There are a few characters who I really feel needs a race change for the MCU.
At the top of my list is Namor. If his last name wasn't MacKenzie, I would have thought he was an Asian guy. He's connected to the Avengers and needs a high budget to get right so he belongs on the film side.
And when Daredevil Season 3 rolls around, I really hope that Typhoid is Latina since if you look at the exact color that was used on JRJR's art, it's obvious that she's meant to be Peurto Rican.
With the Spider-Man sequel in 2019, I hope that Scorpion is depicted as Mexican-American like his Ultimate counterpart since there isn't much in the way of Hispanic representation. He's one of the three biggest Spider-Man villains who the films haven't touched yet and unlike Carnage and Hobgoblin, he doesn't need multiple films to set up his debut.
Beetle also needs to be black since the, "undercover as a black guy" subplot is too close to blackface for me. I don't care if he debuts in a Spider-Man, Ant-Man or Iron Man film since he's an enemy of all three but he's needed for Thunderbolts and he really needs to be played by a black actor.
The only race changes in the MCU which really bothered me are MJ Watson and The Ancient One. The former since being a natural redhead was always a huge part of what made her identifiable and the latter since The Ancient One was so heavily inspired by Tibetan Buddhism and the character was changed to appease Chinese censors really, really rubbed me the wrong way. It was bending over backwards to appease a dictatorship when Deadpool is proof that you don't need the Chinese box office to turn a profit anymore.
And I'd greenlight new series with diverse leads. On the film side, I really think that Scarlet Johansson and Don Cheadle can more than handle a Black Widow or War Machine film franchise and there's enough source material for both. I'd start with Homecoming and Dragon Seed Saga for the first films. I'd also add Martyr and Moondragon to Guardians of the Galaxy 3 since we're ready for gay superheroes. With TV, I not only hope that America Chavez shows up in New Warriors but that we get some diverse leads as well.
Power Pack needs to come to Disney Channel where after a few seasons, a Julie Power who's now 17 or 18 learns that she's "different." I'm not sure if they'll outright (no pun intended) say that she's a lesbian since the show would be directed at kids but the subtext needs to be there where adults viewers will know EXACTLY what they're talking about.
Moon Knight would feature a Jewish lead since Thing, Shadowcat, Iceman and Magneto are all at Fox and Moon Knight is the only option. The show needs to have a subplot with Marc and his father and how his father isn't happy that Marc has not only left the faith but abandoned the 1st Commandment and now worships Egyptian gods needs to be happen since it directly ties in to themes of Jewish identity and the difference between being ethnically, religiously and culturally Jewish. Keep in mind that it would also be an exploration of mental illness and hopefully have some seriously mind-bending imagery. I'd have the Mr. Knight persona show up for fireplace chats to break the fourth wall and explain an otherwise difficult to follow series where anything seen on screen could be a hallucination that gets retconned in the next episode. And I'd still bring the action. Think Twin Peaks meets 24 for a good idea of what I'd do with Moon Knight.
2 out of 4 Ghost Riders are Hispanic. One's Mexican, the other is Mexican-American. Honestly, I feel like Ghost Rider would be better off on El Rey than Netflix for a number of reasons. El Rey is owned by Robert Rodgiguez who's not only Mexican-America but specifically markets his channel with terms like, "grindhouse," "bullets and brawlers," "kung-fu flicks" and "cult horror." Ghost Rider was created in the 70s with the growing popularity of low-budget schlock horror. He's also been involved with the Sin City movies so he gets comics. It's also a network that has some original programming but not much and only one hit in From Dusk Till Dawn. It's too perfect a fit and I'd like to see a Blade series on the same network for ease of crossovers so both Marvel Horror properties would be on the same network. Think along the lines of American Horror Story meets Sons of Anarchy with the gore of Spartacus and a soundtrack mostly consisting of licensed heavy metal songs. And film on location it in LA and Las Vegas since shooting in LA is cheap anyway.
Speaking of which, Blade should also happen. I'd focus on Blade as a black British immigrant living in New Orleans and play up his hunter side. Less action than the Blade films and more of a long game as Blade stalks his prey across several episodes. And then make Dracula have enough screen time to be an equally compelling character. Something where we actually feel for Dracula since he is being stalked by somebody who is trying to kill him. Basically True Blood meets Buffy meets True Detective with Ghost Rider crossovers.
Elektra should be on Netflix since she's associated with those characters. And we only have two female leads right now with Jessica Jones and Captain Marvel. Elektra is needed badly. Season 1 would be based on Elektra: Assassin since the story there is actually relevant today with all the talk of Trump being controlled by Russia. Film it in Washington DC, use the woods in the surrounding area to double for South America and replace John Garrett with Deathlok and that's absolutely perfect. The pitch should be The Manchurian Candidate meets Nikita meets Into the Badlands meets Deadliest Warrior.
Finally, Shang Chi is really needed since it would hopefully be on Netflix but wouldn't take place in New York which much like Elektra would open up possibilities for doing more crossovers/Defenders seasons since it would open up the schedule a bit more. Shang Chi needs to be a family drama, a crime series and an action series. Plus, it would link Agents of SHIELD to the wider MCU and hopefully reintroduce Mockingbird and Lance Hunter. It's about a secret agent fighting Hong Kong Triads who he finds out that he's related to but also needs to have an amazing fight every few episodes and needs to culminate with a fight against Taskmaster. Think along the lines of an homage to every great Asian action film ever (Oldboy, Hard Boiled, The Raid, Way of the Dragon, The Street Fighter, etc) and you have a rough idea of what kind of series should be made. Film it in both Cantonese and English with subtitles and use Chinese actors and directors. And Fu Manchu's name needs to be changed to Zheng Zu for at least a hundred different reasons. Make them the Zheng family in general.
