New Avengers: Infinity War concept art shows Corvus Glaive killing Nick Fury. Joe and Anthony Russo’s 2018 Marvel film officially debuted Thanos - the Infinity Saga’s overall villain. Alongside him were his most loyal children called the Black Order - Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive. The foursome took the Avengers and their allies either separately or together, resulting in varying match-ups.

With the movie packed with a gigantic cast of characters, the Russos alongside writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely decided to break the heroes into smaller groups. This way, screen time was better distributed without bogging down the film’s pace. Infinity War featured some of the most interesting team-ups, as well as face-offs, but apparently, at one point, Fury, Vision and Captain America would’ve gone up against Corvus Glaive.

That’s based on newly-emerged concept art from Infinity War, which reveals this scrapped idea. Aside from the mix of characters, the biggest takeaway from the set of illustrations is how Corvus Glaive was seemingly supposed to injure Fury using his double-sided polearm. Check out the images below shared by fan-account MCU Direct on Twitter:

The pair of illustrations leaves it unclear where this battle supposedly took place. While the backdrop appears to be from outer space, both Fury and Captain America don’t have any special armor to help them operate outside of Earth. Perhaps these images were created during the early days of  development. It’s no secret that the Russos and the writers immediately began spitballing ideas on how they’re going to tackle the Avengers sequels as early as  2016 - on the heels of their work on Captain America: Civil War. This explains why none of the ideas presented in these concept illustrations didn’t make into the movie’s final cut. Nevertheless, it’s still wildly entertaining to wonder how the narrative could’ve gone had Marvel Studios followed through with the ideas presented in them.

Of course, the biggest change here is that these imply that Fury was going to be more active in the fight against Thanos. Despite being a major player in the first two Avengers movies, he was largely absent from the MCU after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. The former S.H.I.E..L.D director only popped out briefly at the post-credit scene for Infinity War before he and Maria Hill get dusted off following Thanos’ deadly snap in Wakanda. He was brought back to life in Avengers: Endgame alongside half of the population who perished but he was nowhere to be seen during the climactic fight. Instead, he only had minimal involvement again, walking silently into Tony Stark’s somber memorial.

It’s also worth noting that in this Avengers: Infinity War concept art, it appears that Fury would’ve been killed manually, meaning that Smart Hulk’s snap wouldn’t have resurrected him in Endgame. Considering the massive role he’s supposed to play in the MCU moving forward with his involvement in S.W.O.R.D, it’s curious how Marvel Studios’ current plans would’ve been different given his death.

More: Avengers: Age Of Ultron Deleted Scene Explains Rhodey’s Confusing Endgame Line

Source: Marvel Studios (via MCU Direct)

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