Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes did a lot right but what it did right with almost no exceptions was nail the characterization of dozens of heroes and villains. While the core group of Avengers stayed the same, the series introduced the likes of Ms. Marvel, Balder the Brave, Heroes for Hire and Wolverine without a hitch and had the group take on threats on Earth and all over the Nine Realms. Unfortunately the series was cancelled after just two seasons but on the tenth anniversary of its debut, here are 10 characters we’d like to have see on Season 3.
Note: We are aware that series writer Christopher Yost published his own Season 3 pitches; fortunately, not many of our ideas overlapped with his!
Other note: I assume some of these characters were used in Avengers: Assemble. I never watched that, so let me dream. These would be used in the continuity built by the first two seasons of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Blue Marvel
An absolute must have character for me, Adam Brashear would put the cherry on top of Season 3. I’m all in favor of an older Brashear who has become reclusive in his undersea base, Kadesh, being a key player in helping the Avengers take on one of its greater challenges: the Sentry! EMH does a great job of zeroing in on the science genius of several of these characters and Blue Marvel would fit right in with Reed, Hank, Tony and the rest.
Hercules
Of all the characters on this list, this is the one whose classic comic book personality would ensure a great fit. One of the greatest things about Avengers: EMH was the pivotal role that Asgard and the Nine Realms played in the series; with that in mind, an appearance by Herc, possibly used as a tool by Amora, would have made for a killer episode and introduced the Prince of Power to the younger generation of fans.
The Inhumans
The Inhumans didn’t work out in their first foray into live-action but they are made for animation. Avengers: EMH handled the Cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe incredibly well and often made references to Kree experimentation and expansion (Michael Korvac, for one). Being a product of Kree experimentation, the Inhumans would have fit right in whether they were discovered by the Fantastic Four or had to team up with the Avengers to rescue the Earth from one of Maximus’ crazy plans. This would also allow for Lockjaw, Karnak, Gorgon and Triton to look the way their maker intended.
Jack of Hearts
Jack belongs here. The amount of reimagining and redesigning that would have to go into making him work in a live-action project might be better spent just creating a new character; however, as is, Jack of Hearts is a perfect fit for Avengers: EMH. His origins as an accident of science fit right in with one of the show’s ongoing themes as would his redemptive arc from the comics. An Avenger who can pull the nostalgia strings of the older audience, Jack deserves his chance at stardom by getting an intro episode and then joining the team as they move through Season 3.
Jacques Duquesne
An Avenger from a time in comic history mostly overlooked by the creative team of EMH, Jaques Duquesne, aka the Swordsman, would have made a fine addition to the series both for his connection to Hawkeye (it would be good to see the archer’s origin get a little attention) and for his role in the Celestial Messiah story. Given the importance of the Kree-Skrull conflict to the series, it would be interesting to see its beginnings and bring in the Cotati. Swordsman is a pretty cheesy character that would have to be heavily adapted to fit in a live-action property, but if Hawkeye can look good wearing his classic costume in this series, Duquesne would work out, too.
Mangog
As mentioned earlier in the article, the series maintained a heavy focus on Thor, Asgard and the Nine Realms over its two seasons (and did so brilliantly). Over the 52 episodes we got more of Thor’s supporting cast than we’ll probably ever get in the MCU along with villains like Loki, Hela, Skurge, Surtur, Ulik and, of course, Amora. Basically the last one left on the list and the one that would fit right in with where things left off is Mangog. A creature of pure rage bent on the destruction of all things Asgardian, Mangog could make for an incredible one-episode baddie.
Norman Osborn
Spidey didn’t have a ton of screen time in Season 2 of Avengers: EMH and making one of his big bads the centerpiece of an episode doesn’t really make a ton of sense for Season 3, which is why this would be the Thunderbolts/Siege/Dark Reign version of Norman. As mentioned just above, Mangog could lay waste to what’s left of Asgard (let’s assume Ragnarok happens early on is Season 3) creating an opening for Asgardia to come to Broxton. From here it’s not much of a stretch to introduce Norman as a character primed to cause a lot of trouble over the next 1.5 seasons.
The Sentry
One of the greatest parts about the Sentry’s comic book origin is how his existence has been wiped from the memories of everyone who has known him. Obviously the character’s origins would need a retcon, but the story of a forgotten hero would be fun to tell and the Void would be just the type of ominous threat that would test the Avengers and force them to turn to the Blue Marvel for help.
Shi’ar
This portion of the article is brought to you by the letter “S.” We’ve seen some of the Shi’ar in other animated series by Marvel and they look great because, much like the Inhumans, are made for animation. The first 2 seasons focused heavily on two of the great Marvel alien empires (the Kree and the Skrulls), so Season 3 would be the perfect time to introduce the Shi’ar, possibly the most impressive and powerful of them all. I’d be all for a full on Kree-Shi’ar War (the Supreme Intelligence did drop their name when listing the enemies of the Kree Empire) that introduced us to the Imperial Guard led by Kallark and got the attention of Ms. Marvel and S.W.O.R.D. and, most importantly, Thor. A Thor vs Kallark showdown would be most excellent!
Squadron Sinister
One of the great teams of baddies introduced in the pages of Avengers comics, the Squadron Sinister would present a huge challenge for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It’s often referenced that Earth has gotten the attention of the rest of the universe and, as such, it would make a lot of sense for the Elders of the Universe to take note of Earth and its heroes. Like a lot of the ideas on this list, the Elders are a concept that would work better in animation than live-action (no offense to Jeff Goldblum and Benicio del Toro, both of whom are wonderful in the MCU) because their true nature and true powers are so off the charts. Seeing the Grandmaster step and and pit the Avengers against the Squadron in a Cosmic Contest of Champions would be amazing.
