George Chrysostomou on five Marvel teams that deserve an MCU appearance…
Marvel is seemingly moving at full speed, introducing more characters from the source material than perhaps many expected. It appears that there is no stopping the machine and this doesn’t just apply to individuals, but Marvel teams as well: S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers, Defenders, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inhumans, New Warriors, Revengers, Original Guardians, Defenders,Damage Control and the Runaways to name just a few. So which groups should the MCU now develop into live action appearances?
God Squad
Headed by Hercules and Amaeudus Cho, two characters who should have long since been introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the God Squad are an inventive and fun group of obscure characters, which would be perfect for a TV series. Venturing into the realms of Thor, Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of genre, allowing for a continued expansion into the realms of space, magic and gods, this group could provide a very different outlook on the MCU as a whole and tell some very unique stories. The lineup should include perhaps the most classic version of the team, including those mentioned above as well as Ajak, an eternal and spokesperson for the celestials, Atum the god eater, son of Gaea, Mikaboshi, the Japanese god of evil, chaos and the stars and Snowbird, an inuit demi-god and member of the Canadian group, Alpha Flight.
By not including heavy hitters such as Thor, or unreachable characters such as the Silver Surfer and Galactus, a TV show has the potential to be shot on less of a budget than one might think. By bringing these godly elements down to Earth, this series could be a quirky comedy drama which continues to evolve. With Hercules as a sort of comic relief character and Snowbird the serious co-leader, the dynamic of the team could be very interesting. Including clearly villainous characters such as Mikaboshi, whose real motives could be clouded and perhaps unpredictable like Atum, there would be plenty of character plot points to move this story forward. The actual villain of the piece could go multiple ways, perhaps using a member of the team, or other outer space or godly entities. This could be an opportunity to introduce more of the Greek pantheon and feature Ares as the main villain, with season two opportunities for Mikaboshi. No matter how it’s framed, the God Squad could be a fun ride, adding a TV show to the growing list of space and magic properties.
Dark Avengers
The Dark Avengers are what they say they are on the tin. A more villainous version of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the team is brought about under Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign, a period of time that sends many of the real Avengers into hiding and allows these criminals to run havoc in the world. Featuring Osborn as The Iron Patriot, a symbolic protector for America in a suit we have already seen in the MCU, the Dark Avengers also consists of Daredevil’s arch nemesis Bullseye as Hawkeye, Moonstone featuring as their Ms. Marvel, Venom masquerading as Spider-Man, Wolverine’s son Daken as Wolverine (an omission which would have to be made, although not crucial to the plot), naive Noh-Varr as Captain Marvel, Ares and most importantly, the conflicted and almighty Sentry.
Dark Avengers is perfect the future of the MCU if it is to believed that Secret Invasion (the event in which Osborn manipulated his way into control) will be the plot of Avengers 4 or a subsequent film, whilst some team members could be switched out for villain/hero combos that make sense, perhaps with the addition of the U.S.Agent as a new Captain America-esque anti-hero, the parallel team could really raise the stakes for Marvel’s best. With none of the characters too difficult to develop and a film that could centre around a villainous team that is actually victorious in achieving its goals, this could be a very different and dark entry to the MCU, one which would see our protagonists backs against the wall, fighting for what’s important on a much more grounded level than the events that Infinity War will show us. With the inclusion of the likes of Bullseye and Venom, this could increase ties to the outer universe such as Sony’s Venom and Netflix’s Daredevil. Finally, the story of Sentry slowly turning to insanity as Osborn continues to struggle with his ever-increasing loss of power and his group known as H.A.M.M.E.R. would be a subplot that could be explored.
…Click below to continue on to the second page…
