"I've No Idea Why They Changed It" – 13 Deleted Scenes That Would Have Improved Movies

"The original ending of I Am Legend is ten times more effective than that forced noble sacrifice ending that they went with."

–ralo229

"In Pirates of the Caribbean there is a scene where it's revealed that Jack is a pirate because he used to work for the East India Trade Company but didn't have the stomach to sell slaves."

–Ambitious_Fan7767

"My biggest attraction to the 'egg-morphing' scene is just that it ensures that a lone xenomorph, by itself, without a queen or hive, still has a way to reproduce as long as it can find victims. This helps cement the idea that a singular xenomorph can still be a massive threat."

–Wonderful-Variation

"There's a deleted scene from The Last Jedi where Finn gets the Stormtroopers to turn on Phasma, and it's so much better than what we got. I've no idea why they changed it."

–ChaucerBoi

"For whatever reason, one of many scenes cut from Lord of the Rings is dialogue between Aragorn and Éowyn where he says he's over 80 years old, to Éowyn's surprise, which is explained by him being from the bloodline of Númenóreans, who live vastly longer than normal humans.

I unironically thought it's a plot hole/retcon in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies when Thranduil sends Legolas to find Aragorn, as I thought it's too far in the past for him to be already alive or even an adult at the time, until I finally watched the director's cut for the first time and suddenly it clicked into place for me.

There's probably a lot more LOTR examples, but this one stood out to me for the simple reason of confusing me for years."

–danoB003

"We lost 'Biggering' in Illumination's The Lorax. It wouldn't have saved the film, but it would've been the best thing about it."

–Nekrotix12

"There was a deleted end credits scene for one of the Thor films where he went back to a café and apologised to the owner, then gave her a new mug.

The reason for this was because he had smashed the mug she gave him in an earlier scene in the film before yelling 'Another!', something that Asgardians do (I guess) when they enjoy a drink.

I personally feel like it would have been a really nice way to ground Thor and make him more of a real person rather than just a battle-focused warrior who doesn't care for feelings."

–agentx_64

"'Sucker Punch is literally missing crucial plot details in its theatrical cut versus the extended cut. The film makes no sense without them."

–merlinrising

"In Spider-Man 3, in the scene where Peter is looking in the mirror while wearing the black suit, there was originally going to be a flash of him seeing (a version of) Venom, which is what causes him to temporarily stow the suit away out of fear. In the final film, the scene cuts just before the Venom jump scare, making Peter's sudden panicked reaction as he puts the suit in a trunk feel odd and unjustified."

–GamingInTheAM

"There's a deleted scene from Mean Girls where Regina and Cady meet in the bathroom at the dance, and Regina tells Cady a story about how, when she was a kid, she had a doll's house she never played with. But when her mum told Regina that she was going to give it to her cousin, Regina deliberately broke the doll's house because even though she didn't want to play with the doll's house, she didn't want the cousin to have it either.

I think it's honestly a heartfelt moment between Cady and Regina, and sheds a bit of light on why Regina is the way that she is. But it unfortunately didn't make it into the film, which I think it should have."

–Space_Captain_Lars

"There are a number of deleted scenes in Revenge of the Sith, mostly involving Padmé and some senators, that would have benefited the film greatly if they had been fully realised. They would have:

Given better context on the political state of the Republic and how Palpatine is already Emperor in anything but name.

Given Padmé more agency in the film.

Provided seeds for the future Rebellion that feel natural.

Shown the growing rift between Padmé and Anakin, her keeping secrets from him, and him being turned against her by Palpatine.

Made Bail Organa have more screen time."

–Significant_Cow_164

"'In the final version of the film, when Azrael explains why he's trying to end existence, he just explains that Hell is really bad and he'd rather not exist than spend eternity there. But there's a deleted scene where he blames humans for making Hell so unbearable because of their massive guilt complex. 

They were incapable of simply making personal atonement for their wrongdoings and instead begged for punishment. It doesn't necessarily make Azrael any more sympathetic, but it does make him more nuanced and presents us with an interesting idea: that God didn't want to torture sinners with Hell; they torture themselves. It's already one of Kevin Smith's best films, but leaving that scene in would have made it even better."

–notmynameyours

"There is a deleted scene where Zeus actually teaches Thor something. Something he hasn't taught his sons. And he has a lot of sons.

That thunderbolt can be anything. Thunderbolt is just electricity. Having it any time he goes. That power is everywhere. One just has to harness it. Power comes from the Heart."

–Revolutionary-Cap930