Avengers: Infinity War almost featured the Living Tribunal

Avengers: Infinity War was close to including an appearance from one of the Marvel Universe’s most powerful characters.

Both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame had a slew of characters that needed to be included, and most would agree the films gracefully balanced them. However, with so many characters, some were bound to be left out in the writing room. One such character was, and his inclusion could have had a major effect on Infinity War.

Infinity War and Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely caught up with The New York Times to dish on the film. During the interview, the two revealed that the Living Tribunal was originally set to appear in Infinity War. According to Markus, he was going to show up during a pivotal scene:

"“We did try to put the Living Tribunal in the first movie. We wrote a scene in which he appeared during the Titan fight. And everyone was like, what?”"

But as much as they loved the idea of introducing the character, his inclusion just seemed to be too much at the time:

"“Whoa. He’s got three heads. It would indicate a whole different level of architecture to the universe and I think that was too much to just throw in.”"

The Living Tribunal is a cosmic entity that controls and regulates the balance of the multiverse in the Marvel continuity. He also serves as somewhat of a de facto judge of these realities. He is visually one of the most distinct-looking Marvel creations due to his large, gold-plated body and three heads.

The character made his Marvel Comics debut in Strange Tales No. 157 in 1967. In his debut, he came into conflict with Doctor Strange after he announced to the Sorcerer Supreme that he would destroy Earth because of its potential for evil. Luckily, Strange was able to convince the cosmic being that the planet was capable of great good.

Although the Living Tribunal didn’t make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Infinity War, there is still hope for the character. Christopher Markus even mentions that “the idea’s still in [Marvel Studios President] Kevin [Feige]’s court.” So there’s still a firm chance he’ll make his way to the big screen sometime in the future.