Summary

Kang the Conqueror and Zemo were considered for Thunderbolts* post-credits scene.
The plan had to be ditched due to delays and Jonathan Majors' booting.
The exclusion of Ross made creative sense, but fans might miss Zemo's potential in the MCU.

By now, the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts* has already become a buzz-worthy moment among fans for its cleverly executed tease. But it what’s more interesting is what could have made the final cut. Spoiler: it could have seen two formidable MCU villains potentially cross paths with the Thunderbolts.

Thunderbolts* features two post-credit scenes, the second of which is the longest of its kind in MCU history at two minutes and fifty-four seconds. The scene teases a highly anticipated Phase Six movie in MCU fashion. Surprisingly, it wasn’t shot by director Jake Schreier, but instead on the set of another ongoing MCU production.

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By Colin Leggett

Kang the Conqueror and Zemo Were Considered To Show Face in Thunderbolts*

That Was A Long Time Ago, Though

Co-writer Eric Pearson revealed to IGN that Baron Zemo and Kang the Conqueror—then poised to be the next MCU big baddie—originally considered for Thunderbolts*’s post-credits scene, then the Hollywood strikes set in, pausing production for roughly half a year. By the time it resumed, the plan had to be ditched following the booting of Jonathan Majors (who played Kang) from Marvel Studios. “So I was throwing together at the beginning a post-credit sequence that had to deal with Kang,” he tells IGN. Consideration for Daniel Brühl’s Zemo was briefer than Kang’s, though:

"There was definitely a [post-credits] tag that I did a million years ago where Zemo is like Keyser Söze,[from The Usual Suspects movie]. Like he's been pulling the strings from prison in some way. But I don't think that iteration lived longer than like, ‘Hey, what about this?’ ‘Nope, not that.’"

Interestingly, Harrison Ford’s Thunderbolt Ross was never on the table. Pearson explained that the creative team deliberately chose to steer away from the familiar "authority figure assembling criminals" trope. Once that concept was removed, characters like Ross and Zemo—who traditionally filled that role in the comics—no longer aligned with the film’s narrative direction.

Kang’s exclusion may have been inevitable given the Jonathan Majors situation, and Ross's makes creative sense. But not Zemo. His debut in Captain America: Civil War and follow-up in the Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is more than enough proof that the character has a place in the post-Kang MCU. Besides, he’s the founder of the Thunderbolts in the comics (although that team is very different from the MCU version). Still, there are some who’d think of this as good riddance; the character’s meme-worthy dance moves and aristocratic reinvention haven’t won 100% of hearts.

Still, would a villain in Thunderbolts* post-credits scene have been better than the final product? Without spoilers, it won’t. What was eventually teased trumps another baddie showing face—except Doctor Doom was the choice. Frankly, more than one creative choice in Thunderbolts* is either a product of the current MCU climate or trying not to clash with a previous storyline. An example? Sentry’s introduction is tweaked thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home making a comic-accurate origin redundant.

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