The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building since 2008, with each film adding more fantastic characters from Marvel’s decades of comic book history. With many characters now introduced including, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man and so many more. The one criticism could be the lack of diversity on the Avengers line-ups and in Marvel films in general. However the studio has made concious efforts to improve upon this by changing some supporting characters’ ethnicities and pushing characters like Black Widow, Jessica Jones and Falcon who have all become fan favourites. Marvel has also recently introduced Black Panther and fans will soon see the Wasp and the female Captain Marvel join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although Marvel has made some steps in bringing greater diversity to their universe so far but there are many more great characters from the comic books that could help to improve upon this.
Spider-Woman
A mainstay in the Avengers line-up from the past decade of comic books, Spider-Woman aka Jessica Drew has a rich history with deep connections to SHIELD, Hydra as well as the Avengers. Although her name would assume she is a relation of Spider-Man, Jessica Drew is a wildly different character that would be an excellent addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Woman could show up in a future Avengers line-up or in the rumoured Black Widow film.
Goliath
The original Goliath was in fact Clint Barton better known as Hawkeye but the character is best known under the Black Goliath guise of Dr. Bill Foster and later his nephew, Tom Foster. Bill Foster is another great Marvel scientist who worked with Hank Pym. Goliath would be an appropriate new addition to the MCU and after his power set was shown used by Ant-Man in Captain America: Civil War he could now appear in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp movie.
She-Hulk
The cousin of Bruce Banner, Jennifer Walters became the sensational She-Hulk after Bruce was forced to provide his gamma radiated blood for a transfusion in order to save his cousin’s life. In her hulk-form, she possesses hulk level strength but retains her own personality and intelligence. She-Hulk has been an important Avenger in the comics and has become a feminist icon since her debut in 1980. If a solo Hulk movie is in the works at Marvel Studios then She-Hulk could prove a great addition and companion of Bruce and the Hulk.
Amadeus Cho
Created by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa in 2006, Amadeus has become the most prominent Korean-American character in American comic book history. Deeply connected to both the Hulk and Hercules in the comics Amadeus is also the seventh-smartest person in the Marvel Universe. Created in order to improve diversity within Marvel comics, he would be an ideal addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If brought into the MCU, Amadeus could be related to Helen Cho, an original Korean character introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Amadeus Cho could be an ideal recruit for season 4 of Agents of SHIELD.
Echo
Raised by the Kingpin, Echo was first introduced as an antagonist of Daredevil. Echo aka May Lopez is of both Native American and Hispanic heritage, she is also the most prominent deaf superhero in comic books. Another strong female character who proved to be more than a match for Matt Murdock himself. After the praise Daredevil has received for its portrayal of the blind vigilante, Echo seems like the next progressive step for the Netflix show to take.
Runaways
Runaways were first introduced in 2003 as a team of super-powered teenagers, who were collectively the children of a group of nefarious villains. Runaways was a great representative of youth in comics, showing the group forced into a new and dangerous world. The core characters of the series represent a vast demographic of ethnicities and includes the story of a young character coming to terms with her sexuality and eventually embracing it with a same-sex relationship. Runaways has long been rumoured for either a film or a TV series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Would you like to see more diversity in the MCU? What are you favourite characters from the comics that you’d like to be translated onto screen?
