How Deathlok Could Fit Into A Marvel Studios Movie

Thanks to a new rumor that surfaced in a Hollywood trade earlier this week, fans are now chomping at the bit to see Deathlok in one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s films. Marvel had previously developed a script for a Deathlok film way back when and J. August Richards more recently played the character on ABC’s Agents of SHIELD — so how could the character make it to a movie, even though he’s technically already part of the MCU? Let’s talk through the options.

When it comes to this particular scenario, Marvel Studios has one of two options — they can either decide to use Richard’s character from television, pleasing fans of continuity and MCU completionists or they can recast the role entirely, the more likely scenario should the production house decide to use the character.

Deathlok hasn’t appeared on Agents of SHIELD as a regular for quite some time. Starting out by aiding Bill Paxton’s Clairvoyant, Deathlok slowly morphed into a SHIELD agent and one of Phil Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) top loyalists. Storywise, there’s not an organic-enough way to bring Richard’s version over into any upcoming properties — especially with Black Widow reportedly being a prequel and The Eternals likely ending up with a completely different look and feel.

That said, it does seem that as of now, Black Widow makes the most sense for a silver screen debut of the cyborg assassin. With it being a prequel, likely set between the events of Captain Marvel and Iron Man, the film will take place long before Mike Peterson (Richards) receives his cybernetic implants. With a new character picking up the Deathlok mantle, they would likely appear as an antagonist opposite Scarlett Johansson.

Captain Marvel is now in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Studios films include Avengers: Endgame on April 26th and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.

Do you think Deathlok will ever make the leap to the silver screen? Why or why not? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or join the conversation online by hitting me up on Twitter at @AdamBarnhardt to talk all things MCU!

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