An actor's job is more than just reciting words from a script. The truly talented can embellish a scene through improvisation, creating a funnier, deeper, or more authentic moment for their character.
The MCU is blessed with some of the best improvisors in Hollywood, from longtime legends like Robert Downey Jr., to newcomers like Florence Pugh.
Here are 22 iconic MCU scenes that were improvised:
Warning: spoilers ahead!
1.Zendaya improvised the scene where MJ throws bread at Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Watch the full scene here:
2.It was Andrew Garfield's idea for all three Peter Parker variants to recreate the iconic Spider-Man pointing meme.
Watch the full scene here:
3.Andrew also ad-libbed when he told the other two Peters, "I love you guys."
Watch the full scene here:
4.In Doctor Strange, Benedict Wong and Benedict Cumberbatch totally improvised the scene where Strange compares Wong's mononym to Beyoncé.
Watch the full scene here:
5.In Hawkeye, Hailee Steinfeld and Florence Pugh improvised most of the scene where Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova talk over dinner.
6.In fact, Florence came up with the idea for Yelena to pour hot sauce all over their mac and cheese after learning that, while she loves hot sauce, Hailee hates it.
Watch the full scene here:
7.During stunt rehearsals for Black Widow, Florence was shocked to learn that none of the superhero's iconic landing poses — including Natasha Romanoff's — are actually safe for landing. When writer Eric Pearson overheard her telling Scarlett Johansson about it, he wanted to put it in the script.
Watch the full scene here:
8.David Harbour and Rachel Weisz improvised all of Alexei and Melina's flirting throughout the movie.
Watch the full scene here:
9.David also came up with the idea for "American Pie" to be Yelena's comfort song.
Watch the full scene here:
10.Although the original Eternals script didn't include the budding romance between Makkari and Druig, director Chloé Zhao asked Lauren Ridloff and Barry Keoghan to add it after seeing the "sparks" that flew between them the first time they improvised together.
Watch a compilation of all their cutest moments here:
11.In Black Panther, it was entirely Winston Duke's idea for M'Baku to lead the Jabari men in grunting at Everett Ross for speaking out of turn.
Watch the full scene here:
12.At the end of Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. improvised the line "I am Iron Man," which revealed Tony Stark's secret identity and went against 40 years of comic history.
Watch the full scene here:
13.In the Avengers: Infinity War scene where Spider-Man insists to Iron Man and Doctor Strange that he's "backup," Robert ad-libbed, "Adults are talking."
Watch the full scene here:
14.For the scene where Peter Parker is turning to dust, Tom Holland based the line "I don't want to go" on a technique he uses to cry on cue.
Watch the full scene here:
15.While filming Vision's Infinity War death scene, Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany were told to improvise.
Watch the full scene here:
16.The original script stopped at "Who is Gamora?" but Dave Bautista ad-libbed Drax's famous line, "I’ll do you one better: Why is Gamora?"
Watch the full scene here:
17.Then, in Avengers: Endgame, Benedict Cumberbatch improvised the small but impactful moment when Doctor Strange lifts his finger to indicate to Tony Stark that he's the only one who can reverse the Snap.
Watch the full scene here:
18.In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan improvised most of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes' joint therapy scene.
Watch the full scene here:
19.Goofing around between takes on the set of Thor: The Dark World, Chris Hemsworth hung Mjölnir on the coat rack as a joke.
Watch the full scene here:
20.In Loki, Kang the Conqueror "was never meant to get on the desk," but the camera crew "saw [Jonathan Majors] start to move, and Autumn [Durald, the cinematographer] was like, 'Okay…' And then you saw the cameras start to move; it was almost like a dance with him."
Watch the full scene here:
21.During Loki's drinking scene on the train, Tom Hiddleston ad-libbed the reference to Thor.
Watch the full scene here:
22.And finally, while shooting the bridge fight scene in Thor: Ragnarok, Tom Hiddleston ran out of choreography, so he "just flipped the knives, and caught them by chance" — and Loki's knife flip was born.