I know I can’t be the only guy that wants Johnny Depp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In my opinion, he’s one of the greatest actors ever. Unfortunately, however, he hasn’t been in any hit movies in quite a while. If there’s one thing that can put him back on the map, it would be becoming a part of the MCU. He’s pretty much a household name and immensely talented, very much so that he’s capable of playing all kinds of characters. From the extremely bizarre, to the very intimidating, and even the most comedic of characters, the man sure has range. It’s because of that range that I’m having a hard time deciding on which Marvel character he can play. It was tough, but I’ve narrowed it down to the five best characters I believe are best suited for him.
Here we go fans of Johnny Depp and the MCU. Spoiler alert: No Wolverine.
5. Beast
If you think this is an odd choice, just hear me out. Beast of the X-Men is tough as nails, but he’s also one of the greatest minds Marvel has. He’s a genius-level scientist, a teacher, and a colossal bookworm. If you’re used to Johnny Depp playing a particular swashbuckling pirate, you haven’t seen all of what he can do. He’s perfectly capable of playing a compassionate and intelligent Hank McCoy that would serve as a perfect mentor figure for the younger and even older X-Men. The best performance I can point to for an example would be J.M. Barrie from Finding Neverland. He’s great with children, makes them laugh, mentors them, and loves his books. If that doesn’t scream Hank McCoy, I don’t know what does.
4. Arcade
Now let’s take a bit of a turn to the dark side. While Johnny Depp can play a great good guy, he can very well play a diabolical bad guy. One particularly underrated Marvel villain I think would suit him well is Arcade. Think of him as Jigsaw meets The Joker. He’s a serial killer who captures his victims and when they wake up, they’re forced to endure the horrors of Murderworld. Think of it as a carnival filled with death traps, including a giant pin ball machine with a large, spiked ball. Arcade instructs them on what to do, then gladly watches them fail and die. Yeah, this guy’s quite the nut job.
If you’re a Johnny Depp fan, you already know he can play a character like that. In all honesty, I think of Arcade and think of Depp’s portrayal of Willy Wonka. Come on, seriously, who else didn’t think his version was super creepy? Just think about how he invites children to his factory… and then basically tortures them. I wouldn’t be surprised, but the point is that Depp can certainly pull off a creepy and over-the-top villain like Arcade. All he has to do is add a little more of a sadistic psycho vibe to it and he’s good to go. Yeah, he can totally pull it off.
3. Silvermane
Okay, how about another villain, but a less crazy one? The one I have in mind is Silvio Manfredi, aka Silvermane. Firstly, he’s a gangster, and when has Johnny Depp not killed it as a gangster? When he was Whitey Bulger, he was unpredictable and psychotic, not to mention his best performance in years. Even when he was Donnie Brasco, he was actually undercover, but still played a convincing gangster. This is precisely why he would be perfect for Silvermane. Yes, he’s supposed to be a very old man, but then again, Depp is no stranger to heavy make-up. Just make him look like an eighty-year-old man, and he’ll play him as the vile and ambitious gangster. The coolest part about it is him wanting to be young again, so he becomes a cyborg and fights Spider-Man. Johnny Depp vs. Spider-Man? I’ll take it.
2. Kang the Conquerer
If Marvel is looking for their next big villain to top Thanos, they need to think about what they did in Endgame. The Avengers defeated Thanos through the use of time travel. Remember when Tony Stark told everyone when you mess with time, it tends to mess back? Well, the best Marvel villain that’s associated with time travel is Kang the Conquerer. When he’s around, the whole time travel thing gets really, really weird. Then again, I think Johnny Depp can tackle that kind of weird. Kang has been pretty much everywhere throughout history, including ancient Egypt. He’s a self-proclaimed scholar, has access to very advanced technology, and believes he can bring peace to the universe. Sound like Thanos? Very much so, except Kang is more intelligent-based. With Depp’s experience of playing intelligent and also diabolical characters, I believe he would crush it as Kang.
1. Corsair
Time to go back to the more heroic characters. If you want Johnny Depp to play a Marvel character that closely resembles the famous Captain Jack Sparrow, look no further. The character known as Corsair is many things, including the father of the X-Man, Cyclops. Oh, and he’s also a space pirate who leads a crew called the Starjammers. As far as his powers go, he really doesn’t have any, but he does use alien technology, including a saber-like Shi’ar blade and twin blasters on his gauntlets. What else do you need to hear?
Let’s be real, we might not see Captain Jack in a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel, but if we can see anything close to him, it will be in the form of Corsair. If Johnny Depp can give us the most memorable movie pirate of all time, he can become a space pirate for the MCU. Not only would he be fun to watch, but he can also expand the MCU’s intergalactic boundaries. Corsair has faced the Shi’ar Empire, the Brood, and the Kree. This makes him the kind of hero that gets around a lot and he can interact with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel. Eventually, he’ll have to interact with the X-Men, including his son, Cyclops. This will give Marvel the chance to do the special father/son relationship the right way. Kind of like Star-Lord and Ego, except their relationship actually works out.
But seriously, if Marvel wants Johnny Depp to play a hero, they need to go with Corsair. You will always remember the day you almost caught Major Christopher Summers.
Final Thoughts
What say you, fans of Johnny Depp? Which Marvel character do you think suits him best? No matter who he plays, I’ll just be happy he’s a part of the MCU.
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