Excalibur in Camelot 3000

Excalibur was one of those comics that was only released in specialty shops, so I never was able to catch the series when it was first released.  Still, I was a fan of Captain Britain and the artwork of Alan Davis, so I made sure to seek out some issues later on. It was an odd comic, with a lot more inventive story lines than I found in the other X-titles.  Even when it got too weird, the appealing cast of characters included won me over.

Scooby-Doo and Ghostbusters

It will be interesting to see if the new Ghostbusters movie in production will get audiences interested in the brand again, after the poor reception to the reboot of a couple of years back.  Casting Paul Rudd is a positive step, he's always enjoyable to watch.  Then again, I liked all of the leads in the Paul Feig-directed outing, and that was a big disappointment to me.  Hopefully, lessons were learned and a funnier and less derivative script will service Rudd and the young actors in this new film.

Thank you to Ivan Ronald Schablotski, a patron of this blog, for suggesting this team-up.  I'm kind of surprised it hasn't happened for real yet!

Hela Vs. Kid Eternity

Hela, as portrayed by Cate Blanchett, is easily one of my favorites of the villains that the MCU has given us.  After seeing antagonists that had shades of grey to their personalities or understandable motivations, it was fun to see one that was just unapologetically evil.  She looked great too, in her various outfits.  I especially loved when she sported the full helmet, Jack Kirby's design looked amazing on the big screen.  Let's hope that The Enchantress is as well realized.

Wolverine and Sgt. Rock

There are a few ways that Marvel Studios can differentiate their cinematic version of Wolverine with what has gone before.  Introducing him as a member of Alpha Flight could be fun, or maybe as a solo Canadian Operative sent after The Hulk.  The costume has never been properly done, so I would love to see it attempted (especially the brown/tan version above).  Most importantly, he has to be short! I loved Hugh Jackman in the role, but seeing Logan tower over his teammates never worked for me.  Let's see the diminutive scrapper we know from the comics!

Parasite Vs. Absorbing Man

I wonder how a battle between these two villains would go down.  Both have the ability to gain the physical properties of their opponents through contact.  Would they cancel each other out or would one be able to overpower the other?  The Parasite usually leaves his victims drained, while Absorbing Man does not, there my be a slight edge there.  Then again, Absorbing Man can get in longer range attacks through the use of his trusty wrecking ball.  It would be a good fight!

Batman and Red Sonja in: "Blade of the Behemoth!"

With more casting rumors swirling, I am hoping that we hear more about Matt Reeves upcoming Batman movie featuring Robert Pattinson in the lead role.  It seems like a crowded affair, with five villains in the mix.  My big hope is that Batman will finally have the white eyes from the comics.  Deadpool and Spider-Man have shown that they can be effectively emotive on screen, and it would be a good way to separate this new version from the look of past live action Batmans.

Batman first met Red Sonja way back in 2010, during my B&B MS Paint days...

The Light Brigade (Vs. Blackheart!)

I was not expecting the adult Monica Rambeau to make her MCU debut until a Captain Marvel sequel, but it won't take that long.  She is scheduled to be a supporting character in the upcoming Disney+ show Wanda Vision.  Will she gain her superhuman abilities in that show?  I hope so, I can't wait to see her using her powers in live action.

The Light Brigade first appeared in STF #2170...

The Phantom and Hellcat in: "Phantom in Training!"

Billy Zane was great as The Phantom in the criminally underrated 90's film.  I was always disappointed that movie did not do well enough to warrant sequels, I would have loved to have seen follow up installments.  I did get a big kick (and laugh) out of Zane's cameo on Amazon Prime's new streaming show The Boys recently.

Kit and Patsy walker were first revealed to be cousins in STF #2548...

Blue Devil Vs. Mysterio

Well, it looks like Mysterio had one last trick to play on us all - leaving audiences on a giant cliffhanger just before Spider-Man is removed from the MCU!  Sadly, monetary disputes between Sony and Disney have resulted in an end to their cooperation with the character.  I'm hoping this was just a leaked press release in a high stakes negotiation, and that a deal will be realized in the end.

Thank you to Martin Maenza for suggesting this match up!

Captain Marvel goes Back to the Future

I recently re-watched the entire Back to the Future trilogy.  The second two installments hold up well and while I have always liked them, I have grown to appreciate them more over the years.  The first installment, however, is in another league entirely.  It's an amazingly well constructed movie, not a wasted scene or throwaway set up to be found, and the humor and performances are top notch.  It's up there with Groundhog Day as one of the greatest comedies of all time, in my opinion.

Thank you to comics historian and Patron of this Blog, Marc Tyler Nobleman, for suggesting this concept and pairing!

Kilowog and Drax the Destroyer

It will be interesting to see how Drax is portrayed in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.  Killing Thanos was his life's goal, but when that was achieved, he was merely a bit player in the action.  How does that affect him and what will he dedicate himself to now?  One rumor I have read is that he will discover that his daughter still lives, so perhaps his new motivation will be in finding where she is.

Zippy, Howard the Duck and Ambush Bug

It took me a couple of viewings, but I finally spotted the Howard The Duck cameo in Avengers: Endgame.  The question is, did he remain on Earth following the events of the movie, or return to space with the Guardians or the Ravagers?  I'm hoping the former, which would give him a chance to interact with some of Marvel's other heroes.  A scene with Spidey or Doctor Strange could be a real hoot.

The Flash and The Liberty Legion

The 10-issue run of Justice Society of America by Len Strazewski and Mike Parobeck is one of the absolute gems of the 1990's.  I was thoroughly enjoying it when it was abruptly cancelled, for some odd editorial reason.  I remember being disappointed, and from the way I have read others opine about the series, I was not alone.  At least the issues have been collected in TPB and on Comixology for new fans to discover.

I recall thinking the Liberty Legion was a cool team when I met them in the pages of Marvel Premiere and Marvel Two-In-One, but alas, they didn't make many more appearances over the years so they never got the chance to catch on.

Night Thrasher and The New Teen Titans

The first 50 issues of New Teen Titans just amazed me with their quality. It had the perfect mix of writer, artists and characters.  The plots were filled with action and melodrama with a splash of humor mixed in, and Perez' highly detailed pencils gave it a cinematic quality unlike any other comic on the stands.  I have enjoyed the team in later issues and incarnations, but nothing has come close to topping their first few years.

Hawkman Vs. Venom

Venom was a weird movie, but I found it oddly entertaining.  The sequel is shaping up to be even weirder.  With the undisputed master of motion capture Andy Serkis named as director, I think we can count on plenty of symbiote craziness.  Plus we will have Woody Harrelson as Carnage entering the fray.  It should be a wild ride.

Plastic Man and The Incredibles

So, what is the deal with Plastic Man's goggles?  For decades, I figured that they were stuck onto him as part of his condition. I never saw him without them after all.  However, lately, I have been seeing depictions of him without them on - could he remove them this whole time?  For that matter, these days he has a new costume for his adventures with The Terrifics, which I wasn't sure was possible either.  Maybe his powers work differently than I always thought.

Cyclops and Robotman

Cyclops is one of the X-Men that I am most eager to see given anther shot at live action once Marvel brings the team into the MCU.  I found him to be very under-utilized in the Fox films, both the original and the younger "First Class" team. Having him killed off in X3 was not what many fans wanted to see, I'd wager.  Hopefully his eventual return will feature the competent field leader that we know from the comics.

Ka-Zar and Vixen

We've had lots of exotic locales represented in the MCU so far.  One quite notable exception is The Savage Land.  Plenty of cool stories have taken place there and I would love to see it (along with Ka-Zar, Shanna and Zabu) on the big screen.  Live action Marvel heroes against Sauron and an army of Dinosaurs?  That would be epic!

Orion and The Avengers

The New Gods film is said to be centered around Mr. Miracle and Big Barda, but I have to believe that Orion will play a pivotal role.  He is the son of Darkseid after all, and the opposite side of the coin in many ways to Scott Free.  I really hope that someone is cast in the role that can do the complexity of the character justice (and that they don't mind spending a good amount of time in a helmet).

The Avengers first met Orion (along with Lightray) in STF #2116...

Ant-Man and Cyborg

Probably my favorite Easter Egg in Avengers: Endgame was the glimpse at Hank Pym's original Ant-Man helmet in his lab - not to mention a de-aged Michael Douglas who looked like he was still on the set of Streets of San Francisco.  If Marvel ever makes a third Ant-Man movie, I'd love to see it take place on two eras, with Hank and Janet working on a case in the past that must be completed by Scott and Hope in the present.

The Hulk and Snake Plissken

Marvel Studios hasn't shied away from bringing back characters even after we have seen them perish on screen, either by the use of flashbacks or other means.  Maybe there's hope that we will see Kurt Russel's Ego again.  I'd love to see The Living Planet face off against Galactus should they ever give the World Devourer a detailed back story.

X-Men and The Outsiders

While the X-Men aren't expected to join the MCU for another few years, there is no shortage of speculation as to how they will be introduced.  Some think that The Scarlet Witch will pull a "reverse House of M" maneuver and create the mutant gene through magic.  Others theorize that they will come from another Earth in the soon to be explored Multiverse.  It will be interesting to see what angle Marvel Studios ultimately decides to take.

These two teams first met in STF #2595...

Green Arrow and The Silver Surfer

Lots of rumors and speculation are swirling about about the next big bad villain in the MCU, and Galactus is at the top of the list.  I can't imagine he will be brought forth in any kind of major way before either the Silver Surfer or the Fantastic Four are introduced, though - so I don't expect much from Phase Four.  Maybe we can expect a post-credits tease, though.

Fire and Sunspot

Sunspot is one of the coolest looking mutants.  His design when powered up is simple yet very effective - a solid black center with no highlights surrounded by an aura of crackling energy.  You can really get a sense of his power just by looking at him.

Fire and Sunspot were first revealed to be siblings in STF #2484...

Mars Attacks the Planet of the Apes

Both of these properties have crossed over with other comics and franchises, but as far as I know they have never crossed over with one another.  It seems like a natural pairing to me.  I know that this would be one instance in which I would definitely be rooting for the apes!

Zatanna Vs. Loki

There's one thing from the Marvel Phase Four announcements that I haven't seen anyone bring up yet.  When they did the presentation for the Loki series on Disney+, I found the logo they used for the show to be very interesting. Each letter in the villain's name has a vastly different look and font than the others.  This is a strong indication to me that we can expect many different iterations of the character to appear on the series.  Maybe this is where audiences will first begin to explore the multiverse, setting up the next Dr. Strange movie.

Adam Strange and The Herculoids

I really enjoyed the Future Quest mini-series that featured the stars of the various Hanna-Barbera cartoons that I used to watch as a kid.  The Herculoids were my favorite of the bunch, so it was great to see them in a new adventure on the comics page.  Plus with art  by the likes of Evan Shaner and Aaron Lopresti, the never looked better!

Master of Kung-Fu and Bruce Lee

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will finally bring the true Mandarin into the MCU.  Most comics fans did not like the bait and switch fake Mandarin from Iron Man 3, so it will be interesting to see how the character is handled now that Marvel Studios is giving him another shot on the big screen.  Collecting the ten rings, each possessing its own power seems a little similar to the Infinity Gauntlet, so I wonder if they will change that up at all.  Most interesting is the rumor that The Mandarin will be revealed as Shang-Chi's father, replacing Fu-Manchu from the comics version.

Elongated Man and Invisible Girl

I see that The Invisible Woman is currently the star of her own self-titled mini-series.  It's amazing to me that is has taken this long for her to get a solo book.  Growing up, I always considered her to be the premiere female superhero in the Marvel Universe.  Plus, she has a great power set, arguably making her the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four.  Hopefully once the FF head back to the big screen, her profile will rise even more.

Power Man and Wonder Woman

I'm surprised that we haven't seen more from Wonder Woman 1984.  Other than a poster and some set shots, very little has been revealed.  The movie has been delayed from it's original release date and there have been reports of reshoots, so I hope that it will still come together and enjoy the same success that the first film had.  I'm most eager to see how Kristin Wiig looks as The Cheetah.  I  mean, it has to be better than the human-feline hybrids from the Cats trailer, right?

Nightwing Vs. Bullseye

Daredevil's third and final season on Netflix did a great job of presenting Bullseye.  His action scenes were great, and I felt that his marksmanship skills were showcased very well.  I do wish that he had  worn his own costume, but between it being an origin story for him, and his using the Daredevil outfit, there really wasn't an opportunity to do so.  His final scene had a hint of a costume, but alas season four was not meant to be.