Team From Marvel Comics in MCU Phase 5:
The Marvel Cinematic Universe only has one major superhero team – the Avengers. There are so many in the Marvel Comic Book Universe. The last four phases of the MCU never gave us any hints at the appearance of these superhero teams that are a major force in the comic books. With the fifth phase of the MCU in full swing, these are some of the teams we would like to see in the movies.
1. Midnight Sons
The team known as the Midnight Sons would be formed after Ghost Rider received a vision that depicted the rise of Lilith, daughter of Dracula and Mother of all Demons on Earth. Ghost Rider realizes that Lilith is about to take over the world with her children – demonic beings called the Lilin. Lilith and her four most loyal Lilin Generals – Meat Market, Pilgrim, Nakota, and Blackout would help her in this endeavor.
The Midnight Sons originally consisted of members like Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch, Hannibal King, Morbius the Living Vampire, and Victoria Montessi. The team would later reform under the leadership of Blade and the Day-Walking Vampire Hunter would be corrupted by the Dark-Hold and betray the team. Another version of the Midnight Sons comes into existence led by Doctor Strange.
2. Power Pack
Power Pack was actually a side project by their creators but the young team of superhero toddlers struck a vital chord with the fans and Marvel decided to give it a spin. Power Pack consists of four kids – Alex, Jack, Julie, and Katie Power, who are granted abilities as a result of coming into contact with a sentient alien warship.
The adventures of Power Pack have seen the team make many allies in the form of the X-Men, the Avengers, and even Spider-Man. In a world full of adult superheroes, Power Pack could give the fans a much needed reprieve. They are little kids trying to make the world a better place. They are also a child-friendly addition and would entice a lot of people to watch them in action, potentially growing the fan base even further.
3. Future Foundation
The Future Foundation is the Brain-Child of Mister Fantastic. After realizing that much of the world’s woes could be tackled and solved with technology but no one is willing to take the step needed, Mister Fantastic uses his vast resources to create the Future Foundation – a team of scientists and genius superheroes from around the world that will work together to make the world a better place.
The Future Foundation has been involved in many best-selling storylines. They were the ones that researched the seven hammers that fell from the sky during the Fear Itself story arc. They also helped restore the memories of an amnesiac Doctor Doom.
4. Thunderbolts
The story of the Thunderbolts is inspiring and is a great example of people looking for second chances. The Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and all major superhero teams on Earth vanish without a trace, leaving the planet defenseless against the supervillains. The Thunderbolts are actually super-villains that disguise themselves as superheroes and try to gain the trust of the people, fighting the villains that try to threaten the peace.
Zemo, who becomes Citizen V in the Thunderbolts and their leader, soon realizes his plan has backfired and some of the supervillains actually enjoy these acts of heroism and are ready to do it full time. The Thunderbolts soon disband after the Avengers return to the world of the living. By that time, many former super villains have taken to the good side and decide to become superheroes.
5. Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight is Canada’s answer to the Avengers and the X-Men. They work under the organization called Department H – the Canadian Version of Shield. Department H is tasked with monitoring all superhuman activity within the Canadian Lands. It was the first team that Wolverine became a part of before he turned tails and joined the X-Men instead. Over the years, Alpha Flight has become a major force in the Marvel Universe.
The Superhero team consists of members like Sasquatch, Aurora, North Star, Guardian, Vindicator, Shaman, and Puck. There is also another version of the team that is led by Captain Marvel. This version is Earth’s first line of defense against all outer space threats.
6. The Ultimates
The Ultimates is a superhero group that surfaced in the year 2015. The members of the team consist of Black Panther, Blue Marvel, Captain Marvel, Spectrum, and Miss America. All in all, the superhero team only consists of non-white superheroes, which is a big step in marvel Comics. They are mostly involved in events related to outer space.
Using their own personal space ship, the Ultimates can become the future replacement of the Avengers in MCU Phase 5 and beyond. Their first mission was taking down Galactus. An incubator of Blue Marvel’s design was used to trap the Devourer of Worlds in who was then transformed to the Life-Bringer. Galactus now gave life to planets instead of destroying and consuming them.
7. Nextwave
The Nextwave series of comic books were not meant to be another superhero adventure. It was a pet project of Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen. The very purpose of Nextwave is to show the world how grossly out of character superheroes could be once the writers start writing them off-panel. In a traditional superhero arc, the superheroes always stay in character, which is like an actor staying true to his code when the camera is rolling. Nextwave takes all that and throws them out in the dustbin.
The team of Nextwave is involved in some pretty hilarious but dark adventures. The members of Nextwave act more as objects of satire than true superheroes. Dirk Anger, Elsa Bloodstone, Spectrum, Aaron Stack, the Captain and Tabitha Smith are some of the most notable members.
8. The Champions
There are two versions of the Champions. The first composed of Iceman, Hercules, Black Widow, Ghost Rider, and Angel. They were a short-lived superhero team that did not garner enough sales for Marvel to sanction a second run and the line was soon disbanded.
The second version of the Champions came under the leadership of Ms Marvel aka Kamala Khan. Ms Marvel, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), and Nova (Sam Alexander) left the Avengers after a disagreement and later formed the champions. The Champions consists of mostly young faces like Amadeus Cho Hulk, Viv Vision, and Iron Heart. The Champions would surely add some fresh new faces to the MCU.
9. Squadron Supreme
Squadron Supreme was created by the writers and artists at Marvel Comics to be the stand-in for Justice League. Since Marvel could not directly copy the Justice League, they could make supervillains that had the exact same powers as them but looked different. Squadrom Supreme consists of the Whizzer, Doctor Spectrum, Power princess, and Hyperion – a being that is said to be as strong as DC’s Superman, if not stronger.
The team almost always plays the bad guys in the pages of Marvel Comics. Later superheroes like Nighthawk and the Skrullian Sky Master also joined the fray. The Squadron Supreme belongs to the Earth 712 timeline.
10. West Coast Avengers
The West Coast Avengers formed out of a vision that the android avenger Vision had. Vision wanted to make the Avengers a worldwide phenomenon by increasing the influence of the Avengers drastically. The Avengers was almost non-existent in the West Coast of America. Hawkeye was tasked by Vision to start recruit suitable superheroes that could be a part of the new Avengers team.
The West Coast Avengers included superheroes like Mockingbird, Wonder Man and Iron Man (Jim Rhodes in disguise). They battled several old and new foes but after a series of unfortunate events, their brand as Avengers was diluted and people started to see them as a cheap substitute. 2018 saw a new version of the West Coast Avengers spring up that was led this time by Hawkeye, Miss America, Quentin Quire, and Kate Bishop.
