Far be it for me, or anyone really, to tell Marvel what to do with their characters. They are about to make another billion dollars with Captain America: Civil War in theaters and as of this weekend, they’ve produced another successful Netflix season with Daredevil. They don’t need help from me, or fans, or even The Avengers star Jeremy Renner.
That won’t stop any of us from making suggestions. Renner did as much in an appearance at the Silicon Valley Comic Con. According to Comic Book Movie, the man who plays Hawkeye went as far as to suggest that his character might benefit from the Netflix model. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to explore the character more recently. The Netflix model is where all the character drama goes to now, you’re doing a superhero movie or a Netflix or HBO kind of model. So I’d be open to it. Not up to me, though,” he explained. When pressed further about the notion of a Black Widow/Hawkeye movie, Renner said he’s say yes “in a second.”
It’s an interesting idea, the thought of Marvel and Netflix expanding their plans down the road. Right now they are in the middle of putting together The Defenders. Daredevil’s second season will be followed by Luke Cage, then Iron Fist and The Defenders as they continue to explore the street level vigilantism of Hell’s Kitchen. But what if Marvel’s vast array of characters were open to the Netflix treatment?
For this dream scenario in which contractual issues don’t exist and I get full creative control over Marvel’s stable of characters, I have a few fun ideas.
1. Spider-Man: A Serial Killer Story
He may fly high on the big screen and be one of Marvel’s biggest cash cows, but Spider-Man also has a deep appeal as a street-level character. Set in Brooklyn, a Netflix series about Miles Morales would be very interesting. Especially if you took a villain such as Carnage and spun a story around a high school Spider-Man investigating a vicious serial killer on the streets of Brooklyn.
2. Damage Control
Marvel is already bringing Damage Control to television on ABC, but from the sound of it, it seems like they are moving more toward the tone of The Office. If it were a Netflix series, they might have more freedom to explore the darker aspects of cleaning up after superheroes. It could still accomplish a lot of comedy, but it might be slightly more sardonic.
3. Moon Knight
If the success of Deadpool proved anything (it proved a lot), it’s that audiences might be okay with superheroes who are a little… unbalanced. Moon Knight is basically an undead, mystical version of Batman who is schizophrenic. Believing himself to be the avatar for the Egyptian god of vengeance, Marc Spector’s war is with more than just the villains who thrive at night, it’s with his own conflicting personalities. The brutal nature of Moon Knight’s fighting style, plus the crazy, would make for a very violent show. Does that remind you of anything, people who have seen Daredevil season 2?
4. The Punisher
After Daredevil season two, this seems almost inevitable. Jon Bernthal is an excellent Frank Castle. Let’s do more of that.
6. Sinister Six
Sony had plans to make a Sinister Six movie with Daredevil co-creator Drew Goddard, but those plans were shelved in the wake of their new deal to bring Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The simplest answer to why a Sinister Six movie would be so difficult is that there are simply too many moving parts for a movie. Previous Spider-Man movies have struggled enough to integrate 3 villain stories, let alone try to bring six together at once. A 13-hour series, however, might be just right for all that development.
7. The Runaways
This Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona-created series is all about a group of teenagers, whose parents are villains, who rebel and become heroes. Like a Sinister Six project, this would include a lot of moving parts. Perfect for a series with its many characters and narrative possibilities.
8. Deadpool Does Quantum Leap
Our own Matthew Monagle suggested this one, based on a comic storyline in which Deadpool is sent back in time into the body of Peter Parker, forced to relive the first issue of Spider-Man in Parker’s body. The pitch is a Quantum Leap-style show in which Deadpool goes back and relives some of Marvel’s less successful storylines from the 70s and 80s. Get Ryan Reynolds to do voice-over as other characters play roles like Peter Parker. That sounds fun, right?
Update: This is only the tip of the iceberg, as you might imagine. We’ve already received a number of fun ideas via Twitter:
@rejects Where is my She-Hulk/Ally McBeal/Boston Legal show?!
@rejects I am disappointed this list doesn't include Squirrel Girl.
If you were named King or Queen of all things Marvel, what kind of Netflix series would you make? Join us in this thought experiment below.
Related Topics: Netflix
