10 Marvel Characters That Would Be Game-Changers for the MCU

The MCU has been going on for over a decade — since Iron Man back in 2008. There appears to be no slowing down for the MCU, with 2025 having three films on the docket — Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four: First Steps. Along with that, these movies are building up to the next Avengers films, Doomsday and Secret Wars. With the MCU continuing to grow at a multiversal level, its no surprise new characters, as well as new versions of familiar faces, are set to appear in the upcoming films and shows.

There are plenty of heroes and villains for the MCU to still bring to life from the comics; however, there are a few in particular who could truly shake things up. Some feel as if they would easily fold into the MCU, others would make great legacy characters, and some could pose a massive threat to the other heroes and villains.

Beta Ray Bill

The MCU has been phasing in new legacy characters for years. While some are here to stay — Sam Wilson’s Captain America, Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye, Yelena’s Black Widow — others have already come and gone, as is the case with Jane Foster’s Thor. However, there is another character worthy of the hammer who would be a massive departure from what is expected of Thor. This character is Beta Ray Bill, who is neither Asgardian nor Human. He is a Korbinite with an extremely altered anatomy meant to make him the ultimate champion of his people.

In the comics, Beta Ray Bill comes into possession of Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, but he would eventually get his own hammer — Stormbreaker — which has already appeared in the MCU, but as Thor’s axe. Beta Ray Bill’s solo adventures, specifically his Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer series, would lend themselves well to the MCU, as Bill’s cosmic journey could lean more into the intergalactic side of Marvel while having him stand on his own as character. Plus, for fans of Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor: Ragnarok, this series absolutely has the tone of those films.

Miles Morales

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Speaking of legacy characters for Marvel, one of the most popular is none other than Miles Morales’ Spider-Man. Introduced in 2011’s Ultimate Fallout #4, Miles has become one of the most popular Spider-People, and Marvel has no shortage of web-slingers. What helped his popularity is the animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, as well as its sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. While both movies feature plenty of web-slingers, Miles is the central protagonist, and for good reason.

Though Miles has starred in the Spider-Verse films, and he has appeared in other adaptations like the Insomniac Spider-Man games, he has yet to officially make his debut in the MCU. He has been teased before with Donald Glover’s Homecoming character talking about his nephew to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, but now is the time to properly bring him into the MCU, especially after Peter Parker’s Spider-Man just wrapped up a trilogy of movies, marking a fresh start for Spider-Man and his corner of the MCU.

Silk

As noted above, there are plenty of other web-slingers in Marvel Comics, and many have been introduced in the aforementioned Spider-Verse films. However one Spider-Person who has yet to make their cinematic debut is Cindy Moon, aka Silk. Introduced in 2014’s Amazing Spider-Man #1, Cindy has a similar backstory to Peter, with the same irradiated spider that bit him doing the same to Cindy shortly after.

However, when Silk’s powers develop, she has organic webbing, like Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man in the Sam Raimi films. She would also be trained by Ezekiel Sims, tracked by Morlun, and eventually locked away in a bunker for years. How her story diverts from what Peter went through makes for an interesting premise on its own. With the Sony live-action movies failing to properly launch their Spider-Verse, perhaps Silk and some of the threads Sony failed to pick up on could be given a better chance in the MCU.

Squirrel Girl

Squirrel Girl may seem like a silly character on the surface, but she could be game changing for the MCU. Doreen Green was born with squirrel-like abilities. While that may not seem like a useful set of abilities, Squirrel Girl’s powers are truly incredible. She has super strength, super leaping, claws for climbing, night vision, improved vision, retractable knuckle spikes, a healing factor, and the ability to talk to squirrels.

These abilities have come in handy many times, with Squirrel Girl even using her ability to communicate to squirrels to get the better of Doctor Doom in Marvel Super-Heroes Issue #8 (1991), and Doom is set to be one of the MCU’s upcoming big bads, so The Avengers may want her when the time has come. She’s also successfully fought Fin Fang Foom, Ego the Living Planet, Galactus and Thanos, so Squirrel Girl could easily shake things up for the MCU while also bringing her chipper attitude and humorous nature to the franchise, making her a breath of fresh air overall.

The Maker

Reed Richards is already set to debut in the MCU with Pedro Pascal portraying one of the smartest men in Marvel Comics. However, there are multiple versions of Reed Richards, with one of the most prominent ones in Marvel Comics being The Maker. This is a Reed Richards from Earth 1610 — the original Ultimate Universe — and he’s far from a superhero. Introduced back in 2004, this Reed Richards has been having a massive resurgence thanks to the new Ultimate comics.

As The Maker, he would eventually try to rework another universe — home to Earth 6160 — to his liking. While this world was supposed to closely follow a trajectory similar to 616’s Earth, The Maker intervened, trying to stop the emergence of superheroes. Of course, superheroes are still appearing in the new Ultimate comics, but their origins have been altered from what most Marvel fans expect of the featured characters. The MCU could bring in its version of The Maker, especially since its branching out into the multiverse and there have already been a handful of Reed Richards featured in and out of the MCU.

The Beyonder

For another universe altering threat, look no further than The Beyonder. Where The Maker is a more recent Marvel Comics character in the grand scheme of things, The Beyonder made his debut in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1, the first Secret Wars event back in 1984. In fact, he is the catalyst for this event and created the original Battleworld.

Avengers: Secret Wars is on the horizon, and there are a few “Secret Wars” stories to pull from in the comics. When it comes to the original Secret Wars, Secret Wars II, and Secret Wars (2015), The Beyonder is crucial to the fibers of these stories. While the upcoming Avengers film could instead center on the more contemporary Secret Wars by Johnathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, the movies have taken liberties with their adaptations before, and The Beyonder would make perfect sense as a key character in this upcoming film.

Mister Sinister

It is still unclear how or when the X-Men will make their debut in the MCU, but they’re inevitable. Deadpool and Wolverine brought these two into the MCU fold, and Ms. Marvel confirmed Kamala Khan to be a mutant, but it’s still uncertain what place the mutants will take in the MCU. After all, in the comics, mutants are not just heroes and villains, they are an entire race of people. How the MCU explains their lack of presence so far will surely be interesting, and there is one character who can surprisingly explain this.

Mister Sinister is one of the biggest X-Men villains, as well as an immortal Victorian scientist obsessed with mutants. He’s also a villain who is a master manipulator and often works in the shadows. As a result, he could be the perfect villain to explain how Mutants have been kept under wraps for this long, and he could also be critical in revealing what the history of Mutants is in the MCU given his age.

Magik

If Mister Sinister were to make his MCU debut, there is another Mutant character who could make a debut alongside him, one who could have had ties to him if the New Mutants movie got a sequel. Magik has already had a theatrical appearance with Fox’s New Mutants, and audiences received Anya Taylor-Joy’s portrayal of the character well. However, that was before the Disney/Fox merger, and it is unclear if and how any of these characters will return to the MCU in the same way Wolverine and Deadpool have.

What would make Magik such a game-changing character for the MCU is her connection to the mystic arts and mutants. The MCU has already explored the mystic arts with Doctor Strange, Loki, and The Scarlet Witch, but there is so much more to explore. Magik is the perfect character to explore this with, especially since she has been a Sorcerer Supreme before in the comics.

Storm

Another mutant that would be game-changing for the MCU but also has potential connections to the MCU is none other than Storm, aka Ororo Munroe. She is one of the most popular X-Men characters, with her current solo series being one of the strongest of the new wave of X-Men titles. Storm has also been in a number of adaptations too, with the Fox X-Men films and the animated X-Men cartoons. However, like with Miles Morales, she has yet to make her MCU debut.

If and when the MCU gives fans the X-Men, Storm should take center stage, especially since she has a few connections to the wider world of Marvel. For instance, she currently plays a role in the Ultimate Black Panther comics, and she was also married to T’Challa for some time in the mainline comic books. She also has great potential for magic and the mystic arts due to her ancestry. Storm has the potential to be connected to elements and characters that are already a part of the MCU, so her introduction as a mutant could be one of the cleanest, as well as one of the most anticipated.

Gwenpool

Gwenpool is a relatively new character to Marvel Comics, first appearing on a variant cover for Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #2 back in 2015. While she appears to be a Gwen Stacey meets Deadpool variant on the surface, upon being incorporated into the Marvel Universe, Gwenpool was revealed to be far from this. First appearing in continuity with Howard the Duck #1 (2015), Gwenpool quickly took off with fans, getting her first solo series, The Unbelievable Gwenpool by Christopher Hastings, Gurihiru, and Clayton Cowles in 2016. In that series it’s revealed Gwenpool, aka Gwendolyn Poole, is an avid comic book reader from our own universe, and she is then transported to the Marvel Universe, using her knowledge as a fan to become a hero unlike any other.

With how long the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going on, there is a clever way to rework Gwenpool to be an MCU fan transported from her universe to the film universe. However, if that story does not work, there’s another approach to Gwenpool that can work for the MCU, especially since audiences eagerly await mutants. Later in the comics, Gwenpool retcons herself into being a mutant in Gwenpool Strikes Back, giving herself abilities where that allow her to navigate life as a comic character would.