TheMarvel Cinematic Universejust brought back a dead character, and there are quite a few who could benefit from that same treatment over the franchise’s next few projects.The Multiverse Saga has introduced a major way of using dead characters. After all, through multiverse variants,Marvel’s upcoming movies and TV showscould use characters who died in the main timeline.
Before that,Avengers: Endgameintroduced time travel to the MCU. That is how Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora stayed in the MCU after their original deaths. Recently,Ironheart’s season finale sawthe debut of Mephisto, with the devil resurrecting Riri Williams' best friend. Here are the major MCU heroes and villains who could benefit from those resurrection options:
10Scarlet Witch
Last MCU Appearance In Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
At this point, I would be surprised if Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff did not come back to life. The character has become one of the MCU’s most popular players in the Multiverse Saga. After her villain turn in theDoctor Strangesequel,the Scarlet Witch needs to return to have the redemption arc fans want to see.
Given howthe Scarlet Witch and Mephisto are connected in the comics, the debut of Sacha Baron Cohen’s character inIronheartis interesting. If Wanda were to return, it would most likely be the original Scarlet Witch. Mephisto just proved he could resurrect her, and with both of her sons back in the MCU, they could ask him to revive Wanda.
9Quicksilver
Last MCU Appearance In Avengers: Age Of Ultron
Why stop at the Scarlet Witch when she also has a major deceased family member? Killing Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver back in his first formal MCU movie isone of the biggest wastes in the MCU. Now that a decade has passed since his death and Taylor-Johnson no longer has a future at Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, Quicksilver should come back.
A fake version of Quicksilver appeared in WandaVision, played by Evan Peters, who gave life to Quicksilver in Fox’s X-Men movies.
Like Wanda, Quicksilver could be resurrected by Mephisto after a deal is struck between the devil and one of Wanda’s kids, or perhaps even Paul Bettany’s Vision. There is also a chance that the Scarlet Witch could find her brother in the afterlifenow that both are dead, leading to the duo finding their way back to life together.
8Thanos
Last MCU Appearance In Avengers: Endgame
Thanos was the main villain of the Infinity Saga. His death was the crowning achievement of the Avengers, as they had to kill the villain twice to bring back everyone he snapped away.Thanos was already used after his death in the MCU through time travel, so it is unlikely that Marvel would do so again for the villain.
However,Agatha All Alongsaw the debut of Aubrey Plaza’s Death. In Marvel Comics, Thanos is often romantically linked to Lady Death, with the Mad Titans always trying to impress her. While the MCU series made it look like she would never resurrect someone, Thanos might strike a deal with Death to come back.Josh Brolin has teased Thanos' return.
7Aunt May
Last MCU Appearance In Spider-Man: No Way Home
Aunt May is a bit of a special case on the list. While she might not fit the hero description, she is still a major MCU character who died tragically and has great potential to be even better if brought back. With Mephisto’s MCU debut inIronheart,Aunt May’s revival might be the most likely of any MCU character.
That is due to how Tom Holland’s next MCU solo movie isSpider-Man: Brand New Day. That title connects to the period in the hero’s life in the comics that comes afterhe makes a deal with Mephisto to save Aunt May. Marvel’s next Spider-Man movie could focus on Mephisto resurrecting Aunt May and demanding a dark price for it.
6Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU forAvengers: DoomsdayandSecret Wars. While the actor will be playing Doctor Doom, who is said to be the traditional Victor von Doom version, there is still room for him to pull double duty. Marvel simply has a lot of options available for how Iron Man could return to the MCU.
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The first route is resurrection, with Mephisto or Doctor Doom’s magic resurrecting the original Tony Stark. After he invented time travel, the Avengers could also use it to bring a Stark from the past to help them in the present. With the multiverse, the opportunities for Iron Man variants are limitless.RDJ’s Marvel characters fighting is too good to pass on.
5Black Widow
The latest Avengers movie saw quite a few major deaths. Similar to howAvengers: DoomsdayandSecret Warscould bring back Iron Man, so could Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow return. Whilethe actress swears that she is done with the franchise, Natasha Romanoff could still be an important part of the MCU if she were to return to life.
I’m convinced that if Mephisto showed her that he could resurrect Black Widow, Yelena would gladly sign away her soul to him.
Thunderbolts*showed how Florence Pugh’sYelena Belova was in a dark state of mind after Natasha’s death. While she ended the movie on a more positive note, I’m convinced that if Mephisto showed her that he could resurrect Black Widow, Yelena would gladly sign away her soul to him. Multiverse and time travel could also bring her back.
4Jane Foster
Last MCU Appearance In Thor: Love And Thunder
Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster came back to the MCU after a long absence, only to die in the divisiveThor: Love and Thunder. Interestingly, while Jane died at the end of the movie, one of the post-credits scenes teased that there could be more from her. That is becauseJane met Heimdall in Valhalla, a location Marvel Comics often uses.
There are a couple of ways for Jane Foster to return after her death. While I don’t see Thor ever making a deal with Mephisto,the God of Thunder could pluck her from Valhallain one of theupcoming Avengers movies, or perhaps Chris Hemsworth’s teasedThor 5. If someone dies in Valhalla, they come back to life.
3Kang The Conqueror
Last MCU Appearance In Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania
Kang The Conqueror is another special case on the list. Theoretically, the villain, played by Jonathan Majors,died fighting Ant-Man and the Wasp inQuantumania. However, that was clearly not expected to be the end of the road for Kang. That said, sinceMajors was fired by Marveland plans changed, Kang the Conqueror is dead in the MCU.
Bringing back the character is incredibly easy. Marvel could simply recast Majors' role with any number of actors and appoint them asmultiverse variants of Kang. The prime version of Kang could return to tie up loose ends from when he was going to be the Multiverse Saga’s main villain. Perhaps Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom could kill Kang for good.
2Yondu
Last MCU Appearance In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
Yondu’s death is one of the MCU’s most emotional.James Gunn said in the past that if it were up to him, Yondu would never be resurrected. While I think the MCU will go for that even after the director moved to headline DC Studios, there is room for Yondu to be brought back to the MCU.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3ended with the cosmic team disbanding. Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord came back to Earth to find his grandfather. Perhaps Peter could beone of the characters Mephisto tries to influencenow that he is running around the MCU. If that were to happen, Star-Lord could choose to resurrect his mom and/or Yondu.
1Black Panther
Finally, Black Panther ends the list. While Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away in real life, Marvel Studios could resurrect T’Challa in the MCU to keep the character active in the franchise.If T’Challa were to return, the character would need to be recast. There are reports that Marvel is looking into that, but not through resurrection.
Instead,Black Panther 3or one of the upcoming Avengers movies coulduse the multiverse to bring in a Black Panther variant. Time travel to age up T’Challa’s son, Toussaint, is also not out of the question. However, in terms of using theMCU’s original Black Panther, the multiverse feels like the best way forAvengers: DoomsdayorSecret Wars.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
