Superman and Rick Jones

 

I'm a little surprised that we have not heard from Rick Jones in the MCU.  With strong ties to The Hulk, Captain Marvel and The Avengers, he's one of Marvel's most enduring supporting characters, and it would be cool to see him find a place on the big or small screen.  Maybe the lack of solo Hulk projects has been a problem, not to mention all but writing Mar-Vell out of existence in favor of skipping right to Carol Danvers.

Rick Jones Vs. Snapper Carr

 

I'm a little surprised that we have not seen Rick Jones show up in the MCU yet.  He seemed to be such a big part of the comics when I was growing up, sharing adventures right alongside The Hulk, Mar-Vell, The Avengers and more.  Snapper Carr, on the other hand, just seemed to be there, and did not add much to the Justice League of America tales that he appeared in.  The only time he made an impression on me was when he betrayed the team.  He was ok in the robotic Hourman series, but I have lost track of the character since then.

The Avengers meet Orion and Lightray

Avengers: Infinity War was originally supposed to have "Part I" in the title, but they decided not to go that route, and will give the 4th film in the franchise its own (for now, mysterious) title.  Does this mean that the new film will be self-contained, without feeling like half of a story?  I can't imagine there won't be at least a couple of cliffhangers. 

Long-time STF visitors know that Darkseid enslaved The Avengers way back in issue #377...

Darkseid Vs. The Avengers

Darkseid always seemed like he was a Marvel  villain to me.  Maybe it was because he was created by Jack Kirby, or that he had multiple superhero rivalries rather than be content to have a single super-heroic  arch foe, or perhaps it's because the first place he made a real impression on me was the X-Men Vs. The New Teen Titans one shot.  Whatever the reason, he is one villain that I think would fit right in with the Marvel Universe, and it would be fun to see what he would do when put up against their greatest heroes.

Batman and Rick Jones

I remember reading about Rick Jones in Giant-Size Captain Marvel #1, and thinking that he was pretty cool. He got to have adventures with The Hulk, Captain America, The Avengers and now Mar-Vell. It was a good idea for Marvel to have a regular Joe type of character that hob-nobbed with all of their big guns. Unfortunately Snapper Carr never took off the same way for DC!

A lot of credit must go to Peter David, who kept Jones in the spotlight during his runs on Incredible Hulk and Captain Marvel. I haven't been following the Hulk titles too closely, but last time I checked in, Jones had been transformed into an Abomination riff called A-Bomb. Yeesh. Maybe it's time to start hanging out with Captain America again!