Why Now Is the Right Time to Introduce Darkhawk to the MCU

As Marvel Studios pushes into the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the production house has demonstrated an incredible ability to take risks. From betting on Guardians of the Galaxy to become their next big franchise to killing off their primary superhero in Avengers: Endgame (sorry, Iron Man fans), more times than not, Kevin Feige and company manage to reap the rewards of going where few choose to.

I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t at least part of the reason why Darkhawk is a character the team should introduce to the MCU. In terms of risk alone, there aren’t many characters in the Marvel mythos that’d be a bigger risk. Notoriety aside, the stars have slowly been aligning in the heroes favor. Slowly over the course of the past 11 years, Marvel Studios has increasingly got into some of their most bizarre properties involving cosmic adventure, magic, and inter-dimensional travel. Luckily enough, Darkhawk’s a character that can involve all three of those.

For the less initiated, let’s break the character down super quick. Darkhawk himself is a techno-organic android body (the cosmic chunk mentioned above) that can be inhabited by the wielder of the Darkhawk amulet. In Darkhawk #1 (1991), a teen by the name of Chris Powell stumbles across said amulet in abandoned amusement park, subsequently becoming the hero. That’s pretty painless to understand, right?

In addition to the basic cosmic, science-fiction nature of the character, there’s a mystical side involving a dimensional prison called Null Space. For the uninitiated, Null Space is where the Raptors — those aforementioned techno-organic bodies — are stored until their amulet is used. Once used, the Raptors switch places in reality with the being wielding the amulet, sending that being to Null Space to be used as a human (or alien) battery. While it’s not that way in the comics, the MCU could certainly retcon the origin to somehow involve either Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) or Ant-Man (Scott Lang) with the dimensional-traveling capabilities.

While the Darkhawk mythos practically still in its infancy — I mean, compared to the likes of Iron Man or Thor — it’s a set up rich for live-action. It’s a property perfectly capable of bending genres to reach the widest demographic possible. And not only that but Powell himself has mainly been shown as a young adult throughout the majority of the character’s history. If that’s a direction Marvel Studios would want to take, it’s a property they could morph into a wider, family-friendly title like the rumored Power Pack project in development.

How do you think could introduce Darkhawk to the MCU? Are there any other lower-tier Marvel characters you’d like to see in live-action? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt!

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now and will be followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 2nd. Captain Marvel is now available digitally ahead of a home media release on June 11th.