Seven Big Marvel Superheroes Who Haven’t Appeared on Film

It’s hard to imagine a time where almost every Marvel superhero has appeared in at least one live action film.Between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Fox’s successful X-Men movies, there just aren’t too many A-list heroes that haven’t appeared in a live action film.However, while the list is still shrinking, there are a few superheroes that Marvel hasn’t added to their Marvel Cinematic Universe.Here are seven of the biggest superheroes that we still need to see in a live action movie or TV show:

Namor

One of Marvel’s first superheroes, Namor is one of Marvel’s most complicated characters.  Namor started off as an ally of Captain America and fought alongside American forces during World War II as a member of the Invaders.  However, when Marvel’s Silver Age began, Namor became a righteous supervillain, upset at the surface dwellers for the destruction of Atlantis during nuclear testing.  Since then, Marvel has both aided and fought against Marvel’s heroes, swayed usually by his feelings towards Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman.  In recent years, Namor has been a power mover in the Marvel Universe, joining the Illuminati during their quest to stop Earth’s destruction from a collapsing Multiverse.  He also has entered into a blood feud with Black Panther and Wakanda, after he destroyed the African nation twice in recent years. 

Marvel recently confirmed they held the movie rights to Namor after originally licensing the character to Universal in an older movie deal.  So maybe we’ll see Atlantis attack the Marvel Cinematic Universe in an upcoming film. 

Wonder Man

With Marvel planting the seeds off a Scarlet Witch/Vision romance in Captain America: Civil War, perhaps it’s time to bring Wonder Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well.  Wonder Man was an early foe of the Avengers, a businessman turned criminal named Simon Williams who had a grudge against Tony Stark.  Williams was given powers by the Masters of Evil and sent to infiltrate the Avengers, but Williams eventually saved the Avengers at the supposed cost of his own life.  Years later, Ultron used Wonder Man’s brain patterns to create the Vision, which complicated things when Wonder Man used his ionic powers to reform his body and come back to life.  Williams, the Vision and Scarlet Witch were involved in one of the weirdest love triangles in comics history, which still occasionally pops up in Avengers comics to this day.  

Moon Knight

What if Batman had a more recognizable mental illness?  That’s the basic concept behind Moon Knight, an unpowered vigilante that first appeared in Marvel’s horror comics in the 1970s.  Moon Knight is Marc Spector, a mercenary who became the avatar of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon, when he was left to die in the Egyptian desert.  Dressing in an entirely white costume, Moon Knight used a plethora of moon-themed weapons and equipment to fight both supernatural foes and common criminals. Eventually, Spector eventually became known for his struggles with multiple personalities, and his entire relationship with Khonshu has been continuously questioned as a possible hallucination. Moon Knight might be best suited to a television show like Daredevil or Jessica Jones, but he represents a unique take on superheroes that we haven’t seen on film yet.

Ms Marvel

Ms Marvel is this generation’s Spider-Man.  A Pakistani-American girl living in New Jersey, Kamala Khan gained shapeshifting abilities after New York was hit by a cloud of Terrigen Mists.  Kamala decided to make a costume that resembled her idol Captain Marvel and joyfully became part of Marvel’s superhero community.  Ms Marvel was an instant pop culture phenomenon when her comic first came out in 2014, attracting mainstream attention for both her heritage and her large fanbase.  Marvel responded to Kamala’s popularity by making her part of the Avengers, alongside other younger heroes like Nova and Miles Morales (the Ultimate Spider-Man).  Ms Marvel is set to appear in Avengers Assemble, a cartoon heavily inspired by the live action movies, so maybe Kamala will soon appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe along with her personal hero Captain Marvel. 

Spider-Woman

As HYDRA continues to play a major role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it might be time to introduce one of the evil organization’s top former agents.  Jessica Drew’s parents injected her with an experimental serum made of irradiated spider blood to save her life from uranium poisoning.  After she was cured, she was kidnapped by HYDRA, brainwashed and sent on a mission to assassinate Nick Fury.  When she discovered the subterfuge, she quit HYDRA and became a superhero instead.  After operating as a solo superhero for years, Spider-Woman joined the Avengers as a supposed HYDRA mole.  However, she actually was working with SHIELD as a triple agent, until she was captured by Skrulls and replaced in the prelude to a Skrull invasion of Earth.  Spider-Woman had her own cartoon during the 1970s, but hasn’t appeared in any television show or movie since.  

She-Hulk

The saner cousin of Bruce Banner, Jennifer Walters gained the Hulk’s powers during an emergency blood transfusion.  Unlike Banner, Walters keeps her sanity and personality when she transforms and actually prefers her She-Hulk form over her wimpier human body.  In addition to being a super-hero, Walters is also a successful attorney and specializes in cases involving superhumans.  She’s also a former member of the Fantastic Four, helping the team whenever the Thing isn’t around to lend some muscle.

Hollywood actually came close to making a She-Hulk film, starring Brigitte Nielsen, the star of the Red Sonja movie, in the lead role.  A studio even dressed Nielsen up as She-Hulk in promotional photos, but the movie never moved past pre-production.

Power Pack

For most of its history, Marvel famously shied away from having kid superheroes.  Both Spider-Man and the X-Men quickly aged out of their teenage years and kids were generally discouraged from becoming superheroes due to the death of Bucky, Captain America’s sidekick during World War II.  Marvel’s first real team of young superheroes were the Power Pack, a group of siblings given powers by a dying alien.  Although the Power Pack were a group of kids, their first comic series emphasized the serious issues they faced.  Several of the Power siblings dealt with the aftermath of nearly killing one of their opponents, and they also dealt with problems like gun violence, sexual abuse and homelessness.  Fans have wanted a Power Pack movie for years, and the property would be perfect for either a live action or animated film.