8 Odd Team-Ups We Want To See In Avengers: Infinity War

Although the Thor movies have generally been perceived as the weaker entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the franchise seems poised for a comeback with the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok. A big reason for that is the “buddy-cop” feel with Thor and the Incredible Hulk/Friend from Work. It’s not a pairing you would expect, but it looks like a gamble that will ultimately pay off for the film. After all, the team-up trend is a story route that Marvel seems to be capitalizing on a lot lately, with Iron Man featuring heavily in Spider-Man: Homecoming being the other recent example, but it’s a decision that's grown organically. With the MCU now 17 films deep, it makes sense that these characters would interact with each other outside of the Avengers movies, right? Because Thor and Hulk make for such an odd couple, we thought we'd put together a list of other off-the-wall pairings that we'd love to see in a future MCU film, like Avengers: Infinity War. We really tried to think outside the box here, and not mention any pairs we've already seen, so that’s why you won’t see the likes Hawkeye and Black Widow, Scarlet Witch and Vision, or Rocket and Groot. With that out of the way, here are 8 superhero duos we'd love to see in the MCU one day. Be it in Infinity War, or even in their own movie. Iron Man And Drax Why It Would Be Great: Tony Stark has the quickest wit and biggest ego out of anyone in the entire Marvel universe, so to pair him with someone who wouldn’t understand any of his jokes or sarcasm would be the most frustrating thing for the billionaire/genius/playboy/philanthropist. Not only would it be hard for these two to communicate, but their styles of solving problems would cause them to butt heads. Tony always likes to think out all his problems, while Drax is more of a “Destroy everything now, perhaps ask questions later” type of guy. These two couldn’t be more different, and that’s the kind of team-up we need to see in a Marvel film. The Best Part: Drax, not realizing there’s a real guy inside the Iron Man suit, actually thinks Tony is some type of machine. Thor And Hawkeye Why It Would Be Great: Sure, Thor paired with the Hulk is already happening, but with that, you’re really just having two strong guys smash everything into bits. We’re sure we’ll get some human perspective when Hulk turns back into Bruce Banner, but a better choice would be to pair the God of Thunder with Hawkeye. For years, Hawkeye has taken up a weird place in the MCU. After being under-utilized in the first Avengers movie, Age of Ultron made sure to beef up his part. He was key in commenting on the absurdness of fighting killer robots with a bow and arrow, and it’s that type of tired disbelief that would make him an interesting choice to bring into Asgard’s world of demi-gods and magic. The Best Part: Stuck in the gladiatorial pits, Thor requests the help of a fellow Avenger. The Grandmaster says he’ll transport someone from Earth. Thor’s hoping for a heavy hitter, but the Grandmaster suddenly brings Hawkeye into the arena without warning, much to Thor’s chagrin and the latter's surprise. Captain America And Star-Lord Why It Would Be Great: Could you imagine Captain America’s inherent patriotism paired with Star-Lord’s more selfish tendencies? Putting these two together would force them to learn a lot about how the other side lives. Star-Lord would learn what it’s like to truly be a selfless hero, while Captain America would be forced to acknowledge that sometimes you need to do a bit of bad to do good. It would be an interesting battle of wills as Star-Lord would constantly try to assert his dominance and presence in a way that mimics Captain America, but would probably keep failing. The Best Part: Captain America’s delight at finding out he’s more up-to-date on pop culture than someone! Black Widow And Ant-Man Why It Would Be Great: Although their personalities wildly differ, it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine Black Widow and Ant-Man teaming up for a similar goal. After all, Black Widow is a spy and Ant-Man is a thief, so a plot revolving around stealing classified information wouldn’t be outside the (quantum) realm of possibility. But now imagine Marvel’s most level-headed superspy paired with one of its most bumbling heroes. Forcing Ant-Man to be a spy would be in line with his character abilities, but he would be totally out of his depth working with the efficient and dedicated Black Widow. The Best Part: Black Widow trying to teach Ant-Man how to stay cool under pressure, with hilariously disastrous results. Spider-Man And Rocket Why It Would Be Great: One of the best aspects of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is his general naïveté about the world around him. He’s just a kid who wants to do the right thing, but pairing him with Marvel’s least ethical hero would force him to learn some hard truths about people. After all, not all heroes are shining examples that we should look up to, a fact that Spidey still needs to learn after Spider-Man: Homecoming. Rocket would allow Spider-Man to realize he has a lot of growing up to do in terms of understanding the greater universe around him. Plus, it would also allow for Spider-Man to take on more of a leadership role after playing student to Iron Man in his last film. Nothing says leadership quite like babysitting a gun-crazy trash panda, right? The Best Part: Rocket constantly not understanding Peter’s desire to value life other than his own. Hulk And Groot Why It Would Be Great: Admittedly, it would be hard to mine much depth from pairing two of Marvel’s strongest blunt instruments, but fans wouldn’t tune in to a Hulk and Groot team-up movie because they want to hear stimulating conversation. They would want to see what these characters do best. SMASH! The limited dialogue options would create a bond not through words, but with actions, and it would be an interesting challenge for Marvel to take on. The Best Part: An argument that consists of repeating the phrases “Hulk Smash” and “I Am Groot” over and over again. War Machine And Falcon Why It Would Be Great: No one wants to be just a sidekick forever, and although Marvel seems to be announcing new movies every other week, one thing that for sure we'll never see is solo films starring any of the ancillary players in the MCU. Sure, characters like War Machine and Falcon have their fans, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would call them their favorite characters. One way to fix that is to team them up in one movie without any help from the main characters. It would give the studio a chance to flesh out the MCU in a major way without detracting too much time from characters we’ve come to love. The Best Part: Being constantly asked where the main Avengers are, the sidekicks finally snap and start ranting about the worst aspects of Iron Man and Captain America that the public doesn’t see. Doctor Strange And Scarlet Witch Why It Would Be Great: Doctor Strange opened up the mystical side of the MCU in mind-bending new ways and it will be great to explore more of that in future sequels. If Marvel really wanted to go all in on the magic aspect though, an interesting team-up would pair the Sorcerer Supreme with Scarlet Witch. We’ve seen a sampling of Scarlet Witch’s powers, but they haven’t really evolved past mind control and telekinesis. We feel having her sit down with Doctor Strange would allow her to tap into some hidden abilities and unlock a much more powerful hero. Plus, putting Strange in any type of mentor role would only feed his ego, which would cause him to butt heads with the oftentimes defiant Scarlet Witch. The Best Part: Doctor Strange explaining how he studied for years to master the art of magic while Scarlet Witch reveals she was experimented on and tortured to acquire hers.