After 14 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is massive. Not only does every movie have a stellar cast of leads—they’re also filled with tons of amazing supporting characters. Some characters have a substantial amount of screen time, while others appear only briefly, but many of them are unforgettable. Here are ten supporting characters who need their own movies or series yesterday.
Note that this list doesn’t include lead characters in other characters’ movies, like Namor and American Chavez—after all, we know we’ll be seeing them again. Also, many of these characters aren’t superheroes, although some of them do have some pretty great abilities. I know superheroes are Marvel’s whole thing, so some of these potential spin-offs are pretty unlikely. It’s just a fun thought experiment! Don’t get mad, please! Stop getting mad at me for nice things that are supposed to be fun!
M’Baku (Winston Duke)
Remember the scene in Black Panther where M’Baku threatens to eat Everett, and then laughs and says the Jabari are vegetarians? Or the part in Wakanda Forever where he calls Okoye a “bald-headed demon?” That’s some first-class world-building right there. M’Baku has the kind of internal complexity that turns good characters into absolutely unforgettable characters. His political maneuvering is immensely satisfying to watch, and I want to see what he does as king of Wakanda. Plus, the great Winston Duke is absolutely perfect in this role.
Luke Jacobson (Griffin Matthews)
Luke Jacobson doesn’t need superpowers to star in his own superhero-themed spinoff. He just needs a steady stream of crimefighters coming in to get their drip. It broke my heart to choose only one character from She-Hulk—Madesynn, Nikki, Pug, or Titania could just as easily have been on this list—but I finally went with Luke because I could watch him snark for hours. I want to see him snark at big names like Wolverine and Doctor Strange and Captain America. I also want to see him snark at every deep-cut character Marvel can dredge out of its archives. What if Luke snarked at Tigra and Hindsight Lad? I would watch that, and you know you would, too.
Wong (Benedict Wong)
So did Wong really work at a Target before he went to Kamar-Taj? How did he get into cage fighting and The Sopranos? I know Wong has had a ton of cameos and supporting roles at this point, but we still need more of this guy. I want to see Wong putting Stephen Strange in his place with deadpan insults while sneaking more American felons out of supermax prisons. I want to see all the shady stuff he gets up to.
Frigga (Rene Russo)
During the time heist in Endgame, Thor tries to convince Frigga that he isn’t from the future, but she smiles and wags a finger at him. “I was raised by witches, boy,” she says. “I see with more than just eyes.”
Wait. Hold up. Frigga was raised by witches!? WHY ARE WE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS. Did she grow up in a coven? Where was this coven located? Can I join it? Can she see into the future like her counterpart from Norse mythology? I want to know everything!
Aside from having an amazing backstory that’s referenced in just one line, Frigga is also a beloved queen and the universe’s best mom. But that can’t be an easy job, especially when she’s married to someone as prickly as Odin. Ideally I’d like to be one of the ladies in waiting who follow her around the palace, but barring that, I want to see her story.
Jimmy Woo (Randall Park)
Jimmy Woo first appeared in Ant-Man, and although he got a bigger role in WandaVision and he’ll be appearing in Quantumania, that’s still not enough Jimmy. I need to see Jimmy perfecting his magic skills. I need to see him doing his youth pastor work. I need to see him back in his pre-FBI days, when he was a SHIELD agent! Most of all, I need to see him being a lovable goof who’s prone to overshares. Jimmy Woo is one of the most beloved non-superpowered or super-trained people in the MCU, and a movie with him would be a chance for Marvel to have fun from a more grounded perspective. He needs to be onscreen and investigating whenever something weird happens. So, all the time.
Rhomann Dey (John C. Reilly)
Better known as “Hey, that’s John C. Reilly!,” Rhomann is a beat cop for the Nova Corps on Xandar. Even though he arrests Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s nothing personal, and Rhomann is so cheerful and personable that Peter doesn’t even get that upset when he pokes fun at his code name. Plus, even though Rhomann seems happy-go-lucky, he’s still good at his job. When Peter contacts the Nova Corps later to warn them that Ronan is coming, Rhomann correctly intuits that Peter is telling the truth, and Xandar is able to scramble its forces to fend Ronan off. Then, at the end of the movie, we find out that Rhomann has a wife and daughter!
Would Rhomann’s adventures in the Nova Corps actually be interesting on their own? I’m not sure. But like all the other actors on this list, John C. Reilly is so talented that I could watch him read the phone book, so I think he could pull it off.
Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o)
Including Nakia on this list almost feels like a mistake, because surely she is getting her own spinoff, right? Wasn’t that going to be a thing? Writing up this list, I was sure that I’d heard that something was in development, but Google has informed me that I was just inventing fake memories again. Nyong’o has gone on record saying that she’d be down for one, though.
Nakia is easily one of the coolest characters in Marvel history. She’s a smart and savvy spy with a stunning skillset. She can fight, she can dance, and she can speak several languages. Even though she’s a badass, there’s a gentleness at the heart of her character that makes her especially compelling.
And that reveal at the end of Wakanda Forever? Ugh, my heart.
Korg (Taika Waititi)
Who doesn’t love Korg? He went from gladiator to interstellar adventurer, and now he’s a dad with his partner Dwayne. Hear me out: Korg, Dwayne, and their little rock baby in a multicam broadcast sitcom. 20 episodes in season 1. It’d be a little like WandaVision, but with a season finale that doesn’t rip your heart out.
Sara Wolfe (Sheila Atim)
We only see Sara for two seconds in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but I, for one, am intrigued by her. Why does she touch Wong’s face like that before she goes to destroy the Darkhold? Did they have a thing together? What’s the story there? Earth-616’s Sara got killed off, so it’s not super likely we’ll see more of her, but at least we get to see Sheila Atim in The Woman King.
Xu Xialing (Meng’er Zhang)
Shang-Chi grew up to be a martial arts expert because he was surrounded by teachers and a father who pushed him to hone his skills. His sister Xialing grew up to be a martial arts expert by teaching herself in secret. Could you do that? No. Stop lying. You couldn’t.
Xialing is truly something special. Throw in her time as owner of the Golden Daggers Club and her new career as leader of the Ten Rings, and you’ve got the makings of an amazing spin-off.
Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku)
Look, I’m fully aware that part of what makes Hunter B-15 so great is the mystery behind her. What is she seeing when Sylvie unlocks her repressed memories in Loki? We don’t find out, which means that every viewer can imagine what a happy memory would look like for B-15, and that’s what makes that scene so poignant.
Giving B-15 a spinoff would probably mean eliminating that mystery, which would be a shame. But B-15 is such a multilayered character that whatever backstory the writers gave her would be great. Maybe she was a starship captain from Xandar, or a stay-at-home mom on Earth! Maybe she comes from a corner of the universe we haven’t even seen in the MCU yet! Seeing how her pre-TVA life informed her personality as a hunter would be so much fun, whether that life was similar or wildly different.
Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy)
The Scarlet Scarab was one of the coolest reveals in Moon Knight, and she needs to get more screen time. I MEAN LOOK AT HER. I think she’s cooler than Moon Knight himself. There, I said it, and I’m not taking it back.
Ooh! Ooh! Here’s a brainwave I just had: Layla and Luke Jacobson snarking at each other for an hour or two. That’d be my new comfort watch.
“The Gold Devil” (Charlie Cox)
I think this guy’s got real potential.
Obviously, whittling this list down to 13 names means that tons of fantastic MCU characters didn’t make the cut. Which supporting characters are your favorites? Who would you add to this list, and who would you remove? Let us know in the comments!
(images: Marvel Studios)
