With the arrival of Daredevil, Netflix and Marvel officially kicked off the beginning of what is already looking to be an insanely successful partnership. The shows, unrestricted from normal broadcast television rules, should offer a darker and more adult side to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which was already proven to work very well in Daredevil. Marvel has such a deep well of characters to feature that they can really go in tons of different directions with the types of content they want to release. Whether it’s the movies, Agent Carter, the Netflix shows, or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., each Marvel property finds a way to incorporate a major character or event into the story, and with the rumors for their future plans for “Phase Two” of Netflix shows, they could be bringing some fan favorites to the screen sooner than you’d think.
The current lineup of Netflix shows features Daredevil, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and The Immortal Iron Fist. We knew that these four heroes would band together at some point to form The Defenders, a street-level Avengers-like team who deal with the smaller threats that impact New York City; however, we never had a sense of when these shows would merge. An article was released on Heroic Hollywood the other day that revealed the future plans for Marvel’s television portion of the universe, and it seems The Defenders won’t come out until 2017, but that’s perfectly okay.
With the surprising success of Daredevil, Marvel is definitely taking notice of the gold they have struck on Netflix. The plan is to roll out two to three Netflix shows each year, and hopefully see similar success between all of them. Kevin Feige also mentioned that going forward there will be much more crossover between the Netflix shows, and the only reason we didn’t get them in Daredevil is because nobody else was cast yet. As mentioned earlier, the Netflix platform is an extremely ideal space for Marvel to utilize for highlighting some characters equally as iconic as Iron Man and Thor, but who might not be big enough to draw people into movie theaters. Daredevil made it crystal clear that Elektra would be showing up in Season 2, which Kevin Feige officially confirmed, as well as mentioning that the company is looking into having Punisher, Blade, and Ghost Rider also pop up on the small screen.
I think Marvel is planning to set up another round of heroes who form a team. I think the Thunderbolts are coming.
The Thunderbolts are the Marvel equivalent of DC’s Suicide Squad: a group of villains brought together to act as heroes when a mission that has no room for morals needs to be taken care of. In the past, the Thunderbolts have featured tons of different heroes and villains who fit the circumstances of the story, but more recently, Marvel has been seeing some success with an updated roster that features some popular characters. The current Thunderbolts lineup consists of Thaddeus Ross a.k.a. Red Hulk, Punisher, Elektra, Deadpool, Agent Venom, Red Leader, and, more recently, Ghost Rider.
Can you already tell where I’m going with this?
As I said above, Feige confirmed Elektra will definitely come into Daredevil in Season 2, along with two other Thunderbolts members possibly popping up in future Netflix shows. When I initially read this information, the idea of the Thunderbolts definitely jumped into my mind; however, it wasn’t until more rumors came out yesterday that have me fully believing Marvel is going to make a Thunderbolts show. It’s been reported that William Hurt will be reprising his role of General Thaddeus Ross for next year’s Captain America: Civil War. However, there are now new rumors going around that Ross will not only be in Civil War, but also fully transform into Red Hulk, his alter-ego. In the comics, Ross successfully mimics the process Bruce Banner accidentally stumbles upon, but turns into a red version of the Hulk that eventually becomes controllable down the line.
Put everything together, and you essentially have the core of The Thunderbolts just about confirmed. I think Marvel plans on re-introducing Thunderbolt Ross and that he is the Red Hulk through Civil War in set up the Thunderbolts. Next, Marvel will use Netflix to introduce Elektra, Punisher, Ghost Rider, and Blade so we get used to these darker anti-heroes, utilizing Netflix “Phase Two” to give them their own individual shows. After this, it all comes together to form a Thunderbolts series, similar to The Defenders. Maybe have Ross pop up in some finale after credit scenes making mention of a team he’s forming similar to what Fury did to set up The Avengers. Marvel could also include Red Leader a.k.a. Samuel Sterns, who was also in The Incredible Hulk, and could just as easily be resurrected for this project, or even decide to include Crossbones, who is a past member in the comics and will be a main villain for Civil War.
The story for The Thunderbolts would work perfectly in an episodic television format. The plot of the modern Thunderbolts comic is that General Ross forms the team to go around fixing the mistakes he made throughout the years. This eventually turns into rotating and doing a mission of each member’s choice. Marvel could adapt this idea and have the basis of the show be a mission each episode or two that would provide interesting stories, as well as background and depth to each character when we learn why they chose their specific mission.
Either way, Marvel has plenty of cool characters at their disposal, and their cinematic universe is so well organized that they could introduce them through many different outlets. While the news about Red Hulk is far from confirmed, it’s an extremely plausible idea that I would love to see happen, Thunderbolts series or not. The Thunderbolts are a unique team that have been a lot of fun to follow since the most recent comic series has started. Adapting this classic group into a Netflix show is a great opportunity for Marvel to succeed on multiple levels. They would give fans more characters they want to see, a story they would love, and another way to bolster their already impressive universe.
Along with my theory crafting, I obviously took the time to quickly throw together a list of actors I think should play each character. I didn’t include Elektra because they are already screen testing for her and have people in mind for the role.
Punisher
– Tom Hardy: People have been calling for this to happen for a while, and there are even photoshopped pictures of Hardy as Punisher out there. I’d be down for it.
– Joel Edgerton: He just has that grit and style I feel could fit the Punisher really well. I’ve liked him in his other projects and think he would be a nice fit.
– Jensen Ackles: It’s great that Supernatural is still going, but I really want to see Ackles move onto something else because he’s such a talented actor. He’s old enough now to be more believable as a husband and father whose entire family was murdered, and he could probably do really well with this role (although part of me also wants him to play Richard Rider a.k.a. Nova).
Blade
– John Boyega: Alright, I’ll admit that I’m a John Boyega fanboy. I think he is a tremendous actor and feel like both Blade and Ghost Rider are two characters that should be rebooted with younger actors. Boyega has talent and would be an amazing Blade.
– Tyler James Williams: He’s a solid actor who I think could show a new side to his talent with this role.
– Dayo Okeniyi: You might recognize Okeniyi from The Hunger Games or The Spectacular Now. I think he’s a great side character in The Spectacular Now, despite only being in a handful of scenes. He’s a well-built guy and a relatively unknown actor that would be perfect for Marvel.
Ghost Rider
– Tom Hardy: Again? I know, but I think he could be just as good of a Ghost Rider as he would be Punisher. I just don’t know what role I would prefer him in.
– Garrett Hedlund: It’s sad to see that Disney is abandoning Tron 3, but this is the perfect opportunity for Marvel to scoop up this terrific actor, who would fit the Ghost Rider role perfeclty.
– Aaron Paul: I’ve seen Paul’s name tossed around for Ghost Rider already, and I definitely agree with it. Paul was phenomenal in Breaking Bad, and since the series ended, he hasn’t been in as many projects as you would have thought. He would be an amazing Johnny Blaze, and I would love to see Paul take on the role of a superhero.
Nothing is confirmed, and we probably won’t find out for a couple of years. But I’m fairly positive that The Thunderbolts are coming, and I, for one, can’t wait.
What do you think about a possible Thunderbolts Netflix series? Would you watch new shows about these Marvel characters? Comment below and let us know.
[Photo via Marvel]
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