The Marvel Cinematic Universe has reached heights that no other cinematic universe has before. Kevin Feige’s vision has assembled countless Marvel heroes for the big screen. Despite the already impressive size of the MCU’s roster, Feige has yet to assemble a few major heroes to adapt onscreen. While the Infinity Saga was epic in scale, it’s easy to forget that some pretty important players from the Marvel universe have yet to even appear in their own MCU movie.
Updated September 2022: If you love Marvel films, you’ll be happy to know we’ve updated this article with additional info in the wake of the announcements regarding Phases 5 and 6.
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Despite their stature post-Avengers, characters like Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Thor were largely considered B-list characters. They may have been popular with comic-book purists, but they were nothing compared to the likes of the X-Men or the Fantastic Four. Yet, due to rights issues, the MCU wasn’t able to produce movies for those characters. Luckily, Disney was able to acquire the rights to some fan-favorite Marvel characters after purchasing 21st Century Fox. The MCU has already gone long enough to establish films for legacy characters, but several popular characters have yet to get their due within the universe created by Feige. These are some of those major characters yet to be introduced to the MCU.
Defenders
Marvel Comics
Sure, there was the Netflix miniseries, but what about the big screen? In the comics dating back to 1972, the Defenders are “a handful of New York City vigilantes and Heroes for Hire who pack powerful punches on the streets they call home.” In true bad-boy fashion, they’re usually presented as a “non-team” of individuals. On the small screen, we loved Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, and of course, Jon Bernthal as the Punisher — but the MCU surely has room for this band of outsiders for future film installments.
After all, Cox received roaring applause across movie theaters when he showed up for a stellar cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home and will return in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Echo, and his own Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again. With the introduction of Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the MCU could also do a version of The Defenders closer to the original comics which featured Namor alongside Hulk, Doctor Strange, and Valkyrie.
Sentry
As the MCU has progressed, so has the power level of its heroes. While Avengers like Iron Man and Captain America fared well with their limited power set, they’re hardly a match to Sentry. Essentially a Marvel variant of Superman, Sentry is a powerhouse of a character that has yet to receive his own film in the MCU.
Sentry shares plenty of similarities with Superman’s power set, but his morality isn’t quite the same. Paired with the mysterious source of his powers known as The Void, a Sentry solo film could be interesting. Actor, Ryan Hurst has even thrown in his name for consideration to take over the role should Sentry finally make his way to the big screen.
Nova
While James Gunn introduced the Nova Corps in Guardians of The Galaxy, the character of Nova has yet to appear in his own movie. Neither Richard Ryder nor Sam Alexander have appeared in the MCU yet, but they’re due. Given the expanding cosmic side of the MCU, it shouldn’t be too long before Nova appears onscreen. In March 2022 Marvel began developing a Nova project with Moon Knight writer Sabir Pirzada, yet it is unclear if the project is a Disney+ series or a feature film.
A solo film shouldn’t be too hard to make for Nova as a possible storyline may have already been introduced for the character. Avengers: Infinity War made a passing reference to the Nova Corps’ home world, Xandar, being decimated by Thanos. This could easily be a starting point for a Nova solo movie. He could be tasked with picking up the pieces of his fallen comrades. Gunn’s version of the Nova Corps didn’t seem to incorporate any powers from the comics. Perhaps Richard Ryder or Sam Alexander could be the first super-powered Nova Corps member? After all, they were tasked with protecting the power stone. That could be the conduit for the Nova Corps’ newfound powers.
Ghost Rider
Nicolas Cage starred as Ghost Rider in Sony’s adaptation of the popular character. However, the first two Ghost Rider films weren’t well received. An MCU treatment is just what the character needs to reintroduce the character to a wider audience. The loosely related Agents of SHIELD may have featured the Robbie Reyes version of Ghost Rider, but the original character, Johnny Blaze, has yet to receive his own movie within the MCU (although he did cameo in Agents of SHIELD).
Earlier installments in the MCU lacked supernatural characters, but that changed over time with Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Moon Knight, and the upcoming appearance of Blade and Werewolf by Night. Ghost Rider is the perfect character to add to the MCU’s supernatural corner. A Ghost Rider film could also finally introduce Mephisto, a major threat in the Marvel universe. With Ryan Gosling throwing his name out for consideration, it feels like only a matter of time before Ghost Rider burst into the MCU.
Silver Surfer
Marvel Studios adapted The Infinity Gauntlet comic without one of its most important characters, Silver Surfer. Despite appearing in two Fantastic Four movies for Fox, Silver Surfer never got his own movie even though the studio had made plans to give him his own solo movie. He’s an enduring Marvel hero who could provide an even wider view of the cosmic side of the MCU.
Marvel Studios had plans for the Silver Surfer, as back in 2012 they offered Fox an extension of their film rights to Daredevil in exchange for the Silver Surfer and Galactus, but Fox chose to give up Daredevil as they hoped to bring the two cosmic characters into their planned Fantastic 4 reboot in 2015. Now that Disney has full rights to the character, Silver Surfer can fly his way into his own solo film.
Silver Surfer also brings a lot of story potential as he has had multiple high-profile writers and artist craft stories for him over the years. His link to the planet-eating Galactus could easily bring about the next Avengers-level threat. Silver Surfer’s position as a herald to Galactus could draw him into conflict with many cosmic Marvel heroes like Captain Marvel, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Thor. With the Fantastic Four joining the MCU, it feels like the perfect time to bring in the Silver Surfer.
X-Men
It may be hard to believe, but the Avengers weren’t always the top team within Marvel Comics. That honor fell onto the uncanny group of mutants, the X-Men. Fox was able to produce several X-Men movies by the time Disney bought the studio along with the film rights to the iconic team of mutants. Despite some solid X-Men movies, Fox never truly captured the essence of the X-Men. They certainly weren’t given the same treatment as the Avengers. Wolverine, Magneto, and Professor X were given some respect on film, but it could be argued that the rest of the X-Men were nothing more than glorified extras.
Now that Disney has the entire roster of mutants at its disposal, the amount of stories they could tell is limitless. Marvel Studios has already been planting the seeds for the X-Men, first with Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Then Ms. Marvel featured the first mention of the word ‘mutant’ in the MCU. Recently, there was a small easter egg in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law about a man with metal claws getting into a bar fight, seemingly confirming Wolverine’s presence. Marvel Studios is laying the groundwork for the X-Men, and the question now is will the mutants appear before the Multiverse Saga concludes or will they be used to launch Phase 7, the Dawn of X.
