Asgardians Of The Galaxy

• Debut: Asgardians of the Galaxy #1 (September 2018)
• Notable Members: Valkyrie, Skurge, Throg, Angela, Thunderstrike, Destroyer Armor

Also something we will likely be seeing a version of very soon. The Asgardians of the Galaxy in Marvel Comics is not technically related to the Guardians of the Galaxy, which might seem a bit odd given its name. Rather, it is built using mostly notable Asgardian characters. They originally popped up in Marvel Comics when the Guardians became “no more” back in 2018. It consisted of notable Asgardians like Valkyrie, Skurge, Thunderstrike, Angela, and Throg. Yet they also were accompanied by The Destroyer, but it was remotely being controlled by Kid Loki. We will likely be seeing a version of this team come about sooner rather than later.

We know Thor joined the Guardians and will likely be in the third installment of their movie series, which is said to be the last time the original team members are together. It is likely that the Guardians go down or dissolve and are replaced in their role as guardians of the universe by this team. It might include the Odinson, as the power of Thor is set to go to Jane as part of the upcoming Thor: Love & Thunder movie due out in Summer 2022. Even if it does not include him, we’ve already seen some of these characters in the MCU. The others would be easy to add among others.

Inhumans

• Debut: Fantastic Four #45 (December 1965)
• Notable Members: Black Bolt, Medusa, Gorgon, Triton, Lockjaw, Ms. Marvel, Inferno

We know Marvel Studios sort of tried with the Inhumans several years ago with a television series on ABC. It did ultimately fail, but all of the animated Inhuman content did do remarkably well given how difficult it was to introduce so many of them. Like the mutants in Marvel, the Inhumans are a massive group of individuals. What makes them differ from the mutants is truly where they were in the world at large, as well as the Terrigen bomb. The mutants actually were on an entirely different world from all the other superpowered people in their original run. The Inhumans, on the other hand, were initially just in hiding and stayed away from everyone.

The bomb forced Inhumans out, as regular people on Earth might have had some trace of Inhuman within them. If so, the Terrigen bomb that went off would put them into their own specialized cacoon until they came out with powers. All of these new powered people made Inhumans well-known, but also made people fear them and the new Inhumans who had no grasp of their powers yet. This story can be told well, and the major Inhumans could still become a major force in the MCU. It’s just that Marvel Comics teams like this need to be given a better storyline, and time needs to be given. Marvel Studios may realize this now, as Ms. Marvel will be coming to Disney+ sometime this year. She is an Inhuman herself and could help to properly introduce more as her show progresses.

Strikeforce

• Debut: Strikeforce #1 (September 2019)
• Notable Members: Blade, Spider-Woman, Wiccan, Bucky Barnes, Monica Rambeau, Hellstorm

The Strikeforce unit happens to be one of the most interesting newer teams to Marvel Comics. A lot of what makes them so interesting to people is the fact that they do not handle villains like others. They are brutal and ruthless, willing to kill if they need to. Therefore, the members of this team needed to fit that kind of thing. If you want that, look no further than people like Blade and Bucky Barnes. Both of which have no problem ending lives and doing it again. On top of these two, they added Hellstorm & Monica Rambeau, both of which have a long history of being useful to teams they have been part of.

In addition, there was a need to bring more power but also some level of “heart” to the team. That’s why Wiccan and Spider-Woman were added. Both are incredible heroes on their own and are not willing to just take lives for the sake of it. Strikeforce is usually only used for paranormal issues or for heavy killing missions. Due to their style, this is sort of a group of antiheroes that could do incredibly well in a world that loves to see them. See Punisher, Venom, and Deadpool for proof of that. The comic series was hyped up with the line “they do the dirty work the Avengers can’t do.” That is worth exploring for Marvel Studios.

Sentient World Observation and Response Department (S.W.O.R.D.)

• Debut: Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3, Issue #6 (December 2004)
• Notable Members: Abigail Brand, Spider-Woman, Beast, Cable, Lockheed

S.W.O.R.D. is a lot like S.H.I.E.L.D. to most people. They handle universal problems while S.H.I.E.L.D. mostly handles things that affect the Earth or our solar system at most. Overall, they are a counterterrorism and intelligence unit with some very impressive heroes on their squad. While S.H.I.E.L.D. did have some connections with various superheroes or used villains to help them at times, they were not an official “team.” Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. organized the Avengers to be the only major team affiliated with them, but they became their own thing outside of this territory. Thus, S.H.I.E.L.D. mostly just used agents at most.

S.W.O.R.D. has no choice but to operate differently as they take on extraterrestrial threats, so they need entire strike teams. While some of these people did not have powers, they all had superior abilities or weapons they could use. Abigail Brand runs the entire thing, but she is accompanied by several mutants like Beast, Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Cable, and even Magneto at times. Of course, Spider-Woman operates as a major agent for them along with some major villains like Doctor Doom at points. This is one of the varying Marvel Comics teams that could be very fun to utilize and could make a ton of money if used right.

Agents Of Atlas

• Debut: Agents of Atlas #1 (October 2006)
• Notable Members: Jimmy Woo, Silk, Amadeus Cho, Luna Snow, Aero, White Fox, Shang-Chi

While this team might never see the light of day for the MCU, it would be a real shame to not utilize it. The Agents of Atlas team is made up entirely of Asian or Asian-American superheroes, making it very unique to the Marvel Comics teams world but also comic books entirely. The original version of the team was not exactly like this, as it debuted in the 1970s under Marvel’s “What If” saga. Yet this would change a few years back to the All-Asian team we now see today. You might have come to love Randall Park’s version of Jimmy Woo in WandaVision. If so, you’ll be happy to know he is the head of this team and helped to organize it.

There have been talks within Marvel Studios and Disney about giving Jimmy Woo a spin-off show, so this would be the most sensible thing to do. The newer team includes the likes of Brawn, otherwise known as Amadeus Cho. Yet it also includes major characters like Silk and Shang-Chi. Along with them are lesser-known but still great characters like Luna Snow, Aero, Sword Master, Wave, and White Fox. Over the years, other notable characters have been on this team like Ms. Marvel and Namora who could easily be added right back to this Marvel Comics team for the MCU debut. Overall, it would be great to see such a unique team get some major spotlight.

Secret Avengers

• Debut: Secret Avengers #1 (July 2010)
• Notable Members: Captain America, Black Widow, Ant-Man, Beast, Valkyrie, Sharon Carter, Moon Knight, Nova

The Secret Avengers became a thing pretty much out of necessity only. The Avengers are usually known for being big, brash, and in your face. You could see them coming a mile away and the major battles could possibly be seen from space. Yet the Avengers needed a black-ops unit to handle more “delicate” matters. While the Superhuman Registration Act was removed at the request of Steve Rogers, he still did not trust what the government might do again. If they could do something like that once, what is to stop them from doing something equally as bad or worse? The Avengers needed to be able to somehow work without interference.

A Secret Avengers team was needed, as they’d operate in the shadows away from government influence. If something did happen, no government would be held responsible for their actions as well. This meant the members of these teams also had to people the types of people that could handle black-ops missions. Thus, Captain America himself led the team. Others like Black Widow, Beast, Ant-Man, Moon Knight, War Machine, Sharon Carter, Valkyrie, and Nova would join him. It should go without saying that most of these people were government agents or operatives beforehand. Thus making them perfect for this Avengers unit.

The Ultimates

• Debut: The Ultimates #1 (March 2002) & Avengers #0 (October 2015)
• Notable Members: Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ms. America, Blue Marvel, Spectrum

It should first be noted that we will want to steer more toward the later version of The Ultimates team rather than the original. The Ultimates series debuted in 2002 in an attempt to modernize the Avengers comic book franchise. They felt they needed to center it around a military task force made up of super-humans and special agents. “The Ultimates” team would be organized by the American government and were deployed to combat growing threats to the United States and its allies. Of course, to no one’s surprise, Captain America was made leader along with Nick Fury. Yet this team was revamped to become a more “galactic” unit in 2015 though.

The new group is made up of Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Blue Marvel, Ms. America, and Spectrum. Their first mission: Galactus. Obviously, no pressure for the new team, right? They’d also team up with other galactic or universal characters like Quasar and the Guardians of the Galaxy as they fought the Chitauri during the Secret Empire storyline. Of course, the team also took on major characters like the High Evolutionary, among many more. It would be interesting to see them utilized in the MCU, as Marvel Comics teams like this could truly become pretty huge if the stories they use are terrific too.

The Champions

• Debut: Champions Vol. 2, Issue #1 (October 2016)
• Notable Members: Ms. Marvel, Nova, Miles Morales, Amadeus Cho, Viv Vision, Cyclops

Marvel’s Champions team formed when young members of the Avengers left the team. They became disappointed in the actions of elder and/or longtime team members. This became especially prominent following their actions during and after the second superhuman Civil War. It was due to this war along with others that people had a lot of distrust in superheroes overall. The younger heroes wanted to rectify everything to bring back that lost trust. Therefore, Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales (Spider-Man), and Sam Alexander (Nova) decided to go out on their own to form a new team we now call “The Champions.”

Amadeus Cho (the new Hulk) along with the daughter of Vision known as Viv Vision would be recruited to the team. Ms. Marvel ended up doing a major speech after their first mission where they stopped a female trafficking ring. She said that their team wanted to foster a better tomorrow through hope and wisdom, not unjust force. It went viral online, resulting in the team’s name. The speech would be seen by other superhumans, including Cyclops who told them how inspired he was. He asked to be part of the team and was allowed in. Marvel Comics teams like this could be great to see in the future and could be a massive new franchise overall.

X-Men

• Debut: The X-Men #1 (September 1963)
• Notable Members: Wolverine, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Professor X, Iceman, Magneto, Rogue, Quicksilver, Mystique, Angel

Obviously, it would be stupid of us to ignore the X-Men. They are possibly the most notable of all Marvel Comics teams, as well as their many off-shoot teams as well. Interestingly, they are not technically in the MCU right now as they were part of FOX’s own separate universe. This is pretty cool to see, as it gives us the original comic book separation of universes. However, bringing the X-Men into the MCU means you can have them around for some giant storylines. Quite a few X-Men story-arcs and comic books have sold very well for Marvel over the years, making the X-Men brand quite massive.

For those somehow unaware of who they are, the X-Men is made up of mutants. In Marvel Comics, mutants are those who are born with the X-Gene. This gene is possible for anyone to be born with, but it seems to be incredibly common for those with at least one mutant parent. These mutations in the body allow for the person to be born with superhuman abilities. Sometimes, it can cause them to look very different compared to regular humans but most mutants “appear” like normal humans until they use their powers. These powers can vary and there are even different threat levels for them, with “Omega” being only for the top mutants in Marvel.

New Mutants

• Debut: The New Mutants (September 1982)
• Notable Members: Cannonball, Domino, Cypher, Magik, Karma, Sunspot, Boom-Boom, Firefist, Shatterstar

You now know about the mutants in Marvel, but a lot of the X-Men content came about very early in Marvel Comics. We saw those same mutants with only a few new additions after a while. By the 1980s, there was a call for newer mutants to come about. This is when the likes of Deadpool and Cable were created, along with several other newer mutants. Due to the success of the X-Men franchise, a spin-off comic book series made sense to go with. That led to the New Mutants comic series, which debuted in 1982. It was the first of several X-Men spin-off comics and one of the most successful. While some loved the initial run for its new characters, the stories were refreshing too.

We did not just have another Magneto & Brotherhood of Mutants story for the 100th time. We were given great stories involving not only other villainous mutants but other major villains from Marvel. That includes encounters with Hela, Enchantress, Loki, Magnus, and the Beyonder. FOX even felt this would be a good thing to go with, which is why they released a New Mutants movie that came out around the time of the Disney-FOX deal that sent Disney rights to all of the X-Men content. It’s assumed Disney will go with them, as the New Mutants could be a great series at first if nothing else. They are one of the few Marvel Comics teams that people are not tired of seeing, as we only want more!

Illuminati

• Debut: New Avengers #7 (July 2005)
• Notable Members: Dr. Strange, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Black Bolt, Profesor X, Tony Stark, Black Ant, Black Panther

Based on what little we have seen from the new Doctor Strange 2 trailer, it does seem that Marvel Studios and Disney are considering the idea of bringing in the Illuminati group. Of course, this is not “exactly” like the mystical, conspiracy-theory fueled, nonexistent Illuminati you might have heard of. Rather, the group was put together with the idea of stopping major threats in the background. Essentially, each member of this group brings something very important to the universe. Thus, they can technically steer the universe in a specific direction without ever being connected to such an event taking place.

The initial members were Tony Stark (Avengers co-leader), Professor Charles Xavier (X-Men leader), Reed Richards (Scientific genius, Fantastic Four leader), Black Bolt (King of Inhumans), Dr. Strange (Sorceror Supreme), and Namor (King of Atlantis). The group first forms after the Kree-Skrull War, as it is found that some knew of these alien races beforehand. By not sharing the information about them, events were far worse. Had they worked collectively, they would have stopped most issues before they became major. Thus, Marvel’s Illuminati came to be. This could be one of the Marvel Comics teams everyone would be happy to see.

Annihilators

• Debut: The Thanos Imperative: Devastation (January 2011)
• Notable Members: Beta Ray Bill, Silver Surfer, Quasar, Ronan the Accuser, Ikon

Marvel Studios has been planning to expand heavily in the universal stories that Marvel Comics is blessed to have a seemingly infinite amount of. In doing this, they will need to expand beyond the Guardians of the Galaxy and go toward teams that could be massive. That brings us to the Annihilators, one of the few Marvel Comics teams that contain superheroes that could likely get pretty much anything handled solo. The Annihilators comic series was a limited one initially that ran four issues in early 2011. The series became so popular that another limited series ran another four issues after this in the latter half of 2011.

Since then, the team has popped up all over the place through several different universal story arcs. They appear in some Guardians storylines but they also appear in random other comic book series too. They have taken on Thanos, but their biggest stories involved the Universal Church of Truth and Magnus. Both of which are major enemies for universal characters. Members of this team include the Silver Surfer, Quasar, Ronan the Accuser, Ikon, Gladiator, and the eventual Thor, Beta Ray Bill. It’s an odd pairing of super-powered beings. Yet they have remained a solid team that has become like a last resort type of team for universal storylines.

Midnight Sons

• Debut: Ghost Rider #31 (November 1992)
• Notable Members: Blade, Iron Fist, Ghost Riders, Doctor Strange, Werewolf by Night, Morbius, Moon Knight

Another team that Marvel Studios could very well be setting up sooner rather than later is the Midnight Sons. The team is made up of mostly supernatural superheroes, or those who have dealt with major supernatural events. The original team was formed by the two Ghost Riders: Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch. They learn that Lilith, the Mother of all Demons, is about to be resurrected. They team up with the Nightstalkers: Blade, Frank Drake, and Hannibal King along with Morbius the Living Vampire, Darkhold Redeemers, and Vengence himself, Michael Badilino. Michael is yet another Ghost Rider, but it’s a long story.

Other heroes have joined this Midnight Sons team over the years including Doctor Strange, Punisher, Iron Fist, Man-Thing, Moon Knight, Black Cat, Scarlet Spider, Werewolf by Night, and Hellstrom. Due to their incredible connection to the supernatural and phenomenon events, it only makes sense to see this group pop up at some point in the MCU. There are numerous great superheroes in the group, so it could likely become one of the biggest Marvel Comics teams for Disney and Marvel Studios almost immediately. Since they are already debuting or have debuted most of these characters, we’ll be likely to see this team form sooner rather than later.

The Defenders

• Debut: Marvel Feature #1 (December 1971)
• Notable Members: Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, Silver Surfer, Beast, Luke Cage, Nighthawk

Some would say that The Defenders are not really a “team.” They are often a group of individuals forced to work together to defeat a major threat. Making them unlikely non-team members who just show up in the same place to fight. However, this was their original issue at first. The original team was led by Doctor Strange and included Namor, The Hulk, and even Silver Surfer. These characters tend to be individuals and only work on teams out of necessity. Things changed in later incarnations of the Defenders team.

Those teams often consisted of Valkyrie, Luke Cage, Nighthawk, Beast, Gargoyle, and Hellcat. However, the team did make their first appearance in major media through Netflix. As the streaming service already used several Marvel characters, they decided to give them a team-up series. “The Defenders” team was the best option for them and included Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist. The series had mixed reviews, but that does not mean we could not see it again within the MCU overall. It truly is a great IP for Marvel Studios to use, and it would not make any sense to turn down the money it could make them.

Web-Warriors

• Debut: Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3, Issue #9 (November 2014)
• Notable Members: Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, Ghost Spider, Silk, Spider-Woman

After the massive success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, fans are dying to see a film or series with all three major cinematic Spider-Man actors. It would be cool to see, but this is not the first time Marvel brought Spider characters together. In fact, they did this quite a bit within the Spider-Verse storyline. Initially, the team-up happened between Peter Parker and Miles Morales, who were the Spider-Man heroes of their own specific world. Miles took on the mantle when “his” Peter died. Yet other Spider characters showed up in the universe to team with them, including Ghost Spider, Scarlet Spider, and Spider-Man 2099.

Due to how crazy it would be to turn down a proper team of spider heroes, Disney decided to use the team-up as a series on Disney XD. Though animated, they proved how awesome it would be to team these characters up. Nicknamed the “Web-Warriors,” due to the lack of an official team name in the comics, the series was terrific. It is clear how much people love the Spider-Man IP. With over a billion dollars made on the last film, fans clearly want to see these characters more. Plus, the MCU has yet to debut so many awesome spider characters. It would be perfect to do this and team them up to take on a major threat once again.

Heroes For Hire

• Debut: Power Man & Iron Fist #50 (September 1978)
• Notable Members: Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Black Cat, Black Widow, She-Hulk, Scott Lang, White Tiger, Punisher, Silver Sable

The Heroes for Hire team initially started as a buddy team-up involving Luke Cage and Iron Fist. The two were so good together that they made sense to keep using, so their comic series ended up doing very well. The name first appeared in Cage’s Power Man comic series back in 1978, as Iron Fist’s comic series had been canceled due to lower sales. Therefore, joining up with Luke Cage was a smart concept, so the writers gave him a three-part role in the Power Man series. However, the appearance was so beloved that Marvel canceled the Power Man solo comic in favor of a Power Man and Iron Fist comic series soon after. The official Heroes for Hire comic series by name began in 1996.

The entire concept was that the duo would help people if the price was right, which was very different compared to the norm. Of course, this series began with this method as well as just two main characters outside of villains. It did not remain that way though, as numerous others joined the Heroes for Hire team over the years. The Black Knight, White Tiger, She-Hulk, Scott Lang (Ant-Man), Hercules, and even the original Human Torch along with Deadpool joined in. Later on, the likes of Black Cat, Shang-Chi, Punisher, Silver Sable, Moon Knight, and countless others joined this unit. It became one of the few Marvel Comics teams with a smart concept we know would be applied in the real world. Clearly, assistance and defense has a price, so what are you willing to spend?

Howling Commandos

• Debut: Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos #1 (December 2005)
• Notable Members: Vampire by Night, Warwolf, Gorilla-Man, John Doe, Frankenstein, N’Kantu the Living Mummy

Often called Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos, the simpler term of “Howling Commandos” has been used more in the last number of years. As it allowed the team to separate from Fury and do their own thing. Initially, the name was given to “Sgt. Nick Fury’s” elite squad during World War II. This series debuted in the 1960s and ran through the 1980s. However, it differed heavily from the team Fury organized in 2005 for the brand new Howling Commandos series. This team focused more on the paranormal, monster-like villains. Thus, it needed to be a team made up of people from that world.

The team included the Warwolf, Gorilla-Man, Clay Quartermain, and John Doe. Of course, Doe is a zombie with human-level intelligence. They are joined by Frankenstein, a clone of the original monster often referred to as “Frank.” Vampire by Night and N’Kantu, the Living Mummy round out the squad. Due to how interesting the team is, it only makes sense to see them show up in the MCU at some point. They are one of the few Marvel Comics teams that Nick Fury could run properly, as he might have organized but did not truly lead the Avengers.

Fantastic Four

• Debut: The Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961)
• Notable Members: Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), Sue Storm (Invisible Girl), Johnny Storm (Human Torch), Ben Grim (The Thing)

We get it, FOX has tried their hardest to make the Fantastic Four work. However, they never really showed they understood these characters. Allowing Disney and the newer Marvel Studios to get their hands on this IP would be amazing. To be fair, it is not as if the original movies did not do very well. In 2005, the original movie released before anything other than X-Men had proven to be valuable from the comic book world in cinema. It made a little over $333 million. The second movie made a little over $300 million. This doubled their budgets, and they even made this money in a time when movie tickets were a little cheaper than they are today.

The 2015 abomination still made $167 million, getting back its budget. Thus, it is clear this team has value. If done right, the Fantastic Four could be massive for Marvel Studios. They are one of those Marvel Comics teams that everyone still has a special connection to. It is hard to let “Marvel’s First Family” go, as they were massive for the comic book world overall for half a century already. Heck, Human Torch is among the first creations for Marvel Comics overall. It is clear Marvel Studios will bring them back. The question is, will they be able to draw just as much money as the Avengers? It is certainly possible.

The Young Avengers

• Debut: Young Avengers #1 (April 2005)
• Notable Members: Nate Richards (Iron Lad), Wiccan, Speed, Cassie Lang, Kate Bishop, Kid Loki, Patriot, America Chavez

They say if something is not broken, then you shouldn’t fix it. The Avengers IP is still incredibly valuable, but it’s obvious that we cannot keep seeing the same cast of characters over and over. There needs to be a change, and Marvel Comics felt the same about that. This led to the introduction of the Young Avengers. Officially debuting in 2005, they were formed by Iron Lad. He happens to be a young version of Kang the Conqueror known as Nate Richards. His future self goes back to the past and takes his teenage self to the future to show what all he will have. However, instead of feeling accomplished by this, it horrifies Richards.

Thus, he decides to try and stop Kang but he needs a team to do it. He goes on to recruit Wiccan and Speed, the children of Scarlet Witch and Vision. Somehow, they do not know they are related in this series initially and find out as they meet. Hulkling joins the team along with America Chavez, Kid Loki, Prodigy, Marvel Boy, Cassie Lang (Stature), Eli Bradley (Patriot), and even the new Hawkeye, Kate Bishop. This is one of the Marvel Comics teams fans have been dying to see for years anyway. Plus, with their youth, Marvel Studios could get them to commit to numerous upcoming projects so they make millions for years to come.

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

Marvel Comics

Marvel Studios

The Walt Disney Company

IMDb

Rotten Tomatoes

FOX Corporation