We first reported a ‘theory’ a few weeks ago that the Blade solo movie was most likely cancelled and absorbed into a Midnight Sons film, and a recent scoop circulating around Twitter (I refuse to call it X) is seemingly confirming that idea. Twitter’s reception is pretty much mixed on the idea since the Blade movie was announced all the way back in 2019 and fans have been rightfully anticipating Mahershala Ali playing the vampire hunter for years now, but we can’t help but think the only way a Blade movie could possibly be cooler is to add even more notable characters that can help compliment the darker side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As it stands, Marvel has already created almost all the pieces of a perfect lineup for a Midnight Sons film, and the majority of the characters could use some sort of upgrade in terms of narrative based on what we’ve seen so far from them. The Midnight Sons can be compared to DC’s Justice League Dark, representing the more paranormal and magical side of the universe, and is something that Marvel has done before but not with any real cohesion. Doctor Strange is so far our best representation of that side of the MCU with the horror aspects in Multiverse of Madness, but let’s face it, that movie just wasn’t great. I personally think a Midnight Sons movie is a perfect way to re-frame the character, along with others who went underrepresented, in a way that fans can really sink their teeth into. Also, with director Jordan Peele rumored to be entering into the MCU creatively, the combination of a Peele directed Midnight Sons film would probably be one that almost all Marvel fans would love to see.
We have our ideas on who we’d like to see in the initial Midnight Sons lineup, and when we said Marvel has already laid out pretty much all the pieces somewhere else in the MCU, we aren’t kidding. Every character we want to see on the team have all had their introductions somewhere over the past 15 years, but what they all have in common is that they genuinely deserve more. So, without further ado, here is our perfect Midnight Sons lineup:
Iron Fist
Introduced in the Netflix Defenders saga, Danny Rand aka Iron Fist isn’t just a member of the Defenders, but also has a prominent place on the Midnight Sons. His show on Netflix is already arguably the darkest of the core series rivaling only The Punisher, and with his foundations already created porting Finn Jones into a Midnight Sons film wouldn’t take much of an introduction. While Iron Fist uses mostly martial arts, his origins with magic and K’un-Lun are very reminiscent of Doctor Strange’s origins with Kamar Taj and the chemistry between the two would probably be very good taking on a mentor/mentee dichomoty. While he uses Martial Arts, his Iron Fist power is derived from magic and fits the Midnight Sons archetype perfectly. And let’s face it, the Iron Fist series really wasn’t as bad as people online tried to make it out to be. The character deserves more, and with the MCU bringing characters like Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones back into the fold, Danny Rand also deserves his time to shine in the official MCU timeline somewhere.
Moon Knight
With one season of Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight already in the books, Marvel needs to find another way to utilize arguably one of the coolest characters from the first round of Disney+ shows, and adding him into a Midnight Sons film could be the perfect way to do it. It’s already been stated numerous times that Moon Knight probably won’t be getting a season 2, and with the way the first season ended I can’t help but think that is a huge mistake on Marvel’s behalf. The main criticism I have from the first season of the show is that there wasn’t enough actual Moon Knight and too much of his alter egos Marc Spector and Steven Grant, and to end the season only introducing Jake Lockley but doing nothing with it is just an inch short of an actual felony. Moon Knight needs a movie to be done properly in my opinion, and Midnight Sons would be a great way to put the character in theaters where he belongs. Not to mention the fact that Oscar Isaac is already a big name for movie fans and adding the actor to the lineup would bode very well from a marketing standpoint. From there, the MCU could potentially spin off to more darker and paranormal themed solo films and Moon Knight would be a prime pick to lead the charge if the team-up film proves a success.
Doctor Strange / Wong
While Doctor Strange has not been around the MCU since Phase 1, he still is pretty much an Avengers OG having prominent roles in Infinity War and his own first two solo films. With that being said, let’s face it, the solo films did not leave nearly the impact they should have for a character so well known from the comics. It’s not that the solo films were inherently bad, and the first film is arguably some of the best CGI and visual work the MCU has given us to date, but the sequel was a mashup of conflicting ideas that landed flat and didn’t really help propel the character to becoming the massive MCU character he should have been. Both Doctor Strange and Wong have pretty much been delegated to supporting characters used to boost others like Spider-Man and Scarlet Witch, while Wong is known for his cameos and post credit scenes. Doctor Strange could easily be the foundation of the Midnight Sons, using his magic to help assemble and train the team while utilizing Benedict Cumberbatch’s established star power to help sell the film. Not to mention the fact that while Multiverse of Madness was not the best film in the world from a pacing perspective, Sam Raimi did knock some of the horror aspects out of the park and could easily be used from a theming standpoint to help set the tone for the paranormal team-up. Also, Wong is a great side character and would add some humor and levity to an undoubtedly darker film.
Ghost Rider
Along with rumbling of a Midnight Sons film, it has also recently surfaced on social media that Marvel is planning a proper Ghost Rider project in the next phase of films after Doomsday and Secret Wars. Fans have been asking for a proper Johnny Blaze Ghost rider since the MCU’s early days, and so far all we’ve gotten is Robbie Reyes as the character on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with a very brief Johnny Blaze tease at the end of his story arc. While this isn’t exactly what fans were looking for, the Reyes story-line was well done and was true to the character only making fans want to see more. If there is one character in this proposed lineup that I think would carry a successful solo film in the MCU other than Blade, it’s definitely Ghost Rider, and introducing the character alongside the likes of Blade and Doctor Strange would be a great way to lay the foundations that could eventually spin off into his own franchise. While Nicolas Cage already gave us a film version of the character over a decade ago, we think it’s about time the fan favorite Marvel character gets a new iteration with a new actor, and while a solo film should definitely happen just imagine how cool it would be to see the character fight side by side with the rest of the Midnight Sons first.
Blade
Arguably the most anticipated character of the bunch, a Mahershala Ali led Blade film was announced all the way back in 2019 and has been in production hell since. The character has been teased in an Eternals post credit scene and shown in the What If…? series, along with bringing back the OG Wesley Snips version of the character in Deadpool and Wolverine, but progress on his own movie has all but stalled as of late, which is why we originally predicted that the character was most likely going to be absorbed into a Midnight Sons film in the first place. There is heavy demand for the character, but there seems to be little to no movement on the production front, and there has to be reasons for that behind the scenes. We’re not saying that Blade shouldn’t have a solo movie, but we think that introducing the character in a team up first would be a great way to ease audiences into the darker side of the MCU and like Ghost Rider would only solidify the foundations of the character before giving him his own franchise. Fans want to see Blade, but if the solo film isn’t a hit then the entirety of a darker side for the MCU could be over before it even becomes fully established, and adding Blade to a big name team up with other major prominent characters would be a great way to make sure the character does have an eventual successful solo outing. Not to mention fans that want to see Jordan Peele direct a Blade film would probably be even more hyped to see the director take on Blade along with other characters of a similar caliber. Who knows, if Midnight Sons does well under Peele’s direction then he could also helm a Blade solo film after. Who ever said you can’t please everyone?
