MCU Characters Who Need Solo Films

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is filled with fascinating characters, both human and alien. Ever since the franchise found success right out of the gate with 2008's "Iron Man," MCU showrunner Kevin Feige has been steadily expanding the reach of the series across different timelines, cultures, and genres. 

As a result, while competing franchises struggle to come up with more than one interesting lead character, the MCU has an overabundance of them. From the Asgardian deities who Thor grew up with, to the masters of the mystic arts who taught Doctor Strange everything he knows, to the ordinary men and women of Earth who struggle daily to deal with the existence of gods and aliens, there is no shortage of fascinating characters for the MCU to focus on.

With the recent spate of Disney+ MCU shows, many notable supporting characters from previous movies are finally getting their deserved spot in the limelight. But there are still many fascinating characters remaining that fans would love to learn out more about. Here are 14 such characters, those who next deserve to get their own MCU solo movie.     

Paul Rudd's Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man) is generally considered to be the MCU's resident teddy bear. Everyone likes Scott. With his affable nature and cool shrinking and growing powers, Ant-Man is a useful guy to have on any superhero team's roster. But behind all that laughter and bonhomie lies the secret of another, darker Ant-Man who predates the Avengers themselves. 

As we saw in the first "Ant-Man" film, Scott was given the shrinking technology by its creator, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). It was later explained that Hank used the tech when he was in his prime to act an undercover agent for the government alongside his wife Janet (Michelle Pfeffer).   

From the brief glimpses into the past that have been shown, Hank's career as Ant-Man appears to have been a fascinating one. It was also tinged with tragedy, as Hank was unable to save his wife when a mission went awry. As a result, Hank grew increasingly distant from his daughter Hope, becoming a bitter recluse. It would be interesting to see a complete movie about the original Ant-Man and his allies, as well as the toll that Janet's disappearance took on the Pym family, and the broader field of super heroics when the existence of metahumans was still considered a closely-guarded secret.  

In a franchise filled with godlike beings and ridiculously overpowered humans, Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) remains a delightful oddity. Introduced briefly in "Iron Man 3," Trevor is a perfectly ordinary person who had the misfortune of getting an acting job pretending to be the supervillain Mandarin. 

Now that the real Mandarin is set to make his debut in the MCU in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," Trevor can be brought back into the franchise in a different capacity. Despite his limited screen time, Kingsley's masterful acting was able to turn Trevor into a character that audiences wanted to see more of, and it would be interesting to see how he has been dealing with the planet being overrun by all manners of scary beings. 

If filmmaker Taika Waititi of "Thor: Ragnarok" fame were to use his quirky sensibilities to make a solo MCU movie starring Trevor, it could be the funniest thing the comic book movie genre has ever seen. Also, Kingsley is an Oscar-winning actor who doesn't get to do comedy nearly enough. Considering how much fun he had with playing Trevor the first time around, Kingsley headlining his own solo Marvel film could offer a new path for the MCU to focus on more relatable, ordinary characters.  

For the longest time, the mere mention of the name "Thanos" was enough to instill fear in the hearts of characters in the MCU. When the character entered the spotlight in "Avengers: Infinity War," he proved to be every bit as menacing as he had been hyped up to be. But despite the spotlight he received in "Infinity War" and "Endgame," audiences still know only a fraction of his story. 

Born on the planet Titan, Thanos in his youth was known for his intelligence. That notoriety soon turned to infamy as Thanos began suggesting the need to kill off half the population of Titan to save the rest from depleting its resources. Dubbed the "Mad Titan," Thanos was exiled from his planet. But his predictions came to pass when Titan did indeed fall and its species went extinct.

Convinced that the same fate awaited every other planet unless half their populations were culled, Thanos embarked on a cosmic mission of eradicating half of all life. By the time of "Infinity War," the Mad Titan was no longer bloodlusted like he had once been. He had seen too much death and pain to be angry anymore, and had instead become weary and resigned to his fate as the being that everyone insisted on seeing as a villain. A solo movie showcasing Thanos' journey from scientist to the Mad Titan, to warlord, to eventually a world-weary philosopher would be fascinating to watch.   

Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) was an ordinary blue collar worker until the day his company was ousted from the workforce by Tony Stark's company. Angry at this new world where superheroes ruled the roost and ordinary people were left to clean up their messes, Toomes vowed to level the playing field by becoming the Vulture. 

What makes Toomes such a fascinating character is that he is not a full-fledged villain. He has a conscience, and he wants to provide for his family. But he is also perfectly willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. The MCU needs more of such morally grey instead of black-or-white characters. 

Judging by his appearance in the trailer for "Morbius," Toomes still has a role to play, possibly as a member of the Sinister Six. Since we are already aware of his backstory, it would be interesting to see where Toomes is now, and how he is dealing with a world where superhuman beings have only grown in prominence.

Despite being one of the newest entries in the MCU, Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has quickly established himself as one of the most important players in the franchise. So imagine how important and powerful the person who taught Strange everything he knows would be.

That person is The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who teaches a select group of warriors the ways of the mystic arts. The first "Doctor Strange" movie showed The Ancient One as a complex person, who has lied to her followers in the past to suit her needs. "Avengers: Endgame" showed her as having vast knowledge of the infinity stones and the nature of the universe itself. That is more than enough material already for a compelling solo movie about The Ancient One exploring her origins and responsibilities as the keeper of the Time Stone. 

More importantly, a solo movie would allow Marvel to address some of the backlash they received for casting Swinton in a role that many say should have gone to an Asian actor. Perhaps the solo film could show that Swinton's character was instructed by Asian teachers as a way to honor the legacy of The Ancient One from the comics as a prominent Asian Marvel Comics character. 

While most other main MCU characters became superheroes by accident or design, T'Challa aka Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) was born into the role. Raised as the prince of Wakanda, T'Challa always knew he would someday becomes his kingdom's protector. But before T'Challa took over the mantle, his father T'Chaka (John Kani) was the Black Panther. 

Unfortunately, T'Chaka's reign as the superhero was not always a clean one. Upon learning that his brother N'Jobu had been supplying Wakandan secrets to the outside world, T'Chaka felt honor-bound to arrest his brother for treason. Following a scuffle, T'Chaka took his own brother's life. What was worse, he abandoned N'Jobu's son, who grew up to become Erik Killmonger.

This sordid past was in sharp contrast to the shining exterior that T'Chaka was forced to display in front of his public. A solo movie exploring T'Chaka's life as Black Panther and his guilt over taking his own brother's life would be a welcome addition to the "Black Panther" series, while casting a new light on the politics and values of the nation of Wakanda. 

The recent spate of MCU Disney+ shows have put a well-deserved spotlight on supporting characters of the franchise with fascinating personal journeys. The shows have also introduced a host of interesting new characters, and easily the most popular of the lot is Agnes aka Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) from "WandaVision."

We already know quite a bit about Agatha. She was alive during the Salem Witch Trials. She is a witch who hunts down magical beings to absorb their energy. And she can sing a song that everyone loves, even when she is singing about killing a puppy. Hahn's inherent likability as Agatha makes it hard to see her as a full-on villain, but with the right solo movie, the MCU could turn her into a compelling anti-hero that audiences cheer for despite her questionable methods. 

We want to see Agatha's long, long journey as a magical being hunted by other magical beings, who hunts them in return. It would also be interesting to see where Agnes was during past major MCU events, and whether she had a bigger role in the history of the franchise than audiences are currently aware of. Most importantly, we could get a follow-up single to "Agatha All Along," maybe this time with Agatha singing about kicking a kitten off a roof or something.