So with Marvel’s Phase 2 starting next summer, all of these new characters and heroes are being announced. Some of the more popular ones are Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Mandarin in Iron Man 3 and my personal favourite the rumored Dr. Strange in Thor: The Dark World. Marvel is well on their way of creating a vast movie universe full of rich characters. But what of the characters we’ve already seen? Here’s my list of top 5 established characters that we need to see again.
Honorable Mentions: People who I’d like to see again, but are more than likely gonna turn up anyway.
Howard Stark - Dominic Cooper, John Slattery, Gerard Sanders
Where We Last Saw Him: At the end of Captain America: The First Avenger he fishes the Tesseract out of ocean while looking for Cap.
Howard Stark has such an important role in both Tony and Cap’s lives that he would just have to return. And with Hayley Atwell all but confirmed for Cap 2 you just know that the movie is gonna have flashbacks. Hopefully Stark will be peppered in. Not much more I can say about him, he’s just too important to be left out.
How I Would Do It: This character more just needs to be talked about rather than seen. I would love a scene between Cap and Tony reminiscing about the man, and what he meant to each of them.
Agent Jasper Sitwell - Maximiliano Hernández
Where We Last Saw Him: Agent Sitwell first appeared in Thor and has popped up in The Avengers, Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant and will soon be appearing in upcoming One-Shot, Item 47.
Not much is known about Agent Sitwell. We know he’s a Level 6 agent, one lower than Coulson, and he does a legendary patsy. Other than that we don’t know much about him. But with Agent Coulson *gasp* dead, we need another constant. And I think he fits the bill. We need a character who is going to connect all of the different movies together. Even if it’s just a cameo. Now the general audience has more than likely caught on that these movies are all in the same universe. However there may be some movies that may not be so obvious about it. I.E. Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-man.
How I Would Do It: I would just have Agent Sitwell show up in Phase 2 whenever SHIELD shows up. Make him the new face of SHIELD. And I would keep him as the star of the Marvel One-Shots, like they have in Item 47. Maybe he’ll even be one of the major players in Joss Whedon’s new SHIELD show. Who knows?
THE LIST Now on to the good stuff, this is my definite list of established characters that need to return to the MCU.
5. Justin Hammer - Sam Rockwell
Where We Last Saw Him: At the end of Iron Man 2 Hammer was arrested for helping Ivan Vanko escape prison.
While some of you may still have a bitter taste in your mouth from Iron Man 2, I personally really liked it. And I probably liked it for the same reason most of you hated it; I saw it as a stepping stone to the Avengers. But anyway one of the many great things about Iron Man 2 was Justin Hammer. I think it’s the most underrated performance in the movie. He is constantly the butt of a joke, his name and his company is a punchline to all the main characters, giving him a reasonable rage that turns him to the dark side. His need to be taken seriously is so well played by Rockwell. He’s his own worst enemy, he wants to be as good as Tony but he’s impatient and doesn’t do the hard work himself. My favourite scene with him is when he tries to intimidate Ivan Vanko, which just results in Vanko snickering at him when he leaves. He just doesn’t get it. And with rumors of AIM and others companies involved with Iron Man 3 it’s more than likely that Hammer Industries and its CEO will fall by the wayside. But I’d still like to see some closure from the character.
How I Would Do It: I’d have a scene between an imprisoned Hammer and a Ten Rings lawyer. Hammer’s confident and a little cocky that he’s getting out. Finally the Ten Rings lawyer would just silence him by saying “HE’s coming to see you”. Hammer shocked and a little frightened would question it, and then go back to his cell. Later on the Mandarin himself would show up to see Hammer in his cell. Hammer would ask when he’s getting out. The Mandarin would answer by saying how much Hammer has screwed everything up for him. And now that he’s in jail, how incredibly useless he is to him. He would say that he’s not getting out anytime soon, and that he’d be there for a long time. The scene would end with the Mandarin walking away, and we see Hammer yelling in protest and reaching at him through the bars.
4. The Abomination (Emil Blonsky) - Tim Roth
Where We Last Saw Him: At the end of the Incredible Hulk, Hulk nearly chokes him to death, but lets him go at the last second. We then find out later in the Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant, that General Ross has him in custody and the World Security Council wants him on the Avengers.
The Abomination is one of those characters I’d like to see the Hulk fight again and again. I really liked the way that they did his character in the Incredible Hulk with his lust for power. However I don’t think the Abomination would ever be a main villain of a movie, more like a second in command again. Acting as a beefed up lackey, but maybe with his own agenda too. So I think if he were ever to return it would be side by side with a smarter villain like The Leader.
How I Would Do It: I would have him escape from custody and want to exact his revenge on the Hulk, all while trying to find ways to give himself more power. If the Amazing Spider-man ever joins the Marvel Universe, I’d like to see the Abomination get his hands on the Lizard’s formula and add that to his system, giving him his reptilian like features from the comics.
3. Erik Selvig - Stellan Skarsgård
Where We Last Saw Him: At the end of the Avengers he returned the Tesseract to Thor and watched him disappear back to Asgard.
Selvig first appeared in Thor and was a very interesting character. I liked how he was the skeptic and didn’t believe in the nonsense that Natalie Portman was spouting. I also liked how he had ties to SHIELD or at least knew about them, and it sounds like he has connections with Banner and Hank Pym too. Needless to say Selvig is a really likeable character, and I’d like to see him return.
Now I have stated before that outside of seeing Jane Foster, I don’t see much reason for Thor to return to Earth in the next movie. He’s fighting a guy from another realm, and it’s incredibly hard to get back to Earth now with the Bifrost destroyed, and the Tesseract more than likely locked away in Odin’s Treasue Vault. So in my opinion that leaves very little for Jane Foster and all her Earth buddies to do. Selvig included. Now with this Dr. Strange rumor that’s recently surfaced, it seems that I was wrong and they’d have a lot more to do. However that still doesn’t confirm how much Selvig will be involved.
How I Would Do It: Once again, I’d have him be Jane’s mentor, being the level-headed, look before you leap guy and the other science nerd for Jane to bounce ideas off of. And if this rumor is true, I’d also have him butt heads with Dr. Strange, being the skeptic of all things magical, even though he’s seen some incredible things. But most of all I’d have him be bitter and depressed over all the death and destruction he caused while under Loki’s control.
2. Samuel Sterns - Tim Blake Nelson
Where We Last Saw Him: Sterns was last seen in the Incredible Hulk. He had been knocked to the ground by the Abomination and the Hulk serum had dripped down into a cut on his forehead. He smiles at the camera as his forehead begins to bulge. And for those of you who follow the in-canon comics, he was last seen in Fury’s Big Week #8. He’s being held unconscious and being tested on by SHIELD.
The Incredible Hulk being one of the first of Marvel Studios’ outings had all sorts of easter eggs in it, hinting at a larger universe. There’s a brief snippet of Captain America in a deleted scene, and you can supposedly see Thor during a thunder storm, which has since become a continuity error and meant to be ignored. And no one can forget the Tony Stark cameo at the end of the movie. But one of the easter eggs that could potentially turn into a sequel was Samuel Sterns’ and his fate at the end of the movie. While this is a character I don’t see popping up outside of a Hulk sequel, I still think he’s the next inevitable step. The Leader needs to appear in Hulk 2 and be the main bad guy. Although I don’t think Tim Blake Nelson can pull off the menacing 10-steps ahead of you villain role. So this one I’d be okay with a recasting.
How I Would Do It: In a Hulk sequel, Sterns would make his escape from SHIELD and exact his revenge on them. Banner and Betty Ross would be called in because of their knowledge of the serum. The Leader all ticked that Banner is helping his former captors and maybe mad that he’s not sharing the serum with the rest of the world would then turn on him, unleashing the Hulk. Sterns being the smart guy that he is, would use mutated monsters to help him fight the Hulk. Maybe having the Abomination as his second in command.
1. General “Thunderbolt” Ross - William Hurt
Where We Last Saw Him: At the end of the Incredible Hulk General Ross is confronted by Tony Stark and asked to join the Avenger’s Initiative.
This is the number one character I want to see return to the MCU. His history with Banner is so entwined that there is no way that he could not be in a Hulk sequel. However with that being said, he needs to be in other movies too. For those of you who don’t read the in-canon comics, he had an integral part in the comic Iron Man 2 Public Identity. Where he not only butted heads with Iron Man but with Nick Fury too. With the inclusion of the World Security Council in the Avengers he would easily fit back into the universe, as he tends to think exactly like they do. William Hurt does a really incredible job portraying him. There are a ton of really great monologues he did that unfortunately never made it into the final cut of the movie. William Hurt embodies General Ross so much so, that when I read General Ross in the comics, his voice pops in my head. William Hurt needs to return to this role. This is one character that can’t be recast
How I Would Do It: Well as I mentioned above, I can see him being in bed with the World Security Council, and I can see them going to him to get the job done. Fury would be handling the situation his own way, then when the Council has had enough, they’d send Ross in, and everybody would groan. While I don’t see him coming back at least until Avengers 2, it’s more than likely his character would be left out until a Hulk sequel is made.
Well, there's my list, I hope you liked it. As always leave your comments and thoughts in the space below.