Captain America: Brave New World finally delivered adamantium – the most resilient metal in Marvel Comics – to the MCU, but it turns out that this debut was the result of a happy accident. The likely reason that adamantium has been absent from the MCU is its inexorable ties to Wolverine, whose skeleton is infused with the indestructible metal in a process that gives him his iconic metal claws. Now that Marvel Studios is at liberty to depict mutants and the X-Men following Disney’s acquisition of Fox, it looks like the MCU is laying the groundwork for their arrival.
In another instance of Marvel Studios wielding creative license, adamantium debuted in the MCU in a particularly creative way. I’m happy we’re finally getting to see the tying up of some consequential narrative threads, as the Celestial left jutting out of the Indian Ocean in Eternals played a central role in Captain America: Brave New World as the source of adamantium. The implications of this are huge, and while I can’t wait to see how they play out, I’m stunned to find out that this wasn’t always supposed to be how adamantium was introduced to the MCU.
The MCU’s Adamantium Story Seemed Like It Had Been Planned For Some Time Due To The Nature Of Its Reveal
It Was One Of Many Teases In Eternals
Eternals was one of the first movies to follow the Infinity Saga and Avengers: Endgame and attempted to introduce a new lineup of superheroes to populate the Multiverse Saga. Unfortunately, the movie didn’t land as well as Marvel might have hoped, grossing $401 million worldwide to become the MCU’s fourth-lowest-grossing movie at the time. While this might have affected the Eternals’ future prospects, it is clear that Marvel Studios had planned plenty of consequential events to follow, as evidenced by the set-up of Blade, Starfox, Black Knight, and, of course, the giant Celestial corpse.
Three of those four set-ups remain in the ether, unfortunately, but Captain America: Brave New World elaborating on the Celestial body couldn’t come a moment too soon. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that the calcification of Tiamut’s body was always planned to yield a source of Adamantium from the jump – particularly as the X-Men were securely under Marvel’s purview in 2021 when Eternals was released – after watching Captain America: Brave New World. Yet, according to a top former Marvel executive, this wasn’t actually the case.
A Marvel Producer Revealed Captain America: Brave New World’s Adamantium Story Was More Of An Active Retcon
The Consequences Of Tiamut’s Death Weren’t Planned
Nate Moore, Marvel’s erstwhile VP of Production & Development, recently sat down for an interview with ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley. When the topic of adamantium was raised, Moore was asked whether Tiamut’s body becoming a source for the precious metal was always the plan for the MCU’s wider narrative. Speaking particularly candidly, Moore revealed that this was not the plan when Eternals was made and that adamantium was written into the script to honor Eternals while setting up a pivotal part of the MCU’s future. His full quote is as follows:
“No. No. Full stop. I mean, look, we made that movie because I love those characters and we wanted to figure out a way to get ’em to the MCU. I think the end of that movie was very cool, and then it’s a, ‘Hey, if we’re going to revisit that idea that there’s a celestial in the ocean, what’s the best version of that? How do we make it so it both is an homage to that film, but also feels forward looking?’ So when we started building Captain America: Brave New World, we realized there was an opportunity to bring it back and be sort of the nascent spot for where Adamantium was found. We thought that was really cool because again, you get to revisit a place that you’ve seen before, but it also speaks to what might come in the future.”
Nate Moore was a producer for Captain America: Brave New World but left Marvel in early 2025.
I’m glad that the decision was made to address this glaring plot thread in Eternals, particularly as the gargantuan corpse of a cosmic god jutting out of the ocean wasn’t so much as addressed by MCU installments (outside a headline in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law) for nearly four years. I am admittedly surprised, however, that this wasn’t the plan from the get-go, suggesting that Marvel Studios had left the giant Celestial corpse as an open book for any future MCU installment to address as best fits its narrative. Either way, I’m glad that this was where the studio landed.
Why The MCU’s Adamantium Story Is Huge For The Franchise & Its Future
Adamantium Is Integral To Wolverine’s Story
It finally feels like Marvel Studios is getting the ball rolling on its introduction of the X-Men with the adamantium reveal in Captain America: Brave New World. I realize mutants were the stars of ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine, which is an MCU installment, but the fact that it was almost entirely an homage to Fox’s X-Men movies somewhat disᴀssociates it from the MCU. The discovery of adamantium on Earth-616, meanwhile, foreshadows something huge: the arrival of the MCU’s version of Wolverine.
As Captain America: Brave New World illustrated, the discovery of adamantium will also have huge ripple effects in-universe
This has major implications surrounding the arrival of the X-Men in the MCU. I had initially ᴀssumed that they were going to be incorporated from another universe following a rumored soft reboot of the MCU after Avengers: Secret Wars, but bringing adamantium into the picture on Earth-616 hints that Wolverine will be a part of the mainline universe. This is supported by the fact that several mutants have been confirmed to be a part of the same universe, including Ms. Marvel and Namor.
As Captain America: Brave New World illustrated, the discovery of adamantium will also have huge ripple effects in-universe. The impact of Wakanda’s almost exclusive access to vibranium has now been diminished by what seems to be a much stronger material, making for some interesting story set-ups as nations worldwide begin to use it how they see fit. What remains to be seen is whether these implications will transpire before Avengers: Secret Wars and the rumored soft reboot, but I’m certainly hyped either way.
Upcoming MCU Movies
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Thunderbolts*
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May 2, 2025
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
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July 25, 2025
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Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
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Spider-Man Homecoming 4
- Release Date
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July 24, 2026
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Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
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May 7, 2027
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