For all the years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have been graced with under Kevin Feige’s masterplan, there are even more takes that never saw the light of day after being filmed. As Marvel Studios continues to celebrate the monumental success of Avengers: Endgame, the Marvel Chief has now officially announced an upcoming box set featuring the entire “Infinity Saga” and tons of never-before-seen footage, including this alternate version of the first post-credits scene in 2008’s Iron Man. Check it out below:
Okay, so this is amazing! Nick Fury’s mention of “radioactive bug bites” and “assorted mutants” at a time when their referenced heroes still solely belonged to Sony and Fox is no doubt the reason this version never made the cut. But the fact that Samuel L. Jackson shot this scene means the studio had aspirations in the MCU's early years to build out the universe to the place it will soon be at.
Still, it’s a crowd-pleasing exchange between the S.H.I.E.L.D. leader and Tony Stark to gear up for the future of the Avengers! Sam L. Jackson’s utterance of “whatever the hell we want” would have no doubt erupted theaters across the world in cheers and standing ovations. However, it also would have set expectations for the introduction of Spider-Man and X-Men when it would be years and years before this actually happened.
It’s the perfect time for Kevin Feige to release this lost take because, as of now, both of these properties are actually part of the MCU. Disney did just end its collaboration with Sony on Spider-Man movies shortly after the recent release of Far From Home, and Disney has teased plans for mutants are in the works since Fox was acquired by the studio.
The lost Iron Man scene is another version of the now historical first MCU post-credits scene that introduced Sam L. Jackson’s Nick Fury. In the theatrical version, he says “You think you’re the only superhero in the world?” instead of referencing Spider-Man and X-Men, and name drops the Avengers Initiative.
The scene was shown as part of Kevin Feige’s pre-taped acceptance speech at the Saturn Awards Friday night. Feige became the first-ever recipient of the Stan Lee World Builder Award for his contributions to the MCU. During the clip, he shared fond memories of the late Stan Lee, and officially confirmed the “Infinity Saga” box set is being released later this year, along with rolling the above footage from the "Marvel Vault."
Kevin Feige previously introduced his interest in releasing a box set with the first three phases of the MCU, along with some “really bad scenes” and “less proud moments” from the making of these films, now that the studio has been showered with so much success.
No word yet about a release date for the “Infinity Saga” box set, but my guess is it may be released close to the holiday season to fuel Marvel fans’ gift wish lists.
