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phantom-le6 · 7 months ago

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Ramble of the month November 2024: 90’s MCU phase 8 – Secret Invasion, Fatal Attractions and the penultimate phase of the 90’s MCU

Once again, we’re going into my alternate MCU that begins in the 1990’s but is rapidly catching up to our present day. In fact, the latest phase will cover from 2020 through to 2023. For those new to my Tumblr page who perhaps haven’t read any of my rambles on this subject, and for those who may just need a refresher, here’s a quick over-view of the underlying premise. This is a hypothetical MCU slate, complete with fan-casting, which I’ve done both for fun and to show up the flaws in 90’s MCU memes. What are those flaws? Very simply, if the MCU had begun in the 1990’s, Marvel would have had all their film rights instead of just some, certain source material used by the real MCU would not exist and a number of characters/teams would be quite different.

With that quick summation out of the way, let’s quickly re-cap the film run for phases 1 through 6 of this hypothetical MCU.

Phase 1:

1992: Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man

1993: Thor, Spider-Man, Ant-Man & The Wasp

1994: Captain America, Fantastic Four 2, Iron Man 2

1995: X-Men, Avengers, Daredevil

Phase 1 established the initial characters of our MCU, putting the Fantastic Four first and foremost to bring them in line with their comic-book counterparts before beginning to develop the Avengers, the X-Men, Spider-Man and Daredevil.

Phase 2:

1996: Spider-Man 2, Thor: Land of Enchantment, Silver Surfer

1997: Hulk vs Wolverine, Fantastic Four: Doomsday, Iron Man 3

1998: Captain America: Society of Serpents, Daredevil 2, X-Men 2

1999: Avengers 2, Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange

Phase 2 provides expansion as not only do most heroes get solo and ensemble sequels, but other characters start to take on films of their own. The Silver Surfer is spun off from his appearance in Fantastic Four 2 into a solo film while Doctor Strange is introduced, and we also see the first examples of the “third film loss” trope, including Stark’s loss of his business and Iron Man persona through alcoholism, Doctor Doom destroying the Baxter Building while Ben Grimm loses a chance to be human, and Peter Parker loses Gwen Stacy.

Phase 3:

2000: Fantastic Four: World War III, Thor: Ragnarök, Daredevil 3

2001: Hulk: Rise of the Leader, X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, Avengers: Under Siege

2002: Doctor Strange 2, The Captain, Spider-Man 4

2003: Captain Britain, Fantastic Four: Enter the Negative Zone, Ghost Rider

Phase 3 further put our heroes on the back foot with yet more loss, most notably assaults on the X-Mansion and Avengers Mansion, but we also see more expansion; Namor, the Black Panther and the Inhumans all get introduced via the Fantastic Four, who then go on to become a family via the birth of Franklin Richards, and both Captain Britain and Ghost Rider get added to the mix.

Phase 4:

2004: Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Secret Wars: Part I

2005: Excalibur, Defenders, Ghost Rider 2

2006: X-Factor, Secret Wars: Part II, Heroes For Hire

2007: Namor the Submariner, Doctor Strange 3, Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin

Phase 4 took us through Secret Wars, and along the way gave us a lot more characters. Black Panther and the original, pre-Carol Danvers iteration of Captain Marvel get solo films, former X-Men become parts of spin-off teams, and we see the formation of the Defenders and a one-shot of the Heroes For Hire, not to mention a Namor solo film and the return of Tony Stark.

Phase 5:

2008: Spider-Man 5, Fantastic Four: Unthinkable, Ms Marvel

2009: Elektra, Black Panther 2, Defenders 2

2010: X-Men: Proteus, Spider-Man 6, Ant-Man 2

2011: Silver Surfer 2, Avengers vs X-Men, Ghost Rider 3

Phase 5 gave us the Black Suit saga for Spider-Man as an aftermath of Secret Wars over the web-slinger’s fifth and sixth solo films, while the Fantastic Four’s sixth film would also be their last as we began the Infinity Saga. In turn, Carol Danvers and a resurrected Elektra gained solo films, with the former precipitating an Avengers vs X-Men clash.

Phase 6:

2012: Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther 3, Iron Man: The Dragon Seed Saga

2013: X-Men: Phoenix Rising, Defenders 3, Ant-Man 3

2014: X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga, Infinity War, Blade

2015: Inhumans, Infinity War II, Deadpool

Phase 6 concluded the Infinity Saga while also removing Jean Grey and Cyclops from being active in the MCU via the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix sagas being adapted into a film duology. We also add Blade to the MCU, and the Inhumans finally gained their own film, while several solo and group film franchises reached their third and final instalments.

Phase 7:

2016: Union Jack, Silver Surfer 3, Iron-Man/Spider-Man: Legacy

2017: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Blade 2, Ghost Rider Returns

2018: Eternals, Deadpool 2, New Avengers

2019: X-Men: Days of Future Past, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Blade 3

Phase 7 was all about dealing with the aftermath of the Infinity Saga and beginning a set-up of Secret Wars. At the same time, we also added some new heroes, passed on a few mantles and otherwise paved the way for phase 8, which works out as follows;

Phase 8:

2020: Wolverine: Enemy of the State, MI13, Ultimate Spider-Man

2021: Deadpool 3, Spider-Woman, Ms Marvel 2

2022: X-Men: Fatal Attractions, Venom, Great Lakes Avengers

2023: Secret Invasion, Howling Commandoes, Wolverine: Sins of the Father

As you can see, Wolverine solo films come up for the first time since Hulk vs Wolverine was done back in phase 2, and we have a mix of first films and sequels. So, without further ado, let’s look at these films in more detail…

Wolverine: Enemy of the State (2020) Directed by Paul Greengrass

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Elektra Natchios = Leonor Varela

Nick Fury = Tommy Lee Jones

Tomi Shishido/The Gorgon = Tadanobu Asano

Elsbeth Von Strucker = Lynda Carter

Baron Von Strucker = Udo Kier

Storm/Ororo Monroe = Halle Berry

Peter Rasputin/Colossus = Henry Cavill

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler = Daniel Brühl

Jubilee = Chloe Bennett

Emma Frost = Elizabeth Banks

Danielle Moonstar = Selena Gomez

Bishop = Winston Duke

Rachel Summers = Danielle Panabaker

Beast/Hank McCoy = Alec Baldwin

Dr Valerie Cooper = Malin Åkerman

Forge = Jimmy Smits

Steve Rogers/Captain America = Brad Pitt

Amadeus Cho/Iron Man III = Charles Melton

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel = Odeya Rush

Hawkeye II/Kate Bishop = Hailee Steinfeld

Luke Cage = Tyrese Gibson

Matt Murdock/Daredevil = Christian Slater

Paul Greengrass, director of the second, third and fifth Bourne films, is my pick to helm this film adaptation of a great solo Wolverine arc that has yet to be animated to animated series or film. In this arc in the comics, Wolverine is killed and resurrected by the villainous ninja group known as the Hand in order to brainwash Wolverine into being a weapon for them and Hydra. This puts Wolverine in the position of attacking a lot of his friends, and results in clashes with Elektra, owing to her history with the Hand. It’s brilliantly done, and as such I felt it should be included in my hypothetical MCU.

At this stage, a lot of the cast has long since been around and is reprised from past films. Honestly, only Japanese mutant and central villain The Gorgon and Baron Von Strucker’s wife are new roles. However, that doesn’t make the cast any less packed for heavyweights in the world of acting. Bottom line, this would be a great film to see in this MCU, and if Deadpool & Wolverine hadn’t already played some of the themes of this story out in their Wolverine, I’d enjoy seeing it used for the MCU. As it is, I hope that X-Men ’97 can maybe build up to something like this in another season or two.

MI13 (2020) Directed by Sam Mendes

Joseph Chapman/Union Jack III = Rob Mallard

Dane Whitman/Black Knight = Ioan Gruffudd

Dr Faiza Hussain/Excalibur = Nikkita Chadha

Scott Wright/Micromax = Jack O'Connell

Harley Davis/Motormouth = Louisa Lytton

Sabra/Ruth Bat-Seraph = Gal Gadot

Navid Hashim/Arabian Knight = Marwan Kenzari

Pete Wisdom = Tom Bateman

Alistaire Stuart = David Tennant

Brian Braddock Jr./Captain Britain = Jamie Bamber

Meggan = Sienna Miller

Philip Gavin = Daniel Day-Lewis

Farouk Al-Fasaud = Navid Negahban

Batroc = Georges St-Pierre

Steven Levens/Jack O'Lantern = Duane Henry

Douglas Scott/Razorfist = Joe Manganiello

Herman Schultz/Shocker = Patrick Muldoon

Lady Deathstrike = Tao Okamoto

Joanna Cargill/Frenzy = Amanda Nunes

Titania/Mary MacPherson = Amy Christine Dumas

As a Brit, I like to work in Marvel’s UK heroes now and then for films of their own, and of those heroes, among the few I’ve not yet touched on is the concept of MI13, a team that combines British superheroes together without depending on the mutant underpinnings inherent to Marvel’s other UK-based super-term Excalibur. However, I’ve not read anything of their lore, so our MCU gets a slightly different origin arc based on a Union Jack solo/interim team arc I read a while back. The whole thing revolves around UJ and a team of unlikely allies saving London from a terrorist plot, so this film takes that basic plot and adds to it to make it into an MI13 origin arc.

Now we have a few reprised roles in Union Jack, Black Knight, Alistaire Stuart, Captain Britain, Meggan and all the costumes villains (Batroc on down). The rest of the cast is new, and I know some people will question my use of two characters in particular, especially since one is already causing controversy by being used in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World in the real MCU. In other words, we’re on about Israeli super-agent Sabra, and her Saudi counterpart known as the Arabian Knight, largely out of Marvel’s desire to word-play on the idea of the “Arabian Nights”.

Now I’m sure anyone with any awareness of these cultures already what makes the characters so controversial, and one could argue against including them, or at least changing them like the real MCU has done. However, being committed to showing cultures as they are where I can, I’d be taking more of an attitude of having these two characters roped in to aid British intelligence, having to co-operate when they can’t stand each other, and developing an understanding of each other as a people by the film’s end. Their part in this film would be show that Jews and Muslims can get along if they want to and choose to. As for the Arabian Knight’s codename, that would just be shown as a western press name for the character, who would have a more appropriate Saudi-based codename, and a modernised appearance to match the story arc being adapted. Direction-wise, I’ve picked Sam Mendes of 1917 and Skyfall fame.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2020) Directed by Denzel Washington

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Cassandra Webb/Madame Webb = Nana Visitor

Silvija Sablinova/Silver Sable = Ivanna Sakhno

Thomas Fireheart/Puma = Martin Sensmeier

Rio Morales = Penélope Cruz

Jefferson Davis = Eriq La Salle

Ganke Lee = Jacob Batalon

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel = Odeya Rush

Ava Ayala = Cierra Ramirez

Anya Corazon = Alejandra Reynoso

Yuri Watanabe = Ally Maki

Dr Miles Warren/Jackal = Kyle MacLachlan

Kaine/Scarlet Spider = Wil Weaton

Gwen Stacy II/Ghost Spider = Reese Witherspoon

Norton G. Fester/Looter = Michael Peña

Harry Osborn = Ryan Phillipe

Liz Allen-Osborn = Alicia Silverstone

Having seen Wil Wheaton as Spider-Man over six solo films before handing over the webs to Miles Morales, this alternate MCU has then taken Miles through appearances in a Blade film and New Avengers before giving him his first true solo film. For direction, I’ve picked Denzel Washington in part because this MCU has already used him to play Joe Robertson of Spider-Man fame, and since Denzel is both director and actor, I’d be curious to see what he could do with the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man. Plot-wise, stopping a minor criminal threat in the form of the Looter begins to unveil the trail of villainous geneticist Miles Warren, also known as the Jackal, who is under investigation by Silver Sable on behalf of Thomas Fireheart, a CEO and super-being also known as the Puma. Meanwhile, Madame Web has made herself known to Miles to help guide the young hero, and there are cameo appearances by Kamala Khan, as well as the Osborns.

A fair chunk of this film is about mixing some classic Spider-Man lore with the more modern takes we now get involving Miles, hence the mix of characters and elements involved. Unlike Sony, I don’t believe in doing certain characters from Spider-Man’s universe without him, so Madame Webb is included here as a key supporting character instead of being off in her own film. As for the inclusion of a spider-powered Gwen-clone, this is an attempt to combine her Spider-Woman persona with the cloning plots around Spider-Man and setting up some different motivations for the infamous Kaine. Other characters are also included that will play hero roles later, but aren’t there just yet to give more time to focus on Miles developing into the Spider-Man role, including how he reacts to the more mercenary-like Silver Sable.

Deadpool 3 (2021) Directed by James Gunn

Wade Wilson/Deadpool = Ryan Reynolds

Theresa Rourke-Cassidy/Siryn = Sarah Bolger

Jamie Maddrox/Multiple Man = Zac Efron

Roberto Da Costa = Mario Lopez

Tabita Smith = Anna Faris

Arkady Rossovich/Omega Red = David Harbour

"Black Tom" Cassidy = Ciarán Hinds

Weasel = TJ Miller

Blind Al = Stockard Channing

Mister Sinister = Michael Sheen

Scalphunter = Chaske Spencer

Arclight = Lana Condor

Blockbuster = Triple H

Harpoon = Jay Tavare

Vertigo = Brie Larson

Dr Valerie Cooper = Malin Åkerman

Nathan Christopher Summers/Cable = Dennis Quaid

Domino = Morena Baccarin

James Proudstar/Warpath = Booboo Stewart

Paige Guthrie/Husk = Kelly Stables

Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane = Bonnie Wright

Banshee/Sean Cassidy = Liam Neeson

Dr Moira Mactaggert = Olivia Williams

For the third Deadpool film in our alternate MCU, I’m putting James Gunn at the helm and picking up on a plot thread that drops in the second film and that must come up for Fatal Attractions to really work well; the Legacy Virus. Stryfe has unleashed the same illness that was unleashed in the comics, and just like in the comics, it’s a pox on the mutant population. When some key mutants begin falling to the illness, Deadpool forms an ad-hoc team in a desperate search for a possible cure. However, the cure requires confronting Mr Sinister and his Marauders, and for some reason, Cable and X-Force are approached to try and prevent this. The overall idea would be a mutant-based comedy mash-up of the viral outbreak, quest adventure and political thriller genres, while at the same time helping to set up events for the Secret Invasion film.

Now for anyone disappointed in my choosing Michael Sheen over, say, Keanu Reeves to play Sinister, please bear in mind that a) Keanu already has a role in this 90’s-based MCU of mine as Mastermind, and b) Keanu is Canadian, Sheen is English, and Sinister is also a character originally from England, so safe to say that even Sheen wasn’t the fantastic actor that he is, he would still be more suited to the part than Reeves just by being the right nationality. A pity DC couldn’t figure that out and get an English actor to play their film version of Constantine, but at least the Arrowverse and DCAMU got it right. Anyway, back to this hypothetical MCU…

Spider-Woman (2021) Directed by Patty Jenkins

Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew = Anne Hathaway

Abigail Brand = Kristen Wiig

Dakota North = Serinda Swan

David Ishima = Yuki Matsuzaki

Lt. Sabrina Morrell = Marisa Tomei

Dr Ashley Kafka = Keri Russell

Nick Fury = Tommy Lee Jones

Viper/Ophelia Sarkissian = Rose McGowan

Dr Karl Malus = Jared Leto

Black Widow II/Yelena Belova = Florence Pugh

Andrea von Strucker = Nina Hoss

Andreas von Strucker = August Diehl

Otto Vermis = Ulrich Tukur

Jared Kurtz = Matthias Schweighöfer

High Evolutionary = Hugh Grant

Bova = Tamzin Outhwaite

Jonathan Drew (flashback) = Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Miriam Drew (flashback) = Cara Delevingne

Spider-Woman is a character that hasn’t been adapted much as yet in films or animation, or at least not the Jessica Drew original (the Julia Carpenter model was a key part of the 90’s animated series of Iron Man and was played by Sydney Sweeney at a younger age in the Madame Web film). Looking at her origins, this isn’t surprising as they’ve been some of the most inconsistent possible, but given her importance in Secret Invasion, I felt a solo film was needed to explore her origins. In this film, we see kid Jessica get powers as a child courtesy of the High Evolutionary, only to be orphaned by him and his parents blowing up HE’s base to prevent Hydra getting the scientist’s technology. Later, we see Jessica almost falling in with Hydra, only to defect to SHIELD and develop a more heroic persona, followed by a present-day story against Hydra that works in characters old and new.

For direction, I went with Patty Jenkins of Wonder Woman fame because we’ve already seen in superhero films that women characters often come across better under female directors. Spider-Woman, Fury and Viper all return from past films, but everyone else is a new addition to the casting of this MCU, and as you may notice, I’ve kept at least one real MCU casting choice, but the rest are all new for this film.

Ms Marvel 2 (2021) Directed by Chloé Zhao

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel = Odeya Rush

Nakia Bahadir = Anya Chalotra

Bruno Carrelli = Jake Cannavale

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Jusuf Khan = Sayed Badreya

Disha Khan = Nina Wadia

Jamir Khan = Tony Revolori

Michaela Miller = Sierra McCormick

Zoe Zimmer = Dove Cameron

Sheik Abdullah = Nasser Farris

Ronan The Accuser = Ray Stevenson

Lash = Benedict Cumberbatch

Hollow = David Ramsey

Sheath = Kristen Stewart

Tomoe = Naoko Mori

Kaboom = Nicola Peltz

Kamran = Timothée Chalamet

While most films with a numerical suffix will be sequels, this one isn’t, or at least not in the strictest sense. In this film-verse, we’ve gone from a Captain Marvel solo film dedicated to the male Kree original, then gave Carol Danvers a Ms Marvel film that show-cases Rogue stealing her powers. Having establish Kamala Khan first in an Inhumans film, then having her return for New Avengers and cameo in Ultimate Spider-Man, this film is her dedicated solo film. In this case, she’s going up against villainous Inhumans both old (Lash, Hollow and Sheath) and new, not to mention Kree villain Ronan, all with some third-act assistance from Miles Morales (albeit not much so as to avoid stealing too much thunder from the title character). For directors, I had a feeling this project might have been a better option for Chloé Zhao than Eternals was in the real MCU. Sometimes a film not being as good as it could be is less about those involved being bad and more about mismatching the material with the creatives involved.

X-Men: Fatal Attractions (2022) Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Professor Charles Xavier = Patrick Stewart

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Magneto (old version) = Ian McKellan

Magneto (revitalised version) = Matthew Macfadyen

Beast/Hank McCoy = Alec Baldwin

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler = Daniel Brühl

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Remi LeBeau/Gambit = Zachary Levi

Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff = Kate Beckinsale

Jubilee = Chloe Bennett

Emma Frost = Elizabeth Banks

Danielle Moonstar = Selena Gomez

Bishop = Winston Duke

Rachel Summers = Danielle Panabaker

Peter Rasputin/Colossus = Henry Cavill

Illyana Rasputin = Izabela Vidovic

Jonothan Starsmore/Chamber = Tom Holland

Hisako Ichiki/Armor = Inori Minase

Monet St Croix/M = Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

Megan Gwynn/Pixie = Alexa Davies

Neal Shaara/Thunderbird = Karan Brar

Exodus = Jean Dujardin

Spoor = Kevin McKidd

Scanner = Caity Lotz

Katu = Gil Birmingham

Joanna Cargill/Frenzy = Amanda Nunes

Fabian Cortez = Jason Flemyng

Storm/Ororo Monroe = Halle Berry

Forge = Jimmy Smits

Banshee/Sean Cassidy = Liam Neeson

Dr Moira Mactaggert = Olivia Williams

Warren Worthington III/Archangel = Neil Patrick Harris

Brian Braddock Jr./Captain Britain = Jamie Bamber

Betsy Braddock/Psylocke = Lena Headey

Meggan = Sienna Miller

Jamie Maddrox/Multiple Man = Zac Efron

Abigail Brand = Kristen Wiig

Nathan Christopher Summers/Cable = Dennis Quaid

Domino = Morena Baccarin

James Proudstar/Warpath = Booboo Stewart

Theresa Rourke-Cassidy/Siryn = Sarah Bolger

Paige Guthrie = Kelly Stables

Roberto Da Costa = Mario Lopez

Tabita Smith = Anna Faris

Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane = Bonnie Wright

At this stage of the MCU, keeping the X-Men going is tricky. Actors I picked previously for certain roles would have died at this point (Patrick Swayze as Cyclops and Paul Walker as Cannonball), and the original Xavier and Magneto are both getting up in years. As a result, changing some of the older actors with in-story explanations becomes part of the process. However, when you’re dealing with a story like Fatal Attractions, having Magneto de-age himself is a minor plot thread when measured against the Legacy Virus killing Illyana, her brother’s subsequent defection to Magneto’s side, and let’s not forget the storming of Magneto’s orbital base that ends in the ripping out of Wolverine’s adamantium.

Aside from some new X-Students, the Acolytes and a younger Magneto, this film is full to the brim with returning actors for what would probably be one of the longest MCU films in this hypothetical film run, though many would largely be cameos for the funeral scene. Directing all this would be Antoine Fuqua, who has directed the Equalizer trilogy and Olympus Has Fallen, among other projects.

Venom (2022) Directed by Shawn Levy

Eddie Brock/Venom = Wentworth Miller

Anne Weying = Michelle Williams

Cletus Kassidy/Carnage = Dan Stevens

Shriek = Evangeline Lilly

FBI Agent Patrick Mulligan = Stephen Graham

Agent Alton Clark = Leslie Odom Jr.

Agent Monica Steen = Italia Ricci

Agent Garon Lewis = Terrence Howard

Dr Ashley Kafka = Keri Russell

While giving Venom a solo film run was a good idea on Sony’s part, their execution hasn’t been all one could wish. By comparison, my 90’s MCU introduced the symbiote via the Secret Wars films based on the 1980’s original Secret Wars comic arc that was the symbiote’s debut in comics. We then had Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6 showcase the alien costume arc, complete with Venom’s initial appearance as a Spider-Man enemy. In this film, we’re therefore better prepared to give Venom a first solo outing because past films have us the same background to the character that we got in the comics. The plot is largely around Brock being treated at Ravencroft, but when a new symbiote bonds with fellow Ravencroft inmate Cletus Kassidy, thereby releasing Carnage upon the world, Venom may be the only person who can stop it.

The film retains Michelle Williams and Stephen Graham from Sony’s Venom films and Wentworth Miller is back from his prior appearance in this MCU as Venom, as is Keri Russell as Dr Ashley Kafka. Everyone else is fresh casting under director Shawn Levy. I originally planned for Taika Waititi to be at the helm, but given his poor performance on Thor: Love and Thunder and subsequently declared lack of knowledge, fandom and preparation for directing Thor films, I have doubts regarding his ability to handle anything of an adaptational nature. By comparison, Levy’s work on Deadpool and Wolverine is better, so I would have more confidence in his ability to get a decent horror-comedy out of the Venom character.

Great Lakes Avengers (2022) Directed by Rian Johnson

Craig Hollis/Mr Immortal = Luke Grimes

Ashley Crawford/Big Bertha = Rachel Brosnahan

Dr Val Ventura/Flatman = Chad Michael Murray

DeMarr Davis/Doorman = Jesse Williams

Dinah Soar = Ana de Armas

Doreen Green/Squirrel Girl = Paris Berelc

Maelstrom = Sam Witwer

Phaeder = Jack Coleman

Morga = Sharon Stone

Gene Lorrene/Leather Boy = Nick Gehlfuss

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel = Odeya Rush

Luke Cage = Tyrese Gibson

Hawkeye II/Kate Bishop = Hailee Steinfeld

Aside from Deadpool, only one other Marvel comic that I know of has the ability to poke some very self-aware fun at the superhero world, and that’s the Great Lakes Avengers. Originally created in the comics at a time when the Avengers had their main comic and a West Coast Avengers spin-off, the GLA gives us a truly bizarre group of characters, and I think it would be interesting to see them hit the big screen. Except for a few returning characters from the main Avengers group of this time, the film is all-new casting under director Rian Johnson. In the case of this film, I specifically hunted for actors from the Great Lakes region of the US for many of the roles for added authenticity.

Secret Invasion (2023) Directed by JJ Abrams

Beast/Hank McCoy* = Alec Baldwin

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler = Daniel Brühl

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Remi LeBeau/Gambit* = Zachary Levi

Jubilee = Chloe Bennett

Emma Frost* = Elizabeth Banks

Danielle Moonstar* = Selena Gomez

Bishop = Winston Duke

Rachel Summers* = Danielle Panabaker

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Elektra Natchios* = Leonor Varela

Wade Wilson/Deadpool = Ryan Reynolds

Steve Rogers/Captain America* = Brad Pitt

Dr Stephen Strange = Johnny Depp

Simon Williams/Wonder Man = Taylor Kitsch

Carol Danvers/Warbird = Melissa Joan Hart

Luke Cage* = Tyrese Gibson

Scott Lang/Ant-Man II = Paul Rudd

Nadia Pym/Wasp II = Shailene Woodley

Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew* = Anne Hathaway

Hawkeye II/Kate Bishop* = Hailee Steinfeld

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II* = Noah Gray-Cabey

Amadeus Cho/Iron Man III* = Charles Melton

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel* = Odeya Rush

Joseph Chapman/Union Jack III = Rob Mallard

Dane Whitman/Black Knight = Ioan Gruffudd

Dr Faiza Hussain/Excalibur = Nikkita Chadha

Scott Wright/Micromax = Jack O'Connell

Harley Davis/Motormouth* = Louisa Lytton

Sabra/Ruth Bat-Seraph* = Gal Gadot

Navid Hashim/Arabian Knight = Marwan Kenzari

Nathan Christopher Summers/Cable = Dennis Quaid

Domino = Morena Baccarin

James Proudstar/Warpath* = Booboo Stewart

Theresa Rourke-Cassidy/Siryn = Sarah Bolger

Paige Guthrie = Kelly Stables

Roberto Da Costa* = Mario Lopez

Tabita Smith* = Anna Faris

Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane = Bonnie Wright

Black Bolt = Pierce Brosnan

Medusa = Elizabeth Hurley

Crystal = Dina Meyer

Gorgon = J.G. Hertzler

Karnak = Alexander Siddig

Triton = Orlando Bloom

Dante Pertuz/Inferno = Diego Boneta

Daisy Johnson/Quake = Willa Holland

Jonothan Starsmore/Chamber = Tom Holland

Hisako Ichiki/Armor = Inori Minase

Monet St Croix/M* = Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

Megan Gwynn/Pixie = Alexa Davies

Neal Shaara/Thunderbird* = Karan Brar

Brian Braddock Jr./Captain Britain = Jamie Bamber

Betsy Braddock/Psylocke = Lena Headey

Meggan = Sienna Miller

Eros/Starfox = Joel McHale

Sersi = Gemma Chan

Gilgamesh = Don Lee

Doreen Green/Squirrel Girl = Paris Berelc

Queen Veranke = Tessa Thompson

Super-Skrull = Luke Evans

Citri Noll = Theo James

Dard'van = Dane DeHaan

Skrull Infiltrator 1 = Billy Magnussen

Skrull Infiltrator 2 = Jenna Coleman

Skrull Infiltrator 3 = Nicholas Hoult

Skrull Infiltrator 4 = Rachael Taylor

Skrull Super-Soldier 1 = Mike Colter

Skrull Super-Soldier 2 = Finn Jones

Skrull Super-Soldier 3 = Eve Torres

Skrull Super-Soldier 4 = Valentina Shevchenko

At last, we come to Secret Invasion, which dives right in on the Skrull invasion beginning across all the active super-groups in the MCU at this point. What follows then focuses on a few key groups of true humans as they all begin trying to work out what is happening and fight back in one giant ensemble piece. All the characters with asterisks next to their names are the people replaced by Skrulls prior to the film, with key characters getting flashbacks to show when they were replaced, and an expanded dossier on this being a Blu-Ray extra. Of course, the real characters will appear as well, and we have some alternative actors present to play the Skrulls themselves, though a few cast members would likely also get to double as additional Skrulls here and there for added fun. In terms of direction, I’m going with JJ Abrams based on his work on the second of the Star Trek reboot films. The kind of shell-game involving “John Harrison” and Admiral Marcus is not unlike the unveiling of the Secret Invasion, so it’s a logical match-up of director and material to my mind.

Howling Commandos (2023) Directed by James Gunn

Jack Russell/Werewolf by Night = Scott Eastwood

Danny Ketch/Ghost Rider II = Andrew Garfield

N'Kantu The Living Mummy = Omar Metwally

Frank = Bill Goldberg

Nina Price/Vampire by Night = Anya Taylor-Joy

Satana Hellstrom = Krysten Ritter

Elsa Bloodstone = Georgie Henley

Jericho Drumm/Brother Voodoo = Doug E. Doug

Vlad Tepish/Dracula = Mads Mikkelsen

Mephistopheles = Jeffery Combs

Baron Karl Mordo = Michael Dorn

Esteban Corazón de Ablo/Diablo = Wilmer Valderrama

Dragon Man (CGI Character) = Terry Notary

Umar = Ruth Wilson

Lily Cromwell = Emilia Clarke

Rachel Van Helsing = Cote De Pablo

Abigail Brand = Kristen Wiig

Clay Quartermain = Patrick Wilson

Daisy Dugan = Hayley Atwell

While this film’s title might suggest to some Marvel fans a long overdue focus on Nick Fury and his squad from World War II, others will understand that’s not the only group of Howling Commandos in Marvel history. Among the later iterations of the group is a SHIELD-run group of monsters similar to DC’s Creature Commandos, and indeed this monster-based version of the HCs has seen some life in animation via the Ultimate Spider-Man and Agents of SMASH animated shows. As such, our first film post-Secret Invasion focuses on this group coming together more formally (a previous informal attempt having been made under Blade in his third and final film). Owing to the similarity to the DC Creature Commandos, whose animated show will be a leading element in James Gunn’s DCU, I was inspired to put him at the helm of this film.

Wolverine: Sins of the Father (2023) Directed by Paul Greengrass

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Laura Kinney/X-23 = Dafne Keen

John Wraith = Djimon Hounsou

Sarah/Marrow = Sarah Hyland

Romulus = Raoul Bova

Akihiro/Daken = John Cho

Arkady Rossovich/Omega Red = David Harbour

Sabretooth/Victor Creed = Tyler Mane

Maria Callasantos/Feral = Daniela Melchior

Itsu = Tamlyn Tomita

Akihira = Brian Tee

Natsumi = Rinko Kikuchi

To finish off phase 8 and complete the Wolverine duology, I decided to adapt a more modern Wolverine story arc which, although not one I’ve read, does give the character some closure on his past, something I think would be interesting to see. The long and short of it is that Wolverine is trying to recover from the depletion of his healing factor after the events of Fatal Attractions when he and old friend John Wraith stumble upon Wolverine’s clone daughter, X-23, and an investigation of her origins inadvertently tips Wolverine to his own deep past, in the process also putting Wolverine at odds with his other previously unknown child, Daken. For direction, Paul Greengrass returns, and we have an interesting mix of old casting and new, including the retention of the Fox X-Verse casting of Dafne Keen as X-23.

This brings phase 8 of my hypothetical 90’s-commenced MCU to a close. The last phase will drop fairly early in 2025 (not the first month of the year but among the initial months, certainly), while next month’s ramble will take us back to my Poirot fan-cast to close out 2024. Until my next ramble, ta-ta for now.

#mcu fancast

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phantom-le6 · 11 months ago

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Ramble of the month August 2024: 90’s MCU phase 7 – the Infinity War aftermath and prelude to Secret Invasion

Well, we’re back to looking into my alternate MCU that begins in the 1990’s but is rapidly catching up to our present day. For those new to my Tumblr page who perhaps haven’t read any of my rambles on this subject, and for those who may just need a refresher, here’s a quick over-view of the underlying premise. This is a hypothetical MCU slate, complete with fan-casting, which I’ve done both for fun and to show up the flaws in 90’s MCU memes. What are those flaws? Very simply, if the MCU had begun in the 1990’s, Marvel would have had all their film rights instead of just some, certain source material used by the real MCU would not exist and a number of characters/teams would be quite different.

With that quick summation out of the way, let’s quickly re-cap the film run for phases 1 through 6 of this hypothetical MCU.

Phase 1:

1992: Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man

1993: Thor, Spider-Man, Ant-Man & The Wasp

1994: Captain America, Fantastic Four 2, Iron Man 2

1995: X-Men, Avengers, Daredevil

Phase 2:

1996: Spider-Man 2, Thor: Land of Enchantment, Silver Surfer

1997: Hulk vs Wolverine, Fantastic Four: Doomsday, Iron Man 3

1998: Captain America: Society of Serpents, Daredevil 2, X-Men 2

1999: Avenger 2, Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange

Phase 3:

2000: Fantastic Four: World War III, Thor: Ragnarök, Daredevil 3

2001: Hulk: Rise of the Leader, X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, Avengers: Under Siege

2002: Doctor Strange 2, The Captain, Spider-Man 4

2003: Captain Britain, Fantastic Four: Enter the Negative Zone, Ghost Rider

Phase 4:

2004: Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Secret Wars: Part I

2005: Excalibur, Defenders, Ghost Rider 2

2006: X-Factor, Secret Wars: Part II, Heroes For Hire

2007: Namor the Submariner, Doctor Strange 3, Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin

Phase 5:

2008: Spider-Man 5, Fantastic Four: Unthinkable, Ms Marvel

2009: Elektra, Black Panther 2, Defenders 2

2010: X-Men: Proteus, Spider-Man 6, Ant-Man 2

2011: Silver Surfer 2, Avengers vs X-Men, Ghost Rider 3

Phase 6:

2012: Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther 3, Iron Man: The Dragon Seed Saga

2013: X-Men: Phoenix Rising, Defenders 3, Ant-Man 3

2014: X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga, Infinity War, Blade

2015: Inhumans, Infinity War II, Deadpool

This then brings us to phase 7, which brings us into the main aftermath of the Infinity Saga and begins set-up for a Secret Invasion film in phase 8. How does it do this? Well, let’s look at my proposed slate for the phase.

Phase 7:

2016: Union Jack, Silver Surfer 3, Iron-Man/Spider-Man: Legacy

2017: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Blade 2, Ghost Rider Returns

2018: Eternals, Deadpool 2, New Avengers

2019: X-Men: Days of Future Past, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Blade 3

As you can see, this slate is heavy in sequels, but with a few new things being worked in, beginning with the opening film of the phase.

Union Jack (2016) Directed by Matthew Vaughan

Joseph Chapman/Union Jack III = Rob Mallard

Brian Folsworth = Ben Hardy

Jacqueline Folsworth/Union Jack II = Lily James

Lord James Folsworth/Union Jack I = Hugh Bonneville

John Falsworth/Baron Blood = Rupert Everett

Kaecilius = Irrfan Khan

Steven Levens/Jack O'Lantern = Duane Henry

Jim Jaspers = JJ Field

Lily Cromwell = Emilia Clarke

Jack Chapman = Michael Le Vell

Kate Fletcher = Isabel Hodgins

Steve Rogers/Captain America = Brad Pitt

Matthew Vaughan of X-Men: First Class directing fame is at the helm for the film that introduces another flag-wearing British superhero to our MCU, though Union Jack is a different type of hero to Captain Britain, especially once Joseph Chapman inherits the role from the Folsworth family. Union Jack is a highly skilled fighter without super-human abilities, the original in the comics fighting alongside Captain America and others during World War 2 on a team called the Invaders. This film version would make a nod to this, hence Brad Pitt reprising his role as Captain America in flashback scenes. However, the main focus is on Joseph becoming Union Jack.

The other point of distinctions between Union Jack and Captain Britain is that Union Jack is also a vampire hunter, owing to the brother of the first Union Jack having a brother who became a vampire and who was also a Nazi, and while Brian Braddock is from upper class privilege like the Folsworths, Joseph Chapman is a working-class lad from Manchester. These differences are key to how the film separates itself from prior films for Captain Britain and Excalibur, and also explains some of my casting choices. I’ve purposely looked up actors from the Manchester-based soap opera Coronation Street to play Joseph and two film-original characters related to him (his father Jack and ex-girlfriend Kate), while casting people from more southern English backgrounds to play the Folsworth family and other English characters. Some of the character relationships within the Folsworth family are slightly altered due to the greater span of time between the film and World War 2 compared with Union Jack’s introduction via Captain America comic in the 1980’s.

Silver Surfer 3 (2016) Directed by JJ Abrams

Silver Surfer = David Wenham

Galactus = Tony Todd

Shalla Bal = Liv Tyler

Terrax = Vincent Regan

Firelord = Peter Mensah

Frankie Raye/Nova = Isla Fisher

Ego the Living Planet = Peter Capaldi

The Silver Surfer has worked his way through a Fantastic Four-based introduction into a wide-spread solo run, with appearances in the Defenders and the Infinity War films, and here the time comes to wrap up his story. Why? To help set aspects of the cosmic stage to better facilitate the eventual roll around of Secret Invasion. To that end, the Surfer finds himself dragged into the affairs of Galactus once more when the devourer of worlds clashes with Ego the Living Planet. To resolve the situation, the Surfer must seek out and ally with other former heralds of Galactus, and his reward? Hopefully a return to his home planet to be reunited with Shalla Bal.

Now for those who only know the films of Marvel, Ego is not supposed to be Peter Quill’s dad, hence why I’ve put him in this film and not a Guardians of the Galaxy production. In terms of directing, I’ve put JJ Abrams in charge on this occasion. The Surfer, Galactus and Shalla Bal are all returning actors, which the other roles are all freshly cast.

Iron Man/Spider-Man: Legacy (2016) Directed by Jon Watts

Peter Parker/Spider-Man = Wil Weaton

James Rhodes/War Machine/Iron Man II = Samuel L. Jackson

Mary-Jane Watson-Parker = Alison Hannigan

Flash Thompson = Ben Affleck

Randy Robertson = Taye Diggs

Harry Osborn = Ryan Phillipe

Liz Allen-Osborn = Alicia Silverstone

Sha Shan Nguyen = Grace Park

Principal Harrington = Viggo Mortensen

Mrs Arbogast = Kathleen Turner

Abe Zimmer = John Billingsley

Felix Alvarez = Adam Rodriguez

Vic Martinelli = Matt LeBlanc

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Amadeus Cho/Iron Man III = Charles Melton

Ganke Lee = Jacob Batalon

Aaron Davis/Prowler = Donald Glover

Rio Morales = Penélope Cruz

Jefferson Davis = Eriq La Salle

Dr Helen Cho = Ming-Na Wen

Aldrich Killian = Guy Pearce

Ava Ayala = Cierra Ramirez

Anya Corazon = Alejandra Reynoso

Carolyn Trainer/Doctor Octopus II = Ruby Rose

Sunset Bain/Madame Menace = Peyton List

With this MCU’s version of Tony Stark having been played by Tom Selleck, and following RDJ’s lead of sacrificing himself in the Infinity Saga, this film was about doing a couple of mantle hand-overs in one. Following Infinity War II, Rhodey is trying to be Iron Man and support Peter, who Tony has asked to take over the running of Stark Enterprises based on Peter’s scientific expertise. The problem is Peter is struggling to balance being a business leader, a husband, a father-to-be and a superhero. Something has to give, especially when villains like Aldrich Killian and Madame Menace enter the picture, along with criminals like the Prowler and a would-be successor to Doc Ock. Luckily, successors wait in the wings; during a field trip of students from Peter’s old high school, student Miles Morales gains spider-powers of his own, while Amadeus Cho manages to commandeer a suit of Iron Man armour.

While the Miles Morales story line is largely straight-forward adapting of that source material at the right time into this MCU, working out Iron Man’s succession is more original-to-film story writing. In the comics, Amadeus becomes a new version of the Hulk, but I never liked that idea. Largely, this is because the computer game Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction posited in between-mission material that gamma-based transformations are psychologically unique, which would mean only Banner can be the Hulk because the various Hulk personas he had changed into are unique to him. By comparison, the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series gave Cho the role of Iron Spider after being given the Iron Spider armour by Peter. As such, putting Cho in the Iron Man armour makes sense for this film universe given that animation precedent and my disagreement with the idea of any Hulk-type transformation being repeated over multiple characters.

Directorially, I put the MCU’s Spider-Man director Jon Watts in charge for this film, and just to clarify, the Peyton List playing Madame Menace is not Peyton Roi List of Jessie and Cobra Kai fame, but the Peyton List who played Poison Ivy in the Batman-based TV series Gotham.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Directed by James Gunn

Peter Quill/Star-Lord = Chris Pratt

Drax the Destroyer = Dean Cain

Groot = Vin Diesel

Rocket = Bradley Cooper

Hepzibah = Kirsty Swanson

Raza = Dominic Keating

Nebula = Emma Stone

Yondu = Michael Rooker

Mantis = Midu

Simon Williams/Wonder Man = Taylor Kitsch

Nova Prime Irani Rael = Rene Russo

Nova Centurion Richard Ryder = Edward Norton

Brother Royal = Chris Klein

J'Son = Kurt Russell

Blood Brother Gh'Ree = Matthew Perry

Blood Brother R'Hos = David Schwimmer

Czar Doon = Woody Harrelson

Delphinia = Karen Gillan

Raksor = Tom Hardy

Misa = Naomie Harris

While I’m still keeping James Gunn in charge of directing Guardians of the Galaxy films in this hypothetical MCU, I really think his second and third films had quite a few flaws. Having already made changes in the first film based on other elements in this MCU, the second is going to be even more different. Peter learning about his paternal heritage remains the plot, but this time we go accurate-to-source by using J’Son from the comics instead of Ego. I also worked in Raza and Hepzibah from the Starjammers of X-Men Shi’ar fame and human superhero Wonder Man, while also putting J’Son into an alliance with the Badoon, a Marvel alien race that have appeared as villains since the Guardians were a team from the distant future instead of distant space. Friends’ fans may note that Ross and Chandler, or more accurately David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry get roles in this film, following in the footsteps of Matt Le Blanc and Courtney Cox. This only leaves Jennifer Aniston (who is anti-superhero, so I won’t use her on any fan-cast I do) and Lisa Kudrow (who I just can’t think of a suitable part for).

Blade 2 (2017) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Eric Brooks/Blade = Jamie Foxx

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Ganke Lee = Jacob Batalon

Rio Morales = Penélope Cruz

Jefferson Davis = Eriq La Salle

Felicia Hardy/The Black Cat = Elisha Cuthbert

Hannibal King = Stephen Amell

Safron Caulder = Freema Agyeman

Joseph Chapman/Union Jack III = Rob Mallard

Michael Morbius = Chris Diamantopoulos

Martine Bancroft = Léa Seydoux

Emil Nikos = Jason David Frank

For the first Blade film in this alternate MCU, I gave Blade his original film but with a more comics-accurate supporting cast. This time, it’s a team-up between Blade and the new Spider-Man Miles Morales to deal with pseudo-vampire Michael Morbius. The film show Blade and Miles tracking Morbius from New York back to his native Greece via a couple of other cities, including one in England that allows us to bring in Union Jack again. Along the way, we also get the inclusion of Hannibal King and a return appearance by Felicia Hardy, AKA The Black Cat. Unlike the 90’s animated series, Felicia doesn’t have a romantic link to Morbius, but her inclusion is very much a nod to that show. For direction, I picked Guillermo del Toro as he also directed Blade 2 in the Wesley Snipes trilogy.

Ghost Rider Returns (2017) Directed by Marc Webb

Danny Ketch/Ghost Rider II = Andrew Garfield

Barbara Ketch = Genevieve Angelson

Francis Ketch = Elizabeth Perkins

Paula Harris = Ellen Hollman

Melissa Maro = Mila Kunis

Jack D'Auria = Robert Ri'chard

Jack Russell/Werewolf by Night = Scott Eastwood

Deathwatch = Jared Padalecki

Ebenezer Laughton/Scarecrow = Bill Skarsgård

Blackout/Ray Carrigan = Johnny Whitworth

Johnny Blaze = Connor Trinneer

Mephistopheles = Jeffery Combs

Over the years, the comics have seen three characters cursed to become the Ghost Rider; Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch and Robbie Reyes. Having done a trilogy for original Ghost Rider Blaze, this film is Ketch’s turn in the saddle, and since Wil Wheaton kept the role of Peter Parker throughout this MCU, that leaves Andrew Garfield free to play the latest Rider. This film also features the Werewolf by Night, who together with former GR Blaze aids Ketch in dealing with villains Deathwatch, Scarecrow and Blackout, all under the watchful and conniving hand of Mephistopheles. To direct the film, I put another form Spider-Man director, Marc Webb, in that position, and for those who may be wondering, Marvel does have a character named Scarecrow who is different to the Batman villain of the same name. The Marvel version is a criminally insane killer who is a contortionist and has some skill in training birds. This film would look to give the characters a supernatural element to these abilities for use against the Ghost Rider.

Eternals (2018) Directed by Matt Reeves

Sersi = Gemma Chan

Ikaris = Richard Madden

Gilgamesh = Don Lee

Thena = Rose Byrne

Sprite = Lia McHugh

Kingo = Kumail Nanjiani

Makkari = Lauren Ridloff

Phastos = Brian Tyree Henry

Ajak = Jennifer Lopez

Druig = Barry Keoghan

Arisham = David Kaye

Kro = Terry O'Quinn

Dane Whitman/Black Knight = Ioan Gruffudd

How does one take the Eternals and put them to film without repeating the mistakes by the real MCU? First of all, this MCU has delved more into the branch of the Eternals that settled on Titan and became known as Titans, so we’ve got a better point of introduction the original film. Second, we’ve also been introduced to the Black Knight via Captain Britian, and this character is used more to give us an audience POV that the other film could have done with. Other plot elements would also be shifted so there’d be a bit less murder-mystery and more focus on establishing the characters, as well as a different conflict with the Deviants. In short, the characters and film title are about the only things being translated over. Direction-wise, I opted to go with Matt Reeves; his work on the later films in the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy is of such quality that I think he can give us a lot of the world-building this film requires while also keeping audience sympathies with the title characters.

Deadpool 2 (2018) Directed by Tim Miller

Wade Wilson/Deadpool = Ryan Reynolds

Weasel = TJ Miller

Blind Al = Stockard Channing

Nathan Christopher Summers/Cable & Stryfe = Dennis Quaid

Domino = Morena Baccarin

James Proudstar/Warpath = Booboo Stewart

Theresa Rourke-Cassidy/Siryn = Sarah Bolger

Paige Guthrie/Husk = Kelly Stables

Roberto Da Costa/Sunspot = Mario Lopez

Tabita Smith/Boom Boom = Anna Faris

Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane = Bonnie Wright

Tyler Dayspring Summers/Genesis = Jack Quaid

Tempo = Zazie Beetz

Dragoness = Rila Fukushima

Reaper = Mena Massoud

Zero = Jiang Wen

Strobe = Elizabeth Olsen

Wildside = James McAvoy

Having gone more comics-accurate with this MCU’s first Deadpool film, the second takes a similar approach to Deadpool 2 by putting Deadpool in the middle of a conflict between X-Force and the Mutant Liberation Front, which is made more interesting by the complicating factor that Cable’s son Tyler is on the side of the villains and the MLF leader Stryfe is Cable’s clone. Several X-Force members reprise their roles from past X-Men films while a few characters are kept from our first Deadpool film. However, Cable, Stryfe, Domino, Tyler and the MLF membership are all new. That said, I realised while writing this that Paul Walker, my original selection to play Sam Guthrie/Cannonball died back in 2013. Rather than re-cast, I decided to have the character of Sam’s sister Paige step into the films in his stead, giving us another new face in the form of Kelly Stables. The film also continues Deadpool’s somewhat one-sided romantic interest in Siryn. Direction-wise, it’s back to Tim Miller of Deadpool 1 to keep things going on the sequel this time around.

New Avengers (2018) Directed by the Russo Brothers

Dr Stephen Strange = Johnny Depp

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Luke Cage = Tyrese Gibson

Scott Lang/Ant-Man II = Paul Rudd

Nadia Pym/Wasp II = Shailene Woodley

Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew = Anne Hathaway

Hawkeye II/Kate Bishop = Hailee Steinfeld

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Amadeus Cho/Iron Man III = Charles Melton

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel = Odeya Rush

Kang The Conqueror = Colin Hanks

Princess Ravonna = Jenna Dewan

Electro/Max Dillon = Eddie Cahill

Carolyn Trainer/Doctor Octopus II = Ruby Rose

Jacques Duquesne/Swordsman = Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Janice Lincoln/Beetle = Naya Rivera

Rita DeMara/Yellowjacket II = Elisabeth Moss

Frank Simpson/Nuke = John Cena

Herman Schultz/Shocker = Patrick Muldoon

Whitney Frost/Madame Masque = Alice Eve

Rattler/Gustav Krueger = Christoph Waltz

Lonnie Lincoln/Tombstone = Wesley Snipes

Donald Pierce = Armie Hammer

Douglas Scott/Razorfist = Joe Manganiello

In this MCU, the Avengers have disbanded following the death of Tony Stark in the Infinity War films, but the need for the Avengers still remains. This film brings that front-and-centre by showing the time-travelling villain Kang trying to alter history by causing a mass jailbreak, only to find himself at odds with a mix of new and existing heroes as a New Avengers line-up arises. This film basically combines elements of New Avengers and Young Avengers into a single film, helmed by the Russo brothers to see how they would do putting a new Avengers team together. Of course, as fans of mid-to-late 2000’s-era comics will know, this film will also ultimately play into Secret Invasion.

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2019) Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Beast/Hank McCoy = Alec Baldwin

Storm/Ororo Monroe = Halle Berry

Peter Rasputin/Colossus = Henry Cavill

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler = Daniel Brühl

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Remi LeBeau/Gambit = Zachary Levi

Jubilee = Chloe Bennett

Emma Frost = Elizabeth Banks

Danielle Moonstar = Selena Gomez

Bishop = Winston Duke

Malcolm = Evan Peters

Randall = James Franco

Shard = Letitia Wright

Rachel Summers = Danielle Panabaker

Franklin Richards = Jeremy Renner

Trevor Fitzroy = Johnny Knoxville

Bantam = Sean Astin

Congressman Fred Duncan = Forest Whitaker

Congressman Rev. William Stryker = Eric Roberts

Lady Deathstrike = Tao Okamoto

Joanna Cargill/Frenzy = Amanda Nunes

Tower = Liam Hemsworth

David Canon/Whirlwind = Colin Cunningham

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Dr Valerie Cooper = Malin Åkerman

Forge = Jimmy Smits

This version of Days of Future Past occupies a similar role in our MCU to its position in the comics, namely being the first major arc post-Dark Phoenix saga for the X-Men team. In this version of the story, time-travelling future mutant Trevor Fitzroy and his diminutive lackey Bantam return to the present to interfere in a past assassination, hoping to make it more successful for mutant-kind. To try and stop him, Bishop is forced to team up his XSE officers with the last of the X-Men to travel back and stop Fitzroy, though the X-Men of the future want to work with their past counterparts to stop the assassination altogether.

As part of this story being post-Dark Phoenix, this film is also our first without Xavier, Cyclops or Jean, and Wolverine only appears for scenes in the future era alongside an aged-up Forge. This makes Forge the only character appearing as two versions of himself in the film. Another change is using a mix of random mutants in place of Mystique’s Brotherhood, largely to keep the focus more on Fitzroy as the main villain and the conflict between Bishop’s group, the future X-Men and the latest present-day version of the team over how to resolve the situation. To direct all this, I picked Robert Zemeckis because who better than the guy behind Back to the Future and the 2009 Disney version of A Christmas Carol to handle a time-travel story? Also, I know Fitzroy is meant to be English and I’ve cast an American to play him, but I want to see what Knoxville can do with this character once he’s had some accent coaching.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2019) Directed by James Gunn

Peter Quill/Star-Lord = Chris Pratt

Drax the Destroyer = Dean Cain

Groot = Vin Diesel

Rocket = Bradley Cooper

Hepzibah = Kirsty Swanson

Mantis = Midu

Simon Williams/Wonder Man = Taylor Kitsch

Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat = Selma Blair

Johnny Storm/Human Torch = David Spade

Professor Charles Xavier = Patrick Stewart

Princess/Empress Lilandra = Winona Ryder

Gladiator = Luke Hemsworth

Oracle = Pom Klementieff

Smasher = Randy Orton

Fang = Matthew Lawrence

Starbolt = Richard Armitage

Araki = Mark Hamill

Deathbird = Sunyata Palmer

Admiral Lord Samédàr = Rami Malek

Brood Queen = Alice Krige

Warstar = Peter Cullen/Dwayne Johnson

Hussar = Gina Carrano

Earthquake = Lee Pace

Manta = Olga Kurylenko

Polaris/Lorna Dane = Jeri Ryan

Robert Drake/Iceman = Michael Weatherley

Carol Danvers = Melissa Joan Hart

Heather Douglas/Moonstone = Anna Popplewell

Mentor = Michael McKean

Eros/Starfox = Joel McHale

Brood Clan-Master = Corey Stoll

Brood Warrior 1 = Jerry O'Connell

Brood Warrior 2 = Jason O'Mara

Brood Warrior 3 = Nathan Fillion

Brood Warrior 4 = Kari Wahlgren

Continuing the trend of getting this MCU’s Guardians to step away from the path of Gunn to do things a bit better, welcome to my alternate volume 3 for this space-faring group of outlaws. I also continue my trend working things back towards what I know by making this film an adaptation of the X-Men’s Brood Saga arc, up to and including the Brood giving Carol Danvers new powers following the theft of her old powers by Rogue. The key differences are that now it’s the Guardians of the Galaxy coming to the rescue, bolstered by the presence of Kitty Pryde and Johnny Storm, while also working in a few X-Men alumni as possible Brood victims. The Titans and the Shi’ar also play big roles this time round.

Blade 3 (2019) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Eric Brooks/Blade = Jamie Foxx

Danny Ketch/Ghost Rider II = Andrew Garfield

Jack Russell/Werewolf by Night = Scott Eastwood

Daimon Hellstrom = James Van Der Beek

Hannibal King = Stephen Amell

Nina Price/Vampire by Night = Anya Taylor-Joy

Satana Hellstrom = Krysten Ritter

Elsa Bloodstone = Georgie Henley

Vlad Tepish/Dracula = Mads Mikkelsen

Lilith = Felicity Jones

Taj Nital = Jay Chandrasekhar

To close out phase 7 of this alternate MCU, I’ve brought back Guillermo del Toro to direct a better version of a Blade vs Dracula clash than we got with Blade Trinity. This includes Blade teaming up with a few other supernatural heroes, marking a prelude to something I have on my phase 8 slate, and of course a better casting for Dracula than we got in Trinity. The aim with having Mikkelsen play Dracula is to land on something like the later Marvel comics version of Dracula who appears in red armour and with a white ponytail, rather than the more stereotypical version of earlier comics.

That concludes our phase 7 tour of my hypothetical 90’s-commenced MCU, leaving only two phases left before it all wraps up. Next month’s ramble will be looking at another fan-cast project I’ve had, and phase 8 of this MCU should be on my November ramble, with October’s topic yet to be decided. Until my next ramble, ta-ta for now.

#mcu fancast

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