MARVEL: UNITE

An unofficial MCU fan edit by ducko.

Season 3 Cutlist

Overall Changes

  • 4 movies are cut into 8 hour-long episodes.
  • All original title cards and credits are removed.
  • Each episode begins with a “ducko” logo, a cold open sequence, and the Phase 2 Marvel Studios logo as an intro.
  • IMAX sequences are incorporated where feasible, with smooth aspect ratio transitions
  • A few shots are cropped/adjusted to maintain aspect ratio in some sequences
  • Each episode ends with a “Marvel Unite” titlecard and custom abbreviated credits.
  • Post-credit scenes that are critical to the plot are inserted before any end credits where possible.

Captain America: Civil War

  • Cold open sequence of Bucky in Siberia is moved much later to the third episode. Post-credits scene of Bucky in the museum from Captain America: The Winter Soldier is used as a dramatic reveal immediately before
  • Removed beginning of shot of Wanda in Lagos in order to remove “present day” title card, added “Lagos” text to later part of shot
  • Helmut Zemo scenes are moved later, so that he becomes relevant to the plot within the same episode where he’s introduced
  • Scene of Steve and friends under arrest being brought to Berlin is slightly earlier, so it can serve as an episode cold open
  • Shots of van with bomb arriving at the JCTC headquarters in Berlin are pushed slightly later to make it less confusing in this format
  • Helmut Zemo leaving for Moscow is moved later so it can serve as the end of an episode
  • Added extra establishing shot of the JCTC building in Berlin before scene where Tony and Natasha talk about possible allies
  • A few seconds where Tony gets a notification on his watch and says, “Fire up the chopper,” is cut for pacing
  • Scene where the hotel maid finds the body in the bathtub is moved later to serve as an episode cold open
  • Scene of Cap in prison at end, “I’ll be there,” has a new music cue for a proper cut to black
  • Post-credits scene of Peter Parker activating the Spider signal in his room is now pre-credits, with music “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 from the previous GotG scene continuing to play throughout this scene

Guardians of the Galaxy

  • Marvel Studios logo in original is sped up compared to other MCU movies, replaced with standard speed for consistency
  • Digitally erased “Guardians of the Galaxy” title card, leaving an open shot that instead showcases the IMAX expansion
  • Minor time stretch of shot of Bereet in Peter’s ship for pacing before cut to black
  • Minor time stretch of Peter’s ship leaving orb planet to fit new music cue
  • Ronan meeting with Thanos is moved earlier, mostly to better establish stakes in episode 1
  • Kyln establishing shot moved before booking scene for pacing
  • Minor time stretch of Peter unwinding the middle finger to offset removal of Kyln establishing shot
  • Scenes where Ronan visits the Kyln and Yondu visits the Broker are in a slightly different order to better fit episodic structure
  • Minor time stretch of establishing shot of Yondu’s ship
  • A couple of scenes in the final act are moved for pacing, including where Yondu murders a bunch of people with his arrow is pushed back, and where Rocket and other ships fire up at the sky
  • “The Guardians of the Galaxy will return” title card replaced by cut to Spider-Man post-credits from Civil War
  • Post-credits scene with Howard the Duck is inserted after the credits of episode 4, since that’s the last we see of the Collector/Knowhere

Ant-Man

  • Slightly cropped from 1.85:1 to 1.89:1 to match IMAX sequences of the other films
  • Cold open with Hank Pym in the 1980s is moved much later, making his character much more mysterious when we meet him later
  • Audio reconstructed for first few seconds of the prison fight sequence to remove music
  • Various scenes involving Hank Pym and Darren Cross are shown much later in the story, so that these plot threads are introduced more organically
  • Shot where Scott is in the kitchen saying, “Tell me about that tip,” is extended with a morph cut for pacing in order to cut mid-scene, using Topaz AI to bridge the shot to an earlier frame in the shot
  • Scene with Cassie asking her mom “is daddy a bad man” is moved slightly earlier so the prison scene can play out uninterrupted
  • Minor time stretch of shot first showing Scott in prison
  • Removed sequence where Hank Pym is shown to have somehow manipulated Scott into breaking into his house, along with all dialogue referencing this plot element. It is now implied that Hank simplied watched as Scott broke into his house, and had no knowledge of Scott beforehand
  • As Hank talks to Scott at the dinner table, some dialogue is spliced in from a later scene (“I saw myself”) as an alternate explanation for Hank choosing Scott
  • Sequence where Ant-Man fights the Falcon is juxtaposed with the scene in Civil War where Falcon tells Cap, “I know a guy.” Text is added that says “earlier” to establish that Ant-Man takes place a considerable time before the events of Civil War
  • Extra establishing shot of Pym’s mansion is added to convey change of location after Avengers facility fight
  • Mid-credits scene that introduces Hope as the Wasp is put at the end of episode 6’s credits. Unfortunate, as I’d rather this happen pre-credits, but there wasn’t a good place for it pacing-wise

Doctor Strange

  • Cold open where the Ancient One fights Kaecilius in London is moved to a later episode, so that our first introduction to mystic reality bending is when Strange discovers it
  • When Strange’s assistant is listing possible cases for him to take, he references Rhodey’s accident, which doesn’t happen until near the end of Civil War. The “experimental armor” phrase in this line is removed to make the reference less direct. Goal here isn’t to change the timeline, but rather to avoid spoilers of an event that hasn’t been shown yet
  • Scene with Kaecilius doing a ritual with his followers is moved later for pacing
  • A short sequence of Kaecilius arriving in Hong Kong and confronting Wong is removed to keep episode focused on Strange’s perspective
  • Slight music change for last establishing shot of Kathmandu to cover transition
  • Different music track is played over final minute so it crescendoes properly at cut to black
  • Music track “Go for Baroque” plays over episode 7 end credits
  • Post-credits scene with Mordo and Pangborn is cut, mostly because it doesn’t really lead to anything and the MCU seems to have abandoned this plot thread beyond a brief cameo in Multiverse of Madness