Marvel Studios' shared universe of superheroes and supervillains has been a fixture of the silver screen for almost two decades. Five years ago, it became a fixture of the small one too, expanding the franchise's horizons beyond any imaginable scope - and setting the stage for the Multiverse Saga to take that even further. That's a lot of characters for a franchise even like the Marvel Cinematic Universe to keep track of.
As the Multiverse Saga prepares to wrap up with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, it's a time when MCU fans can reflect on the characters who probably won't return in the franchise's upcoming Mutants Era (which will likely be dominated the X-Men). Whether those are legacy characters from the Infinity Saga who have not yet returned to the MCU, or newer characters from the Multiverse Saga itself who went down so badly with audiences that the franchise will likely steer clear of them going forward, it's pretty clear that there are some familiar faces who probably won't be back in the MCU.
Eros
The idea of Harry Styles appearing in a Marvel Cinematic Universe seems so alien all these years later that you would be forgiven for thinking that it was all a big fever dream. But no, the globally successful superstar did, in fact, appear in the MCU, surprising audiences in the post-credits scene of Eternals. What's even crazier than that is the fact that he played Starfox, a.k.a. Eros - the brother of Thanos. Yes, that Thanos.
Eternals marked the first underperformer for the MCU and the first mixed reviews, too. With Marvel Studios scaling back on niche superheroes, it's widely believed that the Eternals will either resurface in another project or simply be forgotten altogether. Either way, the star-studded cast of the 2021 movie is difficult enough to fit back into the MCU, throwing in Styles might make that already improbable task impossible. It was fun while it lasted.
Drax the Destroyer
Unlike some of the other characters mentioned on this list, Drax the Destroyer has been a long-standing staple of the franchise who was actually extremely well-received. Portrayed by Dave Bautista, he was a fixture of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy while also making appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame (as well as The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special). However, his story came to an end with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Bautista has been upfront about how he considers that film his retirement from the MCU as he wishes to move on and play other roles. His recent casting as Kratos in Amazon Prime Video's God of War series has reiterated that he will be pretty busy in another franchise for the foreseeable, while the character's departure from the Guardians - and Rocket and Groot's takeover of the new Guardians - has ensured that Drax's story has officially ended on a high note.
G'iah
G'iah has the unfortunate honor of being linked to Secret Invasion, because anything associated with that show (outside of Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury) will very likely be discarded by Marvel Studios going forward. Considering that the franchise hasn't even acknowledged the realtively major global events that took place during it three years later, it's looking like it already has moved on.
While Secret Invasion was a low point for the franchise in general, G'iah's characterization was a large part of that. The daughter of Talos and Soren who helped the skrulls invade, fans just didn't take to her in the beginning. When she did start to redeem herself, she got saddled with that awful series finale which saw G'iah become the most overpowered character in the MCU (in a sequence that featured some truly infamous CGI). Fans were not having it, so despite an ending for the character that suggests a return, Marvel will likely leave the character in Europe and pretend that this debacle never happened.
Boy oh boy did Emilia Clarke deserve better than this.
Kang the Conqueror
Once upon a time Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror was being positioned as the next Thanos of the MCU. The Multiverse Saga's primary villain, Kang was supposed to recur throughout the saga in a number of both signficiant and minor roles to shwocase his potential as a central villain. But it didn't work out for multiple reasons. Jonathan Majors' legal troubles resulted in Marvel Studios officially parting ways with the actor, but they reportedly had plans to move away from Kang prior to that due to the lukewarm reception to the character as the main villain.
Doctor Doom has now stepped in as the core villain of the Multiverse Saga, set to give the Avengers a piece of his mind in Avengers: Doomsday (which was once set to be Avengers: The Kang Dynasty) as Marvel has officially dropped the Kang character. It's widely expected that the villain will be written out off-screen prior to the events of the upcoming MCU crossover movie but we wouldn't be surprised if they have a scene in which Doom easily disposes of him in a bid to show how merciless and powerful the villain truly is. Even if that's the case, however, it won't be Majors playing the role - so for that reason alone, the dialogue will probably do the talking instead.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in movie theaters on December 18, 2026.
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