Earlier this month, Marvel revealed their brand new Marvel Spotlight banner. The idea is for this new banner to be a home for stories that, while set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, don’t necessarily connect to the stories of the various other characters of that universe. Instead, these will be stories that stand on their own and don’t require fans to have seen all of the prior films and series to fully understand them.
While we currently know Echo will be the first project to fit into this banner (even if the title character previously appeared in Marvel’s Hawkeye), we do not know any other projects. So, I decided to take a look at some other characters and stories which might be a good fit for Marvel Spotlight and I have five I would like to see.
Ghost Rider
Marvel Spotlight gets its name from a comic series of the same name, which debuted in 1971. The fifth issue of this series introduced Ghost Rider, who has obviously gone on to become a wildly popular character. For the MCU, we have seen Robbie Reyes, the third Ghost Rider, in Agents of SHIELD. We’ve seen the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider films starring Nicholas Cage, but those were not set in the MCU. Perhaps this would be a good way to have the popular character included in the MCU without having to make a huge commitment to him playing a role in the next Avengers film. It could be Blaze or it could be Danny Ketch, the second Ghost Rider. Either way, seeing some more Ghost Rider would be a lot of fun.
Nomad
There are a few stories from Marvel Comics that would just translate perfectly to this new banner. The Nomad name has been held by a few characters in Marvel Comics, including Steve Rogers. The version of the character I would like to see here though is Jack Monroe. After serving as the “Bucky” to another Captain America, Monroe was eventually driven crazy by the imperfect super solider serum he had taken. He was literally put on ice by the government and, after rehabilitation, was eventually released. He took on the title of Nomad, a title once held by Steve Rogers, and became an ally of Cap before becoming a violent vigilante. This story would fit very well with the canon that has been established with Isaiah Bradley’s story in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and it would make for a very compelling story.
Venom (2003)
Yes, yes I’m aware of all of the issues with this one, but hear me out. If Marvel and Sony could work together for a Spotlight project, this specific comic series would make for a great one. The best part is, this is not an Eddie Brock story. This is a story about the symbiote itself and it could fit with the current continuity while also standing completely on its own. This series sees an army specialist stumbling across a series of gruesome murders in a military facility in northern Canada. As it turns out, the killer is not a person, but the alien symbiote known as Venom. It’s thrilling and terrifying and has all the awesomeness of a Marvel story. Think John Carpenter’s The Thing but with Venom.
Great Lakes Avengers
From horror to comedy. We’ve already met Mr. Immortal in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law but maybe it’s time for him to find his own team of heroes. The Great Lakes Avengers are a dysfunctional team of… I guess you can call them heroes, with some less than typical abilities. The original team is led by Mr. Immortal and consists of Big Bertha, Flatman, Doorman, Big Bertha and Dinah Soar. Yes, you read all of those names right. The result is a series of misguided attempts to save the day. It’s as hilarious as it sounds.
Strange Academy
I will always find a way to work “Strange Academy” into a list of Marvel Comics stories I want to see in the MCU. This wouldn’t be ideal as I would love for these characters to eventually mingle with the others in the MCU, but to this point, they haven’t really done that in the comics so this is a good fit. Doctor Strange opens a school for magic-wielders from all corners of the Marvel Universe, including a gifted young girl named Emily Bright and the son of the ruler of the Dark Dimension, Doyle Dormammu. Their eventual romantic relationship is interrupted by a prophecy that would see a war that destroys the school. The story is loaded with incredible characters and wildly fun adventures. It’s a perfect mix of family-friendly fun and heavy emotional drama and a great fit for Spotlight.