One of the big surprises that Avengers: Endgame had in store for fans was that, in addition to seeing all of our favorite heroes together, we got a collection of great supporting character returns as well. We saw Rene Russo come back as Thor's mother, We got to see a "young" Michael Douglas as Hank Pym again. However, the first one of those cameo moments we saw, which set the tone for all the others, was the return of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One.
It was great to see Swinton's character once again, fighting the invading army during the first Avengers film. She looked just like we remembered her from Doctor Strange However, one Marvel artist had a very different idea for how the Incredible Hulk might find the Ancient One, which would have been a brand new look for her. Check out this keyframe which shows Swinton's character just chilling out while New York explodes around here.
Marvel Studios artist Karla Ortiz shared the art she designed which shows Hulk arriving at the Sanctum Sanctorum, only to find the Ancient One one lounging on the roof in a big floppy hat and what appears to be a cooler full of brews. Certainly not the character we remember, which would have made seeing her again a very different experience if she'd looked like this.
Having said that, seeing the Ancient One like this actually makes a great deal of sense when you think about it. She's capable of seeing the future, even without using the Time Stone which is in her possession. As such, she likely would have seen the invasion of the Chitari, as well as the Avengers eventual victory over them. She's not going to be able to prevent the destruction that's going to happen, but everything will resolve without her direct intervention, which means she might as well kick back and watch the show.
Obviously, the decision was made to go in a more traditional direction, which certainly worked. Although, I really wish this version had been filmed, because I would love to have seen it, even if it was only as a deleted scene.
Who knows? Maybe we'll still get to see something like this down the road. We know we're getting Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as a film in Phase 4, and if there's a multiverse out there, maybe there's one where the Ancient One is still alive and prefers to just get a tan on the roof most of the time.
There really is an entire multiverse of ideas that were considered for Avengers: Endgame, and while the filmmakers clearly hit on the right combination of points, the movie is thew highest grossing film ever after all, we'll always wonder how some of these other ideas could have looked, how they might have changed the story of Endgame itself, or the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe over all.
