The announcement that 2016 will see the introduction of an All-New non-Janet-Van-Dyne Wasp doesn’t come as too big of a surprise, considering Marvel’s rash of new legacy heroes lately. Over the last couple years, we’ve gotten a new Captain America, Thor, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Ghost Rider, Nova, Hulk, and Ms. Marvel, among many (many) others. With this new Wasp, 4/5 of the original Avengers roster will have been replaced with newbies donning the mantles. And while some comic fans fit the old stereotype of isolationist nerds who abhor change, many love the fresh plotlines and much-needed character development that come with promoting heroes into new positions, and this piece is for those people. Here are five currently vacant mantles in the Marvel Universe, and my (sometimes ill-advised) suggestions for who should fill them.
Jewel – Molly Hayes
Jessica Jones is noticeably missing from the 616 lately, which is odd given that she’s become a Netflix breakout star with the general public as of late. Although it may be hard for a stay-at-home mother to balance child-rearing with the whole superhero shtick, not to mention that using the Jewel name seems to be something Jones doesn’t mind leaving in her past, this presents the perfect opportunity to have a seasoned veteran play a coach role to an up-and-coming youngster (which her husband has already done a bit with the new Power Man). Molly Hayes is the perfect candidate to become the new Jewel: strong enough to fill Jessica’s shoes, young and bright-eyed enough to rock the name Jewel without any irony, and she’d act as a good foil to Jones. The other Runaways are up to their own separate adventures, so why not give Molly the same?
Iron Patriot – Piotr Rasputin
Right now, Piotr’s busy being Colossus as usual with the Extraordinary X-Men, but with the boost in popularity he may see soon given his role in the Deadpool movie (bigger than the role he’s had in any X-Men movie to date), now might be the time for Marvel to have him spin off into a solo series. He’s no stranger to major shake-ups, having been the Juggernaut, an avatar of the Phoenix, a felon on the lam in Cable’s X-Force, and a bearded X-Man (all in the last decade). Each Iron Patriot seems to take the title in a completely new direction, so I propose having Piotr don the mantle, becoming the first LITERAL Iron Patriot, and have him go back to Russia to act as the hero his country needs (despite what we think, not every Patriot has to be American). Marvel has the chance to show a side of the man that doesn’t revolve around the constant mutant struggle and have one more character that doesn’t operate out of the state of NY.
Wonder Man – Quentin Quire
I don’t know how much passionate fans care for their X-characters crossing over into their regular books and vice versa, but I have a thing for mutants in human books and humans in mutant books, if for no other reason than it reminds me that they all exist in the same reality. Quentin Quire was always one of the X-kids with the most potential both as a character and power-wise, so it seems a shame that the most he ever got was a semi-important role in a couple volumes of Wolverine and the X-Men before Logan bit the dust, and Quentin’s prominence in the Marvel Universe along with him. Now Marvel can have what I consider a cult-favourite character step into the mainstream superhero limelight, albeit in the most apathetic ironic way that only Quire can pull off. The original Wonder Man was an arrogant bad guy turned hero with some energy-related powers, so it seems like a mantle Quentin was born to fill. But where Simon Williams was a rich buff pretty-boy, Quire will be the punk rock counter-culture Wonder Man for our generation, taking up the name ironically to show the rest of America what he’s really made of.
Red She-Hulk – Madame Curie Cho
This one might be a little obvious given that her brother Amadeus is the current Green He-Hulk, but I still think the match-up would work. Betty Ross hasn’t held much clout in the comics for a while and the position seems to be empty, so it’d be great to use to prop up another potential young female hero, and especially an Asian-American one, who seem to be in short supply outside of the X-Men. Marvel should just double-down with the light-hearted Hulk hijinks of Totally Awesome Hulk and make it a brother/sister Hulk team-up book. Her high ambition and low tolerance for fooling around would make her a formidable She-Hulk and a good contrast to her brother (and would make both of them a good contrast to the old former beaus Hulk and Red She-Hulk pair).
Fantastic Four – Franklin and Valeria Richards and Team
The Fantastic Four were there at the start of the old Marvel Universe, so it’d be fitting to bring out a new Fantastic Four with the start of this new post-Secret-Wars universe. No other team book right now has the same combination of extravagant wondrous sci-fi and pure heart that the Fantastic Four family has given over the years, and the void needs to be filled. We last saw the bulk of the FF traversing the new multiverse, so what better time than now for Franklin and Valeria to go off on their own adventures and take their parents’ namesake with them. Again, my affinity for sibling teams clouds my brainstorming process, but it’d be fantastic (I’m sorry) to see the two strengthen their brotherly/sisterly bond with a couple other young explorers to round out the squad (and have it add up to Four), with Bentley 23 and Onome being my favourite candidates (and possibly with Dragon Man as their Herbie). And to top it all off, Franklin and Valeria are, if anything, more capable than their parents when it comes to hard sci-fi adventuring.
You must be logged in to post a comment.