The success of The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been thoroughly established, but its films’ relationship to their source material is often shifting. While Marvel Studios will wholesale lift titles from books like Age of Ultron, they often will not adapt much of the comic’s entire arc. Instead, most MCU installments will only lift certain aspects from a wealth of comic storylines. But this piecemeal approach to adaptation can sometimes lead the MCU to completely skip vital storylines from Marvel’s publication history. Here a some of the most important comic stories that Marvel Studios can’t go back to.

Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle

     Marvel EntertainmentArt by Bob Layton

If someone looks for “The Greatest Marvel Comics Storylines of All Time” chances are they’ll find Demon in a Bottle among the list, and for good reason. The iconic storyline from David Mechiline, Bob Layton, and John Romita, jr. brought new dimension to the Iron Man character, as Tony Stark’s trademark casual drinking ramped into full-blown alcoholism.

While it is intrinsic to the comic character, the topic of Tony’s alcoholism was never really explored in the MCU. And there is little chance of it being brought up in light of his sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame. In the comics, Tony’s long battle with alcoholism came to a head in Invincible Iron Man Issue #300, where Obadiah Stane takes control of Stark Manufacturing and becomes Iron Monger, which did loosely serve as the finale to the first Iron Man.

Death of the Dream (The Death of Captain America)

     Marvel EntertainmentArt by Steve Epting

Unfolding in the pages of Captain America by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting, Death of The Dream was a multi-year arc that shifted the entire Marvel Universe. Taking place right on the heels of the original Civil War comic, Steve Rogers is assassinated before he is able to stand trial for opposing the Superhero Registration Act. Taken down by a sniper, and then finally killed by a hypnotized Sharon Carter, Captain America leaves the superhero community in disarray, and a shield at play. At the time, the Winter Solider had only recently broken free from Hydra’s mind control, and had never reunited with Steve. This sets Bucky on a path of closure and discovery that eventually leads him to pick up the shield as the new Captain America.

It seems that the MCU simply didn’t have time for this storyline. Captain America: Civil War doesn’t end with Steve Rogers in custody, or admitting defeat at all. Instead, the “loss” of the film is the relationship between the members of The Avengers. “Death of the Dream” was a character-focused slow burn that is perfectly suited for single-issue comics, but not feature-length films. It makes sense, then, that the legacy storyline was instead focused on Sam Wilson’s tenure with the shield, which was built up over serialized episodes in the Disney+ Series Falcon and The Winter Soldier

World War Hulk

     Marvel EntertainmentArt by David Finch

Sometimes, the chances of a character’s story being adapted isn’t even Marvel’s call. In the case of Hulk, the story being adapted isn’t allowed to be his own. To explain: Paramount Pictures still holds the rights to a solo Hulk movie, not Marvel Studios. This is why the famous Hulk storyline, Planet Hulk, was instead folded into the story for Thor: Ragnarok, as Marvel legally couldn’t give Hulk his own movie taking place on Sakaar. While that worked for Planet Hulk, that storyline’s follow-up World War Hulk is too specific to Hulk to be adapted for another character.

In World War Hulk, the ship that sent Hulk to Sakaar is revealed to be created by Marvel’s Illuminati, who sought to send Hulk away from Earth and to a “safe planet”. The damaged ship then explodes, essentially nuking the entire planet of Sakaar and killing almost all of its inhabitants, including Hulk’s new wife Caiera. Hulk, the appointed King of Sakaar, declares war against Earth, and returns to his home planet with a gladiatorial army, seeking out The Illuminati.

Besides the aforementioned legal restrictions, the opening for World War Hulk was missed when Bruce Banner escapes Sakaar with Thor. The Illuminati, as well, seems to only exist in the alternate universe featured in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Finally, it seems like Marvel will be exploring the fallout of World War Hulk, namely the introduction of Hulk’s son Skaar, without the emotional baggage.

Spider-Man: Back in Black

     Marvel EntertainmentArt by Ron Garney

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is a particularly difficult case for adapting comic storylines, as the character not only has had two previous live action film series to cover classic stories, but Holland’s version also entered the MCU almost 10 years into the MCU in Captain America: Civil War. This combination leads the MCU Spider-Man movies to especially go “off-book” with their stories.

Back in Black, taking place in Amazing Spider-Man by writer J Michael Straczynski and artist Ron Garney, specifically comes at a time that the MCU Peter can’t catch up to. Taking place after the original Civil War, where Peter revealed his secret identity to the entire world, Aunt May is accidentally shot when The Kingpin orders a hit on Peter. This leads Peter to reclaim his black suit, without the symbiote. While Sony and Marvel Studios did not choose to adapt Back in Black, they surprisingly chose to use some of its follow-up, the maligned “One More Day” storyline, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The story also heavily mines Spidey’s decades-long relationship with The Kingpin, which is so far nonexistent in the MCU.

House of M

     Marvel EntertainmentArt by Oliver Coipel

While House of M is a much-referenced story by the MCU’s cast and crew, especially in regards to projects like WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, neither of those MCU projects explored the Avengers and X-Men’s relationship to Wanda like House of M did. The main miniseries by Brian Michael Bendis and Oliver Coipel saw the two superhero teams meet in order to discuss the fate of The Scarlet Witch, who suffered a nervous breakdown and killed several Avengers when she realized her children were not real. In response, Wanda’s powers remake reality, flipping the power balance between Humans and Mutants. This all led to the infamous “No More Mutants” moment, where Wanda reduced Marvel’s Mutant population from millions to less than 200.

While Wanda’s descent has been well-covered in WandaVision and Multiverse of Madness, the Mutant angle was completely ignored. It is understandable, though, as The X-Men are just now being introduced in the MCU. That said, it has been hypothesized that Wanda could do a reverse-“No More Mutants” to fast-track The Mutant’s introduction to the MCU.

Thor: The God Bomb

     Marvel EntertainmentArt by Esad Ribic

Thor: Love and Thunder is one of Marvel’s more direct adaptations, really only lifting from a singular multi-year run of Thor Comics by Jason Aaron, Esad Ribic, Russel Dauterman, and Matthew Wilson. But even that run can be divided into at least two distinct storylines, one led by Thor and the other starring Jane Foster. Thor: Love and Thunder attempts to combine these arcs into one story, but it understandably leans much heavier into Jane Foster’s arc. The preceding storyline, “The God Bomb”, is the culmination of the Gorr saga, though playing out much differently than how it appeared on-screen.

In the comic, The Gorr storyline plays out across three timelines: in the past, with a reckless, unworthy Thor; in the present, with a confident, Avenger Thor; and in the far future, with Old King Thor. This all comes to a head in the future, as Gorr seeks to destroy gods through all of time and space. He does this not by searching for Eternity like in Love and Thunder, but instead forcing enslaved gods to build a “god bomb”. All three Thors join forces to fight the futuristic Gorr and stop. This is a big story set piece, one that could have easily been its own movie. But Love and Thunder’s desire to combine both the Gorr and Jane Foster Sagas of the Aaron/Ribic/Dauterman/Wilson run meant that something had to give.

Avengers: The Initiative

     Marvel EntertainmentArt by Jim Cheung

Like the movie it inspired, the original Civil War did not destroy The Avengers, as much as it split the team in two. Some heroes like Luke Cage and Spider-Man stayed underground as The New Avengers, while newly-appointed SHIELD Director Tony Stark, alongside other Pro-Regristration heroes, sought to go wider. Hence “The Avengers Initiative”, which looked to launch an Avengers team in each state across the United States of America.

While the concept of training new heroes under the Avengers banner could be introduced in another form (like the comic Avengers Academy), its nomenclature has already been co-opted by the MCU, all the way back in its first movie, Iron Man. In Marvel Studios’ first-ever post-credits scene, Nick Fury tells Tony Stark that “I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.” From there onwards, the name stood not for the 50-state, 50-Team plan, but more of just the general idea of The Avengers.

Secret War

     Marvel EntertainmentArt by Garbielle Dell'Otto

Not to be confused with the plural Secret Wars, which will serve as the Endgame-esque capstone to Marvel’s Multiverse Saga, Secret War from Brian Michael Bendis and Gabrielle Dell-Otto features a smaller, espionage-laden laden that sought to explore Nick Fury’s dichotomy between his presence in the Superhero World and the politics of National Security. In the story, Nick Fury convinces a group of heroes to invade Latveria, famously home to Doctor Doom, and depose its current leader. Things go awry when Fury actually assassinates the leader, and wipes the heroes’ memories. The bulk of the comic picks up a year later, when the heroes are attacked for something they don’t remember they did. It ends with Nick Fury going into hiding, setting him up to discover the Skrull invasion later in Secret Invasion.

The government’s authority over superheroes instead became the ideological conflict of Captain America: Civil War, whereas the comic originally dealt more with the concept of secret identities. The story also served as a way to put Nick Fury into hiding, which was done elsewhere in the MCU Nick Fury’s disappearance was less official in the MCU, as Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury sporadically appeared after faking his death and leaving SHIELD in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The most important setting to the story, Latveria, has yet to be introduced.

Journey into Mystery

     Marvel EntertainmentArt by Stephanie Hans

Loki’s death in Avengers: Infinity War served as both a conclusion to the character’s arc, and his solo Disney+ Series Loki set the time-displaced 2012 Loki on a new beginning in a path towards redemption. This rebirth and redemption was also present in the 2011, Written by Kieron Gillen, with Art by Stephanie Hans, Doug Braithwaite, and More. Taking place after Loki’s death in the Avengers crossover event Siege, Loki is reincarnated as a young boy, living on the streets of Paris. The story follows the young thief as he reconnects with Thor and the other gods, and grapples with his mischievous nature. This version of Loki eventually helps form a new version of The Young Avengers alongside America Chavez.

Kid Loki does appear on the Loki Disney+ Show, in an episode titled, coincidentally enough, Journey into Mystery. This version of Loki is not a reborn one, but another displaced variant that escaped his timeline’s destruction. While the time variant iteration of Kid Loki does seem to have a potential future in the MCU, it won’t be the same path of rediscovery and redemption that the comic’s creative team was praised for.

Avengers: Disassembled

Serving as the kickoff to Brian Michael Bendis’ defining run on the Avengers, Disassembled featured an unknown threat thrown the team into chaos, as a zombified dead hero blows up the Avenger’s base of operations, vision begins to throw up Ultron robots, and Hawkeye dies. Eventually it’s revealed that the threat is The Scarlet Witch, who had recently discovered her children weren’t real. For one, The Avengers already disassembled during Captain America: Civil War, and reassembled in Infinity War and Endgame. More importantly, though, is the turning of Wanda Maximoff. This is a one-time turn from Wanda that was already done to full effect in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. While it’s always possible Marvel will go back to one of these stories to retrofit it for one of their films, they have no shortage of engaging comics to inspire them.