According to some early set photos courtesy of Just Jared, it appears that Anthony Ramos is playing Marvel villain The Hood, a.k.a. Parker Robbins. This is unconfirmed at this time, but it’s hard to argue with the little red get-up. In the comics, Robbins dropped out of school and into a life of crime to take care of his sick mother. While on a job, he stole a cloak and boots that gave him powers, adding “super” to his villain era. His story is kind of like an inverted Doctor Strange, which makes me wonder if Ramos could therefore be a part of the upcoming Thunderbolts film that will presumably see villains and antiheroes team up. Again, this is unconfirmed and just a theory!
Previously, when Deadline reported that Anthony Ramos has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the theories stretched from here to Asgard, and we had our own educated guesses as to who he may be playing. (Heads up: These referenced some minor spoilers from Spider-Man: No Way Home. You have been lightly warned.)
Deadline reported that “while details behind the Ramos role are unknown, sources say it will be similar to how Jonathan Majors was introduced as Kang the Conquer in Loki, where he is expected to not only have a big role in this series but in future Marvel projects as well.” So this is a big deal. Ramos definitely isn’t going to be playing, like, Riri Williams’ favorite librarian or a minor villain.
So, we know that Ironheart will star Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart. She’s a genius inventer who builds her own super-suit, just like Iron Man. However, we really don’t know much about the show beyond that. Thorne will also appear as Riri in the upcoming film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
With all that in mind, here’s who else we thought Ramos could have been playing!
Someone Spider-Man adjacent
In an early issue of the Ironheart comics, Riri goes up against a former Spider-Man villain named Clayton Cole, also known as Clash. He’s similarly a genius and invented a sonic pulse generator. We theorized that Ramos could be playing Clash, or another character from the Spidey rogues’ gallery in a nod to Riri’s origin story.
Plus, Riri is a student at MIT, and we know from the latest Spider-Man movie that a handful of characters from Peter Parker’s class at Midtown High ended up there. It wouldn’t have been surprising if Ramos were playing someone from the Spider-verse.
Some kind of mentor figure
Next, Tony Stark is Riri’s mentor in the comics. For obvious reasons, that isn’t going to happen in the MCU. I didn’t really think this would be Ramos’ role, but that her superhero mentor would be a Black Panther character, considering her appearance in that sequel. Regardless, it’s worth considering.
Victor Mancha
This android/cyborg is the “son” of Ultron in Marvel comics, created by discarded parts of the supervillain and the DNA of a woman named Marianella. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ultron is intrinsically connected to Tony Stark. If Riri Williams were to have her own Ultron equivalent, it should be Victor. She could even be the one to remove his villainous programming and make him a hero! Victor is a member of the Runaways in Marvel comics, but never made it to the small screen on the Hulu Runaways series.
Noh-Varr
Hear me out. The Disney+ shows have been slowly dropping the Young Avengers into the MCU. Kate Bishop was in Hawkeye, obviously. Billy and Tommy Maximoff were literally born in WandaVision, Kid Loki was in Loki, and Eli Bradley appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Since we already know Cassie Lang and America Chavez are coming in the next Doctor Strange film, there aren’t too many characters left, at least those who are canonically on the team in the comics. One remaining member is the Kree hottie Noh-Varr. I wouldn’t hate it!
Johnny Storm
Finally, this is another bit of wishful thinking on my part … but don’t you think his energy would be perfect for the Human Torch? Johnny is canonically a good singer, and Ramos has that in the bag already. It would be wild for the MCU to introduce 1/4 of the Fantastic Four on a series about a totally different character … but why not?! If this is a Kang-level casting, we might as well dream big.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
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