Ghost steals intel, the only ones that can retrieve the data, much to the chagrin of Nick Fury, are the scientists who created the Pym Particles that will be the key to retrieval. Pym is hesitant to use the Particles because his studies show that the particles damage the human psyche over time but is forced by Fury. Throughout the movie, Pym continues to hide and keep secret the Ultra-Tron system Ultron. The duo battles an agent of AIM called Ghost. 

Mid-credits: A S.H.I.E.L.D. recon team discovers Captain America frozen in the Arctic and only attempt to gain a sample of the serum from his body. Inadvertently, Captain America is revived.

Alternate Casting: 

Pym: Ewan McGregor 

Janet: Morenal Baccarin

Ghost: uncredited 

Strucker: Pierce Brosnan

Fury: Carl Weathers (if they insisted on drawing him like a black actor, but not like SLJ, in the Ultimates)

Thor 2011

Enemies: Ulik, Loki, Dark Elves

Premise: Thor begins the movie battling the Dark Elves alongside the Warriors 3, Loki, and Sif, who has flirtatious vibes with Thor, in search of Balder. After the victory, in which they are unable to learn the whereabouts of Balder, the team is chastised by an irate Odin for executing an unsanctioned barrage. The heat falls on Thor for breaking the chain of command. At first, he takes this information dutifully, until quietly coaxed into anger by Loki. Thor's temper and arrogance get the best of him until he is banished from the kingdom before the great Odin Sleep. He takes it upon himself to find Balder. In his absence, and during the Odin Sleep, trolls, led by Ulik, attack Asgard. Loki secretly finds Thor and wills him to come back, fight for Odin and Asgard and earn his place back in the kingdom. After triumph, Odin persists that Thor had no right to be there and banishes him to Earth, and stripping him of his worthiness, thereby stripping him of his enchanted hammer and additional strength. Loki is seen belittling Ulik who proved himself useless when he was unable to kill Thor before Amora walks in to ask him about plan B.

Mid-credits: Thor, under the alias of a barista named Donald Blake, meets Jane Foster for the first time when is he interrupted by Nick Fury.

Alternate Casting: 

Thor: Alexander Skarsgård

Loki: Jim Sturgess 

Sif: Gina Carano

Odin: Vladimir Kulich

Warriors 3: Joel Kinnaman, Danny Trejo, Nathan Jones

Ulik: Robert Mukes

Amora: Charlize Theron

Heimdall: Eric Allan Kramer

Ice Guys Finish Last 

One-shot 2011

Premise: the Cap recon team turns John Carpenter's claustrophobic nightmare into a comedy about the losers that get put on this detail.

Starring: 

Simon Pegg

Steve Buscemi

Hela va Nice Dinner 

One-shot 2011

Premise: Balder, we learn, hasn't been captured or killed but, instead, has fled Asgard to be with his beloved, Hela. He wields the Twilight Sword. The sword is a gift he either received post his union with Hela or a weapon he possessed which led to his union with Hela. The god of light burns bright with flames when wielding the sword and is worshipped by the united forces of Hel and Muspelheim as Surtur along side his bride. After intense cinematography, the dinner guests, Loki and Amora, arrive to conspire. Over a sitcom-style dinner, Loki addresses his wish to rule Asgard with Amora at his side and form a treaty with Balder and Hel. Pass the biscuits!

Additional Alternate Casting: 

Hela: Lucy Lawless

Also Starring: 

Balder: Daniel Craig

Iron Man 2 2011

Enemies: Justin Hammer and the Crimson Dynamos.

Premise: Iron Man opens the movie by defeating an armored criminal wearing the Titanium Man suit but having no such title. Examining the armor after defeating him, Stark realizes the technology resembled his own. It is then revealed that 2 of his employees, secretly the Von Strucker twins, under the aliases, Scott and Sandra Campbell, had stolen armor blueprints and sold them to Justin Hammer. The twins, we learn, are zealots of the Mandarin and have severed ties with their father. In the middle of nowhere, outside of the US, Hammer, at his facility, is in the middle of finalizing the deal to sell the armor to the highest bidder as his platoon of Crimson Dynamos showcase the power of the suits. No sooner does Iron Man, along with Rhodey, suited up for the first time in the War Machine armor, arrive to stop the deal. As the potential buyers scurry away in their vehicles, one driver refuses to leave before he is thrown from the driver's seat (back to us and in the dark) and left behind. As he mutters to himself to stay calm, the battle ensues between Iron Man and War Machine against the Crimson Dynamos. Outgunned, the duo are nearly defeated when a loud roar echos throughout and the villains are dismantled by the Incredible Hulk who huffs and grunts over the injured heroes before readying himself to "Hulk Smash" Stark. War Machine provides a momentary distraction long enough to warrant a "Hulk Clap"  which sends him careening into the building and nearly  leaving him fatally injured. 

Mid-credits: Thunderbolt Ross addresses the nation concerning the manhunt for Banner.

Additional Alternate Casting: 

Hammer: John Lithgow

Ross: William Forsythe

Banner: Aaron Paul

Also Starring:

Andrea Von Strucker: Adrianne Palicki

Andreas Von Strucker: Sullivan Stapleton 

Avengers (2012) 

Enemies: Loki, Amora, Skurge, and Hulk

Premise: They find and cast a spell on Hulk who then attacks LA with Loki and Amora. Loki's foursome easily disarms and kills dispatched soldiers who realize they are outmatched until Iron Man arrives long enough to pause the villains if not with laughter. In that moment, Captain America enters the scene with Pym on his shoulder, now going by Yellowjacket, due to the addition of stingers, and Wasp, in tow. The tables turn in favor of the heroes when Thor finally arrives. Cap rallies the team. Loki and Skurge are both down and seemingly in danger with much worse to come. When Amora rushes by Skurge to defend Loki, the audience feels what Skurge feels. Moments after, when Wasp has Amora cornered, Loki chooses to assist Hulk, already with an advantage, over Amora. Skurge cannot take it any more and his moral compass sees him switch sides serving the greater good, if not for selfish reasons, and, in death, at the hands of Amora, helps sway the victory for the Avengers.

Publicly, Fury admits to the existence of SHIELD, the president, appoints Thunderbolt Ross and Henry Gyrich to work with SHIELD so to keep them in line. The Avengers are introduced and the name is chosen in memorial for his old friend whom he will remember as a legendary of Asgard, and now of Earth, Skurge. 

Mid-credits: Sif demands Loki and Amora be taken back to Asgard to be punished. Thor readies himself to escort them when he learns he is not welcomed back into Asgard yet.

Additional Alternate Casting: 

Skurge: Matt Willing

Also Starring:

Henry Gyrich: Walton Goggins


Hogan's Hero

One-shot (2012)

Premise: Happy takes care of Rhodey while the Avengers form, fight, and are made official.  

Phase 2 coming soon

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