The Marvel Cinematic Universe, or the MCU for short, is currently the biggest franchise in the world – and not just by popularity.
The MCU currently boasts 26 feature films (27 with the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home), and 5 TV series on Disney+, 4 of which are in live-action. Another 12 films have been confirmed to be in development, as have 25 TV series. With that, Marvel Studios has changed its model of introducing characters for the most part.
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Many character introductions have now been moved to Disney+, with the option of 6-hour introductions to the character, as opposed to 2-hour ones. Notable examples include Kate Bishop in Hawkeye, or He Who Remains in Loki. Solo series for characters that will be introduced in the films have already been ordered, an example being a solo series focusing on Riri Williams (who becomes Ironheart).
Small Screen MCU Characters Ready For The Big One
For this reason, instead of looking at which characters on the big-screen will appear in TV series or get their own, we’re looking at which small screen characters should appear in feature films.
Here are 7 possibilities:
1. Moon Knight is a leading contender for a character that gets introduced in the Marvel Studios TV series, to hop over to the big screen, and not just because it’s a popular character. Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector, in the comics partners for some time with Blade and Black Knight, both of which were introduced in Eternals. There have been reports across the internet that claim that Blade and Black Knight will both appear in the Moon Knight TV series. If this is true, it’s easy to connect the dots. Blade and Black Knight appear in Moon Knight, Black Knight and Moon Knight appear in Blade.
2. Eli Bradley, another contender. In the comics, Eli Bradley is a Young Avenger, known as Patriot. Patriot also happens to be the boyfriend of Kate Bishop in the comics, and the latter has just been introduced in her own series. When we left off in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Eli had been last seen with his grandfather, Isaiah Bradley, talking to Sam Wilson (now Captain America). Isaiah is a Super Soldier from the past, that served the US Army. This could potentially inspire Eli to pick up the mantle and become a Young Avenger in the MCU. If this happens, it’s likely that we would see these events transpire in Captain America 4.
3. A major option that many will be quick to dismiss: Captain Carter. We last see Captain Carter in the finale of What If…? Season One, where she and Natasha Romanoff have discovered the HYDRA Stomper, with Steve Rogers in it. Some reports have claimed that Captain Carter will make the jump to the live-action side of the MCU, debuting in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
While shocking at first, if you think about it, the idea makes perfect sense. While we can’t share too much about the film, we do know Doctor Strange 2 will be insane on many levels, and many characters will appear, some will have cameos, some will have a bigger role. This is the perfect opportunity to cross over animated characters to live-action. Speaking of which…..
4. Doctor Strange Supreme in (you guessed it) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. When we left the character in the finale of What If…? Season One, Doctor Strange Supreme had just saved the multiverse by assembling the Guardians of the Multiverse. Now, he’s with The Watcher (more on that next), and just sitting around. Multiple outlets have claimed that Doctor Strange Supreme will make the leap to live-action as well, and that he will be one of the antagonists in the story (said outlets also hinted he might stick around for future live-action projects).
It again, makes perfect sense. The Multiverse has been broken. Countless characters from all over the MCU are invading, and Doctor Strange has to fight them off. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see live-action Doctor Strange fight live-action Doctor Strange Supreme? To see a darker version of Stephen Strange, one that has not been explored yet, and to have Strange unleashed to his full power, with capabilities of which he isn’t even aware.
5. The Watcher, the last character I will mention that will appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As with Captain Carter and Doctor Strange Supreme, we last saw The Watcher in the finale of What If…? Season One, where he defeated Infinity Ultron and saved the Multiverse. To do that, however, The Watcher had to break his oath, and finally interfere. If he can do it once, what’s to say he can’t do it again?
With the appearances of Captain Carter and Doctor Strange Supreme, it’s not a stretch to say that The Watcher could fit into the plot seamlessly. Multiple trade reports have claimed that Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch will be the primary antagonist in the film, as she will have gone mad looking for her children in the Multiverse. Maybe we see The Watcher and Doctor Strange team up to bring Wanda back under control?
6. Ravonna Renslayer is a lesser-known name in the Marvel Comics, but has recently made a huge impact upon her landing in the MCU. Renslayer, in the comics, is the girlfriend of Kang the Conqueror. In the MCU, she was a judge of the TVA. When we last left off in the Loki finale, Renslayer had left the TVA “in search of free will”. We find out that He Who Remains has been controlling all of time, and that there is no such thing as free will, until a certain point.
In her search for free will, is it possible she stumbles upon a certain variant of He Who Remains (Kang), and then joins forces with him (as in in the comics), to take ultimate control of the Multiverse? If this comes to fruition, we already know that Kang will appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and with Loki Season Two looking unlikely to release before Quantumania crashes theaters in July 2023, it would be a safe bet to expect Ravonna Renslayer in the film.
7. Maya Lopez, known as Echo, is the last name on this MCU list, as she is the character to have been most recently introduced (Hawkeye Season One, episode 3). Maya Lopez is a deaf assassin that works for Kingpin in the comics, and it seems that she has the same role in the MCU. Maya has already been confirmed to get her own spinoff TV series on Disney+, aptly titled Echo, and with that expected to release in 2023, we could very well see a big-screen appearance from her shortly after. Maybe, as soon as 2024-2025.
Some reports have claimed that a Thunderbolts film is in active development at Marvel Studios, which would basically be Marvel’s version of Suicide Squad. Since Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ intro in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and her post-credits appearance in Black Widow, fans have been wondering when she’ll re-appear. Well, we could see her lead and form the Thunderbolts. As for the candidates, there already are some, Baron Zemo, Yelena Belova, and of course Maya Lopez.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to premiere in theaters on May 6, 2022. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to fall into theaters on July 28, 2023. Captain America 4 is set to hit theaters in 2023-2024. Blade is set to land in theaters in 2023-2024, and Thunderbolts is set to swing into theaters in 2024-2025.
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