Marvel fans have been chomping at the bit for new MCU content ever since Spider-Man: Far From Home came out last summer! Luckily, we’re closing in on the May release date for Black Widow to help get our Marvel movie fix. Until then, fans have been combing through online rumors, speculation, trailers, and unused concept art from past flicks to satisfy the itch. Case in point, some more illustrations for Avengers: Endgame surfaced on the internet showing an alternate death for a beloved Marvel character. Who, you might ask, almost bit the dust? Well, you don’t think we’re going to spill the beans in the first paragraph do you!? Keep scrolling to find out!
Marvel Studios concept artist Stephen Schirle has been dropping a number of pieces of unused art on his personal Instagram account. Recently he plopped down an intriguing frame depicting the demise of none other than Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.! The image shows Fury’s rather gruesome murder at the hands of Corvus Glaive, one of Thanos’ elite children of the Black Order. The alien marauder is stabbing poor ol’ one-eye in the back and out through his chest with a super-heated spear. What a revoltin’ way to go!
The piece of art shows that Marvel Studios was toying with more than a few alternate deaths for its flagship Avengers franchise than the ones we got in the final films. During both Infinity War and Endgame, we definitively lost original timeline Loki and Gamora, Vision, Black Widow, and Iron Man. Not to mention Captain America growing old and retiring. Although we’re getting past versions of Loki and Gamora in upcoming TV shows and movies, some kind of conjured sitcom Vision in the Disney+ series WandaVision, and a prequel Black Widow movie, it seems at least a few of these deaths will be permanent.
Thankfully, Marvel chose to spare us the pain of losing Nick Fury too. It would have been a bit overly cruel to dust Nick in Thanos’ snap, then bring him back to life, only to violently kill him once more. Not to mention, it appears Nick Fury will be playing a much larger role in the upcoming Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after his post credits scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home revealed the super spy has been supervising a spaceship of alien Skrulls!
With all the deleted scenes and unused concept art that’s popped up over the last few months, it seems the creatives behind the scenes over at Marvel Studios had one heck of a time dreaming up plot twists for the Avengers two-part finale. We can only imagine what new scenarios they have in store for the heroes and villains of the MCU in the future.