Iron Man’s post-credits scene with Hulk and Spider-Man references may have spoiled Infinity Saga and Phase 4
'Iron Man's' post-credits scene in 2008 had an alternate version that included Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) referencing Bruce Banner's Hulk, X-Men, and Spider-Man. The scene, which will be included in the upcoming Infinity Saga box set, was revealed at the Saturn Awards. In the clip, Fury says, "As if gamma accidents, radioactive bug bites and assorted mutants weren't enough, I have to deal with a spoiled brat who doesn't play well with others and wants to keep all his toys to himself."
For starters, the gamma and the mutant references lead to The Incredible Hulk and X-Men. Just imagine the results it would have had in the movies to come. The latter was still with the 20th Century Fox when 'Iron Man' was filmed. Coincidentally, it was at the same time Tobey Maguire's 'Spider-Man 3' released. While 'Spider-Man 4' did get into some form of development and had the post-credit scene been used, maybe, just maybe it could have lead to a Marvel-Sony deal much earlier. In turn, Spidey would be part of Iron Man's arc a lot earlier as well.
For all we know, it wouldn't have had the success that it did with Tom Holland making his appearance as the web-slinger in 'Captain America: Civil War.' Adding to this is the fact that there were functional and studio-related elements, according to comicbook that would have ruined Spider-Man in the MCU. Imagine Spidey showing up in 'Avengers' in 2012. Cool as it may have been, it would have made zilch sense.
On the lighter side, Fury's references would have also knocked off the surprise element (Well, it isn't now considering that the Mutants will come in any time soon) that had fans waiting for years. Given how 23 movies were structured, it's hard to imagine how Marvel Studios would have factored in the mutants in the Infinity Saga.
We had two X-Men characters, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron-Taylor Johnson) as villains-turned Avengers in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'. However, bringing in the rest may have ruined the way things have panned out. We're still glad that the Infinity Saga rolled out the way it did.
There may be a few who would argue that the X-Men should have come in much earlier, but then, maybe things would have been a lot different.