After Spider-Man 3, Raimi was set to continue with Maguire: John Malkovich was practically cast as the Vulture, Anne Hathaway as Felicia Hardy, concept art exists. Raimi could not get the script to his standard in time — and walked rather than deliver a film he did not believe in. Sony killed the project two months before shooting.

Wright (Shaun of the Dead) developed Ant-Man from 2006 — his 2012 test footage thrilled Comic-Con. But the 2014 MCU wanted connectivity, not an auteur film: Marvel had his script rewritten and Wright left six weeks before shooting. Peyton Reed took over.

In 2014 Marvel announced Inhumans as a Phase 3 theatrical film — a mutant substitute while Fox held the X-Men. After the power struggle between Kevin Feige and Ike Perlmutter, the film quietly vanished from the slate. The remains were recycled in 2017 as a cheaply produced TV series — 11% on Rotten Tomatoes.

After Amazing Spider-Man 2, Sony planned its own universe: Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods) was to direct the Sinister Six as an antihero film, plus a Venom solo and a spider-women film. ASM2's underperformance and the Sony hack buried it all — the historic Marvel deal came instead.

Gina Prince-Bythewood was set to direct the mercenary-and-master-thief duo for Sony's Spider-Verse. After several delays, Sony split the film into two solo projects that never materialized. Prince-Bythewood made The Old Guard and The Woman King instead.

Announced at Comic-Con 2022 as the crowning of the Multiverse Saga: Destin Daniel Cretton directing, Kang as the Thanos successor, the Council of Kangs already established. After Jonathan Majors' conviction, Marvel parted ways with him — and with the entire saga plan. Cretton moved to Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Tatum fought for a Gambit solo from 2014: Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman and Gore Verbinski took turns attached, the budget stood, shooting dates were announced three times. Then Disney bought Fox — and buried the project for good. Tatum later spoke openly about his frustration.

After Deadpool 2, Goddard was to direct X-Force with Reynolds, Brolin's Cable and Zazie Beetz's Domino — the R-rated counterpoint to the well-behaved X-Men. The Fox takeover froze everything; Marvel chose Deadpool solo in the MCU.

Josh Boone planned a horror trilogy in the X-Men universe — part 2 with Antonio Banderas as Emmanuel da Costa, part 3 featuring Warlock. Fox demanded reshoots for more horror that never happened; Disney inherited the film and dumped it without comment in the pandemic summer of 2020.

After Blade: Trinity (2004) a fourth film was discussed — but the shoot had been wrecked by conflicts between Snipes and director David S. Goyer, including a later lawsuit. Snipes' tax trial then ended any sequel fantasy.

Agent Carter was canceled in 2016 after two seasons despite fan campaigns — season 3 was roughly sketched. In 2018/19 Netflix axed Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and Punisher within months as Disney+ appeared on the horizon: six shows, one clear-cut.

Venom unexpectedly earned $856 million in 2018 — Sony built a universe on top of it without its main character: Morbius flopped twice, Madame Web became a meme catastrophe, Kraven arrived as the first R-rated film and left as the last film, period. After Venom 3, Sony pulled the plug.

Fox had already dated the sequel to the 2015 reboot for June 2017 — then the film hit theaters: 9% on Rotten Tomatoes, a public fight between director Josh Trank and the studio, Trank's famous deleted tweet about the fantastic version no one would ever see.

Marvel Television planned a dark 'Adventure into Fear' universe at Hulu: a Ghost Rider series with Gabriel Luna was announced and buried without shooting, Helstrom (2020) remained the only realized show — canceled after one season when Feige took over the TV division.

Patty Jenkins left Thor 2 over creative differences (she wanted a space Romeo-and-Juliet story), Ava DuVernay declined Black Panther because Marvel offered too little control, Scott Derrickson exited before Doctor Strange 2 because his horror approach went too far.

Before Marvel films worked, giants failed: James Cameron wrote a Spider-Man treatment in the 90s (with organic web-shooters and an Electro/Sandman duo) that drowned in rights litigation. Stan Lee pitched Ghost Rider to John Carpenter, and a Black Panther film with Wesley Snipes was stuck for years.