"Geek Theory #4: The Fantastic Five!" Transcript

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[Whoosh in on title “The Geek Theory.” Zoom in, rotate, and fade out title as “The Fantastic Five” fades in. Fade in static “The Geek Theory” title on green and black background, which cuts back and forth with relevant stock images.]

Now that Guardians of the Galaxy, a little-known property if ever there was one, has become a worldwide box-office smash for Marvel, I decided to have a look as some of the other lesser-known Marvel characters who I’d like to see take the journey to the big screen. We all know the ones who get mentioned the most, such as Captain Marvel, Black Panther, She-Hulk, and Nova, along with solo movies for Black Widow and the Hulk, but I’m talking about the characters who don’t get listed on every “What Marvel Needs to Do Next” list. In fact, I’m not even solely focusing on heroes here, just characters I’d love to see on the big screen. Okay, let’s get started.

Enchantress. First introduced in 1964, Enchantress, also known as Amora, is one of Thor’s longest-running villains. She’s one of the most powerful beings in all of Asgard and regularly uses her powers to charm and control the minds of Marvel’s heroes. Like Thor, she is immortal and has devoted her entire existence to the pursuit of pleasure and increasing her own power. When she first encounters Thor in the comics, she makes it her personal mission to seduce him away from his mortal love, Jane Foster. When she fails in this endeavor, she decides her only recourse is to have Jane Foster executed. Of course, Thor went on to save Jane and defeat Enchantress, but wouldn’t this make a great set-up for the third Thor movie? And if you wanted to make her a more sympathetic character, it wouldn’t be too difficult. Maybe she doesn’t want to kill Jane, and maybe she comes off as more of a hero in the end. She has been a hero a few times in the comics, and maybe they’re up against an even darker, more evil foe, such as the next entry on our list.

Gorr, the God-Butcher. The God-Butcher is a pretty new entry to the Marvel universe, having only been introduced in 2013, but he is one hell of a villain. Gorr comes from a nameless planet where his people existed in a constant state of near-death. Growing up, he was taught to believe in the gods and that one day, they would answer his prayers. When he was only a child, though, Gorr lost both his mother and his father, leaving him an orphan in the harsh, nameless world. He survived to adulthood and then had a family of his own, but over the years, he lost all but one of his sons. Then, while trying to reach what they believed to be a forest, his son died while Gorr was promising him that when they reached this forest, they would never go hungry again. Grief-stricken, Gorr swore revenge on the gods that had never answered his prayers and set out on a journey across the cosmos to murder each and every god in creation, and one by one, he succeeded, earning the name of the God-Butcher along the way.

And although he would eventually lose to Thor, who was empowered by the prayers of fallen gods, Gorr nearly took the God of Thunder down with him. And as you can imagine, Gorr would make a fantastic villain for Thor 3, although he would certainly force the film to be much darker than its two predecessors. He’s an incredibly skilled fighter, especially with hand-held weapons, which could make for some awesome action scenes. And although he’s certainly villainous, his sympathetic backstory would create a connection with the audience that Malekith, the villain of Thor: The Dark World, sorely lacked. In fact, that’s one of the things that Marvel movies haven’t been that great at: creating memorable villains. Sure, we got Loki, but how many other villains really stick in your mind a week after seeing the movie?

Speaking of, Dormammu. Originally introduced as one of Dr. Strange’s first villains, Dormammu is described as something worse than a demon, a mystical interdimensional force so powerful that he’s capable of almost anything. Dr. Strange himself has said that Dormammu is his most terrible foe. If he was to be introduced in the movies, he would be the perfect introductory villain to Dr. Strange and a villain, much like Loki, who could be kept around for more than just one movie. Besides the fact that Dormammu has fought, at one point or another, both the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, he also has direct connections with Loki and the Red Skull. If he were to be introduced in the MCU, I think it would be a good idea to merge his character with another one of Marvel’s demons, Mephisto. Mephisto is probably most well-known for wiping two decades of Spider-Man continuity out of existence, but he also played a hand in the mental breakdown of one of the MCU upcoming characters, the Scarlet Witch. When Mephisto’s soul was broken into shards, two of the pieces were used to create the twin sons of the Scarlet Witch and Vision, Thomas and William. However, eventually Mephisto reforged his soul, blinking the boys out of existence. This traumatic event would eventually lead to the Scarlet Witch murdering several members of the Avengers and all but exterminating mutant-kind. So, by combining Dormammu and Mephisto, you basically get twice as many stories for the price of one. And the Scarlet Witch melting down over her lost children is just rife^[sic] for cinematic portrayal.

And speaking of the Scarlet Witch’s sons, the Young Avengers. First introduced in 2005, the Young Avengers are a group of teenage superheroes who band together to take up the Avengers mantle after the older Avengers disbanded following the Scarlet Witch’s mental breakdown. The original core group is made up of the time-traveling Iron Lad, Patriot, Stature, who is the daughter of the soon-to-be-introduced Ant-Man, a female fan of Hawkeye who takes over his name after his death, Vision, the shapeshifter Hulkling, the magic user Wiccan, and the speedster so aptly named Speed. Later on, the group would welcome new members, including a younger version of Loki. The dynamic of the team is great and could make for some great back-and-forths on screen. It would also introduce the first gay characters in the MCU, with Wiccan and Hulkling being one of the most popular couples in all of Marvel comics. Besides that, the characters of Wiccan and Speed are twin brothers separated at birth and are eventually revealed to be William and Thomas, the assumed-dead children of the Scarlet Witch. This would be a great team to introduce in order to add some sorely lacking diversity to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and could play easily into any phase of the MCU that might follow an adaptation of the Scarlet Witch’s meltdown or the disbanding of the official Avengers.

And finally, Marvel Man, or Miracle Man, depending upon who you ask. Originally created in 1954 by Mick Anglo, revived in 1982 by comics legend Alan Moore, and most recently written by comics legend Neil Gaiman, Marvel Man was in copyright hell for a good many years, with the ownership of the character being disputed in the courts for decades. But recently, the character has become the property of Marvel Comics, with the writing duties being continued by Neil Gaiman. The story goes that Marvel Man started out as a young reporter named Micky Moran, who gets trapped during a terrorist raid on a nuclear power plant and gains the powers of flight, strength, and invulnerability due to the effects of the radiation. Basically, think of him as a much darker version of Superman. Now, I don’t have time to go into a really detailed backstory for Marvel Man —

[text on screen]: It Gets Pretty Complicated

— but most of the back issues are now available in reprints, as well as in the Marvel app, so I’d say, check them out. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Okay, so that’s all for today. What do you guys think of my list? Leave some comments down below and let me know what characters you would love to see join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Don’t forget to like and subscribe; there’s a whole lot more where this came from.