Everything You Need To Know About Marvel’s Phase Three Slate

The Inhumans

Release Date: November 2nd, 2018

Character/group synopsis: The Inhumans are an ancient and secret sect that has long lived apart from their human cousins. The space-faring Kree Empire (who we’ve seen in Guardians of the Galaxy and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), in their ongoing war with the shape-changing Skrulls, came to Earth and experimented on the primitive humans with the Terrigen Mist, which mutates those exposed to it, giving them extraordinary powers. When the Kree became concerned that their experiment might become a threat against them, they abandoned the Inhumans, who formed their own advanced society on Earth. Eventually, their home city Attilan was transported to the “Blue Area” of the Moon, an artificial air pocket on Earth’s only natural satellite.

Origin(s): The Inhumans were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for an issue of the Fantastic Four comic book in 1965. After their initial encounter with Marvel’s First Family, the Inhumans became more and more involved in the affairs of the Marvel Universe, although they remain suspicious of outsiders. But because of their place on the Moon, and their close relation to the human race, the Inhumans side with the human race and its heroes against alien threats.

Powers: Various. Black Bolt, the King of the Inhumans, has a voice he can never use because a mere whisper could level a building. Black Bolt’s queen Medusa is aptly named, as she has long, red, super-strong hair that she can manipulate with her mind. Medusa’s sister Crystal can control the elements: earth, air, fire and water. Gorgon, Black Bolt’s cousin, has super-strength and can create shockwaves. Karnak is a master martial artist, and has an additional advantage in sensing his adversary’s weak points. Triton has the appearance of a man-fish (like Hellboy’s Abe Sapien). And Lockjaw, the Inhumans’, giant-sized dog, has the ability to teleport.

Greatest Enemies: Many of the Inhumans’ enemies are everyone’s enemies, including their creators the Kree, as well as the Kree’s millennia-old enemy the Skrulls, which often puts the Inhumans in the middle of their conflict. The Inhumans also have a history with both Thanos and Ronan the Accuser. But perhaps the biggest threat to the Inhumans comes from within. Black Bolt’s younger brother, Maximus the Mad, has super intelligence and mind control abilities, but he’s also schizophrenic, and spends just about all his time trying to figure out how to usurp his brother’s throne.

Casting: There have already been rumors that Vin Diesel will be playing the role of Black Bolt, but he might make a better Karnak. For Black Bolt, you need someone with stature, authority, and definitely a strong jaw. My choice would be Jon Hamm. With Medusa, you need a woman that can be both regal and action capable, so let’s recruit Kate Beckinsale, who’s had a lot of experience kicking butt in skin-tight outfits. For Crystal, let’s stick with British and cast Emma Watson, who already has a past using magical power on film. Luke Goss has played characters in heavy make-up before, so he might be an obvious choice for Triton. As for Maximus, the presumed villain of the piece, Gary Oldman has yet to be cast in Marvel movie, and no one does crazy like Gary Oldman.

History and future: The nature of the Inhumans, humans mutated to have super-powers through the Terrigen Mist, make them an ideal substitute for those other people born with powers that Marvel can’t use, the X-Men. There’s long been suspicion that Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) as they appear in Age of Ultron, are Inhumans, and Kevin Feige has said that we’ll see Inhumans in future Marvel films before they get their own movie. In the recent comic, Inhumanity it was revealed that Inhumans had been intermarrying with humans for thousands of years, and as a result there were millions of people with the potential to be Inhumans and have powers. If Fury thought the world was filling up with people who couldn’t be controlled before…

– Adam Donaldson