Disney’s D23 Expo this year brought plenty of exciting announcements, from Pixar’s new movie about the soul to the revelation that Rey will turn to the Dark Side in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Marvel Studios was also in attendance to reveal their upcoming slate of series for the Mouse House’s new streaming platform, Disney+.
The streaming service will be used to bring lesser-known characters from the Marvel Comics universe into the MCU. These include Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk, and more are on the way. So, here are 10 Lesser-Known Marvel Characters Who Should Get Their Own Disney+ Series.
Lady Sif
Jaimie Alexander played Lady Sif in Thor’s solo trilogy, but the character was woefully underused. In the comics, she’s one of Asgard’s foremost badass warriors. Alexander is clearly still interested in playing the character, since she recently threw her hat in the ring to become Valkyrie’s new queen in Thor: Love and Thunder, so she’d almost certainly be up for a Disney+ series.
Such a series would be a chance to fix her MCU characterization (in other words, actually give her some stuff to do). It might have to be a prequel if it’s going to include Asgard, but it could also catch up with Sif as a lone wolf surviving as an Asgardian without a home.
Nova
Whether it was intentional or not, the MCU has set the stage perfectly for Nova to make his debut. (Let’s be honest, it was probably intentional – this is the MCU we’re talking about.) In the comics, Richard Rider became the superhero Nova when he was the last surviving member of the Nova Corps.
Guardians of the Galaxy introduced the Nova Corps as the protectors of Xandar, then Thanos destroyed Xandar off-screen in Avengers: Infinity War, likely wiping out most of the Nova Corps. Put two and two together and what you’ve got is the perfect prologue for a streaming series (or even a movie) revolving around Nova.
Ironheart
Robert Downey, Jr. has endorsed Ironheart as Iron Man’s replacement in the MCU. In the comics, Ironheart is the superhero alter ego of Riri Williams, a 15-year-old engineering student and wunderkind who broke into a university to design her own suit of armor and ended up getting support from Tony Stark himself.
The character was created by Brian Michael Bendis, but his initial storylines were criticized for being a white man’s inauthentic portrayal of a black teenage girl’s life. So, Marvel replaced Bendis with Eve Ewing, a black feminist sociologist and poet who has completely revitalized the character in recent years.
Adam Warlock
The appearance of Adam Warlock in the MCU has been teased since way back in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. In one of the movie’s many mid-credits scenes, the Sovereign created an artificial being named “Adam” to destroy the Guardians. There’s a good chance that Adam will appear as a villain in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but by the end of it, he might join the team, as he has in the comics.
Adam Warlock is such a powerful and interesting character that he’ll need some room to grow on his own, so if he leaves the Guardians at the end of their threequel to enjoy his own cosmic adventures, he should get a Disney+ series. Or, perhaps such a Disney+ series could even act as a precursor to Vol. 3 and revolve around Adam’s hunt for the Guardians, since Vol. 3 has been delayed.
X-23
It’s been reported that Marvel Studios is planning to reboot every single X-Men character apart from Deadpool, because he’s the only one left alive that fans like. But that’s not true. Fans also grew to love X-23, Wolverine’s vicious cloned daughter, played by Dafne Keen in 2017’s Logan.
Marvel should give X-23 a series on Disney+, a sort of coming-of-age story as she grows up with mutant powers in a world that marginalizes mutants, and they should keep Keen in the role if she’s interested, because she was brilliant in Logan and she’s one of today’s most promising young stars.
Captain Britain
Simon Pegg has already thrown his hat in the ring to play Captain Britain in the MCU. We’ll be getting a Captain Britain of sorts in the MCU via the animated anthology series What If...?, as one episode will explore a hypothetical scenario in which Steve Rogers wasn’t chosen to receive the super-soldier serum and it was given to Peggy Carter instead, but this won’t really count, because it’s just that: a hypothetical scenario.
It would be fun to see the real Captain Britain from the comics get a series on Disney+ (it could still be a female version, as long as the character gets an on-screen incarnation), especially now that Captain America is out.
The Thunderbolts
Starting with Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (who has taken on a large role in the MCU since Captain America: Civil War), the Thunderbolts emerged as a new superhero team in the wake of the Avengers’ absence before being shockingly revealed as a team of supervillains using false heroism as a front.
Later, the name was used by reformed supervillains who wanted to become heroes and redeem themselves for their past mistakes. With the Avengers being disbanded at the end of Endgame with the death of Tony Stark and the retirement of Steve Rogers, now could be the perfect time to introduce the Thunderbolts.
Hercules
Norse mythology isn’t the only branch of mythology that Marvel has plundered for characters and storylines. They also made a superhero character out of Hercules, and he’s even been an Avenger.
In the comics, Hercules has had a fun rivalry with Thor, which would be fun to see on the big screen after Odinson loses his title and Hercules has been ingratiated into the MCU. Hercules even has his own superhero team, the aptly named “the Olympians,” so the Disney+ series could explore how he assembles this team to take on a villain that he couldn’t handle on his own.
Namor
Namor might be best left for a villain role in the Black Panther sequel – it was certainly set up this way by the underwater earthquake mentioned by Okoye in Avengers: Endgame – but that wouldn’t do the character justice. He can be an enemy of Black Panther in the movies (since the two have an interesting dynamic as rivaling kings in the comics), but he’s still interesting enough to get his own standalone adventures in a Disney+ series.
Namor is essentially Marvel’s Aquaman and his appearance in the MCU has been teased since Iron Man 2, when Atlantis appeared on a S.H.I.E.L.D. map next to Wakanda.
Squirrel Girl
It seems like a no-brainer for Squirrel Girl to appear in the MCU. She’s a fan-favorite character who’s also absurdly powerful. Grown out of writer Will Murray’s desire to create a lighthearted superhero story to counteract Marvel’s heavier dramatic stories of the time, Doreen Green has the power to communicate with squirrels, as well as the claws, tail, and heightened sense of one.
Although these abilities might not seem like they’d make her a formidable threat, she’s actually used it to defeat some of the most ominous supervillains in the Marvel universe. She might not fit into the movies, but she’d be perfect for a half-hour comedy on Disney+.