The world recently got word that Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Pacific Rim: Uprising star John Boyega could be soon joining the MCU. Though details are scant, Bounding into Comics reported that Boyega himself hinted that he may be in talks to play a superhero in the upcoming “Phase IV” of the Marvel franchise… or perhaps even sooner. Of course, the question is: who might Boyega be playing? We put our thinking caps on, and came up with seven heroes that we think John Boyega would be the ideal actor to bring to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Patriot
A founding member of the Young Avengers, young Eli Bradley, a.k.a. Patriot, helped form the team to honor his hero, Captain America—that is, the very first, pre-Steve Rogers Cap: a black American soldier named Isaiah Bradley, who was used as a guinea pig by the U.S. Government for the Super Soldier program. Oh, and he also happens to be Eli’s grandpa. Introducing Bradley would be the first major retcon of the MCU, but if the comics could pull it off, so can the films A bigger issue would be that Eli is a teenager in the comics, though perhaps Boyega could play a later-in-life incarnation of the character. Besides, who wouldn’t want to see Finn fight bad guys with a Cap-style shield?
The Blue Marvel
Adam Brashear became The Blue Marvel after receiving his considerable array of powers during the Korean War. When his secret identity was discovered in the early ’60s, he was asked to retire by President John F. Kennedy, fearing backlash due to his race amid the turmoil of the civil rights movement. Remaining retired for decades, the Blue Marvel returned in the modern era and became a member of the Ultimates, a group of heroes tasked with stopping cosmic menaces before they can become bigger threats.
This may be the perfect inroad for an introduction to the Blue Marvel, as the Ultimates—a team also made up of Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Spectrum (who is rumored to be introduced in Captain Marvel), and Miss America Chavez—could fit right at home in a post-Avengers 4 MCU. In direct contrast to the issue with Patriot, Boyega may in fact be too young for the part of the Blue Marvel, but sci-fi has a way of working around these things.
Captain Britain
Because he hides his accent in films like Star Wars and Detroit, many forget that John Boyega is actually a tried and true Englishman. As such, our next pick for Boyega is the living embodiment of the British Isles, Captain Britain (also known as Brian Braddock)? The only obstacle is that Fox might currently still have the rights to the Captain, due to his association with the X-Men (his sister is perennial X-Man member Psylocke). But if the Disney/Fox deal goes through, who knows!
Wonder Man
Only a handful of characters that we’d consider among the ranks of the iconic Avengers, introduced in the first 100 issues of the original Marvel comic, have yet to appear in the MCU. Chief among them, though, is Wonder Man. In the comics, Simon Williams is the ionic-powered hero who was sent to infiltrate the Avengers and destroy them from within, but then turned against his original agenda, and ended up becoming an Avenger for real. Later he became a movie star as well as a superhero. We think Boyega has that effortless movie star quality it would take to bring the smug (but charming) Avenger to life.
Quasar
Wendell Vaughn was a low level S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent who acquired a set of alien-powered Quantum bands, which he wore around his wrists to save them from being stolen from agents of A.I.M. The bands gave him significant cosmic powers, which led to his recruitment by Nick Fury. Going by the name Quasar, he joined the Avengers for brief time as a rookie during their early ’90s run, and even headlined his own book for a few years. Thanks to Star Wars, Boyega has experience playing the team “rookie” of a sort, so this could be an ideal match of character and actor.
Darkhawk
Another early ’90s throwback, Darkhawk has not had much love from even the comic books these days. But it’s still a cool concept. Darkhawk is actually young Brooklyn native named Chris Powell, who discovers a mysterious amulet that allows him to switch places with a powerful android, which he can then mind-control. The Darkhawk android is actually pretty cool-looking, and could translate into live-action pretty easily. And Boyega as a hip Brooklyn 20-something would be a real treat.
Blade
Although he almost seems too cuddly to be the half-human/half vampire “Daywalker,” a role first played by Wesley Snipes some 20 years ago, I could still see Boyega pull off a version of Blade for the MCU. I mean, who wouldn’t like seeing Boyega kicking vampire ass in a black trench coat? But I think there are still better roles suited for him in the MCU… like pretty much everything else on this list.
Who would you like to see John Boyega play in the MCU? Be sure to let us know your ideas down below in the comments.
Images: Marvel Comics / Legendary Pictures
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