After the initial excitement died down about Marvel’s Phase 3 announcement, some selfishness set in. I’m not judging, I get it. Everyone is wondering where the new Hulk movie is and Black Widow’s movie. Everyone has a favorite character that hasn’t made it yet, and they’d like to see get it. I also get the position Kevin Fiege is in. “We can’t make them all” seems to be the company line, and it is hard to argue with. There really isn’t a movie in phase 3 that shouldn’t be a priority, at least in my opinion. But heroes don’t always have to be the marquee name to appear in a movie.
The Punisher – Captain America: Civil War
The Punisher reverted over a year ago. He is one of Marvel’s more popular characters, but the third movie was not the charm. 3 false starts do not look good for Frankie, but he might be better as an antagonist. Send him up against Daredevil on the Netflix series. Or put him in the middle of the registration debates in Civil War. Punisher was probably the best part of the series trying to join Cap’s anti-registration team only to have the two of them come to blows over Punny’s methods. Maybe instead of some teenaged superheroes acting dumb and getting a bunch of people killed, Punisher becomes the catalyst for registration.
Blade – Doctor Strange
Blade, on the other hand, has a pretty good run in the cinema. The premiere movie still holds up as a good action-horror, the second was a fun stepping stone for Guillermo del Toro to get into American audiences, and the third was… well, there’s a reason why the Blade movie franchise ended. Dr. Strange, being the occult version of Mr. Fantastic, is really the go between for almost any hero in the MCU to battle dark magic. He’s a brainy guy with a few tricks up his sleeve, it makes sense to pair him with a guy who is a bit more of a hammer. Or a blade.
Ares and Hercules – Thor: Ragnarok
A cool moment in Thor’s Rangarok comic story involved Thor asking for help from fellow Avengers, Iron Man and Captain America. That’s easy when you are just dealing with ink and paper, but there are 2 very expensive actors in these roles that are not easily reused. I would have loved to see them used, but I don’t see it happening. If Thor really needs help, I could see them trade 2 from Marvel’s Pantheon for 2 from the Greek Pantheon, specifically Marvel’s version of Ares and Hercules, a couple of big, bad mofos with big personalities. I almost used Beta Ray Bill, but he’s technically a Thor supporting player and actually shows up in the Ragnarok comics if I remember correctly. He’s probably better suited to carry Stark and Cap’s role as non-Norse support. I would be just as excited to see him.
Namor the Submariner – Black Panther
Namor has technically reverted, but the rumor is his distribution rights are still tied up. Sort of like The Hulk, which is probably why we haven’t seen a solo since Mark Ruffalo’s surprisingly popular portrayal from Avengers. The Hulk still gets to appear in the Avengers movie and has a cameo in Iron Man 3, so maybe Namor could show up in another movie, like Black Panther. They have a lot in common. They are both warrior kings for fictional foreign nations with one foot in the Western world, what with Namor being half human and Black Panther going to school in the States (in at least one version of this origin). It would nicely mirror current events in the comics where Atlantis and Wakanda went to war as part of writer Jonathan Hickman’s Infinity.
Spider-Woman – Captain Marvel
With his New Avengers title, Brian Michael Bendis really put Spider-Woman (aka Jessica Drew) back on the map in the Marvel Comic Universe. She is considered a best friend of Carol Danvers playing a big part during her story arc where she fell into a coma after being attacked by X-Man, Rogue. While she has also been an agent of SHIELD, she has more importantly been an agent of SWORD (Sentient World Observation and Response Department), Marvel’s version of the Men in Black created by Joss Whedon. This makes her uniquely qualfiied to get involved with the Earthbound alien antics that will assuredly go along with Carol’s story. If they can only use one SWORD agent though, I’m hoping its the badass director herself, Abigail Brand.
