Iron Lad (Nathaniel “Nate” Richards)

• First Appearance: Young Avengers #1 (April 2005)
• Created By: Allan Heinberg & Jim Cheung

Iron Lad is a VERY interesting character that Marvel Studios has been laying the seeds to debut ever since Iron Man 3 took place several years ago. Some might see the name and assume some random kid takes the Iron Man mantle, but that is not the real story. His ancestor happens to be the father of Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards. Yet his family tree extends much further than this. Nathaniel Richards is supposedly a young version of Kang the Conqueror, what many might call a “variant” of him. One day, Nate is about to be attacked by bullies when a time-traveling Kang saves him.

This knife attack on the young Richards actually helped to shape his future villain self, as he spent several years in a hospital from it. Kang decides to inspire his younger self by showing future battles and conquering that he’d one day do. This backfires, causing Nate to want to stop his future self. He starts the Young Avengers in an effort to prevent his future. Now, equipped with a bio-metal suit that responds to his mental commands, he and the youthful Avengers will stop future Kang. With the introduction of Kang and Young Avengers in the works, Iron Lad will become a very popular character in the MCU!

White Widow (Yelena Belova)

• First Appearance: Inhumans #5 (March 1999)
• Created By: Devin Grayson & J.G. Jones

Yelena Belova was introduced in Marvel Comics years ago but just showed up in the MCU with the recent Black Widow film. On a funny note, many feel Yelena was the true star of the film due to how impressive Florence Pugh was in the role. Thus, it might be cheating to say she is one of the Marvel Comics characters about to be huge. As she is starting to see that already. In the comics, her role was pretty similar to how it was in the movie. Yet it differs just a bit. For one, Yelena was an enemy of Natasha’s initially.

In fact, when we’re first introduced to her, we find out she is sent to kill Natasha. Yet the two end up becoming allies after they realize who the true enemy is. Like Natasha, she was trained to be a spy and assassin in the Red Room too. While Yelena goes on to take the Black Widow codename, this changes up a lot. Many believe she will be the White Widow, as the multiverse is likely to bring a version of Natasha in to take over the Black Widow codename from her fallen version. Belova is expected to be used quite a lot, especially in upcoming Disney+ content.

Korvac

• First Appearance: Giant-Size Defenders #3 (Jan. 1975)
• Created By: Steve Gerber & Jim Starlin

Korvac is considered to be one of the greatest galactic threats in Marvel Comics. Point blank, there are maybe 4 people considered stronger than him and they are either Gods or the literal writers themselves. In the alternative Earth-691, Michael Korvac betrays humanity to the Badoon alien race in 3007 AD. Yet he is eventually caught asleep while working and as punishment, the Badoon grafts his upper body into a machine. That turns him into a cyborg with updated alien technology inside of him. The Grandmaster and Elder of the Universe send him back in time to fight the Defenders and Dr. Strange.

Korvac lost this fight but did so on purpose. He used this time to scan the Grandmaster’s cosmic power, allowing him to gain several cosmic abilities. With this newfound power, he kills the Badoon leaders. While he decides to conquer the cosmos and attempts to make the Earth’s sun go supernova to distract the world’s heroes, he is stopped. Yet a run-in with Galactus allows him to gain the “power cosmic.” Korvac is then a God and consistently gets into some incredible incidents. He’s set to appear in Captain Marvel 2 as the big bad. He’ll surely be one of the Marvel Comics characters that people will love instantly.

Mephisto

• First Appearance: The Silver Surfer #3 (Dec. 1968)
• Created By: Stan Lee & John Buscema

Mephisto is best described by calling him Marvel’s version of the Devil. Seriously, that is basically what this character happens to be. While he has been a cosmic threat, he often stands out as a magical being that affects several layers of the universe as well. He was initially introduced as a big bad for the Silver Surfer and Johnny Blaze (Ghost Rider). Yet he’d go on to have altercations with the likes of Dr. Strange and most notably, Spider-Man.

Due to having his fingers in so many different areas of the universe, he has become a major figure in the universe. Thus, he’s one of the Marvel Comics characters everyone expected to see in the MCU by now. While he has appeared in Ghost Rider movies, those are not MCU canon. Yet Mephisto is expected to be introduced into the MCU very soon, likely by the upcoming Dr. Strange film. When he pops up, he’ll likely be around for quite a long time. Get used to him everyone. The Devil is here.

Ghost Spider (Gwen Stacy)

• First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965)
• Created By: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko

Gwen Stacy was initially introduced as an early love interest for Peter Parker. Yet writers wanted to have Peter not only grow up more but look vulnerable. There isn’t a better way to do this than to hit them with something heartbreaking. The Green Goblin causes Gwen to fall from a great height, only to be caught by Peter. Yet the webbing caught her badly and she died. While she is dead in the mainline Marvel universe, the introduction of the multiverse gave her the opportunity to return. Marvel writers felt, given her consistent popularity, they could use her more in the multiverse.

That led to two characters being formed for her: Spider-Gwen and Gwenpool. Though the latter was fun, it was short-lived. Spider-Gwen became fun to read and the comic success led to Marvel taking it more seriously. Gwen needed to be seen as something more, resulting in her new “Ghost Spider” codename. Now, she is a huge part of the Spider-Verse. We will be seeing a lot from Gwen in the MCU but Marvel and Disney have already included her in many animated projects. Ghost Spider could even appear in the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home movie too!

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our Sources:

Marvel Comics

Marvel Studios

The Walt Disney Company

Inverse

Hollywood Reporter

Polygon

Deadline

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