MARVEL: UNITE

An unofficial MCU fan edit by ducko.

Season 1 Cutlist

Overall Changes

  • 5 movies are cut into 10 hour-long episodes
  • Each episode begins with a “ducko” logo, a cold open sequence, and the Phase 2 Marvel Studios logo as an intro
  • Each episode ends with a “Marvel Unite” titlecard and custom abbreviated credits
  • Post-credit scenes that are critical to the plot are always inserted before any end credits
  • Episode 1 begins with a flash forward of the Avengers Initiative to better connect the origin stories. This is composed of two deleted scenes from The Avengers (2012) along with some extra shots from Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger.
  • The Incredible Hulk (2008) is not included in this edit. This film does not really contribute to the narrative of the Infinity Saga and does not connect well to the other MCU films. The Avengers does a decent job of introducing Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, anyway.

Iron Man (2008)

  • Title card and credits removed
  • Opening flash forward scene with Tony in the Humvee is moved back to where it happens chronologically
  • One shot of Las Vegas award ceremony is cropped to remove “6 Months Earlier” text, new text added that just says “Las Vegas”
  • During the presentation about Tony Stark’s life, a photoshopped picture of Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark replaces the original photo of John Slattery as Howard Stark, to better connect this film with Captain America: The First Avenger
  • Establishing shot of Tony’s mansion in Malibu has original text removed by overlaying the IMAX version in order to add new text with consistent font
  • Establishing shot at Afghanistan air base is cropped to add new text with a consistent font
  • Shot of Tony screaming during his operation is reversed and rotated upside-down to match cut with preceding shot of Howard Stark in Captain America
  • Shots reordered after Tony is ordered to build the Jericho missile, in order to match cut with Steve in the following Captain America sequence
  • Shot of airplane landing after Tony is rescued is cropped for a gradual IMAX aspect ratio shift
  • Subtle lead-up sound effect added to Tony and Pepper getting in the car after his rescue, as original mix was jarring
  • Obadiah speaking at the press conference after Tony’s rescue fades to black early because the original movie crossfades to another scene
  • A short scene where Tony talks to Rhodey in an airplane hangar was cut
  • Two scenes with the Ten Rings recovering the Mark I suit are pushed back to better fit episodic structure
  • A shot of Tony holding his old arc reactor that Pepper gifted him is slowed down for better pacing
  • Wipe transition removed as Tony flies to Gulmira as it no longer fits stylistically
  • Wipe transition removed before Obadiah meets with the Ten Rings
  • Shot of Tony unconscious after defeating Obadiah is cropped to maintain IMAX aspect ratio
  • Final shot of Tony at the press conference is slowed down slightly
  • Post-credits with Nick Fury is pushed back to directly before Fury’s appearance in Iron Man 2, to avoid Fury disappearing for too long

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011):

  • Title card and credits removed
  • Opening flash forward scene with searchers finding Cap’s shield in the ice is moved back to where it should be chronologically, to a much later episode. Ending music cue also changed.
  • Establishing shot of New York City is slowed down, with “1943, New York City” text added
  • Early scenes with Red Skull and HYDRA are moved until after Steve discovers HYDRA in order to reduce the amount of plot threads going on at once
  • Howard Stark’s presentation at the World Expo is reworked so that his name is announced at the end of the scene rather than the beginning, in order to match cut with Tony in the following Iron Man sequence
  • Peggy’s introduction scene has its opening shot removed and first shots reordered in order to match cut Steve with preceding Iron Man sequence
  • One shot of the super soldier machine being prepped is removed for a better transition
  • Reaction shot of Dr. Erskine after machine starts powering down is reordered to match cut machine with following Iron Man shot
  • 1943 title cards added to various scenes at the beginnings of episodes in order to better separate its plot threads from “contemporary” ones
  • Scene of Red Skull and introduction of hostages at HYDRA facility is moved back to when Steve actually arrives at the facility
  • Establishing shot before train sequence slowed down to accomodate “1945” text
  • Red Skull giving a speech to his HYDRA minions moved back
  • After the montage following Steve’s ‘death,’ Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again” plays over the episode credits
  • Post-credits with Steve boxing in the gym is removed, as it is already present in The Avengers.

Thor (2011):

  • Title card and credits removed.
  • Last shot of the cold open where Jane says “Where did he come from?” is slowed down for a better transition to episode title sequence
  • The first and second acts are reversed to avoid a jarring cut to frost giants in outer space. All scenes on Asgard are pushed back, so we initially only see Thor from Jane’s perspective on Earth. Once Thor breaks into the SHIELD facility and fails to pick up his hammer, we then have a flashback his background on Asgard.
  • Establishing shot of Tonsberg, Norway is cropped to replace original text with consistent font
  • Text added to establishing shot of the SHIELD research camp that Thor infiltrates
  • Text added to Thor’s arrival at his coronation ceremony
  • Shots of Thor being arrested after failing to lift Mjolnir are slowed down and reworked to fit a flashback structure
  • Scenes with Loki assuming power on Asgard are pushed back to serve as a side story while Thor is imprisoned at the SHIELD facility, culminating in him reuniting with Loki
  • The Warriors Three meeting with Loki and finding out that Odin is asleep is pushed back to after Loki’s scene with Frigga
  • Loki’s scene with Frigga about Odinsleep has some dialog trimmed/re-edited to imply that Loki is just now learning that Odin is still alive
  • Jane arguing with Erik that Norse mythology might be true is moved to right before Erik retrieves Thor from the SHIELD facility, to better imply that Erik is doing so at the request of Jane
  • Erik and Thor drinking at the bar directly cuts to Thor bringing a drunken Erik to Jane’s trailer, because of course it should
  • A shot of Loki arriving on Jotunheim via the Bifrost is removed for a better transition
  • Shot of Thor eating breakfast with Jane and company is moved earlier to establish Thor at the beginning of an episode
  • The Warriors Three deciding to visit Earth has some shots trimmed in order to pre-lap with previous scene
  • Scene of Loki activating the Destroyer is pushed back
  • Jane’s godawful line “Oh my god” after Thor reclaims Mjolnir is replaced with a different reaction shot that has been slowed down
  • Jane’s godawful line “It’s a good look” is removed
  • Sif overexplaining Thor’s feelings to his own mother at the end is removed
  • Post-credits with Dr. Erik examining the Tesseract under Loki’s control is cut, as the scene is confusing and undercuts Loki’s arrival on Earth in The Avengers

Iron Man 2 (2010):

  • Opening credits, title card, and ending credits removed
  • Cold open with Ivan Vanko becoming whiplash is pushed back to introduce him directly before he appears in Monaco, with careful editing to connect it with a later scene, using a few shots from the opening credits sequence
  • At the end of the boxing scene, shot ends early after Pepper says “No” for a better transition
  • Whiplash getting tickets to Monaco is moved back so that it can cut directly to Tony arriving in Monaco
  • Shot of Whiplash holding Monaco tickets is slowed down for a better transition
  • Scenes with Whiplash and Justin Hammer are all moved back to work better with the episodic format
  • A scene where Agent Coulson tells Tony he was reassigned to New Mexico is cut because it doesn’t make sense when he has already shown up in Thor sequences
  • The two scenes of Tony building the particle accelerator are cut together, and one shot of the accelerator is sped up
  • Ending scene with the Senator has a few shots trimmed and the audio re-worked so the song can end as it cuts to black
  • Post-credits with Agent Coulson discovering Thor’s hammer is removed, as this already appears in Thor (2011)

The Avengers (2012):

  • Title card and credits removed.
  • Mostly left as is, just cut in half into two episodes.
  • Short Avengers fanfare from Captain Marvel added to transition where Avengers title card was removed
  • Mid-credits Thanos scene is moved to before the end credits.
  • Two deleted scenes with Maria Hill being interrogated about Nick Fury are combined to serve as a flash forward to the Avengers Initiative in Episode 1. The scenes are reworked so that Maria Hill seems less critical of Nick Fury. The scenes are also upscaled to 4K through Topaz AI.