When it was announced that Pete Davidson would be joining The Suicide Squad cast, I was pretty intrigued by the idea that he could appear in more new DC movies, potentially. However, based on the luckless reputation of his DC character, Blackguard, I guess I should have been able to predict that his tenure in the DC Universe would not make it to the end of James Gunn’s supervillain crossover (let alone the beginning of the opening credits). However, that does not mean his chances of appearing in more upcoming superhero movies have completely run out.
I actually think that some of the upcoming Marvel movies (or, perhaps, even the upcoming Marvel TV shows) could really benefit someone like the former Saturday Night Live cast member, who would certainly not be the first actor known primarily for comedy to make a splash in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only does he have a distinct and sharp sense of humor but — as he has proved in many of his best movies, especially 2020’s semi-autobiographical, The King of Staten Island — he also has the chops to give a performance on par with any of the franchise’s biggest stars. For if and when that may happen, we had a few Marvel characters in mind, starting with one that bears a few similarities to his last comic book movie role.
Darkhawk
One of the more definitive characteristics of Pete Davidson’s The Suicide Squad character, Blackguard — outside of consistently being a massive screw-up — is the special suit of armor that makes him a stronger, more skilled, and heavily equipped warrior. Now, I could have easily picked just any Marvel character with a similar gimmick, but was able to find something that goes a bit further than that with Darkhawk.
Christopher Powell assumed this alter ego after discovering an amulet of extraterrestrial origin that transferred his consciousness into the body of a robotic being with an arsenal of extraordinary abilities, including flight due to a pair of wings that retract from his arms. So, in addition to not being just a copy of a character he played in a DC movie for five minutes, playing Darkhawk would give Davidson the chance to be a true comic hero and a very intimidating one, at that.
Dogpool
Now, while I was adamant to subvert expectations with the previous entry by finding a character that diverted dramatically from Blackguard, I could not help but look to a few more of Pete Davidson’s most notable acting roles for inspiration when searching for other Marvel characters that might be up his alley. For instance, among the decent number of voice acting roles he has acquired, the most famous so far is, easily, the title role of Netflix’s animated adaptation of the popular comic strip, Marmaduke, which gave me a perfect idea.
There exists, throughout the Marvel Multiverse, an infinite amount of variations of Deadpool — one of which is a four-legged, furry, domesticated animal named Dogpool. Of course, the obvious choice to play this canine variant of the Merc with a Mouth would be the actor who already plays him, Ryan Reynolds, and there is certainly a part of me that does wants to see that happen, too. However, I also think it might actually be even more fun to see Reynolds play off of someone else in this role and the fact that Davidson has experience voicing a dog is just one of many reasons.
Zombie
In 2022, Pete Davidson expanded his repertoire to a spookier variety by starring in one that, admittedly, is also infused with some dark comedy: the A24-produced thriller, Bodies Bodies Bodies. His performance in the cleverly satirical slasher proved that more upcoming horror movies could be in his future, and if we were interested in trying out an entirely different subgenre, that opportunity could lie in the Marvel Universe.
There are a huge variety of horror-inspired characters in Marvel Comics — a number of which have already made their debut in the Disney+ exclusive Halloween special, Werewolf by Night. One that was missing from that fun homage to old school horror cinema was Simon Garth, who is better known as Zombie since a voodoo spell resurrected him into a mindless walking corpse with a mysterious heroic determination. Perhaps if Marvel Studios comes out with another Halloween special in the future, Davidson could be the star as a character that would certainly be a new challenge for him.
Freakout
Speaking of new challenges, Pete Davidson has proved more than once on Saturday Night Live that his talents are not limited to just comedic acting and that he is also really good at rapping. Well, I searched for a while to see if there were any rap artists in the Marvel Comics Universe and the pickings are slim. So, I figured this could be an interesting opportunity for Davidson to branch out into a new style of music that he sort of touched on when he played Mötley Crüe’s manager, Tom Zutaut, in Netflix’s rock ’n roll biopic, The Dirt.
Aspiring heavy metal artist Arthur Amadeus Van Krijg was, unfortunately, forced to give up on his dreams when a drug overdose — without exaggeration — separated his mind from his body, leaving him insensitive to pain and eligible for a spot on Bedlam’s team, The Derangers. I believe that Freakout is a mutant who might be a fun addition to Marvel’s highly anticipated X-Men reboot, especially with Davidson in the role.
The Beyonder
Thinking about it, something that I could see some fans understandably taking issue with is the fact that Pete Davidson does not look much like any of these characters. Well, if that, indeed, were to prevent him from landing any of the roles above (except, maybe, Dogpool), I was able to find one character whom the actor actually does bear a bit of a resemblance to called The Beyonder.
Even thought this being looks like an average, youthful person, it is actually the physical manifestation of an entire alternate reality that takes pleasure in kidnapping human beings and pitting them against each other in violent death matches. Considering how the MCU has already been experimenting with Multiversal themes lately, I think this baddie would have no problem fitting right in, but might also be a game changer in terms dark intentions.
Even if Pete Davidson’s career in comic book movies really does end up beginning and ending with Blackguard, that is not a bad way to go out. After all, his future still looks bright with some cool upcoming projects -- such as the 2023 movie release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and his lead role in a new horror movie from The Purge creator James DeMonaco, called The Home, which is now filming.
