A handful of movies initially planned for development under Marvel Studios over the last 17 years have had the unfortunate distinction of being canceled.
With nine new MCU entries coming in 2025, the franchise will consist of nearly 60 combined movies, Disney+ shows, Netflix legacy series, and Special Presentations by the end of the year. However, even with so much success in adding to the Marvel Studios legacy, the studio is not perfect when it comes to releasing planned projects.
Every MCU Movie Marvel Studios Canceled
Runaways
Following the end of Phase 1, the next project on Marvel Studios' slate was initially meant to be a film adaptation called The Runaways. Based on the eponymous team from the comics, this film would have focused on five Los Angeles-based teenagers who learn their parents are a group of supervillains (The Pride) controlling the Californian criminal underworld.
Included in the group are characters like Molly Hayes, Karolina Dean, Victor Mancha, Chase Stein, and Nico Minoru (seen in the animated Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man). The movie was meant to be directed by Peter Sollet and written by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona.
Keke Palmer revealed that she had been offered a role in the movie, while Lucas Cruickshank was reportedly in contention for the cast as well.
Unfortunately, the movie was put on hold in October 2010 (per Deadline).
Marvel later developed a Runaways series for Hulu, which aired from 2017 to 2019 (see more on star Virginia Gardner's experience in Runaways here).
Hulk 2
To date, the MCU has only released one project starring Marvel's angry green rage monster with the debut of The Incredible Hulk in 2008. After the MCU's second film, Bruce Banner has been relegated to supporting roles in other MCU films and Disney+ shows.
Speaking with Huffington Post in 2012, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige addressed the chances of The Incredible Hulk 2 being made.
Unfortunately, he said with certainty that the main goal was to bring him into the MCU for The Avengers, but anything else beyond that was not guaranteed. While he appreciated how much fans loved the Hulk in that movie, the chances for another solo movie seemed slim at best:
"Well, no. This was the other shot. Right? I mean, this was the third appearance of Hulk and everything that we had and were going for, we put in to Hulk's appearance in 'Avengers.' So, I love that people are saying that and are feeling that way about Hulk, but mission accomplished at this point. And the way we go forward, we'll see. But it was a long road to get to this point. Although, I will say, after the screening, I heard various arguments over who was their favorite. Which is my favorite thing: Arguing what was the favorite moment or character. And the fact that so many of them are saying Hulk feels very, very good. Where we go next, we'll see. But we'll be very careful about it and deliberate -- as we were in how we wanted to bring him back in 'Avengers.'"
While the chances of a Hulk solo movie being made are higher now than they were in 2010, the character's movie rights are complicated.
The Hulk can appear in team-up movies and other MCU characters' solo movies with no issues whatsoever. However, due to the hero's solo movie distribution rights belonging to Universal, Disney would make significantly less money by making a solo Hulk film.
Due to this fact, it is unclear if or when another Hulk solo outing will be developed.
Inhumans
When Marvel announced its Phase 3 slate at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California in 2014, the penultimate movie revealed was Inhumans. This was set to bring heroes like Black Bolt, Medusa, and Attlian-based royal family into the MCU as new sets of powers and dangers would be revealed.
Sadly, due to new additions to Phase 3 like Spider-Man: Homecoming and Ant-Man and the Wasp, Inhumans faced numerous delays to its November 2018 release. Eventually, it was canceled altogether as a movie and reworked into something different.
In 2017, Marvel Television released an eight-episode Inhumans show on ABC, which aired before Season 5 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. began. The show starred Anson Mount as Black Bolt (who later reprised the role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Serinda Swan as Medusa, Ken Leung as Karnak, and more.
Unfortunately, the series was canceled after only one season, as it did not perform well at all from a rating perspective. Looking ahead, there are no signs pointing to if, when, or how the Inhumans will return to the MCU.
Eternals 2
Marvel Studios' third movie of Phase 4 was Eternals, telling the story of an immortal race of aliens who live on Earth for thousands of years as they battle the evil Deviants. Featuring a massive cast of stars, the film ended with multiple deaths and the team being split up before the introduction of Eros (Thanos' brother) and Pip the Troll.
The film's release was divisive, earning widely mixed reviews while not performing well at the box office (partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic). However, chatter quickly picked up regarding the potential of Eternals 2 being made.
In the three and a half years since the original film debuted, talks on a sequel have seemingly come to a halt. None of the original film's stars have heard any updates on development, and Kit Harington (via Variety) even admitted to taking the role because of the name recognition Marvel brings.
After only pulling in about $400 million at the box office, the odds appear low for Eternals to get a follow-up movie.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty ended up in a far different situation than any of the previous canceled entries from the MCU. Initially meant to be the fifth Avengers movie after being announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, controversy surrounding star Jonathan Majors started the downward spiral for this movie.
In March 2023, Majors was arrested for reckless assault and harassment before being found guilty in court in December 2023. This led to Disney firing Majors from his role as Kang, and the studio then made the choice to drop "The Kang Dynasty" from Avengers 5's title.
Fast forward to San Diego Comic-Con 2024, when Marvel revealed that the new title for Avengers 5 would be Avengers: Doomsday, with Robert Downey Jr. coming back to the MCU as Victor Von Doom.
While it is still unknown how different Doomsday will be from what The Kang Dynasty would have been, the latter was abandoned for good due to Majors' legal troubles.
