10 Actors Who Need To Join The Marvel Cinematic Universe, And Who They Should Play

With Avengers: Age of Ultron essentially serving as the grand finale of Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe this May (we don't see Ant-Man upstaging it), and the studio moving boldly forward into Phase Three, which will bring new characters like Captain Marvel (yes, the Carol Danvers version!) and the Inhumans into the fold, the future is beyond bright for comic-book fans. So far, Marvel has put nary a foot wrong (we're just going to go ahead and overlook the weaker aspects of Iron Man 2 on account of it giving us Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow), both in terms of its films' plots and the actors that the studio has cast as its super-powered protagonists, and there's no reason to think that trend is going to end anytime soon. That said, us fans have some serious feelings about which Marvel creations should grace the big screen next - and just as importantly, which actors should be entrusted with bringing them to vibrant, ass-kicking life. Some of our picks for which actors would be best-suited to portray characters like Adam Warlock, Medusa, Black Bolt and Nova should evoke a loud "DUH" from the die-hard fans, but hopefully a number of our other selections will surprise and incite some serious discussion. We know that you all have hardened convictions about who would best for these roles and others, and we want to hear all about them in the comments (just keep it civil). Read on to see which actors we're hoping will bring Marvel favorites to life! WGTC staff writers Isaac Feldberg and James Garcia contributed to this report. Yvonne Strahovski - Captain Marvel This casting is about as perfect as it gets. Now that Captain Marvel has been announced, and Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige has confirmed that the individual taking on that identity is none other than Carol Danvers, the studio is certainly scrambling to find a charismatic, kick-ass actress for the part. Well, look no further. Strahovski, who won our hearts as highly skilled CIA agent Sarah Walker across five seasons of NBC's Chuck, then took on another badass role in Fox's 24: Live Another Day, is overdue for her big screen breakout, and she has the look down pat. Add in that fans are lobbying for her hard, and this is a win-win. Burn Gorman - MODOK Though MODOK likely won't appear in Captain America: Civil War, as many had previously theorized before the film's subtitle was officially announced, there's a strong possibility that the brilliant supervillain, a technician forcibly mutated into a living computer with psionic powers, will grace the silver screen sooner or later, especially given that the Tesseract and AIM (the nefarious corporation responsible for his creation) are already part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And when considering which actor could equally embody MODOK's mad ambition and extraordinary intellect, the buck really stops with Torchwood star Burn Gorman. Known for playing brainy scientist types (most recently in Pacific Rim), Gorman has the dramatic grit necessary to play a truly memorable MODOK, and the diversity of the roles on his filmography (he's played a brother of the Night's Watch on Game of Thrones, a Revolutionary War general on TURN and a dastardly businessman in The Dark Knight Rises) indicates that he'd be more than up for the challenge. Nate Parker - Blade Obviously, Marvel isn't going to have Wesley Snipes reprise the role of Blade, so who is going to replace him? Here's hoping Marvel looks at Nate Parker, a promising but still somewhat under-the-radar actor. Parker has the physical presence of Blade and has demonstrated formidable acting talent in films like The Great Debaters and Beyond the Lights. He handled a more action-heavy, albeit supporting, role in Non-Stop with aplomb, temporarily holding his own against the likes of Liam Neeson, and all signs indicate that the actor is only going to get more in-demand from here on out. Marvel should snatch him up while they still can. Hiroyuki Sanada - The Mandarin Yes, Marvel will probably cast a white actor in the role of the (real) Mandarin, and no, they really shouldn't. There are a massive amount of Asian actors who could play the part to perfection, none more than Hiroyuki Sanada. After the veteran Japanese actor held his own against Logan in The Wolverine, there's little question that he could be an appropriately menacing Mandarin. It's still unclear whether Marvel will stick with Iron Man 3's lame story about Aldrich Killian being the "real Mandarin" (unlike One-Shot All Hail the King, which confirmed there is a real Mandarin out there somewhere, although he remained off-camera), but Sanada is definitely worth keeping in contention for any future version of the role. It's safe to say that most hardcore fans were not satisfied with Ben Kingsley's pansy "Trevor" imitation of the character, and the Iron Man films' biggest issue is that they still haven't birthed a nemesis for Tony Stark. With The Ten Rings still kicking, it would terrific to meet its leader sooner rather than later. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - Adam Warlock Seeing Warlock's cocoon in the Collector's lair during Guardians of the Galaxy means that the character will probably be popping up in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - or, if not then, at the very least during the Infinity War films. And given that the cocoon is a curio by this point, my guess is that the MCU's Adam Warlock will have been cruising around the galaxies for some time before his big screen introduction. As such, a slightly older actor who still has the Warlock look, like Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, seems to be the right way to go. And on that HBO fantasy hit, the actor has proven that he can face off physically or dramatically with just about any character and still come out on top. He could definitely give Warlock the mettle he needs. Dylan O'Brien/Jared Padalecki - Nova This one depends on a few things. If Marvel starts with Nova in high school, donning a suit given to him by a dying Nova Corps officer, then The Maze Runner star Dylan O'Brien has the dramatic gifts and youthful appearance to play a strong version of that character. However, Marvel has got to know that we're tired of high school superheroes - Sony beat that trope to death with two Spider-Man franchises in one decade (no amount of Emma Stone can make up for that). So, unless there's a really good idea about how to do a younger Nova, it wouldn't come as a surprise if Marvel shook things up and went with an older version of the character. And if that's the case, Supernatural actor Jared Padalecki has the fan support and the right look - not to mention over a decade of small screen badassery under his belt. James Purefoy - The Punisher The Punisher may be a bit dark for Marvel’s tastes, but with a ton of demand from fans and the more open world of Netflix to play around in, it’s only a matter of time before Frank Castle finally makes his debut in the MCU. And who better to play him than Rome and The Following alum James Purefoy. The fact that Purefoy isn’t a household name is almost criminal. He’s great at playing lovable badasses and could easily handle the complex character of the Punisher while injecting the role with a sense of danger and fun. We’ve already seen one Rome actor - Ray Stevenson - play Castle (and then go on to play a different Marvel character in Thor: The Dark World), so why not go 2 for 2? Jessica Chastain - Medusa Jessica Chastain has already expressed her desire to be in a comic book movie, but she isn’t content with taking a backseat to the action and playing a simple girlfriend role. Unfortunately, the Black Widow is already taken, but we’ve got another awesome redheaded heroine for Chastain to play: the Inhumans’ Medusa. Chastain isn’t just perfect for the role because of her luscious red locks; she’s got the acting chops to make Medusa, the wife of Black Bolt and queen of the Inhumans, a truly compelling character demanding of our respect. Medusa is a fierce warrior and a strong ruler, and she has enough super powers and prominence to hold Chastain’s attention. Charlie Hunnam - Ghost Rider This casting might be a bit too meta for audience’s tastes, but over the course of Sons of Anarchy’s seven seasons, Hunnam proved that he can handle himself behind a motorcycle - and look badass while doing it. So, why not take that a step further and cast him as Johnny Blaze, the stuntman who sells his soul to the devil and becomes Ghost Rider? Hunnam’s schedule is wide open now that Sons has wrapped, and he’s looking to make a move toward big budget fare, as evidenced by his role in Pacific Rim. He’s also just the kind of actor we need to wipe Nicolas Cage’s iteration of the character out of our minds. Vin Diesel - Black Bolt Yes, yes, I know he played Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy, but Black Bolt, leader of the Inhumans, is the role that Diesel was born to play. The character is superhumanly strong and an extremely proficient warrior, but Black Bolt also possesses a voice capable of levelling an entire city. Tell me Diesel's abnormally deep, imposing voice isn't the perfect fit for a character like that. Moreover, the fact that we would barely hear Diesel in his Black Bolt guise would avoid any potential confusion with Groot - and Diesel completely looks the part. He has the hulking frame and silent machismo to pull it off. He's far and away the most obviously perfect dream casting on this list - get it done, Marvel. So, there you have it. Those are our picks for who should join the MCU and who they should play. Check them out again below and let us know which ones you agree/disagree with.

10 Actors Who Need To Join The Marvel Cinematic Universe, And Who They Should Play

James Purefoy – The Punisher