Beyond The Defenders: 10 Characters We Want To See In Future Marvel/Netflix Series

By now, most of us will have binge-watched all eight episodes of Marvel's The Defenders and are left wondering "so, what's next?" Well, coming up we have a handful of follow-up seasons to all four of the Defenders' solo shows, as well as a spinoff for The Punisher, who previously appeared on Daredevil. While those are all well and good, it would be in the studios' best interests to inject some new blood into this corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to keep it fresh. By the time The Defenders season 2 rolls out - it hasn't been confirmed just yet, mind you, but it's surely a cert - we want to see the likes of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage team up with some different heroes. But which new characters would be perfect fits for the gritty, grounded - but with a mystical edge - world of the Marvel/Netflix series? From some familiar faces to the obscure and under-appreciated, here are our top 10 picks for which heroes, villains and anti-villains we'd love to see join this corner of the MCU next. As always, if you have any of your own suggestions, feel free to add them in via the comments section. 10) Tombstone We've tried to be realistic with this list and only chose characters that a) would be at home in the Marvel/Netflix universe and b) the studio actually has the rights to. Tombstone, though, is a special case. Due to the complexities of Marvel's deal with Sony, we're not sure if the Spider-Man supervillain is up for grabs, but we sure hope he is, as he'd make for a fantastic enemy for Mr. Luke Cage. After season 1's Diamondback disappointed, season 2 needs a foe with a real bite. Enter Tombstone - a man who's sharpened his teeth like a vampire. On the page, Tombstone is one of Marvel's most ghoulish-looking villains. African-American albino Lonnie Lincoln was often bullied for his appearance - so he decided to enhance the severity of his look and turn himself into one of the most powerful crime bosses in New York. After Wilson Fisk, Cottonmouth and the rest, we know how much The Defenders-verse loves its crime bosses. Tombstone would be a perfect fit, then, with the added advantage of having a unique look, too. 9) Ghost Rider Yes, Ghost Rider is already part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, courtesy of Gabriel Luna's turn as Robbie Reyes in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4. But, let's be honest, the Spirit of Vengeance is much better suited to the Netflix side of the MCU than ABC's more family-friendly corner, right? The great thing about Ghost Rider is that he's a legacy character, so a Netflix show could feature whichever version they wanted. If Luna is only contracted for ABC appearances, then no problem - just base a show around the most famous GR, Johnny Blaze. Fans are always campaigning for another version of the character, too, after those hellish movies starring Nicholas Cage. In short, Ghost Rider is just too compelling an individual to remain as a bit-part character in AoS. With The Defenders pushing the mystical side of things to the fore more than ever, it would make a lot of sense for the franchise to go full-on supernatural in the future. 8) Shang-Chi One of the big criticisms levelled at Iron Fist was that many viewers thought it would have been a much better show if an Asian-American actor had been cast in the lead instead of the Caucasian Finn Jones. While that's a contentious issue - Danny Rand is white in the comics, so you can see why the TV show followed suit - there's thankfully another awesome Asian superhero who could fit the bill instead. Known as the Master of Kung-Fu, Shang-Chi can, like Iron Fist, channel his chi in order to give himself superhuman fighting skills. The son of supervillain Fu Manchu, Shang-Chi opposed his father and operates as a secret agent and superhero. He's perfect for inclusion in the Netflix world, too, as Shang-Chi has teamed up with the likes of the Daughters of the Dragon, Elektra and Punisher before in the comics. Although, he did recently serve on the Avengers, after he had gained the ability to multiply himself. If Marvel and Netflix are smart, they would add Shang-Chi into Iron Fist season 2. With this martial arts master around, it would push Danny to raise his game and become a much more mature hero. 7) White Tiger Currently, the Defenders suffer from that tired old trope of having just one woman per team. While Jessica Jones is great, it would be nice if Netflix gave us another female-led series. One of the heroines who first springs to mind is White Tiger. Her alter ego Angela Del Toro was even name-checked as an associate of Jessica's in Jessica Jones season 1! White Tiger would be a perfect fit for the Marvel/Netflix universe because her origin is already half set-up. Angela gets her enhanced abilities and martial arts skills from an enchanted statue known as the Jade Tiger - which originates from K'un-Lun, Iron Fist's mystical home city. It would be the easiest thing, then, to introduce her in Iron Fist season 2 before spinning off into her own show, The Punisher-style. Alternatively, rather than introducing a new character, Claire Temple could graduate to full-on vigilante herself and become White Tiger - as was hinted when she donned some metal claws to fight the Hand in Iron Fist. Rosario Dawson is totally capable of headlining her own show and it would be a natural progression of a character who's become ingratiated into the Defenders' world. 6) Moon Knight Despite being a relatively obscure character, fans have been calling for Moon Knight to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years now. Their hopes were briefly raised when a reference to a "news anchor in Cairo" in Captain America: The Winter Soldier was interpreted as a potential nod to the character, but that doesn't seem to have led anywhere. That's probably for the best, as a dark, gritty hero like Moon Knight would be a poor match for the movies - but a natural bedfellow of the likes of Daredevil and the Punisher on Netflix. These shows have already pushed the boundaries of what sort of person can be classified as a hero - and Moon Knight would push that even further. After dying in Egypt, Marc Spector is resurrected by the moon god Khonshu as his avatar on Earth, giving him powers that intensify and weaken depending on the moon's cycle. Unfortunately, Spector is a highly unstable person, suffering from disassociative personality disorder and intense guilt over the lives he took in his former life as a mercenary. If anyone shouldn't have superpowers, it's Moon Knight, and that could make for a fascinating TV series. 5) Typhoid Mary One of the great strengths of Jessica Jones' debut season was the heroine's nemesis Kilgrave, as chillingly yet charismatically played by David Tennant. Though we know that the character will somehow return for season 2, it's likely this is in the form of hallucinations or flashbacks and we won't see Kilgrave return from the dead and play the role of the big bad again. So, which character is complex enough to take his place? We might have a suggestion. It's a slightly unconventional pick, but we think Typhoid Mary would make a compelling new arch-enemy for Jessica. In the comics, Mary's a prostitute who's accidentally knocked out a window by Daredevil. The trauma unlocked her mutant powers and she became the insane Typhoid Mary, a sadistic, ultra-violent assassin with telekinesis and pyrokinesis. On Netflix, you could easily swap Jessica for Daredevil - which would actually work better, as she's known for carrying around guilt for her past actions. Interestingly, Mary's last name is Walker - the same as Jessica's adoptive sister Trish... 4) The Hood With the Hand now out of the way, there needs to be a new villain waiting in the wings of these shows who will eventually come to the fore for the next Defenders team-up event. It's a tough call to find a threat that mixes street-level crime with mysticism in the same way as the ninja clan, but one character in particular does spring to mind. Parker Robbins AKA The Hood is a minor hoodlum who rises to the top of the pack and becomes a powerful crime boss after he summons a demon, kills it and steals its magic cloak and boots. With these items, the Hood has the power of invisibility and levitation - perfect for committing crimes. If you think he still sounds small-fry compared to the Hand, you should know that the Hood is one of the few beings to have wielded the Infinity Gauntlet in the comics. It could be a nice link to the movies, then, if he was to at least get his hands on one Infinity Stone in a future Netflix show. A villain who leans into the horror-infused end of the Marvel universe would especially be a good idea if the likes of Ghost Rider and Moon Knight are entering the Netflixverse soon. Not to mention our next choice... 3) Blade Thanks to Wesley Snipes' portrayal in a trilogy of movies around the Millennium, Blade the vampire hunter has the honour of being the first Marvel hero to successfully transition to the big screen. If you follow the chain of events all the way back, you could even say that Blade is kind of responsible for the MCU today. Given that, it's high time the Daywalker was brought back to our screens. Much like Ghost Rider, the best place for this one-time movie star is the Netflix corner of the MCU. As we've argued before, it would make sense to explore the supernatural side of this universe going forward - and you couldn't do that without Blade. Introducing him would be easy, too: The Defenders discover that vampires exist and are crawling all over New York, so they seek out some professional help. As for whether this is a genuine possibility, we've received mixed signals. Marvel chief Kevin Feige has expressed interest in doing something with the character, but has also admitted there are no immediate plans for Blade. Let's hope that changes soon. 2) Black Widow And Hawkeye Here's a left-field idea. Why not give us a spinoff series from the movies featuring Black Widow and Hawkeye? No, we're not foolish enough to suggest that Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner take time out of their busy careers to do a Netflix show. What the studio could do is simply make a prequel, detailing how Romanoff and Barton met. That way, they could recast the characters with younger actors. Despite appearing in a handful of movies now, we still don't know too much about the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' pasts. Romanoff's, in particular, we know to be very colourful but we've only had hints at the terrible things she did back when she was a Russian agent. In the comics, Hawkeye was also originally a villain, so a Netflix show could explore Clint's less heroic origins, too. They might be Avengers, but these two non-superpowered spies would probably be equally at home among the more down-to-earth heroes of the Defenders. If you're not going to give us that Black Widow solo movie, Marvel, at least give us this. 1) Bullseye If you're familiar with Daredevil's comic book adventures, you'll know that, besides the Kingpin, he only has one other major nemesis. Namely, Bullseye, the expert marksman who has taken so much from the Man Without Fear over the years. Spoilers: in the comics, he kills both of Matt Murdock's great loves: Elektra Natchios and Karen Page. Surprisingly, though, Bullseye has been completely absent from Daredevil's two seasons so far. Maybe it's because there just hasn't been an organic place for him in the story, or maybe the showrunners are still scarred by Colin Farrell's hammy performance as the character in 2003's Daredevil. Either way, it would be sacrilegious to go any further and not include him. All the clues point to Daredevil season 3 adapting comic book storyline "Born Again." While Bullseye doesn't feature in that arc in the source material, slotting him into the narrative would be painless. Simply put, "Born Again" sees Kingpin dedicated to destroying Daredevil's life. So he could easily hire a crackshot assassin as part of his plan, right?