The Marvel Characters That Should Have Been in the MCU By Now

After 17 years, 37 movies, 30 shows, and more to come, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has featured a lot of characters from the world of Marvel Comics. At this point, most of the major figures have appeared in some form or another in the MCU: Spider-Man, the A-list Avengers, and even the Fantastic Four and the X-Men have finally joined the universe (albeit only in animated form so far for the latter). Furthermore, the MCU has made stars out of even B- and C-listers from the comics, building the entire universe around also-ran Iron Man and turning Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon into favorites.

Yet, even now, there are some big names from the comics who still aren’t represented in the MCU. To be sure, some of these are coming soon: obviously, Robert Downey Jr. will play the most important Marvel villain Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, longtime Avengers member Simon Williams will be played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the upcoming Wonder Man show, and the X-Men aren’t far behind.

But these big names are still absent from the MCU, and it really stands out to comic book readers.

Wolverine

For the most part, this list will ignore members of the X-Men, for two reasons. One, X-Men ’97 is within the MCU, even if it doesn’t take place on Earth-616, and two, we know the X-Men are coming, likely in Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars. Further, Wolverine did appear in the MCU, as played by Hugh Jackman (again).

But here’s the thing: Wolverine is bigger than the X-Men. Heck, he’s probably bigger than Marvel. Easily the most popular character created after the initial batch of 1960s heroes, Wolverine is a franchise unto himself and certainly too important to be squirreled away in some alternate dimension or relegated to fans’ nice feelings about Jackman or Ryan Reynolds. It’s shocking that Kevin Feige hasn’t introduced one of the indisputably most popular characters into the MCU sooner.

Green Goblin

Again, there are some caveats that we need to acknowledge here, as Norman Osborn a.k.a. the Green Goblin has been in two MCU properties. Willem Dafoe reprised the role for Spider-Man: No Way Home and Colman Domingo voices the character in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. But even more than Wolverine, Spider-Man is the most popular superhero in the entire world, and Green Goblin (whether its Norman Osborn, his son Harry, or someone else) is easily his arch-nemesis.

One cannot help but think that Marvel shot themselves in the foot to an extent by bringing back Dafoe for No Way Home. While they certainly scored points for nostalgia, Dafoe’s delightfully committed performance set a high bar for fans and made it harder for anyone else to step into the role. With Spidey returning to his roots for the upcoming Brand New Day (or so we’re told), the time may be right to give us a proper MCU Green Goblin.

Miles Morales

Wait, you say. Miles Morales has already been the focus of two excellent movies, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Isn’t he in the MCU already? Actually, no! Those movies were all produced by Sony, and have as much to do with the MCU as Madame Web. Thus far, the closest we’ve seen to actual Miles is a passing reference from Aaron Davis (Donald Glover, whom artist Sara Pichelli used as a model when she first drew Miles) about his nephew in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Of course, Miles is a tricky character. He was introduced in Marvel’s Ultimate Universe after the death of Peter Parker, meaning he could stand on his own as a unique character and not have to worry about overshadowing Peter. That’s clearly not the case in the MCU, as Tom Holland continues to play Peter and fans love him for it. Still, between the comics, the Spider-Verse movies, and the recent video games, Miles has developed more than enough of a fan following and deserves to be in the MCU as well.

Rick Jones

By now, all of the major Avengers have been portrayed on screen, including founders Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp. Well, almost all of the founders. We’re still missing Rick Jones, one of the odder, and yet important, parts of the early Marvel Universe.

Rick made his debut in Incredible Hulk #1, as the dumb teenager who drove onto a bomb testing site, an accident that drove Bruce Banner to chase him off the site and get bombarded with gamma energy himself, turning him into the Hulk. Since then, Rick went on to become Marvel’s general teen sidekick, paling around with not just Hulk, but also Captain America, Captain Marvel, and most of the Avengers.

If even modern Batman movies are afraid to include a teen sidekick, Rick’s chances seem unlikely, but it’s strange that not Feige hasn’t even let the character show up in a supporting role yet.

Nova

Speaking of teens, there’s Nova. Richard Rider was introduced in Marvel Comics in the late 1970s, when the company saw Peter Parker aging up and wanted a new hip teen like those on which the company was built. A regular kid imbued with the powers of a cosmic police force, Nova had all the potential to be a favorite, but languished as a Z-lister until joining the extreme ’90s group The New Warriors and then especially as part of the cosmic Annihilation crossover event from the mid-2000s, the same storyline that made the Guardians of the Galaxy so popular.

There has long been talk of bringing Nova into the MCU, and, of course, the Nova Corps of Xandar do appear in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. But with the MCU slowing down its television output, Rick Rider’s back on the back burner, with no real debut in sight.

Captain Britain

Every MCU fan knows that the main Marvel world is designated Earth-616, but almost none of them know where that designation came from. The short answer is “Alan Moore,” more specifically the issues of Captain Britain that he did with Dave Thorpe and Alan Davis. Like his American counterpart, Captain Britain is a national hero, specifically for the U.K. But his origin is more mystical, as rich arrogant teen Brian Braddock is granted superpowers by the magical being Roma, and turned into Captain Britain.

Over the years, Brian learns that he is just one of many such Captains across the multiverse, specifically the Captain of Earth-616, which leads to his many reality-bending adventures. Most Americans know Captain Britain best as either leader of the X-Men adjacent Excalibur or for being the twin brother of the X-Man Psylocke, who also has recently taken on the mantle of Captain Britain.

Power Pack

The MCU may be a massive franchise that wants as many fans as it can get, but it superheroes remain fundamentally children’s entertainment. So it’s a bit surprising that Feige and co. keep giving the green light to new Spider-Man cartoons and even a Groot series before bringing in the Power Pack, Marvel’s premiere toddler team. That’s especially perplexing given how many elements of the Power Pack’s backstory have already appeared in the MCU, specifically Captain Marvel.

Before gaining their abilities, the Power Pack was just the Powers siblings: Alex, Julie, Jack, and Katie, all children of a brilliant scientist working for a government program called Project Pegasus. Project Pegasus’s experiments drew the attention of aliens called the Snarks, who kidnapped Dr. Powers and his wife, and the horse-like Kymellians, who gave the quartet super abilities. From that point on, the Power Pack’s playful approach to super-heroics have made them frequent guest stars in X-Men and Fantastic Four comics. Now that those bigger characters are coming to the MCU, surely the Power Pack aren’t too far behind, especially since they eventually get a fifth member: Franklin Richards, son of Reed and Sue.

Moondragon

Moondragon is a tough character, despite the fact that she’s frequently on the Avengers roster. With her bald head and scant clothing, she has a striking physical presence, especially when she creates monstrous psychic manifestations. But, she’s a pretty arrogant jerk, and many of her early Avengers adventures involve her telling everyone else how much better than them she is.

Second, Moondragon is tied to two other characters, who have very different stories in the MCU. She’s the daughter of Drax the Destroyer, who isn’t a human in the movies and who claims his family was killed by Ronan. And she’s the partner of Phyla-Vell, introduced as a young girl in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Clearly, Feige would have to change the character significantly to make her work, but it would be worth it to bring in such an interesting Avenger.

The Beyonder

The Beyonder is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, a cosmic being so great that he gathered together most of the heroes and villains for a battle royale in the 1985 Secret Wars event. Since that foundational crossover, the Beyonder has appeared a few different times, most often as a white man with Michael Jackson’s hair (yes, really) and a beige leisure suite. Jonathan Hickman reimagined the Beyonder and his race as something more strange, while still humanoid for his 2015 Secret Wars, which only underscores the importance of the character.

We know that Avengers: Secret Wars is coming, but outside of occasional references to incursions and perhaps other realities gathering defenders, nothing from any comic book Secret Wars story has been integrated into the MCU. Hopefully, they’ll bring the Beyonder along, if only to recreate the scene in which Spider-Man has to teach him how to poop.

Blade

Okay, again, Blade has appeared in the MCU, once again portrayed by Wesley Snipes in Deadpool & Wolverine. But that entire appearance was built around Snipes assuring everyone that there will never, ever be another Blade. And the MCU’s ongoing inability to actually make a Blade movie with Mahershala Ali as the Daywalker only underscores that point.

But, seriously, why isn’t Blade in the MCU? Before the 1998 movie, Marvel went no further than the televisions screen, outside of the disastrous Howard the Duck movie a decade earlier. Blade proved that the Marvel heroes work on the big screen, long before Tony Stark said “I am Iron Man,” long before Thanos was inevitable. Blade is the MCU’s granddaddy, and some version of him should really be in franchise.