The MCU has delighted us with some of the most iconic superheroes in comic book history becoming immortalized on the big screen in truly spectacular fashion – but what of the sidekicks? The plucky not-so-superheroes who would either lend a helping hand to our Iron Men and Captain Americas or the dastardly smart-arses who would help those dastardly Red Skulls fulfill their quests for world destruction very often stole the show. With that in mind, let’s take a look at six of the MCU’s minor characters who deserve a go at some form of spin-off.
6. Rocket
This is just a walking sitcom in the making. Maybe coupled with the odd Groot cameo, a Rocket solo film might be too brash and heavy-handed for fans to enjoy substantially, but it would be great big balls of fun nonetheless.
5. Arnim Zola
We all know the near-100 year kip Steve had in the ice, and in that time Zola managed to turn S.H.I.E.L.D into Hydra’s new home. We know vaguely the how’s, why’s and what’s of Zola going about this, but wouldn’t it be cool to see the process of S.H.I.E.L.D becoming corrupted captured in celluloid form?
4. Maria Hill
With Avengers: Age of Ultron on everyone’s lips, it looks like Maria is Tony’s new Pepper Potts. Unlike Pepper however, Maria appears colder, darker, more assertive and calculating than the constantly-overwhelmed Pepper. Plus, we can only say ‘appears’ as she’s only ever had that dratted supporting role – Avengers Assemble, Captain America: The Winter Solider, and Avengers: Age of Ultron all show her in fine form, it’s just that form never really gets past the supporting stage.
3. Falcon
Where the hell were you Sam when Ultron was kicking everyone’s butts?! Fortunately, it looks like Sam is now officially an Avenger, so we can surely look forward to seeing more the Falcon in Phase 3.
2. Bucky
One of the worst things about Avengers: Age of Ultron was how it appeared to just sweep poor old Bucky under the carpet. We left Captain America: The Winter Solider with Sam and Steve getting ready to go after Bucky, and that never really gets resolved, or even mentioned in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Plus, we also left Bucky starting to remember who he once was, and the ramifications, it may cause. We may see more of Bucky in Captain America: Civil War, but to have no talk of him whatsoever in Avengers: Age of Ultron was rather mean.
1. War Machine
Give me this guy over Pepper any day. He has all the carefree cool of Tony but has Steve’s heart. He always comes across as far more heroic than Tony, not that Tony is on a par with Loki. Like Falcon, now that Rhodey is an official Avenger, we’ll hopefully be seeing a lot more of him.
Who do you want to see spun-off from the MCU? Sound off in the comments or send us your thoughts on Twitter!