5 Genres The Marvel Cinematic Universe Should Tackle Next!
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as Marvel Studios’ competitors, have begun to realize the key to keeping their superhero films fresh is mixing them up with other genres.
Before the MCU was more than just Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, Christopher Nolan made The Dark Knight a crime thriller, almost more comparable to movies such as The Untouchables than Tim Burton’s Batman films.
Marvel Studios’ more recent and more successful films have taken the tried and true superhero genre and combined it with genres such as heist films (Ant-Man), space operas (Guardians of the Galaxy), a war films (Captain America: The First Avenger), a mystical and trippy adventure (Doctor Strange), a John Hughes type coming-of-age story (Spider-Man: Homecoming), and just plain comedies (Thor: Ragnarok and many others), among others.
Obviously, even though they’re 17 films into this world, the MCU isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and in order to keep things fresh, they’ll need to keep on mixing up the genres.
With that in mind, we asked the following question: what genres should the MCU dip into next to keep their library fresh?
To be clear, for this list, we are covering only Marvel Cinematic Universe films, so while certain genres may exist in some of the other Marvel TV shows, we opted to keep discussions exclusively focused on their movies.
1. Horror
Marvel Studios’ competitors are all over this genre, so it’s time for the MCU to make the same venture. Fox is releasing New Mutants, Sony has Venom, and Spawn is coming from Todd McFarlane; all described as horror films.
Horror may be a trickier genre for the Disney owned MCU to pull off, as apparently R-rated films are a “no no.” But it doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
There are several routes Marvel can take to create a horror film. Doctor Strange 2 could easily be made darker, with a more horrific foe, some sort of supernatural force only the Sorcerer Supreme could take on. With Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofer) already set as the villain for the sequel, he could summon creatures from our nightmares from a darker dimension. So, though it couldn’t be rated R, the Doctor Strange franchise could at least take a darker, scarier path, making it the least family friendly franchise in the MCU, which would be refreshing.
Another option is to create a film set outside the Marvel Universe, a multiverse or “what if” type story, using the Marvel Zombies comic for direction. Marvel Zombies is a five-issue limited series from 2005, written by Robert Kirkman of Walking Dead fame. In this alternate universe, the world’s superhero population has been infected with a virus which, well, turns them into zombies. Changes would need to be made, as with any adaptation of a classic story in the MCU, making Marvel Zombies a viable option, should Marvel ever want to venture into alternate universes.
2. Buddy “Cop”/Bromance
Some have called Thor: Ragnarok a buddy film, while others say it is also a road trip movie. I didn’t feel like it was much of either. Yes, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) team up and have some witty banter, but I’m more thinking more what the MCU version of Lethal Weapon or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid would look like.
One of my favorite comics, the one I feel has the best buddy team, is Spider-Man/Deadpool, which unfortunately would never come to pass in the MCU due to the fact that Sony still has the rights to Spider-Man (even if they are willing to share… for now), and Deadpool is owned by Fox. But, I’ve already seen real potential in two characters who have had a wonderfully offbeat relationship in Captain America: Civil War.
The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) were absolutely hilarious together in Civil War. Whether it was Wilson refusing to adjust his seat so Bucky could have more leg room, the pair giving Captain America that look when he finally kisses Sharon Carter, or their bungled fight against Spider-Man in the airport scene, these two are quite the entertaining pair to watch.
Like any good buddy cop pairing, Falcon and Bucky are a bit mismatched, but also have great chemistry. In a post Avengers 4 world, for all we know Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) will be dead, and it will be time for a new Captain America. Both men have held the title of Captain America in the comics, so why not make them both Cap and call it Captains America? Or, leave them as Falcon and Winter Solider and still pair them together.
I don’t care which approach Marvel uses, but get these two Captain America sidekicks their own film, Marvel! Do it!
3. Spy Thriller
I guess you could call Captain America: The Winter Soldier a spy thriller, but only in the loosest of terms. I would say it is a ‘70s style conspiracy thriller; what I would like to see is a full-on spy adventure akin to 007 or Mission: Impossible.
You could do a young Nick Fury movie, even pre-Captain Marvel – which is set in the ‘90s – involving Alexander Pierce as well. Obviously we would no longer be using Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Redford, respectively. But if you could cast young versions of them, set it in the ‘70s or so… baby, you got a spy thriller going! This would also be before the age of superheroes (except Captain America, who would be frozen in ice at the time), so you can go full spy movie, leaving any superhumans out of it completely (Hank Pym’s Ant-Man was active in the ‘80s, so it would predate him as well). Is it still a superhero movie, then? Maybe not, but it can certainly still live in the MCU and expand the universe.
Or, we could kill two birds with one stone and make the Black Widow movie we all want a straight-up spy thriller with limited superbeings. I would say set it before Iron Man 2 as well, before the age of heroes. Show us the type of missions Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) was on when we meet her again in The Avengers. Infiltrating enemy bases, using fake identities, preventing WWIII, that sort of classic spy stuff is what I would like to see incorporated into the MCU.
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4. Time Travel
Messing with time in Doctor Strange does not a time travel movie make. On the other hand, there exists a character that would make for the perfect time travel-centric Avengers film.
Of course, I’m talking about Kang the Conqueror.
For those not in the know, Kang is a scholar from the 30th century who has no superhuman abilities, but is a extraordinary genius and is well versed in the principals of time travel. Most of his technology actually comes from the 40th century, as Kang likes to get around (time).
RELATED: All Current Marvel Cinematic Universe Films Ranked From Worst To Best (Including Thor: Ragnarok)
Imagine it, The Avengers chasing Kang through time. I’m not talking about a film that would alter the universe or show us wildly different versions of the characters we love due to time interference. In other words, I’m not suggesting Marvel do their own Flashpoint Paradox with Marvel characters. That would be so uncool, Marvel.
The current team of Avengers however, whoever they may be by Avengers 5 or so, could be involved in scenes we’ve seen previously, similar to the revelation in Back To The Future Part II that there was a second Marty McFly helping the events of the first film unfold in the 1950s. Or, Kang could be trying to erase this team of Avengers by messing with their histories. We could also avoid time periods we’ve seen before all together.
To be a true time travel film, I would like to see multiple time periods as the Avengers battle the time traveling Kang. I say, go all out to long before the MCU, like western times or even before that, or take us far into Kang’s future.
5. Film Noir
Again, It’s important to clarify again that we are only talking about the films of the MCU, not the television offerings on ABC, Hulu, or Netflix. Jessica Jones is totally noir, but what would a noir film from Marvel Studios look like in shorter form, on the big screen?
Though he has been floated as a possible character for a Netflix series of his own, I suggest using Moon Knight. Moon Knight, fairly or not, has been compared to Batman quite a lot, as both are wealthy humans that use gadgetry to fight crime, though to a much lesser extent than Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.).
Moon Knight has a very particular set of skills that make him perfect for film noir. He’s a former U.S. Marine and mercenary, he is a skilled detective (like Batman… cough, cough) and often works as a detective/private investigator, he is an expert in interrogation, a master marksman, and overall weapons master.
Even with these skills and training that Moon Knight can hold over Jessica Jones, there is another way his film would be completely unique from her series; Moon Knight has developed different personas leading some to believe he has brain damage or dissociative identity disorder, though really it is a result of a fairly complicated origin.
Would you like to see any of these genres explored within the MCU? Do you have any ideas for ones I missed or didn’t include? Let us know in the comment section below!
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