Not content to have the biggest blockbuster on the big screen, Disney is turning its attention to the growing world of exclusive streaming services with Disney Play. Due to launch in 2019, the service will contain a number of original Disney projects from it numerous brands, and that will reportedly include the MCU. TV spinoffs for characters like Scarlet Witch and Loki are apparently in the works with the involvement of the same actors. That's a pretty awesome idea, and while TV shows are great and all, movies would be just as great a format.
Part of what makes the spinoff idea great is that it gives smaller characters a chance to shine in their very own project. The MCU's stable of characters expands with every single movie, and plenty of them are worthy of their own solo adventures. Plus, the fact that these would be airing on Disney Play opens up the format and style -- not every movie has to end with a big action spectacle. With that in mind, here are some of the characters that I think would do well on Disney Play, excluding the ones who reportedly already have something in the works.
Scarlet Witch and Vision
I know I'm already cheating, but this is different! It's a Scarlet Witch AND Vision movie. While Scarlet Witch is good on her own, there's still loads to explore about her relationship with Vision. One of the downsides of the MCU is that there is story happening between the movies that we never get to see. Case in point, we never actually see Wanda and Vision get together. They are already in love at the start of Avengers: Infinity War. That's a natural side effect of this form of storytelling, but spinoff movies can help fill in the gaps. That's why a Scarlet Witch and Vision romance movie would help provide extra context and make their ultimate fate more meaningful. You can play fast and loose with the period it's set, but the best might be between Captain America: Civil War and Infinity War.
Hawkeye
Will this dog ever have his day? Yes, in his very own movie on Disney Play. The most underrated Avenger hasn't had as much opportunity to shine as his colleagues have, and he had to sit out of Infinity War, but Hawkeye would make an excellent fit for a spinoff. People have long asked for some kind of Hawkeye content, and it might be time to give the people what they want. Writer Matt Fraction's run on the character in the comics is pretty much the go-to inspiration for the character, and Fraction's story helped cement Hawkeye as the Regular Dude of Marvel heroes. There is mileage to gain from this character, either focusing on his time as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., his struggle as a superhero family man, or taking a self-aware look at his less than glamorous place alongside his fellow Avengers.
Falcon and War Machine
Despite being Avengers, Falcon and War Machine have often been regulated to the sidelines. Don't get me wrong; War Machine and Falcon are great side characters. They pull their weight and get their own scene-stealing moments, but they aren't title characters. The big moments understandably go to big names like Captain America or Thor, but that's exactly why these two should team-up for their own adventure. It can be set soon after Avengers: Age of Ultron when both characters were on the Avengers and they get sent on a mission together. It's like a buddy cop action movie that lets them steal the spotlight all for themselves.
Valkyrie
Thor: Ragnarok is jam-packed with scene-stealing character, but Valkyrie is the most bankable as a lead, in no small part because of the charisma factory that is Tessa Thompson. Valkyrie quickly rose the ranks as a fan-favorite character and people are begging to know what happened to her before Infinity War. A spinoff movie could answer that question and give her Korg and Miek (also two very popular characters) to go along for the ride. Or maybe the film is set during the early days of when Valkyrie arrived on Sakaar and chose to become a Scrapper. Valkyrie has main character potential in the MCU, but a spinoff might be a good way to test the waters before giving her her own big screen adventure.
Winter Soldier
He's the No. 1 pick to take over as Captain America should Steve Rogers die in Avengers 4, but there's still a lot to be mined from Bucky Barnes' time as the Winter Soldier. Barnes was brainwashed for decades into being Hydra's deadliest assassin, and he's risen to be one of the MCU's most badass characters. It's hard to turn down an action movie all about the Winter Soldier during, say, the seventies. The problem with this though is that the Winter Soldier has no personality while under mind control and is just an unstoppable killing force. That makes him a great villain, but not so much a lead character. The trick might be to pair him up with another character to fight, but there aren't a lot of options to choose from for a period piece. Still though, giving Winter Soldier his own Terminator-like movie is supremely cool.
Rocket and Groot
Rocket Raccoon and Groot are the closest things Marvel has to Timon and Puumba, but even they got a spinoff movie. Rocket and Groot burst onto the scene in Guardians of the Galaxy, and the two of them have been fan-favorite characters ever since. They make the most sense of all the Guardians to get their own movie, and there are definitely options for how to make one happen. For example, a film could explore how Rocket and Groot first met. (Just like the Timon and Puumba movie!). It can be a heist movie in space or even a straight-up comedy. There used to be chatter that the duo was under consideration for spinoffs anyway, so why not put them to use on Disney Play?
The Ravagers
Introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy, the Ravagers are the intergalactic crooks that take in Peter Quill after they kidnapped him from Earth. This specific movie would focus on the leaders of the Ravagers that were seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and featured Sylvester Stallone and Michelle Yeoh. I think that it would be fun to see a prequel of the early days of the Ravagers -- that way you can have a young Yondu in the film. The trick is to make sure that the film isn't too similar to Guardians of the Galaxy because the two teams basically do the same thing, though, the Ravagers are a bit murkier from a moral perspective.
Young Ant-Man and the Wasp
Over the course of a decade, the MCU has revealed that it is filled with history as the world was filled with wonder long before Iron Man came along. In the present day, Hank Pym assists his daughter Hope van Dyne and his successor Scott Lang, but Hank as an exciting past waiting to be tapped. He used to go on world-saving missions with his wife Janet as Ant-Man and the Wasp, which would make or great material for a movie. Just imagine an early eighties spy thriller starring married superheroes. That sounds fun! We've barely seen any of Hank's time as Ant-Man, so it would be cool to see what he and Janet were up to before the mission that locked her in the Quantum Realm. Plus, because of Marvel's increasingly impressive face CGI, Micheal Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer could play younger versions of themselves.
