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The first Captain America movie came out in 1944! 🤯
Within the MCU, the first season of Loki introduced the concepts of variants — different versions of characters from different universes.
Then, Spider-Man: No Way Home made it possible for those variants to come from the "alternate universes" of non-MCU Marvel movies.
Even though the MCU as we know it officially began with Iron Man in 2008, Marvel has actually been making movies and TV shows for way, way longer.
So — especially with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on the horizon — plenty of Marvel fans are wondering which past Marvel characters could potentially enter the MCU as variants.
Marvel Studios / Via giphy.com
Also, bringing back the original actors isn't the only way to make the return of older characters possible.
For example, the First Doctor made a cameo on Doctor Who in 2017 — even though William Hartnell, who first played him, died in 1975. David Bradley (who actually played Hartnell in the biopic An Adventure in Space and Time) took over the role.
Alternatively, they could bring back characters the way that the visual effects team included Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. They combined unused footage from her previous Star Wars appearances and a stand-in to create a digital character.
Here are 20 pre-MCU characters that Marvel could bring back in the multiverse:
(Note: This is only counting characters from live-action productions, not including the many wonderful animated Marvel projects out there!)
1. Spider-Man: No Way Home reintroduced Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in the MCU...
But Ben Affleck could reprise his role as Matt Murdock from the 2003 movie Daredevil.
20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
2. Similarly, Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung) from the Netflix-turned-Disney+ Daredevil show could follow Murdock into the MCU...
Netflix / ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection
But so could her Jennifer Garner variant from Daredevil (2003) and its 2005 spin-off Elektra.
20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Garner wishes that her Marvel experience had been part of the MCU. She told the Hollywood Reporter, "Once Kevin [Feige] took over, everything there was elevated: the writing, the direction, the comedy inside of the stories they were telling...And I did not have that experience.”
3. Bruce Banner, who's played by Mark Ruffalo in the MCU, could see the return of several variants.
Null / ©Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everett / Everett Collection
First, Bill Bixby could reprise the role of Dr. David Banner from the 1977 TV show The Incredible Hulk.
Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
4. However, there's also the original onscreen Incredible Hulk, who was played by Lou Ferrigno on the same show.
Universal Television / courtesy Everett Collection
Ferrigno also provided some vocal effects for the MCU version of the Hulk from The Avengers to Avengers: Age of Ultron.
5. Additionally, there's also Eric Bana's version of Bruce Banner from Hulk (2003).
Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
6. He also has a potential variant within the MCU — after The Incredible Hulk (2008), Edward Norton was replaced with Mark Ruffalo.
Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
7. Deadpool, who's played by Ryan Reynolds, is set to join the MCU with his upcoming movie Deadpool 3.
20thcentfox / 20th Century Fox Licensing/Merchandising / Everett Collection
However, Reynolds also played an alternate version of Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine because the studio threatened to recast him in Deadpool if he didn't.
20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
He told Entertainment Weekly, "I just said, ‘I’ll do it, but it’s the wrong version. Deadpool isn’t correct in it.'"
8. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) passed his iconic shield — and therefore the MCU's Captain America title — to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Avengers: Endgame, but Captain America has a few surprising potential variants.
Walt Disney Co. / ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
The first onscreen Captain America was actually District Attorney Grant Gardner, who was played by Dick Purcell in the 1944 live-action serial.
Republic Pictures courtesy Everett Collection
The serial debuted in movie theaters as weekly 15-minute installments. It was the first time a Marvel character was brought to life on the big screen.
9. There's also the first onscreen Steve Rogers, who was played by Reb Brown in the 1979 TV movies Captain America and Captain America II: Death Too Soon.
CBS courtesy Everett Collection
In this version, Rogers is a former Marine who uses a neutron bomb to destroy Phoenix.
In the sequel, he fights a villain who's trying to poison the country with something that speeds up the aging process.
10. However, there's also Steve Rogers from 1990's Captain America, starring Matt Salinger.
20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. Courtesy: Everett Collection
This version bears a lot of similarities to the 2011 movie. After being frozen in ice for several decades, Captain America is set free so he can fight Red Skull.
11. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Doctor Strange in the MCU.
Walt Disney Co. / ©Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everett / Everett Collection
However, Stephen Strange was actually set to make his onscreen debut in 1992, but after Full Moon Entertainment's deal with Marvel fell through, they produced the thinly veiled rewrite Doctor Mordrid (starring Jeffrey Combs) instead.
Full Moon Entertainment / Via youtube.com
This direct-to-video release follows a sorcerer who's sent to protect Earth from being invaded by the fourth dimension. The main villain, Kabal, is reminiscent of Dormammu.
12. Howard the Duck (voiced by Seth Green) made his MCU debut in Guardians of the Galaxy.
However, back in 1986, Chip Zien voiced a humanoid version of Howard in the movie Howard the Duck.
Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
In the movie, Howard teams up with a rock singer and a scientist to stop an alien invasion.
13. Samuel L. Jackson has been playing Nick Fury since the inception of the MCU.
Jay Maidment / ©Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Co / Everett Collection
In 2002, the comic book version of Nick Fury was reimagined for The Ultimates, and writer Mark Millar modeled him after his favorite actor — Samuel L. Jackson. When the actor (who was actually a big comic book fan) stumbled upon his own face in an Avengers comic, he got his agents to work out a deal with Marvel where he'd get to portray the character in any film adaptations.
However, in 1998 — before the comic book version of Nick Fury was redesigned — David Hasselhoff played the titular character in the movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
The storyline followed Fury out of his post-Cold War self-exile and back into a battle with Hydra.
Hasselhoff made his MCU debut as himself in a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 cameo.
14. Julia Louis-Dreyfus brought Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to the MCU in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Chuck Zlotnick / ©Disney+/Marvel Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection
However, Lisa Rinna originally played Val in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
However, Brooks was originally played by Wesley Snipes in Blade (1998), Blade II (2002), and Blade: Trinity (2004).
16. The MCU's Michelle Jones-Watson, who goes by MJ, is played by Zendaya.
Sony Pictures Releasing / © Marvel Entertainment / Courtesy Everett Collection
However, the Spider-Man (2002) version of the character was Mary Jane Watson, played by Kirsten Dunst.
Columbia Pictures / ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
17. Another version of Mary Jane (played by Shailene Woodley) was set to appear in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but she was ultimately cut from the movie.
Ignat / GC Images / Via Getty
Director Marc Webb told the LA Times, "It was very difficult to introduce someone as a competing love interest when so much is on the table with Peter and Gwen."
18. Paul Rudd plays the MCU's Ant-Man.
Null / ©Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everett / Everett Collection
However, Ant-Man made his onscreen debut in the 1979 Saturday Night Live sketch "Superhero Party," where he was played by original cast member Garrett Morris.
NBC / Via youtube.com
Morris actually cameoed as a taxi driver in Ant-Man.
19. The three Spider-Men in No Way Home (Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield) aren't the only potential Peter Parker variants out there.
Peter Parker made his onscreen debut in the 1977 TV movie Spider-Man, which starred Nicholas Hammond.
CBS courtesy Everett Collection
The familiar storyline followers a freelance photographer who begins fighting crime after a radioactive spider bites him. In this version, Peter has to stop an extortionist who's threatening to cause a mass suicide unless he's paid a ransom.
The movie served as a pilot for the short-lived TV series The Amazing Spider-Man. However, it also got two movie sequels — Spider-Man Strikes Back and Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge.
20. And finally, there's the musical version of Peter Parker from the Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which was originated by Reeve Carney in 2011.
Rob Kim / Getty Images
The play's plotline mixed the comic book origin story with the Greek myth of Arachne, the god of spiders. However, the production faced many challenges, including the lack of affordable technology to pull off all of the stunts. It was also the most expensive Broadway show to produce at the time, and many investors left the project.
The show was also dangerous for the cast members, and several were injured during both rehearsals and live performances. Additionally, it was widely panned by critics and audiences. It finally closed in 2014.
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