‘Dark Avengers’ Movie Script Reportedly in Development at Marvel Studios

The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the events of Avengers 4 could be coming clear, and the future is looking dark.

After yesterday’s rumor that the new movie would be titled Avengers: Annihilation, a new report has popped up courtesy of That Hashtag Show indicating one of the next big crossover films could be Dark Avengers.

The report does not indicate that such a movie is being put into production yet, but that a script for the project has recently been completed. As the outlet states, Marvel Studios does commission many scripts for many different potential franchises, and not all of them actually come to fruition.

But it does provide a potential glimpse into the future of MCU post-Avengers 4, and how the vacuum of star power could be filled should Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., and Chris Hemsworth decide to exit the franchise.

In the comics, the Dark Avengers are a new iteration of the Thunderbolts. That team started out as a group of super villains replacing the Avengers (who went missing) under new heroic identities, though they were quickly found out. Later on, the team became a part of prison reform system, with incarcerated super villains doing heroic deeds in order to shave time off of their sentences — kind of like DC Comics’ Suicide Squad.

The reformed Green Goblin Norman Osborn led the team during the events of Secret Invasion, in which the Skrulls tried to take over Earth. Osborn eventually delivered the killing blow to the Skrull leader, being heralded as the savior and given control of SHIELD, which he quickly rebranded and reorganized as HAMMER.

Though they did some good, the team was more about exerting control rather than saving the day. That shouldn’t be surprising when the Dark Avengers consisted of the former Scorpion Mac Gargan, who was in possession of the Venom symbiote, as “Spider-Man,” Daredevil foe Bullseye as “Hawkeye,” Logan’s evil son Daken as “Wolverine,” Moonstone as “Ms. Marvel,” and Osborn himself in Tony Stark’s Iron Patriot suit

Given how Captain Marvel will showcase the storyline of “The Kree-Skrull War,” it makes sense that Marvel Studios would want to build on those events and possibly kick off Secret Invasion with a bang, providing a new team of intriguing “heroes” that could continue to plague our favorites for years to come.

We’ll see if Marvel Studios actually goes through with these plans in the coming years, but first we have to see what happens in Avengers 4, which is due out in theaters on May 3, 2019.