Although many MCU characters show up more than once, not every hero and villain gets
a comeback — despite what the actors involved might want. But that doesn't
stop them from dreaming. These are the actors who desperately want to return to the MCU.
The second season of Netflix's Daredevil introduced one of the vigilante hero's
greatest supporting characters: Elektra, played by Elodie Yung. She next appeared in The Defenders,
serving as an antagonist to Daredevil and his reluctant teammates Luke Cage,
Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones. While Elektra's latter appearance ended in her apparent demise,
anyone familiar with the character will know that death rarely puts an end to her adventures.
At the Wizard World Virtual Experiences 2020's Marvel Actors Panel, Yung expressed
enthusiasm at the prospect of reprising her role. She said:
"Let me tell you, I love this character because she's so
complex and broken [...] She's got a lot of villain in her [...] and also a lot of good."
Yung also shared how much she liked working without
knowing where her character arc would end up.
"Marvel [Television], in my experience, are very secretive. So from the moment
you start auditioning until the end of a series, you never know where it's going."
Sadly, Yung couldn't say for certain whether Daredevil's
former flame would formally debut in the MCU anytime soon.
Before the deal between Sony and Marvel made it possible for Spider-Man to become
Iron Man's protege, there was Harley Keener. Keener was the promising young inventor who
helped Tony Stark get through his struggles with trauma during the events of Iron Man 3.
"I'm cold."
"I can tell. You know how I can tell? Because we're connected"
However, it took six years for the character to make another appearance in the MCU — and
a rather unexpected one, at that. He showed up at Tony's funeral in Avengers: Endgame,
surprising many audiences who didn't immediately recognize the teenaged Keener.
In an interview with IGN, Simpkins mentioned how
thrilled he was at the prospect of reprising his role. He said:
"When they gave me the call that I was going to do it, I was freaking out and screaming in the car."
Simpkins also explained that, at the time, his return wasn't set in stone yet, so he refrained
from telling anyone about it for fear of things going sideways. Of course, Tony Stark's heroic
sacrifice left a huge hole in the MCU — one that Simpkins is more than willing to fill. When asked
about the possibility of Keener donning one of Tony's suits and continuing Iron Man's legacy,
Simpkins exclaimed that he was 100% on board. Interestingly, the time-traveling Young Avenger
Iron Lad was also mentioned as an option; one that Simpkins said he would do "without a doubt."
You'd be forgiven for thinking that Sterling K. Brown's participation in
the MCU was a one-and-done deal. After all, his role in Black Panther was a brief one,
regardless of its significance to the plot. Brown played the role of Prince N'Jobu,
the father of Erik Killmonger and uncle of T'Challa. In his desire to extend aid
to marginalized people outside of the African nation of Wakanda, N'Jobu works with Ulysses
Klaue to smuggle out its most precious resource, the unique metal called vibranium. N'Jobu is
then killed after making an attempt on Zuri's life. As such, barring any further flashback
sequences in future Black Panther movies, it seems unlikely that N'Jobu will ever return.
However, Brown isn't averse to the idea of reprising his role in the MCU. When
fans asked about the chances of him showing up in a future Marvel movie,
the actor tweeted that he's open to returning as N'Jobu, saying:
"If there's a way, I would be honored #WakandaForever."
In the MCU, Josh Brolin lent his acting skills and imposing frame to the intergalactic tyrant,
Thanos. By bringing the character to life across multiple films,
Brolin cemented his place in MCU history as one of its most significant players. However,
Brolin played another fan favorite Marvel character outside the MCU:
the time-traveling mutant called Cable in Deadpool 2. Since it's a 20th Century Fox
film, Deadpool 2 initially existed outside the boundaries of Marvel's mainstream MCU continuity.
Thanks to Disney's acquisition of Fox and the MCU's ongoing exploration of the multiverse,
however, it now appears that pretty much anything can happen. And if comics creator Rob Liefeld is
to be believed, Brolin would be delighted to get another shot at portraying the mutant gunslinger.
ComicBook.com quoted Liefeld as saying that Brolin was "itching to be Cable again," saying:
"He told me he understands how beloved his role as Thanos is,
but he doesn't look completely like Josh Brolin."
Meanwhile, Brolin himself has revealed in interviews that Cable's appearance in
Deadpool 2 was only supposed to be the start of the character's journey. Brolin told Ace Universe:
"I don't know what Marvel has in store, but it turned out to be one really fun movie for me."
The MCU's version of the Red Guardian turned out to be significantly different from his
mainstream comic book counterpart. But David Harbour, who brought the character
to life in 2021's Black Widow, didn't seem to mind. In fact, as he later told Insider,
he considers the role to be "one of the biggest gigs" of his life.
And he's certainly willing to reprise it, should Marvel ask him to come back. Harbour simply said:
"I'm down for more."
Harbour even suggested two ideas for Red Guardian's next on-screen adventure.
In one scenario, audiences could get a glimpse of Russia's own supersoldier through a number of
scenes depicting the Red Guardian in his prime. Harbour's other idea for Red Guardian's return
features him going down the same road Yelena did at the end of the film. Harbour said:
"When he finds out that [Natasha] was on that cliff with Hawkeye and
maybe the version of the story he hears is that Hawkeye pushed her off or something,
it's a moment when Red Guardian turns back to the guy he was. He now wants vengeance for her."
One of the most shocking twists in Black Widow involved an alternative take on a classic Marvel
villain. Whereas the Taskmaster from the comics is a highly skilled ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. operative
named Tony Masters, the MCU version of the acrobatic antagonist is Antonia
Dreykov — the mind-controlled daughter of the Red Room's overseer, General Dreykov.
The conclusion of the 2021 film saw Dreykov being set free from her father's grip after
spending years as his mind-controlled assassin. With this new development for the character,
Olga Kurylenko believes that there's more than enough story potential to earn Taskmaster a
spot on the MCU's roster of recurring stars. In an interview with Slashfilm,
Kurylenko shared a few ideas about where the character could go next. She said:
"It's always a danger to keep away from being possessed and concentrate on keeping her freedom.
But it doesn't mean that she'll succeed at it. And
there's always bad forces that will try to capture her, I would imagine."
Kurylenko added that she'd be more than happy to reprise her role,
as she believes that Taskmaster is "too valuable and too skillful [for
Marvel Studios] to let go." She expressed the same sentiment in an Esquire interview too,
but clarified that it's up to Marvel to decide if she is to get another chance in the spotlight.
In past interviews, Crossbones actor Frank Grillo
hasn't been shy about speaking his mind regarding Marvel's handling of his character
in MCU films. During a 2021 appearance on the Lights Camera Barstool podcast, for instance,
Grillo shared why he was initially hesitant to reprise his role in Avengers: Endgame, saying:
"I was a little pissed off about it, 'cos I signed a seven picture deal with them,
and it was like 'oh, you're gonna be part of the Marvel universe, right?' And it didn't happen."
However, Grillo has been equally candid about how much he'd like to play Brock Rumlow again,
whether on the silver screen or on a Disney+ show. In an interview with Forbes, he said:
"I would love to do [a Crossbones series] just because I have never seen a character
be on the screen so little and yet have such a fan following. [...] I have a
great relationship with Marvel and the guys there,
but why didn't they [...] pursue that? Why isn't Crossbones somewhere in the mix?"
Grillo returned to voice Crossbones for the Disney+ series What If...? — but
by his own admission, he'd be just as eager to suit up himself. As he said:
"Oh yeah. I often say 'When Marvel calls, I pick up the phone.'"
The connection between the Netflix Marvel shows and the MCU has always been tenuous at best,
with Netflix's series only occasionally referencing certain events from the films
and the MCU movies completely ignoring the TV shows. Still, that hasn't stopped Marvel
fans from hoping that the likes of Daredevil and Jessica Jones could somehow be folded into the MCU
canon — mainly because of the masterful way in which those characters were handled.
For example, Vincent D'Onofrio's performance as the iconic villain Kingpin made fans so
happy that calls for him to reprise his role in the MCU never seem to end. Based on an
interview with Screen Rant, the actor himself is just as keen on the prospect of returning.
After being asked about his rumored return in the upcoming Hawkeye series on Disney+,
D'Onofrio said that he "so badly" wants to breathe life into Fisk's character again,
should Marvel Studios ever grant him another opportunity. He continued:
"I just have to wait for Marvel to ask me. I think it's very clear that I would,
and the fans know that I would jump at the chance to play again. I just need to be asked."
Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige have been characteristically tight-lipped about the
status of the Netflix Marvel shows. Whenever the question of reviving Netflix's hit shows crops up,
Feige's answers tend to be much like the one he gave in a Deadline interview, when he said:
"I've been at Marvel long enough to never say never about anything."
That said, if it were up to Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter, her character at least would
be making her MCU debut, as she has claimed that she'd "absolutely just die" to play the
tough-as-nails private eye in an unquestionably canonical Marvel Studios production.
In an interview with Screen Rant, Ritter claimed that Jessica Jones really struck a
chord with female audiences, particularly those who had survived abuse. She said:
"Not only because it was [...] a great role and she's such a bad-ass,
but that character has really resonated with people in a way that I don't know who else has."
Ritter added that she would jump at the chance to step into Jessica's shoes again,
should Marvel call on her to do so. Luckily for her,
rumors have since surfaced that Ritter might show up as Jones on the Disney+ She-Hulk
series — so fans might just see the ill-mannered investigator return sometime in the near future.
Judging from the number of times Daredevil star Charlie Cox has been
asked if he will reprise his Netflix role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it's probably fair
to say that fans are hungry to see Hell's Kitchen's greatest hero make his return.
While the actor has been decidedly careful about the way in which he responds to that
particular question, Cox hasn't ruled out any future appearances in the MCU.
In fact, he has even suggested a number of ways in which Daredevil
can integrate himself into the MCU's version of New York City.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Cox expressed gratitude at being
able to portray Matt Murdock and his alter-ego for three seasons
of the eponymous Netflix show. Moreover, as a self-admitted fan of the MCU,
Cox offered up some of his own ideas as to how his character can return. He said:
"As a fan of the Marvel movies, I've loved the little stuff where they pop
up here and there [...] I love the idea of Jessica [Jones] and Matt showing up
in the background or Matt as a lawyer advising Peter Parker. That'd be really, really cool."
Of course, given Spider-Man's imminent legal troubles in No Way Home,
it's clear enough that he's going to need all the help he can get...
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