Sean Marshall Marvel & Disney are accomplishing wins across the board with their live-action series & their new What If… series that is only two episodes in & already has fans ready for more. Marvel recently announced that they do have plans to bring more animated shows to the Disney platform but wasn’t clear on what exactly it is that they want to tackle. Since Marvel & Disney aren’t going to open that can of worms yet, I decided to make a list of Marvel properties that I think should get the animated treatment on Disney+.
X-MEN
We’ve had quite a few X-Men animated shows that some may or may not be aware of, starting with 1966’s The Marvel Super Heroes, 1989’s Pryde of the X-Men, Fox’s X-Men animated series that lasted from 1992-1997, WB’s X-Men: Evolution which ran from 2000-2003, 2009’s Wolverine and the X-Men & 2011’s Marvel Animation X-men which premiered on Japan’s Animax & G4TV. With Marvel & Disney having their X-Men in their possession, it’s an obvious move for Marvel & Disney to reintroduce newcomers to the X-Men through an animated series. I know most of us hope to see a tease of the X-Men in Eternals, especially since the final trailer showed us the Celestials, who we know planted the seeds for humanity to evolve into mutants. When they decide to move forward with a series, I hope they focus on Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, Storm, Gambit, Rogue & Colossus.
RUNAWAYS
Some of you might remember the Runaways series that ran for three seasons on Hulu & some of you might’ve erased it from your memories because of how terrible you may have thought it was. I, for one, thought the show would’ve received more praise if the show was animated & had better writers. The Runaways needs another shot & I think that putting this show in Disney’s upcoming animated series lineup would be a great move.
Those of you unfamiliar with the Runaways are a group of six kids whose parents routinely met every year for a charity event. One year, the kids spy on their parents and learn they are “the Pride,” a criminal group of mob bosses, time-travelers, dark wizards, mad scientists, alien invaders, and telepathic mutants. The kids steal weapons and resources from their parents and learn that they inherited their parents’ powers; Alex Wilder, a prodigy, leads the team while Nico Minoru learns she is a powerful witch, Karolina Dean discovers she is an alien, Gertrude Yorkes learns of her telepathic link to a dinosaur, Chase Stein steals his father’s fistigons (fire gauntlets) and x-ray goggles, and young Molly Hayes learns she is a mutant with incredible strength. The kids band together and defeat their parents and atone for the sins of their parents by fighting the new threats trying to fill in the Pride’s void. Later, they are joined by the cyborg Victor Mancha, the shape-shifting Skrull Xavin, and the plant-manipulator Klara Prast.
YOUNG AVENGERS
Since we’re less likely to see the Avengers we’ve grown to love in the MCU get together in a major film again, I think it would be wise of Disney to introduce the Young Avengers to a younger audience that will grow with these characters on the small & big screen. I mean, it’s not hard to figure out that Marvel is already planting the seeds for the Young Avengers; we’ve already seen Eli Bradley (Patriot) in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Billy Maximoff (Wiccan) & Tommy Maximoff (Speed) in WandaVision, Cassie Lang (Stature) from Ant-Man, Kid Loki in Loki, America Chavez (Miss America) in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Kate Bishop (Hawkeye) in the upcoming Hawkeye series, Vision, Nathaniel Richards (Iron Lad), who we know will grow to become Kang the Conqueror & Theodore Altman a.k.a. Hulkling who has not been introduced in the MCU yet.
BLACK PANTHER
Many moviegoers fell in love with Marvel’s Black Panther when it hit the screen & were distraught when the news of Chadwick Boseman’s passing hit. However, with the recent What If… focusing on T’Challa as Starlord, if Marvel & Disney gave us a Black Panther animated series, it would be well received, especially since there is so much to cover Wakanda & T’Challa’s battles outside of Wakanda.
Some might disagree with me, but I’d like to see this series focus on Shuri after the passing of T’Challa. Many people aren’t too excited about Shuri possibly being the next Black Panther because of the character not getting enough screen time for moviegoers to see her grow & because there are still a lot of misogynists out there that won’t grow up. Having an animated series based around Shuri juggling being the Queen of Wakanda & having to be the new Black Panther will help moviegoers that are still stuck on not having her step into the big screen role ease up a bit. & yes, I am down for seeing a black Queen step into a position of power & hold down the title of Black Panther. Shuri becoming the new Black Panther on the small & big screen will also touch the hearts of African-American girls that don’t see much representation in the MCU.
FANTASTIC FOUR
If you’ve been with Marvel for a while, there’s no way you haven’t heard of Marvel’s first family; however, as familiar as they might be, most of the younger generation doesn’t know about Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Sue Richards (The Invisible Woman), Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) & Ben Grimm (The Thing). This might be a little tricky depending on what Marvel & Disney decide to do with the characters & by this, I mean what ethnic backgrounds they choose to give them. Kevin Feige did say that the characters will be a mix of known & unknown actors, but I feel that one or two of the characters may not be of European descent, which I’m okay with. But I think that if the Fantastic Four happens to get an animated series, the creators should stick with the original design & their big screen counterparts could be handled however Marvel & Disney chooses. By the way, the theme song from the 1994 animated series was playing in my head the whole time. If you know, you know.
SPIDER-MAN (MILES MORALES)
Most of you may already be familiar with Miles Morales because of the excellent Into the Spiderverse film & because he appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man & Spidey, and His Amazing Friends. If you have no idea who Miles Morales is, you need to step it up! Miles Morales is an Afro-Latino character that first appeared in the Ultimate Fallout #4 in 2011. Miles was bitten by an Oz-enhanced Spider at his Uncle Aaron Davis apartment & obtained superhuman abilities. However, it wasn’t until the death of Peter Parker, which came two months after Miles was bitten, that he took on the mantle of Spider-Man.
Miles is a fantastic character representing the African-American & Latino community & we saw how Into the Spider-verse touched the younger generation from both communities & gave them representation with a new Spider-Man. I think sooner rather than later; we’ll see an animated series focused solely on Miles.
CAPTAIN MARVEL
Before Brie Larson became the live-action Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, there was no hate surrounding the character, which shows that it’s not a Captain Marvel issue but an issue that moviegoers have with Larson. An animated series around Captain Marvel would be a solid move because of the adventures writers at Disney/Marvel could take her on throughout the universe. The animated series does not have to follow the breadcrumbs the MCU laid out but can take a new approach leaving the door open for characters like Thanos, Eternals, Roman the Accuser, Supreme Intelligence, Deathbird Moonstone & more to appear.
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