Anna Daniels
Marvel comic books are kind of a holy grail when it comes to supporters of the MCU. Without comics as a major source, the MCU wouldn’t be what it is, other than a few exceptions in going their own way. If they’ve obviously had to make some changes so outcomes aren’t easily predicted, they aren’t crazy about creating their own characters.
Some fans have expressed interest in the MCU creating an original villain. Marvel probably never will for a very good reason.
Those only casual to the original Marvel comic books may not realize how vast their rogue’s gallery is. Not that Marvel wouldn’t take one of those villains and elaborate on them for the sake of the times.
Fans have plenty of opinions about that on social media.
Most fans agree Marvel won’t ever need to create an original villain
With over 60 years of villainy at Marvel comics, the list of characters the MCU can dip into is already vast. More than half of the list hasn’t even been dipped into yet in the movies.
On places like Reddit, discussions are prevalent about which villain will be brought to the big screen next. Some of the most popular evils include The Mandarin, Kang the Conqueror, and Red Hulk as just three examples.
These characters and more have complex backgrounds and appearances, with maybe a few being a bit too ridiculous to adapt to a movie edition. Then again, Marvel does a good job of sometimes taking villains who look a little over the top from the comic books and making them fit into the MCU in a cool way.
As an example, Mysterio’s outfit in the comics looked a tad cheesy. In Spider-Man: Far From Home, a more modern design of the suit looked compelling, not including a perfect performance by Jake Gyllenhaal.
Some fans point out a few minor characters are originals
Characters like Trevor Slattery, Alexander Pierce, and even Hela are known for being sideline original characters. Creating a new villain, though, is a lot more complicated as fans on Reddit recently noted.
Sometimes it’s a mix of prior comic book characters as done with Hela above. A comment from one Reddit user noted Hela was an amalgam of a similar comic book character and Angela.
How deep Marvel will dip into the villain pool is another thing. Based on the combinations trend, some might be meshed into something more original. In some cases, they may even be revealed if hidden behind a mask.
One example of this will be Taskmaster, someone who’s usually ranked first for being one of the most in-demand villains. Black Widow is finally going to reveal the character, maybe in more than one way.
How much different will Taskmaster be to a point of being an original villain?
Based on the trailer of Black Widow, Taskmaster’s suit will adhere close to the comic book edition. Part of this means a skull-like mask, which completely hid his identity.
In the comics, it was revealed Taskmaster was Tony (Anthony) Masters who has the uncanny ability to mimic anything he sees. This mimicking aspect will stay the same in Black Widow. Yet, it’s expected Taskmaster will possibly be a Russian figure from the Red Room where Natasha Romanoff and her fellow Black Widows were trained.
Theories are Taskmaster is maybe one of the Black Widows in disguise, if not ultimately Rick Mason, a former member of SHIELD and past lover of Natasha.
It’s routes like this Marvel will probably go in to keep their litany of villains fresh and in tune to the times. Whether they’ll ever bring in one of the biggest villains of all (Mephisto) will be when MCU decides to fearlessly bring a bit of biblical metaphor to the fore.
Written by: Cheat
