Last weekend, I sat in on a Q&A with the legendary Stan Lee. You know, the guy who created characters like Spider-Man, the Silver Surfer, Captain America, and probably many of your other favorite fictional characters. You’ve probably seen him in almost every single Marvel movie appearing as small characters like a mailman, a random guy who gives Peter Parker a bit of motivation to keep going, or a man sitting in space talking to the mysterious species of aliens, the Watchers. Needless to say, he’s a pretty big deal.
During the Q&A Stan Lee commented on the state of the films, he said which included his hopes that the X-Men and Fantastic Four film rights will return to Marvel and he also teased that some new characters will be introduced to the MCU in Avengers: Infinity War. Personally, I just thought it was a cool thing that he mentioned but after it was published a bunch of sites and fellow internet users began posting theories on who the new character(s) could be. With that said, we thought it would be only fair to post our own theories on who the new character(s) are and we have some small extra tidbits from that same Stan Lee Q&A that helps back up some of our speculation.
5. Moon Knight
To be honest, I just think Moon Knight is a god damn G. He’s like the Batman of the Marvel universe and he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves, especially not on film. While he probably wouldn’t be able to go and have big space battles, he could help defend Earth with the likes of Black Widow, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Captain America, and Spider-Man. Then Thor, the Guardians of the Galaxy, probably Iron Man because he’ll have some fancy suit, and a variety of others will be able to fight off other big dangers in the stars.
On top of that, James Gunn pitched the idea of a Moon Knight film to Marvel earlier this year so… maybe it isn’t too far off. Whatever the case may be, we’ll take any reason we can get for Moon Knight to be in Infinity War.
4. Nova
Nova is a classic cosmic character. It’s actually quite surprising he hasn’t popped up yet or had some sort of tease. Forgive us for drawing comparisons to another DC character but he’s very similar to Green Lantern. He possesses a helmet that grants him a number of powers and he’s a member of the Nova Corps (sound familiar?). The Nova Corps appeared in the original Guardians of the Galaxy film but they weren’t very superpower-y.
With Infinity War, there will likely be many battles throughout the galaxy so it would be important to incorporate heroes that can actually fight in space at a competent level. We already know that heroes have existed in the world without drawing attention to it until a few months into their career, that’s how Spider-Man was introduced. Granted Spider-Man is well known so you don’t have to retell his origins but with Nova, you can simply say he has this cool helmet that grants him crazy powers and boom, there’s your explanation.
Since it’s unlikely we’ll see Adam Warlock in this movie due to the fact James Gunn said he won’t pop in until after Infinity War, Nova would serve as a decent replacement.
3. Death
Death is a vital part of Thanos’ character. She is the literal embodiment of death but is also the love interest for Thanos in the comics. I won’t go too deep into their story as it may very well be used in the movie but she’s a vital piece to Thanos’ story and it would be a mistake not to use such a unique and fascinating character.
Some have speculated that Cate Blanchett’s Hela who will appear in Thor: Ragnarok will take over the mantle as Death either literally or as just a substitute so they don’t have to introduce a new character. There’s no confirmation for this but we will surely find out within the next year when we hopefully get our first trailer.
2. Galactus
Avengers: Infinity War is going to be a massive film. It’s so big that they had to split it into two parts. Not much is really known about this movie other than Thanos is the villain, a lot of the set-up in previous Marvel movies will be paid off here, and there will be new characters introduced. Other than that, it’s a bit of a mystery.
We can safely assume the first film will heavily feature Thanos but what if he’s defeated at the end and the sequel leads us into another cosmic villain, Galactus. It wouldn’t be his first film appearance as he was in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer but he was more just a giant cloud than an actual character. Galactus is a huge Marvel villain (literally and figuratively) who travels through space, consuming entire planets to continue living. What if the sequel features the Avengers having to defeat Galactus with the Infinity Gauntlet after wrestling it out of the hand of Thanos? After all, it’s been confirmed that Infinity War and its sequel will dabble in the cosmic realm of the MCU. They could take some inspiration from The Thanos Imperative storyline and several other Marvel comics.
1. Silver Surfer
If we’re going to consider Galactus, we have to include the Silver Surfer. As the name implies, he’s a silver man who travels through space on a… well a space surfboard. He goes in search of planets for Galactus to consume but he’s also very philosophical. Stan Lee noted the Surfer as one of his favorite characters at the recent Q&A due to how he views the world. Lee talked about how we have such a beautiful planet filled with water, trees, wildlife, and much more yet we have constant wars. While probably referring to literal real life with soldiers and real consequences, this view for the Surfer could be adapted into Infinity War. He could add his input on the feud between Captain America and Iron Man in Civil War (which is still somewhat ongoing) and of course, the Infinity War.
You don’t even really have to introduce Galactus in this movie, you could mention him by name when giving some exposition on the Silver Surfer but he can hold the movie on his own. Both characters are owned by Fox as part of the film rights for the Fantastic Four but maybe Marvel could land a deal (if they haven’t already) to secure the characters and use them in the culmination of the MCU.
Who would you like to see be introduced in Avengers: Infinity War? Let us know in the comments below. Keep in mind, characters we hold dearly will likely be killed and these newly introduced characters will probably fill their place. With that said, they’ll probably become new members of the Avengers and replace the likes of Captain America and/or Iron Man.
Avengers: Infinity War is due out May of 2018 and its sequel will release a year later in May of 2019.