10+ Random Facts About Marvel Characters Fans Probably Didn't Know

As one of the most successful franchises ever, Marvel, and specifically the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is filled with characters we all know and love.

While some fans love all of the characters, others have specific favorites that they can't get enough of.

We bet that even some of the most diehard fans won't know all of these 10+ random facts about Marvel characters.

Black Widow has a pretty cool weapon you might not have noticed.

In both the comics and the MCU, Black Widow wears gauntlets around her arms that look like they hold small canisters. This weapon is called "Widow's Bite" or "Black Widow's Bite."

It sends out electroshocks and is a way for her to incapacitate her opponents.

Josh Brolin based Thanos on a character from *Apocalypse Now.*

When bringing the villain of Thanos to life, Josh Brolin used Marlon Brando's character from Apocalypse Now as inspiration for his personality.

The character of Colonel Waler Kurtz has many similarities to Thanos, and fans of both franchises can easily see the connection.

And, Tony Stark was based off of Elon Musk.

Robert Downey Jr. drew inspiration from a real-life person for his interpretation of the iconic Iron Man.

RDJ even went to visit Musk at his SpaceX headquarters, and Musk gave him a personal tour of the space. This visit was part of a character study for the actor.

Jeremy Renner trained with Olympic archers.

The character of Hawkeye is an excellent marksman, but Jeremy Renner wasn't. So, he actually trained with Olympic archers to prepare for the film.

However, he noted that a realistic style of archery was very different than a comic book style.

The character of Black Panther wasn't meant to have a big part in *Civil War.*

https://www.vox.com/2016/5/12/11650018/captain-america-civil-war-black-panther

When they were originally planning Captain America: Civil War, the character was hardly going to be featured at all.

However, they decided to give him a bigger role because they weren't sure they could get Spider-Man rights for the film.

We are sure glad they did!

Captain Marvel and War Machine date in the comics.

Just because two couples were romantically linked at one point in the comics, doesn't mean they will be together in the MCU.

However, it is interesting that Carol Danvers(Captain Marvel) and James Rhodes(War Machines) dated.

However, things didn't end so well as Rhodey was tragically killed by Thanos. So, we are glad the films went in a different direction!

The character of Black Panther first appeared in 1966.

MCU fans know and love the interpretation of the character brought to life by Chadwick Boseman, but the character has been around for decades.

His first appearance in Marvel comics was in 1966 in Fantastic Four #52-53, and he later starred in his own comic books.

Mark Ruffalo recorded movement to be used for the Hulk.

When creating shots of Hulk using CGI, Joss Whedon wanted to make sure that Mark Ruffalo was still recognizable in the character after the transformation.

To achieve this, the CGI team recorded Ruffalo doing many actions and movements, including making a ton of different facial expressions.

Scarlet Witch and Quiksilver are actually mutants.

While fans of the comics likely know this fact, MCU fans might not be aware.

These two characters were part of the X-Men franchise, but because of licensing issues at the time when Avengers: Age of Ultron was released, they were given different origin stories.

Chris Pratt lost 60 pounds to play Star-Lord.

When Pratt was cast as Star-Lord, he had recently finished playing Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation. This was a role that he actually tried to gain weight for, but for Marvel, he needed to have a trimmer build.

He worked out and ate a stricter diet in order to lose 60 pounds over the course of 6 months and also gain muscle.

Captain Marvel was almost introduced in *Age of Ultron.*

There was actually footage shot for the movie that featured a Captain Marvel cameo with a different actress than Brie Larson.

However, this scene didn't end up in the final cut as the creators didn't think it was the right time or context to introduce her.

In the comics, Thor has pet goats.

There are many differnet versions of popular Marvel characters in the comics, and they are often quite different than the versions in the films.

However, it can be fun to learn some of these facts. In the Earth-616 universe, Thor has two goats named Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder that pull his chariot.

It took two years to create this scene of Baby Groot.

At the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2., there's a sequence with Baby Groot dancing to "Mr. Blue Sky."

Surprisingly, director James Gunn revealed that the entire process of planning and executing the shot took an entire two years.

More people have had the Captain America sheild than you might think.

MCU fans know that Sam Wilson is going to be the next Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier television series, but there were many other characters who took on the role in the comics.

These characters include Bucky Barnes, Peggy Carter, and John Walker(another character to feature in the upcoming television series.)

Wasp was almost featured in the *Avengers.*

While Black Widow ended up being the only female character of the main six Avengers in the films, it was originally supposed to be Wasp.

While we don't really see why they both couldn't have been there, Wasp at least made it to the MCU eventually.