Marvel Studios has finally dipped its toe into full-blown horror with its black-and-white Halloween special Marvel Cinematic Universe consisted of just movies. But since Disney launched its own streaming service, those movies have been ed by big-budget TV shows and now, a new label called “Special Presentations.”
After the release of Werewolf By Night, the MCU’s next Special Presentation will be James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Redditors have a few interesting ideas for specials that Marvel could produce beyond that.
Heroes For Hire
With the return of Charlie Cox as Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio as the Kingpin, the canceled Netflix shows are gradually being transferred over into the mainline MCU canon. Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk are a good start, but there are plenty of other fan-favorites to carry over.
Redditor u/CDNetflixTv would bring back Mike Colter as Luke Cage and Finn Jones as Iron Fist for a Heroes for Hire special about the two street-level superhuman vigilantes “just chilling and kicking a**.”
Man-Thing
In keeping with the horror theme of Marvel’s first one-off special, Redditor u/mister_queen would follow up Werewolf By Night with a Special Presentation focused on Man-Thing. Man-Thing is just one of many potential Werewolf By Night spin-offs.
The character is a giant, lunky swamp monster who resides in the Florida Everglades. A Man-Thing special would be a great opportunity for a campy B-movie.
The World According To Luis
Redditor Ant-Man movies, cutting through a montage with his voiceover narration filling in the details.
In a full-length MCU special, Luis could catch up audiences on major story events like “The Blip” and the Battle of Earth in his signature storytelling style.
A Snap Mockumentary
Phase Four has done plenty to explore the aftermath of the Hulk bringing back everyone who vanished in Thanos’ initial snap. But Marvel hasn’t realized the full potential of the five years in between the Infinity Stone-powered finger-snaps. The world would’ve gone into a tailspin after half the population disappeared.
Redditor World War Z book, hosted by a Robert Evans type.”
Howard The Duck Explores Earth
It’s been eight years since Howard the Duck was introduced into the MCU’s sprawling ensemble cast, voiced by Seth Green, and yet he still hasn’t gotten his own solo adventure. He’s made a couple of cameo appearances, but he hasn’t taken center stage.
Instead of giving Howard his own movie or TV series, Marvel can give him a special. Redditor u/FoMoni would like to see a comedic Special Presentation in which “Howard the Duck explores Earth and hijinks ensue.”
A Black-And-White Jessica Jones Noir
With Werewolf By Night’s black-and-white color palette, Marvel is homaging old-school Universal horror movies. Redditor u/EvergreenAB would like to see Marvel tackle a black-and-white homage to a different bygone genre: the film noir.
Luke Cage and Iron Fist aren’t the only Netflix characters that Marvel fans want to see again. This Redditor wants Jessica Jones to star in a traditional black-and-white film noir.
The Rawhide Kid
The most radical thing about Werewolf By Night is its style. It harks back to classic black-and-white monster movies. Since the goal of the MCU’s Special Presentations seems to be exploring different genre frameworks, Redditor u/sun4rest wants to see a western about the Rawhide Kid.
The Rawhide Kid is Marvel’s most prominent western character. He’s a heroic gunslinger wrongfully pursued across the 19th-century American West as an outlaw. A special about this character could play like an MCU spaghetti western.
The Great Lakes Avengers
Werewolf By Night is Marvel Studios’ Halloween special and the Guardians’ yuletide adventure is their Christmas special. If Marvel’s Special Presentations are all going to center around holidays, Redditor u/maddoggnick96 thinks it would be fun to do an April Fools’ special centered on the Great Lakes Avengers.
Led by Mr. Immortal, who was recently introduced to the MCU in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the Great Lakes Avengers include such ludicrous characters as Doorman, Flatman, and Big Bertha.
A Day At Damage Control
The Department of Damage Control has been introduced in the MCU as a government branch set up by Tony Stark to clean up after the world’s superheroes. So far, they’ve investigated Peter Parker and Kamala Khan and cleaned up New York after the failed Chitauri invasion.
Redditor u/ThatFeelingBelow would like to see a Special Presentation that depicts a typical day in the lives of Damage Control agents dealing with the aftermath of destructive superhero adventures.
Marvel 1602
Redditor u/Sipelius_ wants to see a Special Presentation based on Neil Gaiman’s Marvel 1602 comics. This eight-part limited series reimagined flagship Marvel characters in the Elizabethan era. Sir Nicholas Fury is the Queen’s intelligence officer, Doctor Stephen Strange is the Queen’s physician, Peter Parquagh is Sir Nicholas’ orphaned apprentice, and Matthew Murdoch is a blind Irish minstrel.
Other Redditors in the thread were quick to point out that a Marvel 1602 adaptation is rumored for the second season of What If...?, but the half-hour runtime of a What If...? episode might not be long enough to do this storyline justice.