Speculation about the MCU’s multiverse has been running rampant among the Marvel fan base since it was confirmed that Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock and Jamie Foxx’s Electro would appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home. That speculation has only escalated following the mid-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, in which Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock was seemingly whisked out of his own universe and into the mainline MCU.
Kevin Feige could be planning to use the multiverse to bring a bunch of previous on-screen incarnations of Marvel characters into the MCU.
Willem Dafoe As Norman Osborn
The return of Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin has already been teased in the wild No Way Home trailer with the tossing of a pumpkin bomb paired with the sinister sound of Dafoe’s distinctive maniacal laugh. Norman Osborn might even be responsible for some of the MCU’s multiversal madness – he’s something of a scientist himself.
Norman died in Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man movie, but when it comes to superhero stories, no character is ever really dead. He continued to haunt his son Harry in visions, so Dafoe could come back without resurrecting his character.
Hugh Jackman As Wolverine
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine got the perfect send-off in 2017’s Logan. Set in a dystopian near-future, Logan saw Wolvie at the end of his road, reluctantly returning to superheroics for one final stand to save the next generation of mutants from being experimented on.
But despite that, Jackman’s Wolverine still needs to team up with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. Doing so in the MCU’s multiverse wouldn’t undo the bittersweet finality of Logan, because he would just be a variant of that Wolverine existing on some alternate timeline.
Wesley Snipes As Blade
The MCU is about to get its own version of vampire-slaying Blade, courtesy of the great Mahershala Ali, but when Ali was cast, there was some discussion about whether Marvel should’ve kept Wesley Snipes in the role. Blade was a pretty uninteresting character in the pre-movie comics. Everything fans love about him – namely his quippy one-liners – was conceived by Snipes for the film adaptation.
Ali will surely make a great Blade, based on his Oscar-winning turns in Moonlight and Green Book and how cool he looked in sunglasses in Alita: Battle Angel, but it would still be fun to see Snipes as an MCU variant of the character.
Emma Stone As Gwen Stacy
While some fans objected to the Spider-stalking in The Amazing Spider-Man movies, Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy was well-received. After Kirsten Dunst’s two-timing Mary Jane Watson divided fans, Stone brought real warmth to the role of Gwen in the reboot.
In the MCU, Stone would make a great live-action Spider-Gwen to complement the animated version voiced by Hailee Steinfeld in the Spider-Verse franchise.
Nicolas Cage As Ghost Rider
Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider movies weren’t particularly well-received by fans, but Cage’s zany acting style was perfect for the role of a motorcycle stuntman who’s bonded with the spirit of the Devil.
With his performances in wild, experimental movies like Pig, Mandy, and Color Out of Space, Cage is enjoying a career renaissance right now. Marvel fans would love to see his Ghost Rider reappear in some multiversal capacity.
Chris Evans As The Human Torch
Before leading the MCU’s Avengers as Captain America, Chris Evans played the Human Torch in Fox’s first attempt at a Fantastic Four movie franchise. When the MCU eventually introduces its own Fantastic Four, probably via the multiverse, the other versions might make a brief appearance.
This would be a surprising way to bring Evans back into the MCU without tarnishing the legacy of his performance as Steve Rogers – and a fun nod to his previous Marvel superhero role.
Halle Berry As Storm
With Marvel Studios reacquiring the rights to the X-Men characters, there’s about to be a rebooted version of Storm. But whoever Kevin Feige and Sarah Finn choose to play the next incarnation of Storm, they’ve got some pretty big boots to fill left behind by Halle Berry.
Berry’s turn in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum proved she still has the ability to play a badass action hero. She could reprise her role as Storm in the MCU, thanks to the multiverse.
Thomas Jane As The Punisher
The MCU’s Punisher, played to brutal perfection by Jon Bernthal, is now the most iconic and faithful on-screen portrayal of Frank Castle. But Bernthal isn’t the first actor to take on this role. He was previously played by Dolph Lundgren, Ray Stevenson, and Thomas Jane.
The Jane version is arguably the most beloved. His movie, as with all the others, was panned by critics, but Jane’s performance was praised for lining up with the film’s pulpy Don Siegel-esque revenge thriller tone.
Dafne Keen As X-23
In addition to giving Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine the perfect ending, Logan gave an awesome origin story to an intriguing new character: his long-lost cloned daughter X-23, also known as Laura, played by Dafne Keen.
As a tween version of Wolverine in an R-rated world, Laura got a spectacular introduction in Logan. A spin-off was announced to be in development, but the Disney-Fox merger cast doubt on the spin-off plans. This character is too great to only appear in one movie. The MCU should go through with this spin-off via the multiverse.
Tobey Maguire As Spider-Man
While the trailers have remained coy about it, Tobey Maguire’s Spidey is all but confirmed to appear alongside Tom Holland’s Spidey (and maybe also Andrew Garfield’s Spidey) in Spider-Man: No Way Home. As acclaimed and popular as Holland’s movies have been, Maguire’s Peter Parker is still widely regarded to be the definitive on-screen portrayal of Spider-Man.
With Sam Raimi directing the Doctor Strange sequel, he might’ve been able to play a hand in how the MCU will continue the story arcs from his Spider-Man trilogy.