With the recent talk from Kevin Feige that the films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon reference the Netflix shows – we thought about which characters Marvel should consider bringing in. There are so many to choose from but we thought that these 10 characters would work pretty well for Phase II – or even Phase III of the Netflix Universe:
10. Howard The Duck
Before you come at me, think about this for a second. Howard The Duck is actually a pretty interesting choice for this list and I know most of you are saying “well, that’d never happen” but it actually just might. There has to be a reason that the character had a cameo at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy (a film which the character would definitely fit in with, in terms of tone). I doubt that Marvel would want to make a film based off of the character because I mean, we all saw what happened the last time they made a film based on Howard The Duck.
Marvel has shown that it isn’t afraid to take risks and this would definitely be one bold move. If nothing else, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Howard as a supporting character in a show or movie – possibly, teaming up with the next character on our list:
9. Man-Thing
Besides a sh*tty movie in 2005 and a few references on Agents of Shield and in Iron Man 3, we haven’t really heard much about Man-Thing. The fact that Marvel felt the need to reference the character shows that they haven’t forgotten about him. After reading that Marvel was having problems with figuring out how to properly do the Iron Fist Netflix series, I would wonder if they’d have problems doing a Man-Thing series.
Still though, as with most Marvel comics, there are endless arcs and possibilities for where they could go with the character. He’s actually more unique than people think and the movie butchered that completely but thankfully, no one saw it anyway.
8. Taskmaster
In the Marvel Universe, the participants are born. They die. They resurrect. Inevitably die again, but one of the few constants is the mysterious Taskmaster. A sword and shield wielding badass, Gifted with photogenic reflexes and the ability to mimic any action he sees, this leaves him in the unique position of being able to physically impersonate both hero and villain alike, and choose what to do with the skills. He’s used his powers as terrorist, mercenary and hero, and is regularly apprehended by the authorities and used to train up new heroes, including candidates for Captain America. It’s all well and good having a skull on your chest, but why not go further and have one for your face. The perfect excuse for a martial arts themed marvel Netflix series. -Simon Andrews
7. Secret Warriors
Nick fury never lived a day of his life without a backup plan. And the secret warriors are just the latest in those plans. When the rest of the marvel universe has gone to hell in a hand basket, what do you do? You use the fact you’ve spent years training up a team of young, impressionable and loyal meta humans, and you employ them in a campaign of guerrilla warfare against your opponents.
With Daisy Johnson already established in agents of shield, the groundwork is already there. Now all you need is a demigod with the ability to induce fear, a ghost rider, and a few other handy additions, and you’ve go put a recipe for patriotic punishment on a grand scale. -Simon Andrews
6. Carnage
Yes, we know that these characters are under Sony, so we’re assuming that they had a deal in place for the villains as well.
Carnage is obviously a pretty dark character and that’s probably one of the reasons we haven’t seen him in a movie yet. As some of you might remember, Sony was going to make a film called “Venom Carnage” before they went into an agreement with Marvel. I’m not sure if that movie is still in development or not but there are a few ways they could bring this character into the Netflix universe.
It would have to be incredibly dark, as Cletus Kasady is a killer and features a very disturbing past as well. Fans have been clamoring for a live action adaptation of Carnage for some time now – similar to our next character:
5. Venom
Here’s what we were thinking – most of you probably know about the arc where Spider-Man and Venom (Eddie Brock) team up against Carnage (the Carnage Family). That would be pretty epic (almost too epic) for a Netflix series, however and could get tricky.
As we mentioned before, a Carnage story would be incredibly dark and if they did a Venom series, it would be as well. I was thinking that maybe they could have a separate series for the “anti-hero” version of Venom and then tie Venom and Carnage together for a mini-series. The real question would be if Marvel would want to have Spider-Man featured on something as dark as that would be because as you all know, all of the MCU is connected – Netflix included.
I’m not sure that would happen but I am sure that fans wouldn’t be opposed.
4. Ghost Rider
Almost four years have past since that pathetic film entitled Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was released. We read a month or so back that Marvel was at least talking about the idea of a Ghost Rider series but were concerned about the amount of effects that it would take to do it justice.
I feel like this character is in the same boat that Daredevil was in – cool character, sh*tty movie adaptations.
3. The Punisher
This will probably depend on how Jon Bernthal’s version of the character turns out for Season 2 of Marvel’s Daredevil but with Marvel’s track record – we’re sure it’ll end up being fine.
With the show runner for Season 1 of Daredevil saying that he doesn’t think that Marvel’s version of the character will be as violent as fans are used to – we’re not sure how it’d be. Fans want an R-rated version of Punisher but I guess we’ll just have to trust that Marvel has the best vision in mind.
*UPDATE* The Punisher will be getting a series.
2. Blade
This could actually work with Wesley Snipes coming back as Blade. The first two Blade movies were generally perceived as being good but the third – not so much. A lot of people forget that Blade is even a Marvel character but he has a pretty big following and there are a lot of stories that could work. Wesley Snipes has expressed interest in returning and Marvel and Snipes have even had discussions about it.
Blade would fit right in with #1 on our list:
1. Moon Knight
Moon Knight would be a character that Marvel could pair with Blade and easily establish within the Marvel Universe. There was a show written in 2006 but was never produced. They also referenced Marc Spector on the short lived Spike show Blade: The Series.
If Marvel were to have a Phase II of Netflix shows that featured Moon Knight, Ghost Rider and Blade – that’d be very dark territory but certainly not out of the realm of possibilities.
As with most of this list – it’s all about how far Marvel is willing to go with some of these “darker” characters. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Honorable Mentions: Beta Ray Bill, She Hulk, Elektra
What did you think of the list? Let us know in the comment section at the bottom of the page!