Ghost Rider
Marvel have now got the rights back to Ghost Rider, who is a very popular character from the comics. Unfortunately the two Ghost Rider films starring Nicholas Cage were not praised by fans nor by critics. With Marvel having the rights bac,k they can fix the mistakes of the previous films. Whilst many would call for more films I think Ghost Rider would suit having his own Netflix series.
Again this may require a great deal of CGI which a lot of shows don’t have the budget for but I think a TV show would be more interesting than another film. Exploring the character over many hours and episodes will hopefully reignite fans’ love of the character. If the series does well a film could eventually be made. Personally I think Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead should play Ghost Rider in the series if it went ahead.
Cosmo
Cosmo was featured in Guardians of the Galaxy as part of the Collector’s collection in Knowhere. During the end credits scene we got a closer look at Cosmo and I think a series following the character could have a lot of potential. Whilst he may be saved for the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel a show that has a talking Russian space dog could really be a lot of fun. It would certainly be unique.
Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy is being praised as being a really likeable character and many doubted he would work on the big screen. I do think that because of the success of Guardians and the popularity of Rocket Raccoon a non human character could end up leading his own show. Maybe not his own movie but still it’s a start. This would allow Marvel to explore more of the cosmic side of their universe. The show could be offbeat and feature Cosmo on his barking mad space adventures and include a dog pun in each episode. Marvel know how to have fun with their characters so they need to push the boat out more.
Honourable Mention – Spider-Man
Whilst Marvel Studios and Disney don’t own the film rights to Spider-Man there is a small chance that they could get away with producing a series. Sony who own the rights and are currently working on a expanding the Spider-Man universe with a Sinister Six movie. Many fans have begged for Spider-Man to join the ranks of the Avengers but the two studios will never compromise. As a Netflix show would not infringe the film right,s Sony could argue that the character would be connected to the films due to the Netflix series all existing in the same universe as the films.
Spider-Man is without a doubt one of the most popular Marvel characters ever created and a show that would explore the character in greater depth than the films ever could would certainly be worth checking out. Alas this will likely not happen and even if Marvel get the rights back to the character they would likely create more films instead of doing a series.
What characters would you like to see have their own shows? Which actors should play these characters? Let us know…
Thomas Roach
Originally published September 14, 2014. Updated April 15, 2018.
