10 MCU Characters That Are Totally Different From The Comics

It goes without saying that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most accomplished example of a comic book canon being translated to the big screen to date. Over the 16 films currently released by Marvel Studios, the MCU has brought vast reams of comic book characters to the movies, usually with a deep fidelity to the source material. We say 'usually,' though, as sometimes Marvel decides to throw out what's come before and start totally fresh. While the portrayals of the likes of Iron Man and Captain America were exactly what fans wanted, other heroes, villains and supporting characters have been adapted for the screen with much more of a cavalier attitude. Sometimes this worked out for the better - something that worked on the page wouldn't always work in a movie, after all - while other times it really didn't. As they say, don't mess with the classics if you don't have a better replacement. Either due to rights complications with other studios, to make things work better in a modern context or just to fit within the confines of the movie's storyline, the following 10 comic book characters were totally changed for their appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 10) J.A.R.V.I.S. Comic Books: First appearing in the comics in 1964, Edwin Jarvis is the faithful English butler of the Stark household. For decades, the character also provided a loyal helping hand to Earth's Mightiest Heroes as he served them in their Avengers Mansion headquarters. He's such a beloved part of their unit that Captain America's claimed that he "is as much an Avenger as I am." MCU: When 2008's Iron Man came out, the Jarvis character was revised from top to bottom. In order to avoid comparison with Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth, Edwin Jarvis was out and in came J.A.R.V.I.S. (Paul Bettany), Tony's handy artificial intelligence that pilots his Iron Man armour. The character took another unique turn when J.A.R.V.I.S. was merged with the android superhero Vision. In the movies, he's an evolved version of the A.I. whereas Vision is simply a creation of Ultron's in the comics. The human Jarvis did eventually make it into the MCU, though, as James D'Arcy played Howard Stark's butler in the 1950s-set Agent Carter. 9) Drax The Destroyer Comic Books: Arthur Douglas was once an ordinary human, until his family was murdered by Thanos. Sensing his thirst for vengeance, the god-like being known as Kronos transferred Arthur's soul into a powerful new body and so Drax the Destroyer was born. Originally, the character possessed the ability to project energy blasts from his hands and even fly, but mostly he sports super strength, reflexes and durability. MCU: Drax's backstory was completely stripped away for his appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy. Instead, Dave Bautista's version was a regular alien who had trained himself to peak physical fitness in order to take down Ronan the Accuser, who was the murderer of his family in this continuity. His personality was also vastly redeveloped, as the movie Drax doesn't understand subtle emotional reactions and common turns of phrase. That said, this could be partially inspired by a period in the comics when his higher mental faculties were lost. 8) Baron Zemo Comic Books: The son of Heinrich Zemo, one of Hitler's top Nazi scientists, Baron Helmut Zemo was involved in a Joker-like accident when he fell into a vat of experimental glue Adhesive X. With his face now horribly disfigured, Zemo took to wearing a purple hood and became a bona fide supervillain - even forming the Masters of Evil. He's also been affiliated with HYDRA on occasion. MCU: For his appearance in Captain America: Civil War, Daniel Bruhl played Helmut Zemo only in name. His barony was never mentioned and the character's iconic purple hood was nowhere to be seen. This Zemo shows some of his counterpart's Machiavellian nature, though, by fracturing the Avengers to the point of civil war through his subtle manipulations. He doesn't have a Nazi background, however, and is instead motivated by the death of his family in the Sokovia incident (seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron). 7) Mantis Comic Books: Originally humanoid, Mantis was kidnapped by the Cotati alien race who believed her to be the prophesied Celestial Madonna, the mother of the Celestial Messiah (Space Jesus, in other words). She transformed into her green-skinned, insectoid form after conceiving the child with her Cotati husband. As well as being a master martial artist, Mantis also possesses a range of empathetic and psychic abilities. She's a confident, kickass lady and has served as an Avenger as well as a Guardian over the years. MCU: For Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, director James Gunn once again heavily rewrote the character. This Mantis is shy, socially-awkward and very naive and doesn't share her comic book counterpart's tic for referring to herself in the third person. Bereft of her martial arts mastery and human backstory, Mantis only has her empathetic powers left. She does, though, eventually achieve something like her level of power in the comics when she fights against Ego the Living Planet during the movie's climax. What's also interesting to note is that the changes to the character are so significant that Mantis' creator Steve Englehart has said that he doesn't even recognize Pom Klementieff as playing his creation. 6) Quicksilver Comic Books: Going back to the first X-Men comics, Quicksilver began as a villain serving under his father Magneto and alongside his sister Scarlet Witch as part of the Brotherhood of Mutants. The siblings later reformed, though, and joined the Avengers. Over the decades, Pietro Maximoff has continually crossed from the light and dark side - but always ends up as a hero in the end. MCU: The biggest change the MCU made to Quicksilver was that - assuming he doesn't come back to life at some point in the future - he isn't a long-running member of the Avengers. Instead, Aaron Taylor-Johnson only appeared as a one-off enemy turned ally to the team in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Pietro and Wanda were also stripped of their X-Men connections, meaning their father is not Magneto and they are no longer mutants. Their new origin as victims of experiments that gave them powers was later replicated in the comics. 5) Yondu Comic Books: One of the original Guardians of the Galaxy, Yondu Udonta was a peaceful and deeply religious hunter who has a strong spiritual and mental connection with the wilderness of his homeworld. Basically, he's like the Na'vi from Avatar - he's even blue-skinned. Yondu is a primitive being and does not trust space-age technology. He's also rarely seen without his trusty bow and arrow. MCU: Yet again, James Gunn decided to start practically from scratch with one of his Guardians of the Galaxy characters. The movie Yondu was a morally-wayward criminal and leader of the Ravagers, with an uneasy, surrogate father/son relationship with Star-Lord. He possesses none of the comic version's connection with nature and even captains his own spaceship. Furthermore, his bow and arrow has been replaced by a Yakka arrow - which is commanded by whistling. A nod to his OG Guardians team was included in Vol. 2, though, and following the film's release and massive success, the movie Yondu was introduced into the mainstream comics continuity. 4) Hawkeye Comic Books: After showing up as a reluctant villain for his first few appearances, Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye quickly switched sides and joined the Avengers. Though he frequently clashes with his teammates, Barton has remained one of the group's most perennial members. His two big relationships are with his former girlfriend Black Widow and his wife Bobbi 'Mockingbird' Morse. MCU: Jeremy Renner's portrayal of the character in the Marvel movie universe has been heavily streamlined. His villainous past was alluded to in Barton's possession by Loki in The Avengers but his relationship with Natasha Romanoff is strictly platonic, despite hints to the contrary. Plus, his secret family living on a farm is 100% an invention of Joss Whedon. Hawkeye's purple comic book costume has also never featured in the movies, a decision that later influenced the character to change his get-up on the page. 3) The Mandarin Comic Books: The archenemy of Iron Man from the beginning of the character's lifespan, the Mandarin is a Chinese crime lord with ambitions of world domination. He's most known for his ten rings: derived from a crashed alien spaceship, each one gives the Mandarin a different energy and light based power. He's also a formidable martial artist and a genius-level scientist. MCU: Oh boy, where to start? Initially in Iron Man 3, it looked like Marvel had reimagined the Mandarin as a self-styled terrorist who had appropriated Chinese culture. It was later revealed, however, that Ben Kingsley's character was an actor employed by "the real Mandarin" - Tony Stark's old business rival Aldrich Killian (Guy Pierce), who had gained superpowers from the Extremis drug. Due to the negative backlash against the movie's treatment of the supervillain, however, it was later revealed that a more comic book accurate Mandarin is still out there. Maybe he'll turn up for real one day... 2) Bucky Barnes Comic Books: Just like Batman had Robin, Captain America had Bucky Barnes. The plucky young sidekick aided Steve Rogers in his adventures throughout World War II...until he was believed to have been killed during a battle with Baron Zemo. Decades later - in real and comic book time - Bucky was revealed to have survived and been brainwashed into becoming the Winter Soldier, an assassin for the Russians. His old friend later cures him and Bucky goes on to briefly take on the mantle of Captain America. MCU: While movie fans will recognize that Bucky's Winter Soldier story is largely the same (just swap HYDRA with the Russians), it's the character's early years that are very different. Instead of his kid sidekick, Sebastian Stan's Bucky is presented as Steve's best friend of the same age. He also doesn't operate as Rogers' sole crime-fighting partner but is one of Cap's team of Howling Commandos. As for Bucky's future, it's possible that he could become Captain America one day, but that hasn't been either confirmed or denied by Kevin Feige and his crew just yet. 1) The Entire Supporting Cast Of Spider-Man: Homecoming Comic Books: A huge swathe of the supporting cast of Spider-Man: Homecoming are derived from the comics in some way but have been heavily modified to fit the movie's story and setting. For one, Ned Leeds and Betty Brant are usually his colleagues at the Daily Bugle - Betty is his first girlfriend and Ned later becomes the supervillain the Hobgoblin. Significant figures in the comics such as Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy are nowhere to be seen in the movie, though. MCU: In the films, Ned Leeds is merged with Ganke Lee and becomes Peter's best friend and one of the few to know his secret identity. Liz Allen and Flash Thompson, meanwhile, broadly fulfill the same roles as in the comics, but their personalities are reimagined. Several minor characters were Peter's classmates in the source material, though (Sally Avril, Jason Ionello, Cindy Moon and Seymour O'Reilly). The supporting character who changed the most from the page onto the screen is Mary Jane Watson. In Homecoming, the role of 'M.J.' is filled by Zendaya's Michelle Jones, who it's hinted will go onto become Peter's main love interest. With M.J.'s personality, ethnicity and even name being entirely different, Mary Jane and Michelle are hardly the same person - but the familiar initials make it clear that the latter is intended to be a loose adaptation of the former. And that's not even mentioning the movie's wholly different interpretation of Aunt May!