Should Hercules be introduced in the MCU?

[Lilbaz]

Where do you think they could set the story? I could see Herc fitting in nicely at muscle beach but maybe that would clash with iron man’s setting? Still, obviously this would be set in the post iron man era

Why not ancient greece?

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I'm saying that they will probably not be loving father and son as odin and thor were.

With the development of Marvel Comics Herc over the years I have thought of the contrast between Herc/Zeus and Thor/Odin in these terms:

Thor is like the son of the town's winningest High School football coach that is currently the star quarterback of the team. His dad has always been a part of his life and pops has been grooming his son since early childhood to be where he is now. Dad might be a taskmaster and he might be too harsh at times, the son may have an arrogant streak from being the golden boy about town and he clashes with dad occasionally but they both still have a connection that runs deep and dad is deeply proud of his son and vice versa. Dad may have been tough but the son knows that this has been the necessary price to pay for the future glory they both want and the kid knows this will serve him well going forward to both college ball and a pro career in the NFL.


Herc is more akin to the love child of the richest man in town. He didn't even know about this connection until he was over 21. He holds some resentments against the father since he was never there for him growing up. The son had to scrounge for everything in life with no direct support from daddy but he ultimately makes a name for himself on his own terms, ironically because of the traits he inherited from his father. He gains some scrutiny from dad who eventually out of a mix of guilt, regret but also pride openly embraces his son and invites him to formally join the family. This far from ends the tension between the two, and opens up a bunch of new drama as the friction between not only father and son still flares up from time to time but this also creates deep and long lasting animosity between the son and the father's wife as well as, initially anyway, the rest of the extended family, especially the dickwad legitimate male heir of the father who gets jealous of all the attention on the newest addition to the family. The son eventually shows his worth in the family business and he becomes a favorite for most of the clan through hard work and charm. Thing is dad sees that of all his offspring it's this bastard that has the most potential and so actually ends up eyeing him for the top spot which angers his wife and legit heir no end.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Where do you think they could set the story? I could see Herc fitting in nicely at muscle beach but maybe that would clash with iron man’s setting? Still, obviously this would be set in the post iron man era

I would like the Herc film to be international. Think like an Indiana Jones/Bond film hybrid with lots of locales... Only with the greatest Demi-God of all time at the center of it. I think another way to differentiate MCU Herc and Thor would be to cut out most of the "fish out of water" aspect that was being leaned on heavily with Thor Pre-RAGNAROK.

Where Thor was an occasional visitor to Earth in the past and had to acclimate to the modern world I would have it that Herc has been living among us for a very long time, perhaps drowning his sorrows with distractions and debauchery for some failure or sin.

Spoiler

I myself would go with something similar to the comic revelation that contrary to the mythology Herc wasn't driven mad by Hera which resulted in his wife and children's deaths. He was overcome with rage and they died as a result of his unleashed and clumsy anger.

He gets back in the hero game by the introduction into his life by a genius young boy named Amadeus Cho who has used his vast intelligence to figure out (with some aide of disguised Athena, Herc's closest relative among his vast array of "siblings") post the revelation of the existence of the Asgardians, that indeed the Ancient Greek pantheon is also real and similar to Herc, many of those gods are still on Earth and that some like Ares, Pluto/Hades and even Hera have assumed power and influence on Earth behind the scenes in assumed identities for some nefarious purpose which Cho believes only Hercules and he can stop together. This leads to a globe trotting adventure where our hero bonds with the teenaged Cho and eventually a showdown between Herc and the God of War himself, Ares. Along the way we get some insight into the MCU Herc's relationship with Zeus and the other Olympians, leave some breadcrumbs for sequels that will focus more on Zeus and Hera and some other mythological based characters. Post credit scene is Herc offering up his services to the Avengers. Heck, perhaps the whole movie is essentially a flashback with Herc regaling someone the audience doesn't see until the post credit where it's revealed it's essentially like a job interview he's doing with some members of the team.

 

[Lilbaz]

With the development of Marvel Comics Herc over the years I have thought of the contrast between Herc/Zeus and Thor/Odin in these terms:

Thor is like the son of the town's winningest High School football coach that is currently the star quarterback of the team. His dad has always been a part of his life and pops has been grooming his son since early childhood to be where he is now. Dad might be a taskmaster and he might be too harsh at times, the son may have an arrogant streak from being the golden boy about town and he clashes with dad occasionally but they both still have a connection that runs deep and dad is deeply proud of his son and vice versa. Dad may have been tough but the son knows that this has been the necessary price to pay for the future glory they both want and the kid knows this will serve him well going forward to both college ball and a pro career in the NFL.


Herc is more akin to the love child of the richest man in town. He didn't even know about this connection until he was over 21. He holds some resentments against the father since he was never there for him growing up. The son had to scrounge for everything in life with no direct support from daddy but he ultimately makes a name for himself on his own terms, ironically because of the traits he inherited from his father. He gains some scrutiny from dad who eventually out of a mix of guilt, regret but also pride openly embraces his son and invites him to formally join the family. This far from ends the tension between the two, and opens up a bunch of new drama as the friction between not only father and son still flares up from time to time but this also creates deep and long lasting animosity between the son and the father's wife as well as, initially anyway, the rest of the extended family, especially the dickwad legitimate male heir of the father who gets jealous of all the attention on the newest addition to the family. The son eventually shows his worth in the family business and he becomes a favorite for most of the clan through hard work and charm. Thing is dad sees that of all his offspring it's this bastard that has the most potential and so actually ends up eyeing him for the top spot which angers his wife and legit heir no end.

Or maybe he tells them to stick the family business and goes off to do his own thing?

 

[Silvermoth]

Why not ancient greece?

Well, part of the fun of the mcu is the culture clash. When someone from mythology has to come and live and thrive amongst us normies. Plus, it might be tricky to include Amadeus in Ancient Greece?

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Well, part of the fun of the mcu is the culture clash. When someone from mythology has to come and live and thrive amongst us normies. Plus, it might be tricky to include Amadeus in Ancient Greece?

I wouldn't have a problem with extended flashbacks to ancient times but yeah, an MCU Herc film needs to take place in the "modern" MCU for the most part.

And selfishly I just REALLY want a MCU Herc movie if it gets made to adapt this scene and it really only works in a context of the Olympians being in the modern world.

Thing is if you go by not just the actual mythology but also know Marvel Herc... Ares didn't say a single lie while pummeling Herc. Marvel Herc is a very flawed character on paper. And that is what would be great to see in an MCU film. He is this fun and gregarious hero but he has depths and a history that haunts him and informs his modern brand of heroic action.

There is a chance to do both a fun film but also one with a lot of commentary on the nature of these larger than life characters like super heroes by using one of the original templates for super heroes as a vehicle.

 

[Silvermoth]

You know who would be a good get for a director for this? Rob letterman. You know the detective pikachu guy? He seems good at embracing cheese and having the right level of heart and fun

 

[Silvermoth]

Does Hercules have, like, a prominent woman character in his supporting cast? Marvel know to make their movies as broadly appreciable as possible. Maybe Valkyrie should appear, to give it just a bit of extra star power and connection to the marvel u?

 

[Warlock]

I think it would be cool if done well. But I also dread how bad it could be if done poorly.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Does Hercules have, like, a prominent woman character in his supporting cast? Marvel know to make their movies as broadly appreciable as possible. Maybe Valkyrie should appear, to give it just a bit of extra star power and connection to the marvel u?

The "additions" to Herc's supporting cast, or at least characters he has connections to which are female (from the comics mind you) would be:

Natasha Romanov (Yep... Herc and she used to bump uglies back during the CHAMPIONS days) aka Black Widow.

Snowbird of ALPHA FLIGHT.

Hebe, the "Cup Bearer" of the Olympian Gods and Herc's wife after he ascended to Olympus and was granted immortal Godhood by Zeus.

Namora, the Atlantean cousin of Namor.

Alflyse, Queen of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim, she and Hercules got married and got down when Hercules posed as Thor during the Incredible Hercules run.

The Eternal and sometimes Avenger Sersi.

But for my money if they do a Herc film the female character I want to see him interact with and be featured the most is the one he has a non-romantic/sexual relationship with and that would be his sister, the Olympian Goddess of Wisdom and War herself... Athena.

Athena (Marvel Comics) - Wikipedia

 

[Silvermoth]

Yeah Athena would be fun. Especially maybe playing on that brother/sister relationship

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Yeah Athena would be fun. Especially maybe playing on that brother/sister relationship

But wait... There's more!

One can look at Hercules and see a bit of a method to the madness in his ancient adventures. One of the things he accomplishes is ridding the world of a lot of blood thirsty and chaotic monsters. Some were just mindless but quite a few were also the direct descendents of OTHER Olympian Gods. The ones descended from Ares for the most part would charitably be called ancient serial killers. Welp... Herc via the guidance of Athena is the one that put them down. This took the threat of those monsters off the table as well as the influence of their god forebears. Thus freeing the mortal men of the Ancient Greek world to flourish and come up with the philosophies, sciences and political theories the free world runs on.

Coincidence?

I THINK NOT!

Let me ask you... Are you aware of Athena's true nature? We all call her the Goddess of Wisdom but she's more than that. She's the patron of "crafts" which meant technology back in the ancient world, wisdom, AND... The Art of War.

But... Isn't Ares the God of War? Yeah but the truth is that classically speaking Ares is a ****ing moron. Most stories featuring him don't feature a formidable presence. Even being the true born heir to Zeus the stories with him are not usualky flattering to him. That's because Ares is the mindless, unthinking and yes STUPID barbarity of war. That's what he represents.

Athena is also a war God but she is the representative of cunning strategy, judicious use of force and even a cold and ruthless methodology of ending conflict. This is the Goddess of battle that blessed the ancient heroes of Greece like Odysseus and yeah Herakles/Hercules.

One has to ask... Why?

And that could be an interesting question to do something with ina Hercules series of films.

 

[metaphysician]

I certainly wouldn't object to seeing Athena show up in the MCU as a supporting heroine(?). Broadly compassionate and benevolent, but with a definite ruthlessly pragmatic streak. A goddess of power in her own right, yet primarily relying on cleverness, planning, and persuasion. Someone really good to have on your side, but always a tad bit disconcerting as you become aware how your own gladness was totally factored into her own plans.

 

[Silvermoth]

The great thing about adding the gods too is you can use them in other flicks like the avengers or whatever. Great world building

 

[Tg11]

With Hercules in the MCU you have the ancient Greek aspect to it and you introduce the world of Mount Olympus but Marvel style and to see Hercules as a fish out of water living amongst earthlings; it would be a nice touch

 

[Lilbaz]

With Hercules in the MCU you have the ancient Greek aspect to it and you introduce the world of Mount Olympus but Marvel style and to see Hercules as a fish out of water living amongst earthlings; it would be a nice touch

Why would hercules be a fish out of water living amoung earthlings? He was brought up amoungst humans it was only after his adventures and life living amoung humans that he was accepted as a god.
Also we've seen with thor the fish out of water. Rehashing will not be good think they need to go in a new direction.

 

[Tg11]

Plus it would be interesting to see the Greek gods in the Marvel universe

 

[Silvermoth]

Why would hercules be a fish out of water living amoung earthlings? He was brought up amoungst humans it was only after his adventures and life living amoung humans that he was accepted as a god.
Also we've seen with thor the fish out of water. Rehashing will not be good think they need to go in a new direction.

I reckon you could still do the fish out of water thing. I mean, when he goes to the gym people lift weights and he would lift the entire gym. Fish out of water stories help make people relatable and I reckon they can do it right. I mean, he’s a superhero after all

 

[Tg11]

I reckon you could still do the fish out of water thing. I mean, when he goes to the gym people lift weights and he would lift the entire gym. Fish out of water stories help make people relatable and I reckon they can do it right. I mean, he’s a superhero after all

That and he's a Greek God well demigod

 

[Hammer!]

Thor 4: Siege of Olympus

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

It would be hilarious if Herc just up and appears at the Avengers HQ looking for Thor. Give them a history that Thor is embarrassed to admit to.

 

[Silvermoth]

Yeah I wonder if there’s a good way to mirror the Thor getting hit with a van scene from the first Thor movie. That would be a good throwback

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Yeah I wonder if there’s a good way to mirror the Thor getting hit with a van scene from the first Thor movie. That would be a good throwback

Eh... I think that Herc in the MCU should do it's best NOT to mirror the Thor films too much. About the only thing I would hope would be similar would be having the same level of humor as Ragnarok did... But also actually give the drama in the story it's proper weight which, I'm sorry, they whiffed on in Ragnarok.

 

[Chiznuk]

I'd go for the complete opposite of Thor. Seriously I'd love for Nick Frost to play Hercules. Look at that beard. Epic! I can see this guy taking on Hulk and dragging the island of Manhattan.

 

[Silvermoth]

Ha, well at least he’s hairy. I actually wouldn’t hate it