10 Comic Book Heroes Who Should Have Their Own Damn Movie Franchises By Now

Folks, we are witnessing a full-on comic book movie overload.

We’ve already seen movies for Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Avengers, and there’s even gonna be a Batman vs. Superman movie. But in a few years, we will see live-action cinematic outings for Doctor Strange (who?), a two-part Infinity War (what?) and a solo outing for all of the Justice Leaguers (how?). And we’re not even close to being done; both Marvel and DC have movies planned all the way up through 2020.

So what’s 10 more, right?

Keeping in mind the film adaptations Hollywood already has in the works (such as a potential new Blade movie, Guillermo del Toro’s Justice League Dark and X-Force), here are comic book movies that might as well get made.

Hulk

It’s a travesty! Despite nearly every character in Marvel’s Avengers getting their own solo movies, in addition to Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and Black Panther, there are still no plans to make another solo Hulk movie. We haven’t had a good one of those in…well, have we ever had a good solo Hulk movie? Eric Bana’s was eh, Edward Norton’s was meh, though Lou Ferrigno’s are sort of classics at this point.

But if Captain America, Thor and Iron Man can get three movies each in this new cinematic universe, why can’t Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk? There are so many themes to explore, like caging the beast within and finding love when you’re a giant green ball of rage, and there are a ton of cool characters that can populate the Hulk-verse. (Did someone say Planet Hulk? She-Hulk?)

Saga

If Marvel can turn the once-unknown property of Guardians of the Galaxy into the biggest movie of 2014, why can’t someone do the same for Saga, the fantasy/sci-fi comic series from Image Comics? It’s a Romeo & Juliet scenario, except there’s a guy with ram horns protruding from his head instead of Romeo, there’s a winged woman instead of Juliet, and there are warring extraterrestrial races instead of rival Shakespearian families.

The star-crossed lovers, Marko and Alana, are soldiers of their respective races and they’ve given birth to a child. Now they’re on the run as they try to raise the little bugger. There are also a crazy, topless spider woman, people with TVs for heads and winged-girl-on-winged-girl orgies.

Punisher

There’s a rumor that Punisher actually made an appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. When Nick Fury is under fire and fleeing from his many, many attackers, a yellow Penske truck crashes into the scene. Later on, the same truck appears again, hitting Agent Sitwell when he’s thrown into traffic, and the film’s directors make it sound like it’s Frank Castle. So, at the very least, we might be getting one of those Marvel One-Shot short films on this guy, but nothing has been formerly revealed. And after Thomas Jane’s run as the antihero in 2004, we wanna see this guy back on the big screen.

Though dark and brooding characters aren’t necessarily Marvel’s thing – it’s more about sassy raccoons and wise-talking billionaire playboy philanthropists – this is a great character that deserves a proper movie rendition. A former US Marine Captain who exacts revenge on those who murdered his family (and almost himself) has the makings of a must-watch movie in itself. Hollywood just has to make it right.

Silver Surfer

Yes, the Fantastic Four movies were pretty awful – in fact, they were some of the worst superhero movies we’ve ever received from a Marvel property – but 20th Century Fox is rebooting them with a new cast to be vastly different than before. With the studio already planning on a sequel to its upcoming 2015 installment, a spinoff film centered on one of its universe’s most popular characters isn’t so farfetched.

Marvel easily branched its Avengers world into the farthest reaches of space, and Fox can do that with Silver Surfer, who has ties to Galactus (“The Devourer of Worlds”), the fiery-haired Nova, and the broader intergalactic world of The Fantastic Four. In fact, they should have announced one sooner so as to latch onto the hype surrounding GOTG.

Namor, The Sub-Mariner

Namor is as famous to comic book fans as he is to the comic book characters. He’s widely considered to be the first documented member of the mutant species aside from Apocalypse – and that big guy’s getting his own movie with X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016! But, for whatever reason, Namor still hasn’t had any onscreen renderings.

Perhaps with an Aquaman movie dated for 2018, some moviemaker will hopefully figure out how to make Namor work. The main issue, though, is the fact that Universal Studios owns the movie rights to the character, making his potential to interact with other superheroes as Fantastic Four, X-Men and Avengers in the onscreen limited.

Miracle Man

Miracleman is back … at least in comic book form. After 20 years, Marvel published a brand-new story for the hero (formerly known as Marvelman), so why not bring this guy to the big screen, as well? Now would be the time. Yes, he’s British, but he’s like the Shazam of the UK. But, seriously, he is – while Shazam gets his powers from magic, Miracleman gets his from science (i.e. atomic energy); while Shazam says, “Shazam!” to become Shazam, Mircaleman transforms by saying “atomic” phonetically backwards, which is “Kimota!” And if Shazam is getting his own movie in 2019, Marvel could respond with a solo Miracleman movie.

Alpha Flight

You can actually blame Canada for this one … but also Wolverine. Yes, Logan is Canadian, which means he had many run-ins with “The Avengers of Canada” (at least, that’s what we’re calling them), Alpha Flight.

The original members are pretty cool – Guardian, the guy with a supersuit that makes him like Superman; Sasquatch, basically Bigfoot; Shaman, a magician of sorts who can commune with spirits and use his magical pouch for a variety of effects; Snowbird, a demigod capable of transforming herself into any natural Canadian animal; Northstar and Aurora, both of whom can move and fly at superhuman speeds; Puck, who’s basically like a dwarf-version of that Baltroc guy in the beginning of Captain America: The Winter Soldier; and Marrina, a weird aquatic being. Before Hugh Jackman hangs up his Wolverine costume, Fox could easily put all these guys together for one big Canadian blowout.

The Metal Men

The Metal Men, a team of superhero robots, were actually rumored to be one of DC’s upcoming movies, though that seems to have been just a rumor. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea, though. Basically, they’re the ultimate means of getting kids into science. Why no one has made a science class-approved video on them – perhaps to enhance learning of the Periodic Table – is beyond me.

Each member is named after and made from a natural element, with the first lineup consisting of Gold, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Platinum and Tin. They fight crime together with their abilities, which are based on their respective atomic makeup, and they can merge together to form a megazord-like entity called Alloy. See? Learning can be fun.

Doctor Fate

Just as Doctor Strange will take Marvel’s Cinematic Universe into the supernatural realm, so too could Doctor Fate do for the DC movies. More so than Marvel, actually, DC properties are naturally mythic in essence – Wonder Woman is a demigod, Aquaman is the king of Atlantis, Shazam is Earth’s defender against magical forces – and it makes sense for DC to pull back the veil on this side of the comics. What’s the reason why we might not get a Doctor Fate movie, though?

The character’s mystical helmet popped up in the premiere episode of NBC’s Constantine TV series, so he could possibly play a part on the small screen. However, there’s already gonna be two Flashes – Grant Gustin will still be the scarlet speedster as Ezra Miller portrays him on the big screen – so having two Doctor Fates wouldn’t be so bad.

Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck’s appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy might’ve been the biggest F-U to the audience. Everyone wanted to see a preview from one of Marvel’s upcoming movies in the post-credits scene, but instead we got a CG rendition of this anthropomorphic duck as he sips a cocktail with Benicio Del Toro’s The Collector. It was kind of awesome, if you think about it.

Do you think Marvel has plans to incorporate this little guy onscreen in one of their upcoming movies, perhaps in Guardians of the Galaxy 2? Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige certainly teased as much, but let’s bring this guy back in some solo adventures. I mean, Ed Gale made Howard the Duck kinda creepy in that 1986 movie, but with some much superhero fair going on, why the hell not?