October 16, 2020 594 votes 68 voters 1.1k views13 items
List RulesVote up the Marvel performances you'd love to see come back in the MCU's expanding multiverse.
Everybody knows the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the hottest film property around, but what about the non-MCU Marvel movies? Back when an interconnected superhero universe was just a fan's dream, there were still plenty of chances to see classic Marvel characters on the big screen (some more successful than others). With the news that Jamie Foxx will be playing Electro again in the upcoming third MCU Spider-Man, it potentially opens the door for other non-MCU characters to return to the fold.
Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch are clearly going to be surfing around the Marvel multiverse in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and that just begs for cameos from Marvel stars of yesteryear. What has Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker been up to since 2007's Spider-Man 3? Ever wished that Wesley Snipes' Blade was around to handle all the MCU villains trying to ice skate uphill? And you know, that Johnny Storm from 2005's Fantastic Four really does look a lot like Captain America...
With apologies to Dolph Lundgren and Ray Stevenson, we'd like to see Thomas Jane return to the multiplex as Frank Castle again. The Punisher has never really hit it big on the silver screen, but Jane captured the character's cold-blooded rage in 2004's The Punisher.
If we could get our way, we'd have Jane return as the Frank Castle who becomes the Cosmic Ghost Rider who jets around the cosmos as a Spirit of Vengeance imbued with the Power Cosmic. Frank Castle riding around space on a flaming motorcycle? Yes, please. If the MCU is really gonna go wild with the Multiverse, this certainly would be a way to do it.
"Hey... that guy kinda looks like Captain America!" The jokes write themselves on this one. Indeed, Chris Evans' first foray into Marvel films was as Johnny Storm in the original Fantastic Four films. Thank heavens Fantastic Four films have been a hard sell to the moviegoing public at large or we might never have gotten Evans as the star-spangled Avenger.
Seriously though, this is the kind of fun cameo that would be a goofy nod to the fans of pre-MCU Marvel output. Have a character flying around in the Multiverse, see Evans' Johnny Storm zooming about, and remark, "Why is this universe's Captain America on fire and flying?" Bing, bang, boom.
Nicolas Cage is down for pretty much anything these days - just take a look at that IMDb page, for goodness sake - which means you just know he would be game to bring his weird interpretation of Johnny Blaze back to the big screen. While a different generation of Ghost Rider was played by Gabriel Luna on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television show, there's been a distinct lack of high-octane, flaming-skull carnage in the big-screen MCU.
We know Cage is a major comic book fan - he has a son named Kal-El and played Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - and he's the kind of name that fans would get excited about. He's an internet phenomenon!
We're not going to try and convince you that 2003's Daredevil is a good film. It really isn't. However, bringing Ben Affleck back into the fold would be an unexpected and interesting turn of events in the MCU.
You want star power? We brought the dang Batman to the party. Okay, so he's not Batman anymore... but he was for a while! And he was pretty good at it! Having a middle-aged Daredevil would be a departure from other live-action adaptations of the character as well. This might be the biggest long-shot of them all but that makes us want it all that much more.
T.W. Mitchell
