Speculation about the future of the MCU is an industry unto itself. Instead of joining the masses in trying to guess what will happen next, I'm going to whine like a petulant child about wanting more. Time for a selection of characters I want to see joining the MCU.
THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL
Doreen Green has a pitch surprisingly similar to Spider-Man. She has the proportional strength of a squirrel, enhanced agility and retractable claws. In addition she has a big, bushy tale and the ability to talk to squirrels...and you'd be surprised how often that saves the day. What makes Squirrel Girl a unique character is her unending optimism. She looks for a positive solution to every conflict she encounters and she wants to leave everyone happy - even Galactus. When defending a bank from a giant hippo man, Doreen set him up with a construction job to help with his financial problems. It's impossible not to love Squirrel Girl and her reworkings of the Spider-Man theme. A New Warriors TV pilot has been filmed featuring Milana Vayntrub in the role of Squirrel girl but we have no idea what's happening with that.
MS. MARVEL
Once upon a time there was Ms. Marvel, and she later took on the title of Captain Marvel. You know this hero already. What you haven't seen in the MCU is the new hero who has been inspired to adopt the name Ms. Marvel: Kamala Khan. A world away from the air force background of Carol Danvers, Kamala developed the power to change the size of all or part of her body due to unexpectedly being an Inhuman. Keeping her superhero efforts local to New Jersey, Kamala has to juggle her new responsibilities with her school work, personal relationships, Muslim faith and family expectations.
The creative team behind Kamala Khan immediately received high praise for one of the best written takes on the reluctant teen hero archetype that has been done to many times already. Kamala's world (or neighbourhood) is well fleshed out with a great ensemble of supporting characters. It would be fun to see Peter Parker with a superhero peer.
GWENPOOL
Firstly, if you're getting angry about this libtard cuck feminist agenda demanding more gender diversity in the male centric entertainment then please go away. Marvel and Disney are the ones ignoring the great female characters and whilst I know Disney bought Marvel to sell toys to boys...
That was getting off topic real fast. Here's Gwenpool. She's not, as you may have anticipated, a gender switched Deadpool but she does explore meta-textual concepts. Gwen Poole is a comic obsessed fangirl from out world who has fallen into the comic world. Initially her powers stem from knowing everyone's backstory and secret weaknesses but as the story develops she pushes the literal boundaries of the comic form. Moving between the panels and pages allows Gwen to wreck havoc on the time-space continuum of her adopted universe and it would be super fun to see how she'd impact on established characters like Doctor Strange.
EXCALIBUR
Although X-Men has racked up an impressive 12 movies and spin-offs over the year they've kept a pretty narrow field of view on the characters. There are dozens of interesting and unique X-Men who never got a look in on a franchise terrified of moving away from fan favourite Wolverine. If they want a team with some familiar and some not-so-familiar characters to introduce mutants to the MCU with, look no further than British based Excalibur.
A swashbuckling Nightcrawler is the teams charming and confident leader, giving movie audiences a fresh take on the character, and the previously under-used Shadowcat made the journey across from the mainstream team of X-Men. Joining them are Phoenix, a time travelling potential future daughter of a Jean Grey, the magically enhanced Captain Britain and the empathically metamorphic Meggan. That may sound like an outball group and it is...just think of it as Guardians of the Galaxy for the fantasy genre.
FANTASTIC FOUR
They've tried this four times and it's been a disaster each time. The first attempt was never intended for release. After this came a blockbuster budgeted release with a sequel, both seemingly made to be a 'genuine' comic book movie for people who don't read comics. Finally we had a garbage fire.
But can we try this one more time? Just one more. If it doesn't work in the MCU we can accept that it's not going to work. But maybe this time it will. Maybe.
SHE-HULK
In a slight departure from this list, I think this would work best on TV. The MCU movie series already has a Hulk, neither of these characters would benefit from sharing the screen. Not that she's going to be focusing on the standard super-hero business, not in this version. You see, Jennifer Walters is a cousin to Bruce Banner form whom she received a blood transfusion and boom, She-Hulk. Unlike Hulk Regular, She-Hulk retains her intellect and personality but can't change back to human form.
She's also a lawyer, and this is where things get interesting. Make it a weekly procedural where the episodic story lines are about the cases she works. Outside of the office she has to deal with the discrimination and fear she attracts being a giant green person, and the pseudo-celebrity status that comes with it. You can't tell me that isn't interesting.
X-FACTOR
Yes, another X-Men team...but you cannot pretend that Disney isn't trying to work out the best way to reintroduce the world to the mutants. Whilst Excalibur is weird multiversal oddly humoured unique creation, X-Factor sometimes appears as a Neo-Noir private detective tale. At this point of the MCU it would be interesting to play around with the style a little.
You've got all the fun X-Characters who never became household names, including Jamie Maddrox aka Multiple Man who has endless creative possibilities. There's a grab bag of others to choose from, such as Strong Guy, M, Wolfsbane, Longshot...once the mutant arm of the MCU is established there's so many great figures to introduce. Get on to that.
MOON KNIGHT
It is required by law that any article suggesting new faces for the MCU includes Moon Knight. Although it's inaccurate I believe we're also obligated to refer to him as 'Marvel's Batman'. Back in the days when mainstream comics still showcased genres other than superheroes, Marvel had a werewolf story called 'Werewolf By Night'. One enemy encountered by the fuzzy title character was the masked vigilante 'Moon Knight', who became a recurring character and eventually headlined his own series.
Through a series of unfortunate events mercenary Marc Spector gets left for dead in the Egyptian desert where the locals take him to a temple of Khonshu where he is reborn as 'The Fist of Khonshu'. With a white costume and crescent shaped weapons and gadgets, Moon Knight does cast a striking figure. Another unique selling point is Spector's multiple personality disorder, putting Moon Knight's shifting motivations in a grey area. On the other hand this could result in deeply awkward viewing.
THE DEFENDERS
Netflix ain't using them...and all the ground work has already been done...we like these characters (mostly) and it'll be shame for them to be swept under the rug at this point. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and the Punisher would put a dent in the status quo. Some of the villains from the previous seasons could act as a bridge between the bigger heroes and the ground level team. Kingpin and Bullseye are taking over organised crime in the New York following the dismantling of the Avengers and Spider-Man ends up getting caught up in their business. Although the Defenders will have to learn how to fight crime without bleeding everywhere.
