So — especially with Doctor Strange in the Multiverseof Madness on the horizon — plenty of Marvel fans are wondering which past Marvel characters could potentially enter the MCU as variants.
Also, bringing back the original actors isn't the only way to make the return of older characters possible.
For example, the First Doctor made a cameo on Doctor Who in 2017 — even though William Hartnell, who first played him, died in 1975. David Bradley (who actually played Hartnell in the biopic An Adventure in Space and Time) took over the role.
Alternatively, they could bring back characters the way that the visual effects team included Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. They combined unused footage from her previous Star Wars appearances and a stand-in to create a digital character.
Here are 20 pre-MCU characters that Marvel could bring back in the multiverse:
(Note: This is only counting characters from live-action productions, not including the many wonderful animated Marvel projects out there!)
1.Spider-Man: No Way Home reintroduced Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in the MCU...
But Ben Affleck could reprise his role as Matt Murdock from the 2003 movie Daredevil.
2.Similarly, Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung) from the Netflix-turned-Disney+ Daredevil show could follow Murdock into the MCU...
But so could her Jennifer Garner variant from Daredevil (2003) and its 2005 spin-off Elektra.
3.Bruce Banner, who's played by Mark Ruffalo in the MCU, could see the return of several variants.
First, Bill Bixby could reprise the role of Dr. David Banner from the 1977 TV show The Incredible Hulk.
4.However, there's also the original onscreen Incredible Hulk, who was played by Lou Ferrigno on the same show.
5.Additionally, there's also Eric Bana's version of Bruce Banner from Hulk (2003).
6.He also has a potential variant within the MCU — after The Incredible Hulk (2008), Edward Norton was replaced with Mark Ruffalo.
7.Deadpool, who's played by Ryan Reynolds, is set to join the MCU with his upcoming movie Deadpool 3.
However, Reynolds also played an alternate version of Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine because the studio threatened to recast him in Deadpool if he didn't.
8.Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) passed his iconic shield — and therefore the MCU's Captain America title — to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Avengers: Endgame, but Captain America has a few surprising potential variants.
The first onscreen Captain America was actually District Attorney Grant Gardner, who was played by Dick Purcell in the 1944 live-action serial.
10.However, there's also Steve Rogers from 1990's Captain America, starring Matt Salinger.
11.Benedict Cumberbatch plays Doctor Strange in the MCU.
However, Stephen Strange was actually set to make his onscreen debut in 1992, but after Full Moon Entertainment's deal with Marvel fell through, they produced the thinly veiled rewrite Doctor Mordrid (starring Jeffrey Combs) instead.
12.Howard the Duck (voiced by Seth Green) made his MCU debut in Guardians of the Galaxy.
However, back in 1986, Chip Zien voiced a humanoid version of Howard in the movie Howard the Duck.
13.Samuel L. Jackson has been playing Nick Fury since the inception of the MCU.
However, in 1998 — before the comic book version of Nick Fury was redesigned — David Hasselhoff played the titular character in the movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
14.Julia Louis-Dreyfus brought Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to the MCU in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
However, Lisa Rinna originally played Val in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
15.Mahershala Ali brought the vampire hunter Eric Brooks to the MCU with a voice cameo in Eternals, and he'll star in the upcoming movie Blade.
However, Brooks was originally played by Wesley Snipes in Blade (1998), Blade II (2002), and Blade: Trinity (2004).
16.The MCU's Michelle Jones-Watson, who goes by MJ, is played by Zendaya.
However, the Spider-Man (2002) version of the character was Mary Jane Watson, played by Kirsten Dunst.
17.Another version of Mary Jane (played by Shailene Woodley) was set to appear in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but she was ultimately cut from the movie.
18.Paul Rudd plays the MCU's Ant-Man.
However, Ant-Man made his onscreen debut in the 1979 Saturday Night Live sketch "Superhero Party," where he was played by original cast member Garrett Morris.
19.The three Spider-Men in No Way Home (Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield) aren't the only potential Peter Parker variants out there.
Peter Parker made his onscreen debut in the 1977 TV movie Spider-Man, which starred Nicholas Hammond.
20.And finally, there's the musical version of Peter Parker from the Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which was originated by Reeve Carney in 2011.
Which pre-MCU Marvel character would you most like to see return as a variant? How do you think they could fit into the future of the MCU? Let me know in the comments!
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