Random Surprising Facts And Trivia About MCU Even Die-Hard Fans Don't Know (16 items)

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  (#1) Anthony Hopkins Improvised The Banishment Of Thor

  The MCU won a major coup by landing Sir Anthony Hopkins to portray Odin, the All-Father. Combined with the Shakespearean directing of Kenneth Branagh, Hopkins turned in a memorable and commanding performance as Thor’s father, and at least some of that performance was improvised. Branagh allowed Hopkins to improvise much of the emotional banishment scene in Thor, and Hopkins performance left his co-stars stunned. In particular, Tom Hiddleston, who was the recipient of an impromptu snarl, was rendered speechless.
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  (#2) Three Marvel Movies Take Place In The Same Week

  After the massive success of Iron Man in 2008 set the Marvel Cinematic Universe off and running, Marvel Studios decided to follow it up with a sequel and two standalone films. The events of Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor overlap little on the surface, but according to Marvel canon, these stories all take place within the same week. This incredibly busy week for SHIELD provided the basis of an Avengers prelude comic entitled Fury’s Big Week. With real-life news stories growing more outrageous by the day, it doesn't sound far-fetched to assume Earth 616 routinely deals with multiple catastrophes each week.
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  (#3) Chris Evans Turned Down The Role Of Captain America…Three Times!

  Few superhero actors better embody their character than Chris Evans does Captain America. From his looks to his voice to his earnestness, Evans has forever become the face of the Star-Spangled Avenger—a role he initially avoided. Evans turned down the opportunity to play Cap not once, not twice, but three times before finally being convinced to take the part. Evans feared being brought down by the multi-picture contract that came with the job, but he eventually came to relish his role as the good Captain, as did his legion of fans. Furthermore, Evans worried about the sheer scope of the film, saying that, “I remember telling a buddy of mine, ‘If the movie bombs, I’m f*cked. If the movie hits, I’m f*cked.”
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  (#4) Kenneth Choi Played His Own Grandson In 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'

  A few individuals, like Chris Evans, have played multiple superheroes over their acting careers, but only one man can claim to have played his own grandson within a cinematic universe. That man is Kenneth Choi. Choi first appeared in the MCU for Captain America: The First Avenger where he portrayed Jim Morita, a member of Cap’s Howling Commando allies. A few years later, Choi appeared as Peter Parker’s Principal Morita, the grandson of Jim. Principal Morita keeps a picture of his grandfather behind his desk as a memento and a nod to fans.
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  (#5) Captain America’s 'List' Changes Depending On What Country It’s Being Viewed In

  Throughout the entirety of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, fans witness Steve Rogers adjusting to a world that aged without him. To help himself acclimate, Cap keeps a running list of things he needs to catch up on, like Nirvana, Star Wars, and the Troubleman soundtrack. However, that’s just the list that North American audiences got to see. The list appears differently in other markets, thereby making the references more relevant for fans all over the world. In the UK, Cap needs to check out Sean Connery and the 1966 World Cup Final, while in Russia he’s tasked with reviewing Yuri Gargarin and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and so on and so forth. Talk about a committed soldier.
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  (#6) 'Wakandan' Is Actually A Real South African Language, Xhosa

  Chadwick Boseman, an American actor, developed a Wakandan accent for his role as the Black Panther, an accent that sounds rich, intimidating, and believable. It probably helps that he’s not making the language up completely from scratch. Other fictional universes, like that of Avatar, created entire languages for their characters to speak. Instead of going down such a tedious route, Marvel Studios decided to use the real-world language of Xhosa as a stand-in for the fictional Wakandan dialect. Xhosa is an official language of South Africa, the homeland of John Kani, the actor portraying T’Chaka, though it is not widely spoken there.
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  (#7) 'The Incredible Hulk' Cut An Incredibly Dark Scene

  Same as any other movies, the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe each have a few deleted scenes available for viewing as Blu-Ray bonus features. However, none of these deleted scenes get anywhere near as dark as one from The Incredible Hulk. The sequence, originally intended to open the film, featured Bruce Banner traveling to the far north, where he intends to commit suicide via a gunshot to the head. Before he can complete his task, Banner “Hulks out” and crushes the gun. Later, this moment is referenced in The Avengers when Banner says, “I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out.”
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  (#8) Phil Coulson Didn’t Even Have A Name In The Original 'Iron Man' Script

  Phil Coulson, unofficial Avenger, stands as one of the greatest heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also wasn’t originally intended to be much of a character at all. In the original script for Iron Man, the character of Coulson was referred to simply as “Agent,” and Clark Gregg almost dropped out of the film over worries his part would be greatly overshadowed. However, Gregg used his trademark charm to impress everyone on set, leading to a bigger role in Iron Man. After that, the filmmakers behind Thor requested Coulson for their film, and the rest is history.
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  (#9) A Young Fan Gave 'Thor: Ragnarok' Its Most Famous Line

  Lou Ferrigno achieved fame as the literal embodiment of the Incredible Hulk. Ferrigno played the jade giant in the wildly popular ‘70s TV series The Incredible Hulk, and painting Ferrigno green was all that was needed to create a convincing goliath. The MCU, which loves a good homage, decided to honor Ferringo in a unique way—Ferrigno provided the voice of the Hulk in every film up to Thor: Ragnarok. For that performance, which required a more verbal Hulk, Mark Ruffalo took over.
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  (#10) Vin Diesel Receives Special Groot-Edition Scripts That Reveal What The Character Actually Says

  Sean Gunn, the brother of director James Gunn, received plenty of fanfare for his performance as the Ravager Kraglin in both volumes of Guardians of the Galaxy. Kraglin received a large boost in prominence for Vol. 2, but Sean actually played an even more vital role in the franchise from the very beginning. Sean is James’ go-to guy for motion capture, and he provided the body movements animators used to create Rocket Raccoon. Sean must be a great sibling to willingly don a green onesie and pretend to be a woodland beast for his brother’s amusement.
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  (#11) The Original Avengers Lineup Included The Wasp

  Evangeline Lilly portrayed Hope Van Dyne in Ant-Man, and the film’s end teased her eventual appearance as the Wasp, a role traditionally by Janet Van Dyne, her mother. However, MCU fans almost got a glimpse of the Wasp long before Ant-Man dropped. According to Joss Whedon, his original draft of The Avengers featured the Wasp as the team’s sole female member, until the role went to Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. The Wasp gets her proper debut in 2018’s Ant-Man and The Wasp.
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  (#12) The Character Of Fandral Was Played By Three Different Actors

  A handful of characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as War Machine, are portrayed by multiple actors. But the role of Fandral the Dashing, one of Asgard’s Warriors Three, has been a veritable hot potato. Originally, Zachary Levi was cast in the role for the first Thor, only to drop out over prior obligations. He was replaced by Stuart Townsend, an actor famous for being fired from the role of Aragorn in Lord of the Rings; unsurprisingly, Townsend also dropped out over “creative differences.” Ultimately, Josh Dallas played Fandral in Thor, but he was replaced in The Dark World by Marvel Studios’ original choice—Zachary Levi.
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  (#13) Captain Marvel Almost Appeared In 'Age Of Ultron'

  Captain Marvel debuted in 2019 featuring Brie Larson as the first leading female in a Marvel movie. The film was released to a lukewarm reception, with critics citing its cheesy, retro effects as part of the problem. Still, it was a major cultural accomplishment for superhero cinema.

  In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, The Avengers' Mark Ruffalo recalled how Kevin Feige had to fight for the film with Disney executives. He said: 

  When we did the first Avengers, Kevin Feige told me, "Listen, I might not be here tomorrow... Ike [Isaac Perlmutter, Disney's largest shareholder at the time] does not believe that anyone will go to a female-starring superhero movie. So if I am still here tomorrow, you will know that I won that battle."
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  (#14) The MCU Has Its Own News Channel

  Marvel fleshed out the cinematic universe to become one of the most well-developed fictional realms in film history, but plenty of fans might not realize that it even has its own form of in-universe media. Marvel intermittently uploads videos to YouTube from WHIH Newsfront, a fictional news show set within the MCU. The segments star Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart, the reporter who slept with Tony Stark in the first Iron Man film, and they cover all manner of MCU news—from coverage of the New York Incident to interviews with Scott Lang. Even in worlds of fantasy, you still need reporters to tell its story.
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  (#15) See Your Favorite MCU Movies In A New Light On Disney+

  Revisit your favorite Marvel movies and shows on Disney+ today. With these tidbits in mind, you may even see these movies a bit differently than you used to — or at least understand why a specific scene or line played it the way it did. Whether you're rewatching old favorites, looking for hidden Easter eggs, or simply mentally preparing yourself for Phase Four, you can (finally) find Cap, Stark, Banner, and more in the same place. 

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