Following a thirteen-year absence from the hit sci-fi series, Russell T Davies makes his return to Doctor Who later this month. After reuniting with David Tennant, the showrunner will introduce Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, with the current plan being for this new era to run for at least four seasons.
During a recent interview with Games Radar, Davies revealed that, before his Whoniverse comeback, he was asked to work on an unnamed Marvel TV show.
"I got asked to showrun a British Marvel show, but [they said] 'We can’t tell you what it is,'" he remembers with a laugh. "To this day, I watch them and I can’t work out which show that was going to be. Obviously planning to make a British Marvel show that I haven’t seen. Has that happened?"
Davies didn't reveal when he was approached by Marvel, so we can't say whether this was a Marvel Studios or Marvel Television production. If it was the latter, perhaps we'd have finally got an Agents of the S.H.I.E.L.D. spin-off revolving around "FitzSimmons."
A Torchwood-like science fiction drama set in the Marvel Universe is definitely a premise Davies could have had fun with.
However, if it was Marvel Studios who approached, then we can't discount the possibility they eyed him for Secret Invasion. That was primarily set in the UK and featured several British actors, including Emilia Clarke and Olivia Colman. Had the Doctor Who showrunner been in charge, the series may have received a warmer response from fans.
An even more exciting possibility is this was Captain Britain-related.
The Captain Britain moniker was first used by Brian Braddock in Captain Britain #1 by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe, but is currently held by Brian's twin sister, Betsy Braddock/Psylocke.
The designation of Marvel Comics' primary continuity as Earth-616 actually originated in Dave Thorpe, Alan Davis and Alan Moore's Marvel UK Captain Britain stories. That also established the multiversal Captain Britain Corps, members of which act as the champions of their own respective versions of the British Isles, which act as a nexus point between dimensions via Otherworld.
Needless to say, a show like that would have been one hell of an addition to the Multiverse Saga. As far as we're aware, Marvel Studios isn't planning anything for Captain Britain right and the ship has likely sailed when it comes to adding him to this particular saga of storytelling.