7 Marvel Movie Characters Who Need Solo Shows on Disney’s Streaming Service

If Loki and Scarlet Witch are eyed for TV shows, then Winter Soldier has to be next. He checks off every one of the very few boxes we know about: he’s never had his own movie but he’s a major MCU player, he has a devoted fanbase that swoons over his murderous puppy dog attitude, and he’s played by an actor with similar clout as Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen. Plus, Sebastian Stan is no stranger to television (Once Upon a Time, Political Animals, Gossip Girl) and Winter Soldier’s backstory is ripe for exploration. The guy was a brainwashed Soviet assassin during the entire cold war! The series practically writes itself!

Jeremy Renner has been eagerly game for anything and everything Marvel wants him to do from day one. In interview after interview, he’s said he’d be down to appear on Marvel TV shows ranging from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which never came to pass) or his own Netflix show. And with a Black Widow movie reportedly in the works, that leaves Hawkeye as the only original Avenger without a solo anything to his name. Now might be the time for Hawkeye to shine. Disney should give him a 6-episode series based on the Matt Fraction/David Aja Hawkeye comic, ASAP (and also use it to introduce Kate Bishop, the other Hawkeye, please).

Disney would be foolish to not capitalize on the most successful Marvel movie domestically, Black Panther. And in a movie filled with breakout characters that could all hold their own (M’Baku, Nakia, Okoye, Killmonger!), Shuri is queen. Letitia Wright is no stranger to TV (she was just nominated for an Emmy for her Black Mirror episode) and Shuri is exactly the kind of super cool character Disney should build a series around, the kind that would bring in younger subscribers in droves. Just imagine a show where super genius Shuri is a fish-out-of-water, running that Wakandan outreach center in Oakland!

There has been a whole lotta show don’t tell with Gamora in the MCU. Zoe Saldana plays a total badass, sure, but the movies rarely show Gamora actually being the deadliest assassin in the galaxy. This is how you fix it, by cutting Gamora loose from the Guardians and letting her cut a bloody path through planet after planet. Maybe it’s a flashback series where she’s working for Thanos, or maybe it’s set after whatever happens in next year’s Avengers 4. Just give us more Gamora!

This one’s more of a long shot, but probably more so because of legal issues than willing participation. Mark Ruffalo loves being a player in the Marvel U, and you could easily see him taking on a very rare TV role to play Bruce Banner again. The problem with this, though, is the same problem that’s kept the green giant from having his own film since 2008’s Incredible Hulk. Universal owns the film rights to the Hulk, and that’s why he’s been an ensemble player for the last 9 years. That’s also why Mark Ruffalo has never gotten his own Hulk movie! But does that extend to television? Could Marvel Studios finally make the Mark Ruffalo Hulk movie they’ve always wanted, just cut up into 6 episodes? And isn’t that something you need in your life now that I’ve mentioned it?

And now we’re into the real pie-in-the-sky portion of the list, the kinda shows Marvel Studios could make if they don’t mind stepping on the toes of Marvel Television. One such show, a show that you know would grab all sorts of headlines and make MCU fans freak out, would be a new show starring Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter. Agent Carter ran for two seasons on ABC, where its fate was tied to traditional broadcast TV ratings; the fact that you can’t stream Agent Carter anywhere also hurt its reach. A show like this one could really thrive on Disney’s platform, one that seems to be aiming to give the fans what they want. And with Carter’s decades and decades of history, you could easily set the new show anywhere and at nearly any time (the swinging ’60s, the gritty ’70s, the greedy ’80s).

Can you imagine?! No intended slight to ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which has amassed the most devoted and passionate fanbase of literally any Marvel TV show ever. It’s just that there are a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. characters from the movies that are currently M.I.A., have never appeared on the ABC show, and will probably never appear on the ABC show. There are way, way more than enough of these super spies to fill another S.H.I.E.L.D. series. Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury could appear and bring his Marvel cred with him, and Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter could finally get the kind of attention she’s gotten in the comics for 40 years. And yeah, someway somehow, bring back Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan! Get these agents their own show!