The Marvel Supernatural Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Supernatural Cinematic Universe

Marvel have hinted that Dr. Strange would open the door for magic to become a part of their cinematic universe. Could GOTG be testing the waters for a new slate of team movies that would explore the supernatural side of Marvel in the same way GOTG explores the cosmic side?

Feature Opinion
By Comedian666 - Sep 06, 2013 11:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Comics

Marvel’s Dr. Strange movie could open the floodgates for Marvel’s other supernatural characters, possibly even leading to the launching of even more team movies like the Midnight Sons or the Legion of Monsters. With Dr. Strange set to blow the doors of Marvel’s magic universe wide open, we could find ourselves with Marvel utilizing some of their regained characters for the first time.
Both Blade and Ghost Rider are back in the care of Marvel Studios
now and both have had successful (Blade more than Ghost Rider) theatrical runs, but should Marvel reboot the characters or stick with the already established back story created by the previous movies? Marvel could easily do the same thing they did with the Incredible Hulk movie and keep the elements they liked and ditch those they didn’t. In fact, that may very well be to their benefit. There’s no doubt that they would recast the parts of Blade and Johnny Blaze but it would be smart to keep the Blade movies more or less in continuity. This would give Marvel further supernatural background that they wouldn’t have to explain with Dr. Strange or in the new Blade movie. They could just jump right in.



Despite the mess that Blade 3 was, it DID introduce some interesting concepts, such as the Nightstalkers, who play a prominent role in Blade’s comic book adventures. . In the comics, Hannibal King was also bitten by Deacon Frost, giving Blade and Hannibal a common enemy. The part of Hannibal King was played by Ryan Reynolds in Blade 3, but it would make more sense to use a new actor to play the part. The part of Abigail Whistler (who was made up for the movie) would likely be one of those elements that were dropped since the chances are that, because she was created for a movie owned by New Line, Marvel likely doesn’t actually own the rights to that particular character. Of course, in the comics, Blade and Hannibal King are joined by Frank Drake, a human descendant of Dracula. Together, the three formed the Nightstalkers, a team that mostly hunted vampires but also confronted other supernatural threats such those created by the Darkhold, an ancient tome that contained vast power.



The Darkhold even got its own series in the 90’s Midnight Sons line, Darkhold: Pages From the Book of Sin. In this series, a character from Dr. Strange’s comics, Victoria Montessi, forms a team of occult researchers dedicated to stopping the corrupting influence of the Darkhold. Calling her team the Darkhold Redeemers, Victoria eventually finds out that she is the child of Marvel’s elder god Chthon and is somehow impregnated with Chthon himself so that he can have physical form. The birth is stopped by Dr. Strange and Victoria is taken away by one of Chthon’s rebellious servants.



Ghost Rider straddled the line between the heroic and supernatural realms of the Marvel Universe and appeared in many issues of both the above comics as well as Dr. Strange and his own title. During the time of the Midnight sons, both Johnny Blaze and Dan Ketch appeared, though Blaze was mostly free of the Ghost Rider curse. He has since regained the curse of the Ghost Rider and is the current incarnation. Marvel could easily integrate what happened in the Sony Ghost Rider films into their own take, giving Ghost Rider a much-expanded mythology from what he got at Sony.


Ghost Rider, in turn, was a member of the Legion of Monsters, a team of supernatural creatures that consisted of Morbius the Living Vampire, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, the Living Mummy, Manphibian and Satana. Morbius is still with Sony, presumably, under the Spider-Man agreement but with the wealth of other characters available, that shouldn’t be a problem if Marvel wanted to pursue a Legion of Monsters movie.



This could even go further as Dr. Strange is one of the founding members of the Defenders. However, two of the other founding members also have their rights tied up: Silver Surfer with Fox in the Fantastic Four license and Namor with Universal. In Part Two of this look into the potential supernatural cinematic marvel universe, I’ll take a look at how the Defenders could be reinterpreted in The MCU to be a team that doesn’t need those two characters to work.
RED HULK Is Getting His Own Comic Book Series Right In Time For CAPTAIN: AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD
Related:

RED HULK Is Getting His Own Comic Book Series Right In Time For CAPTAIN: AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #61 Kills Peter Parker In The Most Horrific (LOKI-Inspired) Way Possible - SPOILERS
Recommended For You:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #61 Kills Peter Parker In The Most Horrific (LOKI-Inspired) Way Possible - SPOILERS

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

tacobender
tacobender - 9/6/2013, 1:29 PM
I like it! Especially just keeping the continuity of Blade and Ghost Rider, recast and move foward no need for reboots
EdgyOutsider
EdgyOutsider - 9/6/2013, 1:37 PM
For as much as I love the first two Blade movie and while I enjoyed the Ghost Rider movies for what they were. I would prefer if they rebooted the franchises so it fits within the MCU and Marvel Studios can put their mark on the movies. Doctor Strange is the perfect door for Ghost Rider to come back from based off of Doctor Strange's success. Just make Ghost Rider darker and be less humorous than the other Marvel Studios movies.
Ineedrevelation
Ineedrevelation - 9/6/2013, 1:37 PM
I LOVED NIGHTSTALKERS!

I really wanna see
Dr. Strange
Nova
Silver Surfer (Please God)
Ms. Marvel
Dumegg
Dumegg - 9/6/2013, 1:47 PM
All we need is the A listers. Dr Strange, Ghost rider and toss in
Blade for good mesure. The villans of course follow, Dormammu,
Baron Mordu. Mephisto, blackheart and everybody loves vampires.
Bring it on.
GizmoEl
GizmoEl - 9/6/2013, 1:53 PM
I would love for them to have multiple Cinematic Universes like Cosmic, Supernatural, and Marvel Knights. They all exist within the MCU but rarely crossover with the central franchise movies. For the Marvel Knights, Daredevil and Punisher can cross in movies, but rarely show up in scenes a movie with SHIELD or Cap. Dr. Strange and other mystic heroes would have their own franchises to crossover with. And everything pertaining to space (GotG, Nova, Sentry etc.) would stick to space crossovers.
sansClaymore
sansClaymore - 9/6/2013, 1:54 PM
i don't understand how silver surfer could ever be introduced again without a galactus and therefore the fantastic 4.
i figure they have already given that to us, although it was not marvel studios. marvel was always heavily involved with the other studio movies regardless how they turned out. so i tend to look at all marvel movies as the MCU. just different dimensions if you will like 616 or ultimates.
sansClaymore
sansClaymore - 9/6/2013, 1:56 PM
lol yeah what GizmoEl said
AvengersRock
AvengersRock - 9/6/2013, 2:03 PM
I could certainly see a Defenders movie with Dr. Strange and Hulk and others. That would be awesome! I could also see a Midnight Sons movie with a combination of Punisher, Blade, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Moon Night and possibly others. That would be more successful than individual movies, if the story were interesting.

Can someone say why Namor is with Universal? When did that happen? When does he revert back? I'm sure I didn't miss a Namor movie, so what gives?
AvengersRock
AvengersRock - 9/6/2013, 2:04 PM
Marvel Knights instead of Midnight Sons.
Optimus83
Optimus83 - 9/6/2013, 2:36 PM
and The Real Mandarin. ...When???
novaprime
novaprime - 9/6/2013, 2:55 PM
Phase: 3 Marvel: 2015/2016
1. Antman
2. Dr Strange
3. T I, Hulk 2
4. Black Panther

Phase 4: 2017
1. Thor 3
2. Gog 2
3. Avengers 3

Phase: 2018
1. Black Panther 2
2. Inhumans
3. Planet Hulk
BaronBubba
BaronBubba - 9/6/2013, 3:05 PM
Call me crazy, but I think that Moon Knight would be an awesome addition to the Mystic Marvel launch. Not the current, disassociative identity disorder Moonie from the recent Bendis/Maleev run, but the one who was resurrected by the Egyptian God, Khonshu, on multiple instances and regularly dealt with mystical beings. He'd probably wind up being a Hawkeye type on a team, but he has awesome potential.
Comedian666
Comedian666 - 9/6/2013, 3:33 PM
Thanks, Glider. I'd love to see them in a Defenders movie,too, but I'm sure there's no way Surfer is going to be let go by Fox.
Comedian666
Comedian666 - 9/6/2013, 4:30 PM
Dandy, the "magic" in Thor is already explained in those movies as just really advanced technology that we don't understand yet, though. Strange would be the introduction of magic proper into the MCU.
Lhornbk
Lhornbk - 9/6/2013, 4:56 PM
Ummm......a very, very large NO to continuing the Ghost Rider movie storyline with just a new actor. At least not if you're including the 2nd movie. It was horrible, terrible, just plain unwatchable. It's almost as bad as Ang Lee's Hulk and Superman IV, and might be worse than Batman & Robin. If you want to just pretend the 2nd movie didn't happen and keep the 1st one in continuity (kind of like Superman Returns ignoring, thankfully, Superman III & IV), then I can handle that.
Lhornbk
Lhornbk - 9/6/2013, 5:07 PM
As for the general idea of this article, just because Marvel hasn't had a flop yet doesn't mean it won't ever happen. It will eventually, it's just the law of averages. And it will happen sooner, and more often, if Marvel actually listens to some of you fanboys and make a film with a c-list or d-list comic superhero. Dr. Strange, Black Panther, are a-list or b-list so try them. But Namor? Moon Knight? I just don't see general audiences going for it. Silver Surfer is a bigger name, and I have a hard time seeing general audiences accept him either. As far as it goes, I'm guessing that either GotG or Ant-Man turn out to be Marvel's first flop (probably Ant-Man, especially if it does end up competing with James Bond, but if GotG doesn't get the tree and racoon characters right, it could flop big time.)
Blastaar
Blastaar - 9/6/2013, 5:38 PM
Although The Punisher was never a member of The Midnight Sons or Night Stalkers, I think adding him to the mix alongside Blade, and GhostRider would be an easy way for them to reboot all three characters at the same time while garnering more interest for all. Showing an even darker side to the Mafia, Triads, etc of Frank Castle's world, and making some of them vampires, demons, or monsters could make for an even more surprising and interesting dynamic for Frank Castles, especially if he's caught off guard by it.

Blade, GhostRider, The Punisher, Werewolf By Night, Jennifer Kale would be the best roster to start off with, with and or mention of cameo of Brother Voodoo, thus linking them to Dr.Strange.
Demongod20
Demongod20 - 9/6/2013, 5:39 PM
@ AvengersRock

Marvel sold the X-men, Fantastic 4, and Daredevil rights to Fox. They sold the Spider-man and Ghost Rider rights to Sony. The sold the Blade rights to New Line Cinema. They sold the Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and Namor rights to Universal.

After Hulk Flopped Universal didn't want to make any more comic book movies so Marvel Bought back the rights to Hulk, Cap and Thor and made the Avengers.
mob7medina
mob7medina - 9/6/2013, 6:29 PM
Midnight sons/Legion of Monsters would be a dream come true and throw Punisher,Daredevil,Moon Knight and Ghost Rider In there with Man-thing and the rest so much win!! Then again marvel would make them pg-13 which wouldn't do the characters justice imo
Maximus101
Maximus101 - 9/6/2013, 8:00 PM
Nobody cares
Lockjaw
Lockjaw - 9/7/2013, 2:04 AM
Defenders would be awesome! BP can replace SS.

ScionStorm
ScionStorm - 9/7/2013, 6:47 PM
I kinda want a Hellstorm (Damon Hellstrom)TV Series. It could be like Marvel's answer to shows like Supernatural.
ScionStorm
ScionStorm - 9/7/2013, 7:02 PM






ScionStorm
ScionStorm - 9/7/2013, 7:06 PM
Comedian666
Comedian666 - 9/8/2013, 5:49 AM
I agree a million percent, Scion. That series was amazing, especially the Warren Ellis issues and the Dr. Druid tie-in LS he did. I still have a Hellstorm t-shirt from when the series was out.
View Recorder