Former Latino Review contributor Umburto Gonzales is telling readers that seven major Marvel Comics characters, most of whom have already carried major motion pictures, could now be headed for the small screen.
Gonzales says Marvel is “toying with” letting Blade, Punisher and Ghost Rider pop up on one or more of Netflix’s five shows -- “AKA Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist,” “The Defenders” and/or the already-greenlit second season of “Daredevil.” (Could Blade, Punisher and/or Ghost Rider be spun off into their own series? That would likely depend in part on how any guest appearances go.)
The same report suggests as many as four other Marvel characters – The Hulk, Ms. Marvel and the team of Cloak and Dagger – are being eyed for broadcast projects that would take their place alongside “Agents of SHIELD” and “Agent Carter.”
“Agents of SHIELD,” “Agent Carter,” “Daredevil,” “AKA Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist” and “The Defenders” are share the same onscreen universe as big-screen projects like “Ant-Man,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Incredible Hulk,” and all the “Thor,” “Iron Man,” “Avengers” and “Captain America” movies.
For the record, any Hulk series -- Gonzales describes it as a prequel -- strikes me as highly dubious for a couple reasons. The first is Mark Ruffalo, who played Hulk and Hulk alter ego Bruce Banner in the “Avengers” films, has a busy and lucrative film career outside of Marvel (I can’t even imagine him popping up for five minutes on “Agents of SHIELD,” let alone commit to his own TV series) and audiences might be annoyed to find, for example, some guy who was a regular on “Hart of Dixie” last season taking over that role. The other reason is the movies set the bar very high for Hulk CGI and I suspect it would be difficult to replicate anything approaching the quality of those effects for a weekly TV series. (There’s a reason the robots who got the most screen time on “Battlestar Galactica” looked like Tricia Helfer and Grace Park.)
Marvel Comics character Carol Danvers, who has used the names Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel, is reportedly headed for the Marvel movie universe with the name Captain Marvel. This makes me think that any TV version of Ms. Marvel will not be Danvers.
(Though, for the record, how awesome would it be if some of the regular TV Marvel characters like Matt Murdoch or Bobbi Morse or Luke Cage started turning up in the Captain America or Avengers movies? So far the only TV regular who keeps hopping between the big- and small-screen franchises is Peggy Carter.)
Cloak and Dagger, almost certainly the least famous of all these characters, first appeared in a 1982 issue of Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man. Cloak’s powers include teleportation and intangibility. Dagger can create “light daggers” and heal the sick.
Find all of Gonzales’ story on the matter here.
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