The new MCU film Thunderbolts* (aka The New Avengers) is currently ruling the box office thanks to the positive responses from fans and critics.
Just like any movie in the franchise, the film underwent many changes throughout its development and production process. Several storylines and scenes were cut from the final version, while certain characters' screen time was severely reduced or removed entirely.
Here are the five storylines and scenes that were cut from the original script of Thunderbolts*.
Taskmaster Survives the Movie
Taskmaster met her demise early in the film, but she was originally going to survive the events until the very end.
According to Eric Pearson, who wrote the original draft of the script before Joanna Calo took over, he had a subplot planned for Taskmaster. However, little did he know, Marvel decided to kill her off after he stopped working on the original draft.
"When I saw the first cut, the biggest change was Taskmaster taking that shot, and I was shocked. In my drafts, Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster lived out the movie, and she had a bit of a subplot with Ava/Ghost. They’d both been raised in labs, and Ava big-sistered her into how to break free and be her own person," he said.
Baron Zemo Was Originally Part of the Movie
Pearson also shared that Baron Zemo was originally going to be part of the film, and it would be revealed that he was the one who pulled the strings all along.
"I think there was a version of a tag written a long time ago, kind of revealing who's behind it all. It was revealed that Baron Zemo was pulling some strings from prison or whatever," he said.
"I might be just inventing things now, but I feel like there might've been a version where a tag where Zemo had broken out and swapped places with someone - maybe Valentina's assistant - and he was working with a Widow mask under."
John Walker Was Originally the Villain
One of the standouts of Thunderbolts* is John Walker, as some fans felt that the character was redeemed during the film and made him more likable than ever.
However, when Pearson wrote the original draft, it was going to be revealed that he would be the villain that the team would face in the end.
"The original drafts of this had John Walker as the punching villain at the end. The idea was that part of Val's manipulation was that she had told him that his serum was wearing off, and she was doing these medications to keep him going. In reality, he was a time bomb; a Hulk kind of thing," he said.
"There was going to be a bit of a 'Sun's getting real low' moment because from the beginning of this, it was like, 'I want to end our third act fight with a hug.'"
Yelena Confronting Valentina About the Clint Barton Hit
Thunderbolts* was originally going to begin with Yelena confronting Valentina about why she ordered a hit on Clint Barton, which was teased in Black Widow and resolved in Hawkeye.
However, that scene did not make it in the final cut, and it was not referenced at all during the film.
"Early drafts began with Yelena confronting Valentina about ordering the Clint Barton hit, which was one of my favorite scenes that eventually became not entirely relevant to the Thunderbolts* story. I loved it because it emphasized Valentina’s manipulation," Pearson shared.
"Yelena entered the scene on fire, furious, accusing Valentina of setting her up to take out her sister’s killer, when, in reality, he was her best friend. Then Valentina completely flipped the script on Yelena. I believe the line was: 'Set you up? You mean paid you to do a job that, by the way, you didn’t even do? So I heard some bad gossip, pardon me for trying to motivate you. But this is your job, and asking questions isn’t a part of it.'"
Skittles Running Gag
According to online scooper @MyTimeToShineH, Skittles was originally planned to be a running gag throughout the film as the team would bond over their love for the candy.
However, in the film that we've seen, there were no sightings of Skittles at all. Instead, Disney and Marvel partnered with Wheaties in the promotional campaign.
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