Fanboys Anonymous

As the giant Marvel-mobile rolls on towards Phase 3 of their epic movie run, it's old news what we're meant to expect of chief producer guy Kevin Feige. It's also pissed off quite a few people that some major characters are not going to be tackled, along with many underdog favourites.

We know that Ant-Man is on the way, we know that Dr Strange is on the way. We also know that Deadpool is disguised as in pre-production but that it's actually in Production Hell (that's a few miles south of "the Special Hell"), but that he might be better off being re-introduced in X-Force first, if they choose to bring him onto X-Force.

But what of all the great possibilities that may never see the light of day despite their potential to be great films? Without waffling on like a pre-middle-aged buffoon who argues for the sake of arguing (guilty), here are five films I feel should be given a chance, their lead actors and their directors, and why!

1.) MOON KNIGHT

"That guy's ass sure is weird lookin'!"

Story Pitch:
Mercenary Marc Spector is nearly killed and then left for dead in Egypt by his employer, Raoul Bushman, whereupon an experience with death laid out before an ancient statue imbues him with paranormal superpowers. Using these to defeat Bushman—as revenge not only for himself but for the murder of the innocent Dr Alraune—Spector takes Alraune's daughter Marlene back to New York City, under the false identity of NYC cabbie Jake Lockley and unaware of his future as the new Avatar of Khonshu. Enter his psychotic brother Randall Spector, ally of Bushman, and intent on discovering his powers and taking them for himself! 

Powers & Abilities:
Moon Knight gains super strength, endurance, and reflexes at night, reaching his pinnacle during a full moon, and sometimes has prophetic visions. He develops multiple personalities/identities as a result of his powers, which grant him immunity to psychic assaults. As Marc Spector, he was a boxer, a Marine, and has even worked for the CIA.

Cast & Director:

"Fuck you, thunder..."

Mark Wahlberg might be from Boston but I can totally see him *cough* moonlighting *cough* as a New York Cabbie. He gets extra points on the mercenary front thanks to his work on the likes of Shooter, Contraband, and Four Brothers. He has that grit that goes perfectly with darker films, the range to play with the unusual, and yet he can lighten the tone. I'd choose writer and director Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City) to give such a feature it's bleak but larger-than-life and supernatural personality; something true fans of Moon Knight and cinemagoers can equally appreciate.

2.) CABLE

Techno-Organic Body Odour Control... it won't let you down!

Story Pitch:
Now that time travel is being brought into the X-Men franchise, I feel it should only be a matter of time before Cable blasts down from the apocalyptic future. It should sound a little bit like this...

In an alternate dimension, Nathan Summers is the son of Cyclops and Jean Grey, sent to the distant future to avoid the chaos and destruction of the villain Apocalypse. However, infected by Apocalypse with a Techno-Organic virus which slowly takes over his body, rendering him half man, half organic machine, he gains his mother's psionic powers and merges them with the virus to use to his own advantage.

Defeating the ruling Apocalypse of his future, Nathan finds a way to travel back in time to prevent the events of the past and prepare Professor Xavier and the X-Men to defeat the younger and more powerful Apocalypse!

Powers & Abilities:
Although he isn't your typical genius, Cable was educated by great minds of the future and is believed to be as intelligent as the likes of Reed Richards. He has strong psychic abilities, allowing him to read minds from across great distances, influence people, and produce blasts of energy. As a result of his techno-organic virus, he has learned to utilise this to enhance his strength and can manipulate his own atomic structure, healing himself when he is injured. Nathan/Cable is also a highly skilled fighter.

Cast & Director:

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1-2-3... Bicep Pop...

As a fantastic character actor, Kevin Durand has made some great films great and then he has made some not-so-great films greater than they should have been. A towering presence, he doesn't have to be 6'8" to be fit to play Cable and yet remarkably he still could with a little hair dye and a Terminator eye. Durand is also no stranger to working with Hugh Jackman and taking on action roles as a heavy hitter. He's worthy of this lead role.

For a director, I don't see why Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium, Law Abiding Citizen, Total Recall) couldn't apply his dystopian futurism and stylish violence to such an ambitious venture. He might even make more sense than Bryan Singer, considering the complexities of time travel.

3.) AGENT VENOM

"You really should see an actual dentist, though."

Story Pitch:
Some years later after the events of the Amazing Spider-man movies, Eugene "Flash" Thompson gave into his ego to prove a point and joins the Marines. As a result of an act of courage to protect his fellow Marines, Flash loses his legs and goes back home a broken young man with seemingly no future.

But given the opportunity to take part in a new experiment, with the promise of being able to walk again, Flash finds himself at the mercy of a controlled Venom Symbiote. Torn between wanting a normal life in which he's accepted back into society again, and the adrenaline pumping Black Ops missions he's suddenly being sent on with his super-powered sentient suit, will he drift further from humanity and fully bond with Venom, or will he use the symbiote for good? Maybe the arrival of Carnage won't allow him to make a choice!

Cast & Director:

Magic Leeeegs (it's a Forrest Gump thing...)

 Sorry, I couldn't help myself... but just look at Flash here and then look at the kid playing him in the film. He'll never appear older or smart enough to join the special forces, let alone use a Venom symbiote. Agent Venom needs relatively fresh action man material and heartthrob material so the women can say, 'Ohhh, I hope it's a better story than Twilight!'

"...captain's log..."

So I don't see why this guy, aka Chris Pine, aka Cap'n Kirk, can't make good use of a character that is deeper, more tragic and yet has grown more heroic potential in a matter of years than Peter Parker grew in half a century. If only he could control his monstrous temper... something that makes him a very believable hero, wouldn't you agree? And as we all know, our lovely Chris Pine plays a lovable A-Hole with such confidence.

For my director choice, I'd have to go with Nimrod Antal (Predators, Vacancy, Metallica: Through the Never). The guy has so much range and is so versatile, and yet his suspense, horror, action, and drama are all rock solid. His sense of humour is very sly, which is important, and if the guy who directed Predators could get to grips with Agent Venom and Carnage... fireworks!

4.) HAWKEYE

"Go home woman, you're shitfaced!"

Not naming names here, okay, so don't go getting pissy with me JOSS WHEDON AND/OR KEVIN FEIGE, but I sense that either or both of you have it in for Jeremy Renner, aka Clint Barton of the Avengers. His earlier cameos excited people, because shit yeah, that's Hawkeye, dude. Then you completely and utterly waste him in the Avengers movie, and I'll bet my biggest testicle that he won't do much after that, especially after Renner complained about being creatively castrated to make way for Cap, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk's two-hour long dick measuring contest.

There's something that has been completely and utterly avoided in the one hour of imaginary technical jargon that was added to silence the greater nerds, and the other hour of explosive mayhem to silence the girls wanting to go home while the boys wet themselves with excitement. That something was the character of Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye—why he was an Avenger and why he was a top SHIELD agent, besides the fact he was a crack shot with a bow and arrow.

So while Black Widow gets more me-time in the approaching Captain America sequel, where she is likely to wind up fancying the pants off Winter Soldier and therefore forget poor Clinty-boy, what does the Avengers' most redemptive, supportive, motivational and clear-headed member have going for him?

For a start Marvel should do the right thing and honour him with his own story where he finds his redemption in the form of Mockingbird, because not all Marvel movies will be trilogies, and that you can bet on. Secondly, he should return to the Avengers as the strong character he is, while Steve Rogers remains at the mercy of Whedon's 20th/21st Century culture clash comedy. Rant over!

Cast & Director

"Did somebody just say milkshake?"

It's a no brainer that you'd have to have Jeremy Renner back. He is Hawkeye, plain and simple. And there's a big reason for that. He rocks. He's a great dramatist. Watch The Town. He's a great action star. He's a hit with the ladies.

Who could deliver the cutting edge that a former bad-guy turned redemption seeking elite agent better than Training Day, Tears of the Sun and Shooter director Antoine Fuqua?

He has the style, the execution, the grit, the drama and the vision. Fans saying "Well, Zack Snyder might be doing Man of Steel now, but I still have hopes that..." need to shut up and turn to Antoine Fuqua to direct a Marvel movie, because he may be their only way of showing DC that they can be just as dark... but then...

5.) THE PUNISHER

"Dan's posts leave me in stitches!"

Story Pitch:
What Frank needs is a definitive movie trilogy of his own, and one that doesn't try to be a Christopher Nolan movie, but still packs as much dramatic and memorable content. People need comic relief to stomach the real Punisher, but it needs to be clever, and therefore I think it needs to be something that complements his best and worst moments as a human being, and the devastation and human trauma he leaves in his wake. Really, you need to laugh and to know that you should not have laughed!

Everybody thought the Punisher was dead and gone, or so the story goes. It's been years since his last campaign against the Mafia, and yet this spectre of lethal justice still haunts New York. But when the biggest Mafia meeting in history takes place upstate, the ensuing massacre alerts corrupt CIA director Robert Bethell to the fact that Frank Castle is still very much alive and kicking. Bethell needs to make Castle an offer he can't refuse. Disgraced gangster Nicky Cavella needs to kill Castle to become the next big don. Rogue agent Kathryn O'Brien needs to fuck his brains out. It's not all going to plan.

Abilities:
Captain Frank Castle, listed as AWOL from the USMC, is an expert sniper, marksman, demolitionist, survivalist, and interrogator. He is also a master tactician and gunsmith. He has no superpowers, but he is lethal in hand-to-hand combat and has no problem taking on a group of armed combatants empty-handed. He has a high tolerance to pain, works out extensively every day, and enjoys a comfortable silence.

Cast & Director:

Thinking about Spongebob.

Kneel before Zod, freeze before the Ice Man; Michael Shannon is possibly the most menacing-looking actor today, the most tortured genius style of actor since Christian Bale, and did you know that he shares almost all the same physical statistics as the official Marvel Punisher Frank Castle (minus his age)?

Take a look at the above picture of Frank and then look at Michael Shannon. Think of all the roles Shannon has ever taken, and shiver your freakin' timbers because Tom Jane isn't coming back, and here is your perfect skull-wearing vigilante just waiting to happen.

My own personal choice of director—to make the violence justifiable, to make the grim horror hilarious, and to make you cringe all the same—would have to be In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths director extraordinaire Martin McDonagh. If you've read Marvel Knights and Punisher MAX, you'll see that McDonagh would make for a great visual interpretation of Garth Ennis's most sadistic, pessimistic, and gratuitously satisfying madness, assuming that Ennis would be a total berk and refuse to help write the screenplay.

And that's my list of five Marvel movies that need to be made. Comments below, tell me what you'd like to see next on the big screen and thanks for reading!