History PragmaticAdaptation / MarvelCinematicUniverse

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' completely upends [[ComicBook/CivilWar2006 its comic book namesake]], changing the Superhero Registration Act into the Sokovia Accords, the reasoning for the accords (from a panicking Nitro setting off his expanded powers to kill ComicBook/TheNewWarriors and 600 others in Stanton to a suicide vest worn by Crossbones going off and killing bystanders in a botched Avengers mission), giving new reasoning between Captain America and Iron Man's disagreements (both the Accords and the possible innocence of the Winter Soldier) and increasing the importance of ComicBook/BlackPanther, Black Widow, and ComicBook/ScarletWitch (who either had bit parts or weren't around in the comic story) while decreasing that of ComicBook/SpiderMan (who played a major part in the original comic).

** The first film is a loose adaptation of ''The Thanos Quest'' by Jim Starlin. In order to avoid having the plot exclusively focus on Thanos (as was the case in the original story), the movie adds in the Black Order and Outriders from ''Comicbook/{{Infinity}}'', and has them attempt to claim the Infinity Stones that are on Earth while Thanos goes after the ones on other worlds. This gives the heroes someone to fight and provides an excuse for the narrative to focus on Earth while Thanos is off doing other things, since audiences likely wouldn't respond well to an Avengers movie where the Avengers are {{Demoted to Extra}}s and don't really do anything for most of the film.

* In the original comics, virtually all [[ComicBook/TheEternals Eternals]] are {{Flying Brick}}s who come with a "standard package" of powers shared throughout their entire species (coming from their nebulously defined connection to "cosmic energy"), consisting of SuperStrength, a HealingFactor granting them NighInvulnerability, {{Hand Blast}}s, {{telepathy}}, [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]], "[[RealityWarper matter manipulation]]", and [[MasterOfIllusion illusion-casting]]. A particular Eternal may have a certain power they utilize more than others, but this is generally portrayed less as them being limited to that power in particular a la the mutants of ''Franchise/XMen'' fame and more them being better skilled in that certain ability (think similarly to a particular person being better skilled at woodcarving than painting). Considering how even ''one'' of the comic-accurate Eternals would be an InvincibleHero by a '''wide''' margin in any mainstream film and this film's cast will have '''10''' different Eternals as main characters, to preserve drama and actual stakes in the narrative the ''Film/{{Eternals}}'' film subjects the Eternals to a hefty case of AdaptationalWimp; while all of the Eternals still have SuperToughness as a "baseline" power along with retaining their comic-specific "specialized" abilities, only Ikaris is still a FlyingBrick, and the other abilities that they all previously shared are AdaptedOut to make the individual Eternals more unique and vulnerable.

* In the original ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'' comic, Kilgrave has [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation purple skin]], which earns him the nickname "the Purple Man". Because someone with purple skin would look ridiculous in a live-action setting (and because Creator/DavidTennant didn't feel like having to deal with bodypaint), Kilgrave was instead given a mostly purple wardrobe, and most scenes he's in tint him in a purple light. [[spoiler: Near the end of the last episode, his skin does become purple-streaked as his powers increase, and he turns purple from lack of oxygen as Jessica chokes him before killing him.]] Kilgrave was also changed from his actual surname to a nickname , making him less of an ObviouslyEvil supervillain and a more chillingly [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse human]] [[TheSociopath sociopath]]. (the exact same thing was done with Killmonger in ''Film/BlackPanther'', for the same reasons)

* In the original ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'' comic, Kilgrave has [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation purple skin]], which earns him the nickname "the Purple Man". Because someone with purple skin would look ridiculous in a live-action setting (and because Creator/DavidTennant didn't feel like having to deal with bodypaint), Kilgrave was instead given a mostly purple wardrobe, and most scenes he's in tint him in a purple light. [[spoiler: Near the end of the last episode, his skin does become purple-streaked as his powers increase, and he turns purple from lack of oxygen as Jessica chokes him before killing him.]] Kilgrave was also changed from his actual surname to a nickname, making him less of an ObviouslyEvil supervillain and a more chillingly [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse human]] [[TheSociopath sociopath]].

* In the original ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'' comic, Kilgrave has [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation purple skin]], which earns him the nickname "the Purple Man". Because someone with purple skin would look ridiculous in a live-action setting (and because Creator/DavidTennant didn't feel like having to deal with bodypaint), Kilgrave was instead given a mostly purple wardrobe, and most scenes he's in tint him in a purple light. [[spoiler: Near the end of the last episode, his skin does become purple-streaked as his powers increase, and he turns purple from lack of oxygen as Jessica chokes him before killing him.]]

* ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'' has both major and minor changes, most of which will only be picked up by fans of the original material. Examples include turning Drax's adversary from Thanos to Ronan (to give Drax a more obvious motive), a RaceLift and costume change for Korath the Pursuer, and Yondu as the leader of the [[SpacePirates Ravagers]].

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' completely upends [[ComicBook/CivilWar its comic book namesake]], changing the Superhero Registration Act into the Sokovia Accords, the reasoning for the accords (from a panicking Nitro setting off his expanded powers to kill ComicBook/TheNewWarriors and 600 others in Stanton to a suicide vest worn by Crossbones going off and killing bystanders in a botched Avengers mission), giving new reasoning between Captain America and Iron Man's disagreements (both the Accords and the possible innocence of the Winter Soldier) and increasing the importance of ComicBook/BlackPanther, Black Widow, and ComicBook/ScarletWitch (who either had bit parts or weren't around in the comic story) while decreasing that of ComicBook/SpiderMan (who played a major part in the original comic).
** The film scales down the CrisisCrossover elements of ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' to focus on a (relatively) smaller conflict between various superheroes, along with the ideological conflict represented between Iron Man and Captain America.

** As the original ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' event took place after the original ''Infinity'' trilogy, The Avengers were still an active team at the time of the original ''Infinity Gauntlet'' comic. However, a major plot point of ''Infinity War'' and ''Endgame'' is how the Avengers have to reunite ''after'' the events of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''.

* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' [[Film/{{Thor}} film]] didn't use the [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe pseudo-Elizabethan English]] that the Asgardian characters spoke for many years in the comics, which they themselves have already dropped this highly campy element. However, while movie Thor doesn't use the pseudo-Elizabethan English, he ''does'' still speak in the largely antiquated and hammy style of the comics to largely the same effect (just minus the "thou's" and "thy's"). It was also decided that Thor's iconic helmet would only make one appearance near the beginning of the film before being discarded due to looking a little ridiculous on the big screen. It also gets a brief nod in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', in a way that's reminiscent of ''{{Film/Gladiator}}''.

[[caption-width-right:350:Arnim Zola: From a man with his mind on an android body to a man with his mind on a computer from the 70s.]]

[[AC:Films]]

[[AC:Television]]

* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' has both major and minor changes, most of which will only be picked up by fans of the original material. Examples include turning Drax's adversary from Thanos to Ronan (to give Drax a more obvious motive), a RaceLift and costume change for Korath the Pursuer, and Yondu as the leader of the [[SpacePirates Ravagers]].

** Most importantly, [[spoiler:none of the Avengers die. In the comics, Bill "Goliath" Foster and Captain America (and a bunch of C-list heroes and villains nobody cares about[[note]]well okay, maybe they had some fans[[/note]]) died. The most serious casualty in the movie is Rhodey, who is paralyzed but mobile thanks to Stark Tech. Cap also does not surrender at the end of the fight, and instead remains a fugitive.]]

** As characters associated with the ComicBook/XMen [[note]]including Professor X, Shaman, Firestar, Beast, Colossus, Jean Grey, Storm, Cyclops, Windshear, Wildheart, Talisman, Forge, Rogue, Gambit, Archangel, Iceman, Psylocke, Polaris, Strong Guy, Havok, Multiple Man, Bishop, Wolfsbane, Guardian, Sasquatch, Weapon Omega, Northstar, Aurora, Valerie Cooper, Wolverine, and the Shi'ar; Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are exceptions to this rule due to being shared by the companies[[/note]] and ComicBook/FantasticFour [[note]]including Mister Fantastic, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Thing, Silver Surfer, Galactus, Doctor Doom, Uatu, Annihilus, Nova (Frankie Raye), Mole Man, the Badoon, Kang The Conqueror, and the Moloids; the Skrulls, with the sole exception of [[AllYourPowersCombined Super-Skrull]], may be shared between the two companies, and the [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Inhumans]] (who started out as ''Fantastic Four'' characters before spinning off into their own franchise) are also exceptions[[/note]] franchises were, at the time of the duology's announcement, maintained by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox and were not returned to Marvel until ''after'' production for ''Infinity War'' wrapped up and ''Endgame'' began filming, they were not featured in this duology. To compensate for this, ''Infinity War'' and ''Endgame'' gave existing characters who play major roles in the MCU[[note]]including Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Black Panther, the Dora Milaje, Falcon, Captain Marvel, War Machine, and Winter Soldier[[/note]] who were either not present or had smaller roles at most in the original Infinity trilogy.

*

** Thanos' motivation to killing half of life in the universe was changed from the widely mocked and derided desire of [[DoggedNiceGuy wanting to get]] [[TheGrimReaper Death]] to love him to his more interesting and complex plan of stopping a universe-wide OverpopulationCrisis.

** In the original 1970s ComicBook/ShangChi comics, the title character was the rebellious son of Literature/FuManchu himself who, after being disillusioned from his father, becomes a superhero. However, this backstory would ''not'' work today for two reasons: Firstly, Fu Manchu has [[ValuesDissonance today acquired a reputation]] as the definitive YellowPeril villain. Secondly, Marvel [[ExiledFromContinuity no longer has the rights]] to Fu Manchu anyway, forcing Creator/MarvelStudios to use [[spoiler: the aforementioned ''real'']] Mandarin from the ComicBook/IronMan comics (who was already an {{expy}} of Fu Manchu) as the BigBad for this film.

* In the original ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'' comic, Kilgrave has [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation purple skin]], which earns him the nickname "the Purple Man". Because someone with purple skin would look ridiculous in a live-action setting (and because Creator/DavidTennant didn't feel like having to deal with bodypaint), Kilgrave was instead given a mostly purple wardrobe, and most scenes he's in tint him in a purple light. [[spoiler: Near the end of the last episode, his skin does become purple-streaked as his powers increase, and he turns purple from lack of oxygen as Jessica chokes him before killing him.]]

* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and its sequel, ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', are more of an adaptation of ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'' than the titular ''Infinity War'' comic, but even then makes significant changes to the former due to the changes in the MCU's continuity. For starters:

** Thanos' motivation to killing half of life in the universe was changed from wanting to get [[TheGrimReaper Death]] to love him to his plan to stop the overpopulation of the universe.
** Furthermore, at least ''some'' of the characters who appeared in the original Infinity saga that Marvel ''did'' have the film rights to[[note]]This list includes--among others--Magus, Pip, Sersi, Firelord, Starfox, Mentor, I.S.A.A.C., Quasar, She-Hulk, Wonder Man, Namor, Namorita, Eternity, Kronos, Master Order, Mistress Love, Master Hate, Ziran the Tester, One-Above-All, Lord Chaos, Living Tribunal, Stranger, Moon Knight, Nova (Richard Rider), Eon, Sire Hate, Moondragon, Spider-Woman, Living Lightning, U.S. Agent, Speedball, Silhouette, Darkhawk, Crystal, Hercules, Doctor Druid, Nomad, Charlie-27, Nikki Gold, Major Victory, Sleepwalker, Infinity, Goddess, Mephisto, Valinor, Night Thrasher, Rage, Maxam, Kray-Tor, Autolycus, the Erik Masterson Thor/Thunderstrike, and any Gods that aren't Norse in origin; this is subject to change based on character introductions in ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame''.[[/note]] were AdaptedOut, partly due to the changes in the MCU's continuity, and partly to keep the movies from getting too crowded.

** More on the Mandarin. As stated before in the ''Film/IronMan3'' example, the Mandarin was inspired by the YellowPeril villain trope that the aforementioned Fu [[TropeCodifier codified]]. Since this characterization, when played straight, would ''never'' work today, the ''Shang-Chi'' film [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] it by [[RoguesGalleryTransplant having the Mandarin fight]] a Chinese hero (as opposed to Iron Man, a WhiteMaleLead) and be the villain of a story of [[MonochromeCasting a predominantly Asian cast]]. This allows Creator/MarvelStudios to present a TruerToTheText version of the Mandarin ''and'' present him in a manner fitting for the 21st century.
*** Another pragmatic change is the titular [[RingOfPower Ten Rings]] that the Mandarin wears. In the comics, the Mandarin's rings are [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience uniquely colored]], and each ring has their own power. To avoid comparisons to Thanos and [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar the Infinity Gauntlet]], the Mandarin's rings are instead revised as golden bracelets that he wears on his forearms, and they're all part of the same artifact.
* ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' with regard to Odinson's personal character arc. In the comics, he becomes unworthy of Mjolnir leading to it being picked up by Jane Foster. Since he spent the [[Film/ThorRagnarok last]] [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar three]] [[Film/AvengersEndgame movies]] going through a TraumaCongaLine, it doesn't make sense to rehash the worthiness narative again, instead favoring a MentalHealthRecoveryArc that hits a snag with the awkwardness of finding out Mjolnir is being wielded by his ex-girlfried. Creator/TaikaWaititi [[WordOfGod has referred to it]] as him having a midlife crisis.

** The film scales down the CrisisCrossover elements of ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' to focus on a ([[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters relatively]]) smaller conflict between various superheroes, along with the ideological conflict represented between Iron Man and Captain America.

** Most importantly, [[spoiler:none of the Avengers die. In the comics, Bill "Goliath" Foster and Captain America (and a bunch of C-list heroes and villains nobody cares about) died. The most serious casualty in the movie is Rhodey, who is paralyzed but mobile thanks to Stark Tech. Cap also does not surrender at the end of the fight, and instead remains a fugitive.]]

** Also, in the comic, S.H.I.E.L.D. attempted to arrest Captain America for simply saying he wouldn't personally enforce a law that hadn't been passed yet. Here, Cap isn't a target until he actually breaks the law to help Bucky, and there is an earnest attempt to convince him to change his mind. Cap, for his part, doesn't break the law until he hears there's a kill-on-sight order out on Bucky – prior to that, he and Falcon were apparently just going to retire.

* ''Film/IronMan1'' changed Obadiah Stane to be an old friend of Tony's and his father's to heighten the sense of villainy and betrayal. Jarvis was changed from a butler with a fake English accent to an English-sounding talking computer, probably because another [[Franchise/{{Batman}} famous and popular superhero]] already had a British ServileSnarker.

*** Another pragmatic change is the titular [[RingOfPower Ten Rings]] that the Mandarin wears. In the comics, the Mandarin's rings are [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience uniquely colored]], and each ring has their own power. To avoid comparisons to Thanos and [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar the Infinity Gauntlet]], the Mandarin's rings are instead revised as golden bracelets that he wears on his forearms.

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* ''Film/IronMan'':
** The [[Film/IronMan1 first movie]] changed Obadiah Stane to be an old friend of Tony's and his father's to heighten the sense of villainy and betrayal. Jarvis was changed from a butler with a fake English accent to an English-sounding talking computer, probably because another [[Franchise/{{Batman}} famous and popular superhero]] already had a British ServileSnarker.
** The [[Film/IronMan2 sequel]] went a little bit further, [[CompositeCharacter conflating Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo into a single character]] and changing Justin Hammer's age to closely match that of Tony Stark.
** The [[Film/IronMan3 third film]] took ''great'' liberties with its main villain, the Mandarin, while still having him faithful to the source material... in a way. [[spoiler:Trevor Slattery's in-universe impersonation of the Mandarin was based in part on the same YellowPeril tropes that inspired the original version seen in the early ''Iron Man'' comics, while Aldrich Killian is based on modern versions of the character and claims to be the ''true'' Mandarin. However, it turns out that both Slattery ''and'' Killian merely stole the ''real'' Mandarin's persona; ''Film/AllHailTheKing'' reveals that the real one is not only still out there, but hungry for vengeance against those who stole his name]]. This was mostly to avoid the YellowPeril stereotype and make it appeal to the ever-growing Chinese film industry.

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' features the costume Cap wore in the comics, but it's for a propaganda show and he looks [[{{Camp}} utterly ridiculous]]. When he gets his actual fighting suit, it's radically different and much more plausible: changes include a helmet instead of a cowl, mere decals instead of large head wings, body armor, and the red of his costume is in the form of red utility straps rather than gaudy decorative stripes.

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' heavily alters the [[ComicBook/BuckyBarnes title villain]]'s origin to fit the context of the movie and its predecessor, while still maintaining much of his background. They also made ComicBook/TheFalcon into a V.A. counselor and former soldier to better justify his inclusion in the plot. Some changes were also made to [[spoiler:Arnim Zola]] to avoid him seeming too silly and "comic booky" to mainstream audiences.
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' has both major and minor changes, most of which will only be picked up by fans of the original material. Examples include turning Drax's adversary from Thanos to Ronan (to give Drax a more obvious motive), a RaceLift and costume change for Korath the Pursuer, and Yondu as the leader of the [[SpacePirates Ravagers]].
** Comics!Star-Lord had a very long personal history before he joined the Avengers. The bits about him becoming an astronaut, journeying through the Solar System, becoming a grouchy cyborg, befriending Nova and fighting in the Annihilation War would have really bogged down the film, so his backstory gets whittled down significantly.
** Similarly, there's no mention of Drax having originally been a human who was remade as an alien. Really, "has beef with Thanos" was all they needed from his backstory, so they stayed with that.
* In the original ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'' comic, Kilgrave has [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation purple skin]], which earns him the nickname "the Purple Man". Because someone with purple skin would look ridiculous in a live-action setting (and because Creator/DavidTennant didn't feel like having to deal with bodypaint), Kilgrave was instead given a mostly purple wardrobe, and most scenes he's in tint him in a purple light. [[spoiler: Near the end of the last episode, his skin does become purple-streaked as his powers increase, and he turns purple from lack of oxygen as Jessica chokes him before killing him.]]

*** Another pragmatic change is the titular [[RingOfPower Ten Rings]] that the Mandarin wears. In the comics, the Mandarin's rings are [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience uniquely colored]], and each ring has their own power. To avoid comparisons to Thanos and [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar the Infinity Gauntlet]], the Mandarin's rings are instead revised as golden bracelets that he wears on his forearms.

** More on the Mandarin. As stated before in the ''Film/IronMan3'' example, the Mandarin was inspired by the YellowPeril villain trope that the aforementioned Fu [[TropeCodifier codified]]. Since this characterization, when played straight, would ''never'' work today, the ''Shang-Chi'' film [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] it by [[RoguesGalleryTransplant having the Mandarin fight]] a Chinese hero (as opposed to Iron Man, a WhiteMaleLead) and be surrounded [[MonochromeCasting by a cast of predominantly Asian characters]]. This allows Creator/MarvelStudios to present a TruerToTheText version of the Mandarin ''and'' present him in a manner fitting for the 21st century.

* ''Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings'' is also subject to this trope. Specifically:

The [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] does a lot of this.

-->-- '''Thanos''', ''Website/TheEditingRoom''’s abridged script for ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', comparing this to the source material in ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet''

** In the original 1970s ComicBook/ShangChi comics, the title character was the rebellious son of Literature/FuManchu himself who, after being disillusioned from his father, becomes a superhero. However, this backstory would ''not'' work today for two reasons: Firstly, Fu Manchu has [[ValuesDissonance today acquired a reputation]] as the definitive YellowPeril villain. Secondly, Marvel [[ExiledFromContinuity no longer has the rights]] to Fu Manchu anyway, forcing Creator/MarvelStudios to use [[spoiler: the aforementioned ''real'']] Mandarin from the ComicBook/IronMan comics as the BigBad for this film.