Marvel Debuts New Darkhold Defenders: Who Would Be The MCU Version

Marvel Comics has introduced a new superhero team called the "Darkhold Defenders" - but who would their MCU equivalents be? Darkhold Alpha #1, by Steve Orlando and Cian Tormey, was one of the most eagerly-anticipated comics of the year. It revealed the ancient secrets of the Darkhold, a forbidden book of dark magic created by the Elder God Chthon before he was banished to another dimension. Every time the Darkhold is read, it weakens the very fabric of reality itself, threatening to allow Chthon to return. Now Doctor Doom has discovered the original Darkhold, inscribed upon the skin of one of Chthon's Elder God siblings, and the madness of an Elder God looks set to consume the Earth.

Fortunately, Scarlet Witch is the one person able to read the Darkhold without being driven insane, and she's discovered how Chthon was cast back from this plane of existence when he last came close to conquering it. He was bested by a group of chalcolithic heroes, the Darkhold Defenders, each of whom were assigned a specific role; the Dreamer, the Hunter, the Stoic, the Fool, and the Artist. Together, these five beings pushed Chthon back to his own dimension, although they seem to have been stranded there as a result. Seeking to defeat Chthon once again, Scarlet Witch has assembled a new team of Darkhold Defenders, summoning superheroes to take on those archetypal roles. Unfortunately she seems to have forgotten a basic principle of the Darkhold's countless spells. Chthon predicted the rise of powerful magical beings who would oppose him, and so he included accounts of them in the Darkhold because he knew to name a thing is to gain power over it. As a result, the Darkhold Defenders are themselves vulnerable to Chthon's influence.

This is sure to be a fantastic epic, but it raises an intriguing question; what would the Darkhold Defenders look like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? WandaVision saw Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch acquire the MCU's version of the Darkhold, after all, and she's also tapping into the power of Chaos Magic, which likewise has its roots in Chthon. Consequently, it's not inconceivable that this archetypal superhero team could be required in the MCU too. So who would fill each role?

The Dreamer - Sam Wilson's Captain America

Captain America in his new costume in TFATWS

In the comics, the Dreamer is Iron Man, which makes sense given he's a futurist who intuits the technological needs of society and makes his fortune meeting them. The MCU is currently short of futurists after Iron Man's death in Avengers: Endgame, although that's sure to only be a temporary problem given the young superhero Ironheart is due to make her MCU debut soon.

Still, that means right now the best candidate for the Dreamer is Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, who fights for a better tomorrow. Sam is well aware of the problems of the past, most notably in terms of racial inequality, and in taking up the shield of Captain America he's become a symbol of the world as it could be. He's the superhero inheritor of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream," which makes him the perfect Dreamer.

The Hunter - Hawkeye

Hawkeye standing in the rain in Avengers: Endgame

Blade was a pretty obvious choice to fill the Hunter role in the comics, but of course he's yet to appear in the MCU, although Mahershala Ali has indeed been cast as the MCU's Vampire Hunter. In the absence of the likes of Blade and Wolverine, the MCU doesn't really have many "Hunters" per se, although ex-assassins like Yelena Belova's Black Widow and the Winter Soldier would probably be a good fit.

Still, the best Hunter is actually Hawkeye, because in the wake of Avengers: Endgame he adopted the identity of Ronin and began scouring the globe hunting those he believed unworthy to have survived Thanos' snap. A "Hunter" is best seen as something of a lone wolf, a predator who operates independently, and both Black Widow and the Winter Soldier had an entire network supporting them, whereas Hawkeye worked alone and so fits the bill. Clint Barton may have put his time as Ronin behind him after the Blip, but the recently-released Hawkeye trailer proves he's still haunted by it.

The Stoic - Drax

A person who is "stoic" is someone who is more emotionally reserved, and Drax the Destroyer would work well in this role. Although his time with the Guardians of the Galaxy has mellowed him, Drax still struggles with emotions, particularly when those around him use metaphors - which his race simply cannot understand. Drax has been relatively underdeveloped in the MCU to date, much to Dave Bautista's disappointment, and a role in the Darkhold Defenders would be a chance for him to step up.

The Fool - Ant-Man

Ant-Man in the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp

The Fool in the comics is Spider-Man, but let's face it; the MCU version can only be Ant-Man. Scott Lang is not to be underestimated; he successfully took down Falcon when he was just a rookie, he slowed down an entire Avengers team when he became Giant-Man in Captain America: Civil War, and he was also the one to come up with the idea of using time travel to undo Thanos' victory. But there's undeniably something quite charmingly foolish about Scott, the ex-con who blunders into situations without a second thought, often makes mistakes with his Ant-Man technology, and is amusingly good at making the wrong call.

The Artist - Phastos

Marvel Comics probably had a lot of choices for the role of the Artist. In the comics, Steve Rogers is a talented painter who likes to relax with his paintbrush and a canvas, while a number of female superheroes have been fashion designers; that's probably why the comics settled on the Wasp, who runs her own fashion line loosely inspired by the Avengers. But the MCU doesn't really have a perfect fit for an Artist, a creator who weaves things together. The best fit comes from the Eternals, who will enter the MCU in November; Phastos is an inventor whose Celestial-derived power appears to be the ability to create anything he can imagine, making him one of the most fundamentally creative characters in the MCU to date.

The Darkhold Defenders may be a recent addition to Marvel comics, but if an analog team is ever needed in the MCU, the pieces are all there.

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