Here’s Who the Rest of The Bear’s Cast Should Play in the MCU

There’s something Marvel-ous brewing in a certain Chicago kitchen. Since its debut in 2022, many of the stars of the television phenomenon The Bear have found themselves stepping into iconic roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Will Poulter, who plays Chef Luca on the show, was the first with his role as Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Next, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, whose portrayal of the beloved “cousin” and front-of-house wizard Richie on The Bear won him two Emmys, joined the MCU as Ben Grimm/The Thing in Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Following that, last month, we learned that the Liza Colón-Reyes, the restaurant’s backbone cook Tina Marrero, was cast in an unknown role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The stars of The Bear being tapped for major franchise films does feel like the natural order of things after the show’s runaway critical and commercial success, therefore, we’ve gone ahead and chosen the MCU roles we’d want to see the rest of the The Bear‘s staff bring to life on the big screen.

1) Jeremy Allen White as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider

From Shameless to The Bear to his upcoming role as the working class rock icon in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Jeremy Allen White has more than proven he has the perfect on-camera pedigree to handle the complexities playing the Spirit of Vengeance on the big screen. White’s performance as Chef Carmen Berzatto on The Bear is so celebrated because of his ability to handle heavy material and tonal changes with ease. His performance in the TV series is gritty and brooding, but White deftly leans into the moments of levity and comedy on The Bear, making him our pick to play either Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch’s Ghost Rider.

Not only would White be able to handle to complexities of both characters’ troubled backstories, he’d ground the more cartoonish elements of Ghost Rider without weighing down the role. Plus, White proved he knows his way around a motorcycle from The Iron Claw.

2) Ayo Edebiri as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman

We’re anxiously awaiting Jessica Drew’s entrance into live-action in the MCU and Ayo Edebiri may just be the woman for the job. Coming from a background in comedy writing on Big Mouth and What We Do in the Shadows, Edebiri seamlessly crossed over into a major supporting acting role as Chef Sydney Adamu in The Bear. She instantly shined as Carmen’s sous chef, and swiftly became one of the show’s most beloved characters. Edebiri’s undeniable star power and comedy chops are the perfect qualifications for playing Spider-Woman in live-action, since as Peter B. Parker says, spider-people are “supposed to be funny.”

Edebiri was meant to have a role in Thunderbolts*, however scheduling conflicts forced her to dropout. The silver lining? She’s already on Marvel’s radar, and another season of stellar acting on The Bear this year could mean an even bigger role for Edebiri in the MCU, like Spider-Woman.

3) Matty Matheson as Alexei Sytsevich/Rhino

Fun fact: Matty Matheson wasn’t initially hired as an actor on The Bear. An accomplished chef, Matheson originally came onboard the series as a consultant. However, after making a splash playing the endearingly discombobulated Neil Fak on the show, we need more of him on screen. Not only does he have the build for Rhino, we’re confident Matheson’s impeccable comedic timing would elevate the famously brutish and dimwitted Spider-Man villain. Matheson’s also shown he’s able find moments of depth to anchor the humor with Fak, and we’d love to see him do the same with Rhino.

4) Abby Elliot as Moira MacTaggert/Moira X

Saturday Night Live alum Abby Elliott plays Carmen’s sister Natalie on the show, who comes on as one of his business partners in The Bear restaurant. Natalie is an essential pillar of support to Carmen, and frankly, the entire staff of The Bear, and her ability to go toe-to-toe with The Bear‘s biggest personalities is what suits her so well to play geneticist, mutant advocate, and Professor X’s right hand woman.

Elliott has proven she’s up to the dramatic and comedic task as The Bear writers have continually given Natalie more and more to tackle story-wise as the show has evolved. Therefore, should the powers at Marvel want to adhere Moira’s 2019 House of X ret-con, where we learn she’s been a mutant all along with the ability to relive her life every time she died, we know she’ll able to handle a power as awe-inspiring as Moira’s.

5) Lionel Boyce as Jericho Drumm/Doctor Voodoo

If Marvel is looking for a successor Doctor Strange as Sorcerer Supreme, they needn’t look any further than Lionel Boyce. In addition spending four seasons on The Bear as bread-maker-turned-pastry-genius Marcus, he’s a member of the alt-hip hop musical collective Odd Future, and a collaborator of Tyler, the Creator. While The Bear is Boyce’s first major acting gig, he’s exactly the fresh, talented face Marvel needs to embody Jericho Drumm’s journey to from psychologist to voodoo houngan to Sorcerer Supreme.

Boyce plays the shyer, sensitive Marcus with such care that we know he would bring the vulnerability and heart needed to a man whose heroic journey is kickstarted by his brother’s dying wish and even after temporarily succumbing to demonic spirits rises to possess the Eye of Agamotto.

All four seasons of The Bear are currently streaming on Hulu.