Marvel has perfected a recipe that enabled them to create a unified cinematic universe. They began expanding their universe by using after credit scenes, short films and now television series. The last of which has yet to prove a success. Determined to conquer all mediums of visual storytelling, Marvel made a brilliant and inspired partnership with Netflix. Basically they are trying to replicate their formula for movies on the silver screen. I’m talking about their famous phases. If Kevin Feige has plans laid out for movies up until 2028, is it too much of a strecht to think that he has the same kind of plans for TV? Assuming they are indeed working in phases, here is my calculated deduction on where he and Jeph Loeb plan to take us once The Defenders has finished airing.
PHASE 2 - The Supernaturals
Blade - Marvel always starts out with its most popular avenger which is why I know that if we get a Blade series it will likely be the first of its phase. Blade is different from every other show Marvel has announced or has yet to announce for the simple fact that he's been done before. Neither the movie or the show (which I loved) had any ties to a larger universe. So I'm very interested in how they plan to show us that vampires exist in the same world as the avengers. Another thing I hope to see if this show gets made is the various lives of Blade. This show is the only one that has a legitimate excuse to go back in time. I've seen some really dark brothers get fan casted for the role but the truth is that Blade's father is a white man. Unless you make him albino, this daywalker should be light skinned. Considering that my casting suggestions are Erik King (Dexter), Charles Michael Davis (The Originals) for if the creators decide to make him young and fan favorite Michael Jai White (Mortal Kombat).
- Hands down one of my favorite Marvel characters. Extremely underrated but a live action TV series could change that. I loved his last series by Bendis/Maleev and at this rate his new ongoing series by Ellis/Shalvey is going to be even better. One thing that Ellis has introduced (that I definitely hope makes it into this show if it is made) is the four aspects of the Moon God... The Pathfinder, Embracer, Defender and the Watcher of overnight travellers. The other thing I want to see is flashbacks to his military/mercenary days. Kinda the same way Arrow always flashes back to the Island, I want to see my man in the middle east aka his life before encountering Khonshu. The show should star someone like Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby), Sullivan Stapleton (300: Rise Of An Empire) or Matthew Fox (Lost).
Werewolf By Night - The Midnight Sons is actually a pretty big team but if we cut it down to four like Marvel has for it's first phase we can definitely expect this. That is if we don't get a Man-Thing series in it's place... For those of you who don't know, werewolves in the Marvel universe are descendants of a lovely experiment done by beyonders in the Savage Land. Over time with the involvement of magic and Dracula, lycanthropy became a curse. The comic series follows Jack Russell a descendant of Gregori Russoff who discovers his heritage under very unpleasant circumstances but who somehow masters his abilities and uses them to fight evil... In the wonderful spirit of diversity however, I suggest switching this character’s sexe or at least following his sister Lissa. As far as I know Jack Russell is probably the least known character in this list so why not. Personally I kinda like female werewolves, I mean Laura Vandervort isn’t doing that bad on BITTEN if you've watched that. I would cast Odette Annable (Banshee), Marisa Ramirez (Spartacus) or Janet Montgomery (Human Target) in the leading role.
- Johnny Blaze has had plenty of time on the big screen. Whether it was good or not is not my point. The Ghost Rider character is one of Marvels most iconic. If I were Feige/Loeb, I would start working on a show starring Danny Ketch his younger brother. Considering that Marvel has been able to get Samuel L Jackson to make cameos in Agents of SHEILD I don't think it would be too much to ask for one or two from Nic Cage. In the comics the two have a pretty awesome storyarc together where Blaze becomes a mentor to Ketch... As a villain I was going to suggest Blackout but he's been done twice already so my next choice is Deathwatch. Basically he's from an extradimensional demonic race known as the Translords who feed on other beings' lifeforce. Taking the role as a businessman named Stephen Lord, he slowly becomes a feared crimelord climbing the ranks of the criminal underground. My casting suggestions for Danny are Dave Franco (Now You See Me), Theo James (Divergent) or Jaime Dornan (Once Upon a Time).
As much as this is the crazy stuff of comics, I really hope the events of each of these shows have meaningful ties to the MCU. It would be cool to see them team up against The FIRM (a shadowy organization that uses science and magic). I think it would be amazing if the common enemy they were facing was actually Frank Drake, a millionaire decendant of Dracula who was trained by Rachel Van Helsing. He could be redeemed at in the end seeing how in the comics he becomes a midnight son. Another suggestion is moving all these characters to the UK or at least New Orleans. One of my biggest problems with Marvel comics is that half of their heroes operate out of New York. As if the other major cities in the world don't need their help. If Marvel hasn’t made a Doctor Strange movie by the time we would get to this they would have a perfect opportunity to introduce him here. I think getting all five of these characters together would be a dream come true for a lot of us fans.
I believe that if the first phase of Marvel TV series succeeds, Marvel's next phase will be a horror galore one. Netflix is without a doubt the perfect place to develop those kind of shows. The challenge with working in phases on TV is will they keep the popular shows going or will the shows be replaced regardless of ratings to make way for others? How much of a priority will expanding the universe be?
In the future I will post my last idea of another phase I believe they might or should have up their sleeves but until then sound off below...
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