The MCU is one of the most ambitious film projects of all time. Telling all sorts of stories in the same universe solely for the purpose of bringing every character together shouldn’t work. However, it remains one of the most successful franchises to date. With so many films and an understanding of what general audiences respond to, the MCU is here to stay.

However, the MCU is not perfect. In trying to find its footing, the films have attempted a few different storylines and plot threads that most assumed would be completed in later movies. However, some of those plot threads were so ridiculous and random that they were never seen again after that. With no mention of them as the franchise has continued, we’re all but certain that Marvel wants nothing to do with them at this point.

As the franchise evolves, so too does the company behind it. It changes its mind, brings on new characters, and comes up with different ideas of where it wants to take its stories next. As such, many old visions and thoughts get left in the dust, arguably for the better. That’s not always the case, but it’s the trend.

The MCU is rapidly rocketing toward its bombastic Avengers 4 before ending an era that lasted the past 11 years. As that day approaches, we’ll be looking back at 25 ridiculous MCU storylines that Marvel wants fans to forget. There’s a reason that many of these entries were never brought up in the future.

25 The Leader’s Creation

One of the supporting characters in The Incredible Hulk was Samuel Sterns, who was trying to find a cure for Bruce Banner’s condition. However, the film ends with him getting some radiation on his face, which enlarges his forehead. Sterns in the comics is a bizarre and weird-looking villain known as the Leader. With no proper continuation of The Incredible Hulk, this storyline was dropped just about as soon as it was introduced. Perhaps we’ll get an actual Hulk villain in the MCU someday.

24 Betty And Thunderbolt Ross

One of the biggest plot threads in The Incredible Hulk was Banner’s relationship with Betty Ross. The big problem in their relationship was that Betty’s father was the man trying to hunt down the Hulk and get rid of him for good. Betty would not return in the MCU after her first appearance, but Thunderbolt would in Captain America: Civil War. However, he bore no resemblance to his appearance in the former movie, making no reference to those events whatsoever.

23 Tony Stark’s New Element

The shrapnel and arc reactor were starting to get to Tony in Iron Man 2. To save his own life, he decided to take old plans from his father and create a new element. However, him making that new element never comes up again, and it seems to be thrown out the door entirely when he simply gets the shrapnel removed surgically. It’s probably for the best, though, as there are several narrative problems with Stark making a new element.

22 The Warriors Three

Thor wasn’t alone when he was defending the Nine Realms in Thor and Thor: The Dark World.

He was joined by his friends, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three.

While their appearances were generally one note, they were the closest things he had to any meaningful relationships in the MCU. However, Thor: Ragnarok saw the demise of the Warriors Three and didn’t even show Lady Sif. Marvel simply didn’t care much about these characters, and they certainly didn’t want the audience to either.

21 Thor And Jane

When Thor was banished from Asgard and forced to walk on Earth as a regular man, he was joined by astrophysicist, Jane Foster. As Foster learned more about the cosmos through Thor, the two started to form a romantic relationship. During Thor: The Dark World, the two picked up where they left off. However, that was the last of their relationship. With only a brief mention in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor admits to their relationship being over in Thor: Ragnarok. She never appeared after 2013.

20 Frost Giants Vs Asgard

In Thor, there was a lot of time spent establishing the Frost Giants and their rivalry with Asgard. Thor later goes to their planet and assaults them, leading them to declare war on Asgard.

Loki’s tricks end up with the demise of their leader, though.

Despite all the damage they suffered, the Frost Giants never appear in the MCU after that point. There’s no discussion of how they got on after Loki’s attack nor if they desired revenge on Asgard.

19 Hawkeye’s Family

Hawkeye’s family was a big part of Avengers: Age of Ultron, with their house being where the middle part of the movie took place. However, Hawkeye’s appearance in the MCU has been drastically different after that point. He supposedly retired only to help the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War with a few minor mentions of his family. Some theories about Avengers: Endgame posit that he lost his family due to Thanos’ actions, but whatever the case, his family likely won’t have a serious appearance again.

18 Hawkeye, Agent Of SHIELD

When we first meet Hawkeye, it was technically in Thor. The God of Thunder makes his way through the SHIELD compound, and they send Hawkeye up in a watchtower to try and take him out. Other than his actions in The Avengers after that, though, Hawkeye has seemingly no connection to SHIELD. He works with the Avengers in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but has no connection to the organization after that point. We never even get his reaction to HYDRA’s infiltration from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He was much more boring as a SHIELD agent anyway.

17 Stark And Ross Meeting

Something that didn’t come up in Captain America: Civil War was how Thaddeus Ross and Tony Stark already knew each other. One of the last scenes in The Incredible Hulk was Stark headed to a bar to have a drink with Ross to tease some sort of superhero team. However, that conversation never came up when Ross was accusing the Avengers of all sorts of dangerous acts. It seems the MCU just ignores The Incredible Hulk entirely. Ross may as well have been an entirely different character.

16 Black Widow And Hulk

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes finally found out a way to calm the Hulk after he went on a rampage, and that was through Black Widow. Due to her connection to the Hulk, she and Banner eventually started a romantic relationship. However, that was ended after that film, as Hulk left the planet. When Banner returned to Earth in Avengers: Infinity War, there was a moment of awkward dialogue between the two and nothing else. It seems Marvel is simply moving on from their connection.

15 Erik Selvig’s Wacky Science

Erik Selvig was one of the weirdest characters in Thor and especially Thor: The Dark World. Arguably a smarter scientist than Jane, there were all sorts of things that he knew about the universe that most people couldn’t, though that was partially due to Loki screwing with his mind for so long.

However, Selvig’s work in the science department was ignored entirely after Thor: The Dark World.

He didn’t appear in the MCU after that, showing just how little he brought to the table.

14 Agent Coulson’s Resurrection

This is a bit of an odd duck. After Coulson’s demise was the push that brought the Avengers together in the film of the same name, he was brought back to life in Agents of SHIELD. However, he has not since appeared in the MCU movies, nor has he even been mentioned. The movie side of the MCU doesn’t want to take the time to explain how in the world he is still alive, yet the TV side still brushed it aside and made it even more confusing. His resurrection was handled oddly.

13 Baron Strucker’s Experiments

With such a big HYDRA villain like Baron Von Strucker teased in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, some thought that he was going to be a serious threat in the MCU. After all, his experiments with Loki’s scepter led to the creation of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. However, that was about all there was to Strucker, as he was written out of the MCU as quickly as he was introduced. Furthermore, his experiments left no bearing on the universe apart from creating two new heroes.

12 HYDRA’s Resurgence

The big twist of Captain America: The Winter Soldier was that HYDRA had been growing like a parasite in SHIELD for decades.

Because Cap fought them back in the day, the conflict became personal.

However, HYDRA was essentially destroyed by Avengers: Age of Ultron and hasn’t had a serious impact on the MCU since. It honestly felt like that twist was only a move designed to carry one film and never be used seriously after that point. It did give us the Crossbones fight, though.

11 Multiple Winter Soldiers

Captain America: Civil War seemed to be building to a fight between the Avengers and a few other Winter Soldiers. Bucky revealed that he wasn’t the only one to be created. However, that was a red herring, as Zemo merely destroyed all those soldiers. They were just bait to lure in Cap and Stark and get them to fight each other. The whole multiple Winter Soldiers angle was gone just as quickly as it was established, but it was probably for the best.

10 Blowing Up The Iron Man Suits

It seemed like Tony Stark was done protecting the Earth at the end of Iron Man 3. After his obsession led him to create a large number of suits, he destroyed them all to tell Pepper that she was the most important thing in his life. However, that was just a show for the end of the film, as Stark was wrapped back into the fray by the start of Avengers: Age of Ultron, which was his very next appearance. It didn’t feel like the ending of Iron Man 3 ever mattered after that point.

9 The Ten Rings And The Mandarin

In the first Iron Man, Obadiah Stane worked with an organization called the Ten Rings to try and bring in Stark. Stane was defeated, but the Ten Rings was still alive and well. Many believed Marvel was building to a fight between Iron Man and the Mandarin. However, Iron Man 3 showed that the Mandarin was just a trick. Then there was the Marvel one-shot that actually confirmed the Mandarin’s existence. That said, nothing has ever been done with that.

8 Bifrost Destruction

Thor went through a lot of growth in his first film. Coming back to Asgard and fighting Loki, he knew the only way to save Jotunheim was by destroying the Bifrost, which also severed his connection to Jane. He did it anyway, seemingly blocking himself off from the rest of the world. However, that never seemed to matter, as Odin easily sent him to Earth in The Avengers. After Asgard’s destruction in Thor: Ragnarok, it still didn’t seem to matter in Avengers: Infinity War because Thor made a weapon that could still summon the Bifrost.

7 Captain America And Sharon Carter

Captain America and Sharon Carter had an interesting relationship in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that would grow into something more in Captain America: Civil War. They shared a brief kiss only for her to not appear after that day, presumably returning to her job in the CIA. That plot thread has never been addressed after that point, though that’s likely because people pointed out the weirdness that was Captain America falling in love with the great-niece of his WWII lover.

6 Helen Cho’s Creation

Helen Cho was a character briefly introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron who was able to create a machine that could synthesize life. It helped restore Hawkeye’s body and was later used to create Vision. However, that technology and Helen Cho were entirely dropped by the end of the film.

She did not appear in any further MCU movies, nor has the technology been used in any capacity since then.

It was a bit of an awkward storyline anyway, so it was probably for the best.