Marvel‘s foray into movies since 1998’s Blade has allowed the general public to experience the joys of the Marvel Universe. For years, the most popular Marvel movies and characters were made by companies other than Marvel themselves, meaning that many characters were off the table when Marvel Studios first began making their films. In recent years, Marvel Studios has been regaining the rights to use those wayward characters, in ways that will create a lot of great possibilities in the coming years. There are many heroes and villains new to the MCU that can now appear in the franchise, but there is a little problem…
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At the time of writing this, some of Marvel’s most popular villains need to be recast with new actors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The five villains listed below have massive potential in the MCU and would benefit from being recast.
Rhino
Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes of all time. Being at Spider-Man’s iconic level requires a lot of things and one of those is great villains. Heroes need challenges, and Spider-Man’s villains not only challenge him but also evolve as time goes on, becoming more interesting and dangerous. Now, not every Spider-Man villain becomes some multi-faceted masterpiece, but they’re all good enough to still have an important place in Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. Rhino is one such villain: he’s just big, dumb, and strong, and that’s enough to make him fun.
Rhino has made several appearances in films, played in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 by Paul Giammati, while Allesandro Nivola played the villain in Kraven the Hunter. Both of these movies brought some degree of disappointment, but that doesn’t mean that Rhino should suffer for it. Watching Spider-Man fight the physically imposing Rhino on the big screen would be amazing, and the MCU needs to make that happen. A recast would be perfect for the character, bringing in an all-new version of the Rhino to battle Spider-Man.
Magneto
Magneto has been played by two different — and equally awesome — actors over the years in the Fox X-Men movies. Sir Ian McKellan, captured the regal bearing and righteous anger that made Magneto such a great character in the comics; Michael Fassbender did an amazing job of showing who the younger Magneto was, helping to build toward the older version of the character. Either man could play the character again — the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multiverse after all — but eventually, Marvel is going to have to create their own version of the character.
No one really knows what direction the MCU is going to take the X-Men. Magneto’s age and origin are perfect, but it’s been an entire human lifetime since the Holocaust. Marvel Studios may want to find another way to portray the character rather than the standard one – and a recast of the character would be the way to go. This new Magneto could enthrall fans in entirely new ways, and allow the MCU’s X-Men stories to have their own unique twist.
Green Goblin
Green Goblin is one of the most important Spider-Man villains of them all. Norman Osborn had some stiff competition to become Spider-Man’s greatest foe, but he was able to leap over the competition in a variety of ways, including his place in the death of Gwen Stacy and his masterminding of the clone saga that saw a mad scientist clone Spider-Man in wild ways. Green Goblin has been played by two different actors in the Spider-Man movies, one for each of the different Osborns. Willem Dafoe played the Norman Osborn version of the character in Spider-Man and Spider-Man: No Way Home, while Dane DeHaan played the Harry Osborn/Goblin character in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
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Now, Dafoe did return as Norman Osborn in the MCU, and he’s left a pretty big shadow on the part. Anyone who’s going to play Green Goblin is going to have their work cut out for them, but the MCU should definitely recast the role. It’s the same reason that they should recast Magneto: Marvel Studios needs to make the character their own. A new version of Green Goblin would give them a chance to do new things with the character, which is always a good thing.
Sabretooth
Wolverine has some amazing villains for the MCU to use, but the best of them is easily Sabretooth. Sabretooth and Wolverine have known each other for decades, with Sabretooth always causing as much pain and havoc in Wolverine’s life as possible. The two feral mutants have had many of the greatest battles in the comics, and the character’s popularity has seen him appear in numerous movies, played by different actors. Tyler Mane played him in X-Men and then returned for a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine; Liev Schreiber played a younger version of Victor Creed/Sabertooth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Schreiber’s version of the character was much more comic-accurate and was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal movie. The MCU needs some of that same energy.
Shreiber could come back as Sabretooth; after all, age doesn’t really matter – just look at Hugh Jackman. However, the MCU needs their own Sabretooth, so they should definitely recast the role. It’s hard to imagine Wolverine without Sabretooth, and the MCU can’t just rely on castaways from other cinematic universes forever.
Kang
This one is a no-brainer, honestly. Marvel had been hot to replace Kang after Jonathan Majors’ arrest, and that makes complete sense. However, Kang as a character is just too good to leave behind. Kang is up there with the Avengers’ greatest villains — most fans vacillate between him and Ultron for that title — and Kang is perfect for the multiverse that the MCU has set up. Majors definitely shouldn’t come back to the role, but that doesn’t mean Kang shouldn’t come back.
It wouldn’t even take a lot of explanation to make the whole thing work. Kang has been shifted from a time villain, like he is in the comics, to a multiversal one. Multiple versions of Kang, from around the timestream, have always been a part of the comics, so it would be simple to just make a different multiversal Kang show up played by an entirely different actor. They could even go with multiple actors playing the part; the possibilities are endless. Kang opens the door to lots of great stories, and that prospect is reason alone why he should return with a new actor — or actors — donning the purple mask.
What Marvel villains do you think should be recast? Let us know in the comments below!
