My top FIVE Marvel Characters of Color I Want In The Marvel Cinematic Universe
With this weekend's release of Black Panther and its cultural significance in the world of superheroes, I wanted to look at other superheroes of color that I would love to see join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Perhaps some of these are in development, but they all would make a natural fit. These are my top 5.
Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel)
When Marvel first announced its first Muslim superhero taking Captain Marvel's old moniker, the Internet exploded with comments about forced diversity and proclaiming it D.O.A. But, when it was released and people read it, they found a well rounded, interesting character in this Pakastani American hero brimming with hope and idealism. She is also an Inhuman with the ability to "embiggen," making herself or parts of herself bigger. I think bringing her into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) could bring another way for general audiences to experience the life of a Muslim American as her family is a big part of her life.
The only challenge would be that her identity is connected to Captain Marvel. In fact, her name and uniform are based on Captain Marvel's first codename Ms. Marvel. She takes those names because she is inspired by the hero. And since Captain Marvel hasn't been introduced yet, it might not make sense to bring her in right now. That said, it might not take long before Captain Marvel becomes known to the world that a young girl could become inspired by her. So, it could be possible to bring her in within a couple of years of the Captain Marvel movie. Whatever the case, I hope that they will give her her own movie one day.
Amadeus Cho (The Awesome Hulk)
Amadeus Cho is Korean American and the most current Hulk in the Marvel Universe. But, he did not come out of nowhere. He first appeared in 2006's Amazing Fantasy #15 in which they introduced a group of heroes that Marvel hoped would be a new generation of characters. He was known as Mastermind Excello, a title he earned from winning a young genius contest run by Excello soap. It turns out the contest was run for the owner to eliminate other people of great intellect. His parents killed, Amadeus goes on the run and finds himself protected by the Hulk. Later, after World War Hulk, he worked with various allies of the Hulk to stop him for wreaking vengeance, but they fail to stop him. The Hulk is eventually imprisoned and Amadeus goes on the run with Hercules where they go on adventures and he is even named by Athena as the head of the Olympus Group where he works with the gods to help defeat a powerful enemy in the Chaos War. Later, Amadeus finds a way to heal Bruce Banner from his gamma radiation and, thus, his ability to become the Hulk. In doing so, he absorbed the gamma radiation himself, thus becoming the Hulk.
He could easily be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. First of all, Helen Cho, who was a geneticist specializing in cellular generation that was forced by Ultron to work on an android body for him to use, is the name of the mother of Amadeus Cho. It would be easy to say that she has a teenage son of exceptional intellect who could serve as a foil for both Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. With contracts ending at Marvel Studios, Amadeus could become the next Hulk using the same story from the comic book.
Monica Rambeau (Spectrum)
Monica Rambeau is the oldest hero on my list. She has been around since 1982 and started her career as Captain Marvel, a title held before Carol Danvers (the current Captain Marvel) became Captain Marvel. She has taken many monikers since - Photon, Pulsar and, currently, Spectrum. Her power allows her to transform herself into any form of energy. And, as such, she has the power of flight, invisibility, intangibility and to shoot energy beams. Although her original name is Captain Marvel, she does not have a connection to Captain Marvel herself, other than having worked with her in the Avengers.
The nice thing about bringing in Monica Rambeau is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe could bring in a woman of color not tied to another character like Falcon is with Captain America and War Machine is with Iron Man. She wouldn't even need to come in with the history of codenames and just be introduced as Spectrum. There are not many women of color who've endured this long in the Marvel Universe that are not connected to the X-Men. Given the reaction to Black Panther, I think its about time to have a woman of color headline a movie.
Miles Morales (Spider-Man)
Miles Morales, the Afro-Latino kid who took on the mantle of Spider-Man in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, is probably the easiest fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe mainly because he is referenced in Spider-Man: Homecoming, even though not by name. The character Donald Glover plays is Aaron Davis, the small time criminal uncle of Miles Morales. He agrees to help Spider-Man because he doesn't want high tech weaponry in his neighborhood in part because he has a nephew. Perhaps its not yet time to bring in Miles Morales storywise since we just became introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Spider-Man. BUT, eventually, Tom Holland's contract will end and the MCU will eventually need a Spider-Man. Just like Miles Morales took Peter Parker's place in the comics, so could he do so in the MCU.
America Chavez (Miss America)
America Chavez could be the most challenging character to add to the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to her origin and powers. But, she could also open all kinds of doors, literally, if she was introduced with her ability to literally punch holes through the multiverse through which people could travel. America is a Latina woman born in a Utopian parallel universe where the embodiment of magic existed. She absorbed the ambient magic and got her powers of super strength, flight and multidimensional travel.
With the Quantum Realm being introduced in Ant-Man and other dimensions being introduced in Doctor Strange, America Chavez could easily open the door to more characters and storylines that don't need to be connected to the prime universe. Spider-Gwen anybody? This would then make the Marvel Cinematic Universe that much greater!