11 Heroes We Want to See in Marvel's Phase Four Movies
Let's have Squirrel Girl, Ms Marvel and Union Jack alongside Cap and Thor.
Image via Marvel
Captain America: Winter Soldier kicks off ‘Phase Three’ of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, and that hasn’t even dropped yet, but the hype for the fourth phase has already begun. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Fiege has already said that Phase Four will be “very different”, but that doesn’t tell us very much. All of Phase Three is meticulously planned out, with Spider-Man, Avengers and Thor movies planned up until 2019. But what could come after that? Marvel has literally thousands of characters they could use, so here are eleven we want to see on-screen soon.
Blade
Who should play them: Ashley ‘Bashy’ Thomas, John Boyega, Daniel Kaluuya
Did you know that when Blade was first introduced in the 1970s, he was meant to be from London? Once Wesley Snipes signed up for the role, that went out the window, but if we’re gonna bring the character back from scratch, let’s actually have a black British actor go to the US and play British for once. And make him a relatable London kid, with a shotter bag and North Face jacket, who doesn’t fit in with the brash American heroes, but can merk the fuck out of a Vampire colony under St Paul’s Cathedral.
Ms. Marvel
Who should play them: A total newcomer
Kamala Kahn is easily one of the best characters Marvel have introduced in the last few years. She’s their first Muslim character to headline her own comic, but that’s secondary to what’s just a fantastic YA take on the traditional Marvel superhero formula, with her dealing with parents, school and superpowers. This can Marvel’s Twilight or Divergent (but, like, not shit). It would also be a great chance to pick a young Asian actress and make her a star — since there’s not really many in Hollywood rn —and inject some diversity into the genre.
Ghost Rider
Who should play them: Glenn Howerton, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress
Ghost Rider is just such a sick visual — a dude on a motorbike with a flaming skull for a head. We need that in a movie, yo (and done better than the Nic Cage films). The reason the character has never properly stuck around that long in the comics is that they keep trying to play him straight. Just create something insane and over the top. Marvel have had a knack of going a bit out-there and comedic with their B-tier films like Guardian of the Galaxy and Ant-Man — GR might seem like an unlikely choice for one of those, but that’s exactly what they should do. And kind of like how both those had an actor mostly known for comedy at their centre grounding it all (Chris Pratt and Paul Rudd, respectively), have someone known more for comedy play his alter-ego Johnny Blaze, as a guy bemused about the fact that he keeps turning into a demonic biker.
Union Jack
Who should play them: Taron Eggerton, Jack O’Connell, Richard Madden
With rumours of a potential Captain Britain TV series being considered by Marvel, this is the perfect opportunity for more of their British-based superheroes to step in the spotlight as well. Perhaps the best-known Brit-hero next to Captain Britain would be Union Jack. There have been various iterations of this character but we’d go with the current holder of the mantle, Joseph Chapman. He’s not super-powered, so think more along the lines of Hawkeye and Black Widow in the fact that he’s more of a superspy. We can totally picture a Taken/Bourne Identity style action thriller for this character.
Spider-Woman
Who should play them: Daisy Ridley, Jessica Brown Findlay, Nathlie Emmanuel
Okay maybe Union Jack isn’t the most popular Brit-hero in Marvel next to Captain Britain, that actual honour should go to Spider Woman/Jessica Drew (there’s even an argument that she’s even more popular than him as well). She’s more than a Spider-Man clone (depending which universe you’re reading), she’s a full time Avenger and an agent to S.H.E.I.L.D’s extraterrestrial division, S.W.O.R.D. With Spider-Man finally part of the MCU, why can’t there be other spider-inspired characters? What’s even better is that whilst most of Spidey’s heroics are on a street-level basis Jessica Drew’s adventures take place across the globe and beyond the solar system.
Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
Who should play them: Tyler James Williams, Tequan Richmond, Roshon Fegan
We’ve sung the praises of the alternate universe mixed-raced Spidey Miles Morales before. But simply put, he’s the best representation of upbeat millennial kids and culture in superhero comics to date. Yeah, we’d still have preferred him to come in fresh instead of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. But there’s no reason why he can’t be introduced in Phase Four, once Spider-Man is an established hero. Don’t worry about all the Ultimate universe stuff, just have him be another kid influenced by Peter Parker’s heroism. That’s the real heart of the character.
Hawkeye (Kate Bishop)
Who should play them: Aubrey Plaza, Ilana Glazer, Brie Larson
As the MCU goes on, the big name stars are eventually going to want to move onto other things. Cap and Iron Man already have potential fill-ins lined up in Winter Soldier and War Machine. What about Hawkeye? Jeremy Renner sort of got written out in Age Of Ultron, which means it would be the perfect time to bring in his protégé from the Young Avengers, Kate Bishop. The most recent Hawkeye series had the two of them bickering constantly whilst fighting street level foes in New York, and it made the perfect antidote to the ever-increasing world threatening stakes of most superhero stories.
Shang-Chi
Who should play them: Steven Yuen, Ricky Yune, Remy Hii
You know what? There’s no oriental representation in the MCU, and we mean on a superhero level. The crazy thing is that the comic books have a colourful cast of characters from the Orient, but one who sticks out in our mind the most is Shang-Chi. Known in the comics universe as ‘The Master of Kung-Fu’, Shang-Chi is one of the more prominent oriental characters and has even been a full fledged Avenger. In the critically acclaimed ‘Spider-Island’ event he teaches Peter Parker kung-fu, you can’t get more certified than that, and we think that it’s high time that Shang-Chi gets his due in the MCU.
Squirrel Girl
Who should play them: Maisie Williams, Lilly Collins, Sarah Hyland
Okay we know what you’re thinking, ‘why would I want to see a movie that features a girl with the powers of a Squirrel’. And our rebuttal is: Howard the f’ing Duck exists in the MCU, so there. But if you want to look at it bit deeper what makes Squirrel Girl an interesting character is the way each writer has portrayed her as a happy-go-lucky character, and despite her odd powers she always prevails. Her film doesn’t have to be action orientated, it could go the way her excellent current solo comic (yes, really) and be a screwball comedy that exists in the ever-growing MCU.
She Hulk
Who should play them: Eliza Dushku, Alison Brie, Cristin Milioti
If you could turn into ‘an enormous green rage monster’ part of you would surely embrace right? Well it seems that Bruce Banner doesn’t share that same sentiment, however his cousin Jen Walters does. When she gains her gamma-radiated strength— by way of a life saving procedure thanks to Bruce (what’s family for eh?), she totally embraces her role as the Incredible She-Hulk. It would refreshing to see a female character with the strength equivalent to the green giant and Jen Walters would be a brilliant character to introduce in the films.
Balder
Who should play them: Liam Hemsworth—because who else?!?
Okay a bit of backstory here, Loki is Thor’s adopted brother, however he also has another (half) brother Balder—related by blood. Whilst not the most interesting character he is nonetheless important in Thor’s story and at least deserves to be introduced in the next standalone Thor film. Interestingly enough, both Hemsworth brothers auditioned for the role of the God of Thunder, with the elder sibling getting the nod. Maybe Chris needs to hook up his brother is all were saying.