Back when Zak Penn (Elektra, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand) was writing the script for the superhero team-up of a lifetime The Avengers things were a little different than how they turned out in the finished product, after Joss Whedon re-wrote the whole thing. Details leaked online last year, revealing that instead of the Chitauri the alien invaders were Skrulls and both Agent Coulson and Maria Hill were Skrulls, with the latter being Princess Anelle. Added to the details released by the writer today in an interview with Comic Book Resources, it’s clear that the movie would have failed critically and probably a little less financially if Joss had just been a director, or had not been involved with the project at all.

“My job was to keep revising the draft…for about four or five years, that’s what I did. The story was basically the same, but it kept shifting. Then, once Joss (Whedon) came in, he took over from there.”

Surprisingly, Penn revealed that he wanted Marvel to release Thor AFTER The Avengers so he could introduce him in his movie! If that plan had gone forward however, Red Skull could have been the villain in the movie, as he said that there was “some discussion of it being Red Skull.” Interestingly, the writer said that Thanos wouldn’t have had any role in his script.

“If I thought I could have gotten away with Thanos. I would have put him in there.”

Are you glad with how the movie turned out in the finished product? What do you think of Penn’s version? Sound off below.

SOURCE: Comic Book Resources