Release The Xandar Cut: How The MCU Should Use Infinity War"s Deleted 45-Minute Thanos Scene

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe should use its 45-minute deleted Thanos sequence from Avengers: Infinity War in a future project. Avengers: Infinity War was Thanos' movie. The event film followed the Mad Titan as he journeyed across the MCU to collect all the Infinity Stones. The Avengers banded together with the Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as several other MCU heroes, in an effort to stop Thanos from killing half of the universe's population. Nonetheless, the villain's plan succeeded.
Thanos assembled all the Infinity Stones, and each time he collected one of them came with a heavy loss for the Marvel universe. However, the Power Stone, the first Thanos got, was not shown being captured from Xandar onscreen. Thanos' comic book creator, Jim Starlin, recently revealed that a 45-minute sequence of Thanos destroying Xandar was cut from Avengers: Infinity War. The scene had been fully shot but was cut to avoid the movie's runtime from getting as long as its sequel, Avengers: Endgame, as well as to diminish VFX costs. While the 45-minute Thanos sequence was cut from Avengers: Infinity War, it could reappear in a future MCU project.
Thanos Destroying Xandar Should Be In The MCU's Nova Show

A Nova series is in development, as confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter. The project is the perfect place for the MCU to bring back the deleted 45-minute Thanos sequence from Avengers: Infinity War. Xandar was home to the Nova Corps, and the series could use Thanos' destruction of the planet as its starting point, with Richard Rider emerging as the lone survivor of the event, carrying the full force of the Nova Corps within him. Nova's comic book story had a similar event, so the move would make sense.
Albeit Marvel showing the full 45-minute sequence that was cut from Avengers: Infinity War in the Nova series would be unlikely, the project could still use parts of it to weave into Rider's story. The Disney+ series could handle it in two different ways. Nova could start with Rider having a normal day on Xandar, only for Thanos to arrive and decimate the planet to get the Power Stone. Rider would then venture into space alone, kicking off the series in high gear. Alternately, the deleted sequence could be woven into the story as flashbacks, with the show following Rider in the present-day MCU.
Thanos' Xandar Destruction Would Be Better For Nova Than Infinity War

While seeing Thanos destroying Xandar and getting his first Infinity Stone at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War would have been great, the deleted sequence taking place in Nova instead is better, as the movie ultimately did not miss the scene. Thanos' power was shown several times as he fought the MCU's heroes and won, with the destruction of Xandar merely being another notch on the villain's belt. However, the Nova series would have the moment carry a lot more weight, as the decimation of Xandar and the destruction of the Nova Corps heavily impact Richard Rider's hero journey, giving the cut Avengers: Infinity War sequence a whole different meaning.
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