Marvel was founded in New York City, New York in 1939. Since then, they have featured hundreds of masked vigilantes, some of them popular, others not so much.
You probably have not heard of US 1 or Hindsight but names like Captain America and Iron Man stick out thanks to their appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
One of the great parts of Marvel is that they are so diverse with their characters. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has featured characters from all types of different ethnicities and genders.
Some of these heroes were an almost guaranteed success for a film based on their popularity, but others were a bit of a gamble such as Ant-Man or the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Despite taking several gambles, the filmmakers and producers in charge of putting our favorite heroes on screen have successfully created an ever-growing cinematic universe for the past 10 years.
There have been so many additional heroes added to the movies in the past ten years which made Avengers: Infinity War one of the biggest endeavors in filmmaking history.
There has been a lot of foreshadowing for the introduction of future superheroes and villains, but some of these hints did not end up going anywhere. Some of these hints were blatantly obvious while others were a blink and you miss it type of moment.
Without further ado, here are the 20 Superhero And Supervillain Hints Fans Completely Missed In The MCU.
Hero: Captain Marvel (Doctor Strange)
Carol Susan Jane Danvers, better known as Ms. Marvel or Captain Marvel has been around since 1968. She was brought to life in the pages of Marvel Super-Heroes #13 in 1968 by writer Roy Thomas and illustrator Gene Colan.
Captain Marvel is known for her time served in the United States Airforce and for being partners with the Kree Superhero Mar-Vell.
In the comics, Captain Marvel gets her powers after Mar-vell’s DNA was combined with her own after an explosion took place.
Like many superheroes, she has superhuman strength and speed, but she can also fly and use energy projections and absorb energy.
Captain Marvel is regarded as one of the strongest female heroes that Marvel has released and she is also referred to as a feminist icon. Captain Marvel will be making her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut next year in the first Marvel movie centered around a female hero.
While fans look forward to seeing Brie Larson portray Captain Marvel, some people may have noticed a Captain Marvel hint lurking in Doctor Strange.
Right before Stephen Strange gets into his traumatic car accident that damages his hands, his associate is giving him potential cases that he could take.
One of them was about “a 22-year-old female who was struck by lightning, affecting an electronic implant in her head designed to help with schizophrenia.”
Many people believe this will be Captain Marvel’s new origin story, but we will just have to wait until March 8, 2019 to find out.
Villain: Fin Fang Foom (Iron Man)
Fin Fang From may not be the most famous Marvel villain, but he’s certainly worth mentioning, especially since he made his way into Iron Man in 2008.
First appearing in StrangeTales #89 in 1961, Fin Fang Foom is a 20-ton extraterrestrial that looks like a dragon. His name translates to “he whose limbs shatter mountains and whose back scrapes the sun,” which makes sense given his massive size and horrifying appearance.
Given that Fin Fang Foom is a dragon, he is able to breathe fire, has massive strength, can fly, and is also unaffected by most attacks. What makes this dragon even scarier is the fact that he is also intelligent.
According to the comics, Fin Fang Foom comes from a planet called Kakaranathara also known as Maklu IV. His race was known for being peaceful but Fin Fang Foom and a few others wanted more from life and left the planet to conquer other worlds.
We’ll forgive you if you did not even know who Fin Fang Foom was, but he actually appeared at the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe… sort of.
Fin Fang Foom was featured in the comic Iron Man Viva Las Vegas, which was written by director Jon Favreau.
Fin Fang Foom can be spotted on a billboard in the first Iron Man while Tony is flying through the city on his first test run in his suit. It is an extremely quick detail so it’s not surprising that many people missed it.
Hero: The Human Torch (Captain America: The First Avenger)
Since 20th Century Fox owned the rights to the Fantastic Four for such a long time, Marvel had not been able to use the characters for their Cinematic Universe.
Even though it was not with Marvel, the Fantastic Four did get a total of three movies before 20th Century Fox was bought out by Disney.
For two of these movies, Chris Evans would play Johnny Storm, aka.the Human Torch. Neither Fantastic Four nor its sequel Rise of The Silver Surfer was very well received which caused the team to be rebooted in 2015. T
his time around Michael B. Jordan would play the Human Torch but Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four got even worse ratings than the first two movies did.
Despite starring in awful adaptations of The Fantastic Four, both Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan were given second chances in the superhero/supervillain spotlight for roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
At the time, Paramount was in charge of the MCU and even though they did not have the rights to feature the character Johnny Storm, it did not stop them from adding in a cameo of the original Human Torch suit in Captain America: The First Avenger.
In the very first scene at the Stark Expo, the camera pans down and we see a mannequin wearing the original Human Torch outfit from 1961. It is, of course, missing the number 4 emblem on the chest, but other than that it’s spot on.
Villain: Nighthawk (All Hail The King)
There are many times when it seems like either DC or Marvel ran out of ideas for superheroes and ended up “borrowing” ideas for characters from one another. Many people associate Nighthawk from The Squadron Sinister as a knockoff Batman.
Nighthawk first appeared in The Avengers #69 in October 1969 as a villain. Nighthawk was created by Toy Thomas and Sal Buscema. The character is often depicted as being a superhuman athlete and having high-tech armor including a set of wings, claw tips, and laser weapons.
Over his comic book history, Nighthawk has had a few alter egos. The characters Kyle Richmond, Joaquin Pennyworth, and Jackson Norris have all worn the Nighthawk outfit and acted as the superhero, and supervillain.
If the name Jackson Norris sounds familiar, it is because that was the name of the reporter who was making a documentary on the Mandarin impersonator, Trevor Slattery, in All Hail the King.
It was revealed towards the end of the Marvel One-Shot that this version of Jackson Norris played by Scoot McNairy was actually a member of the Ten Rings, but it still hints at the existence of Nighthawk.
While it is very unlikely that Nighthawk would ever appear in the MCU, this hint of his existence will be interesting for die-hard comic fans.
Hero: Adam Warlock (Thor: The Dark World)
Originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character named “Him” made his superhero debut in Fantastic Four #66 in September of 1967. Him would later be evolved into the character Adam Warlock in the 1970s by Jim Starlin.
Him was created by mad scientists who wished to create the perfect human being. Him had the usual superhero traits like super strength and speed but was also able to manipulate matter and energy, as well as wield the soul gem.
The High Evolutionary would later change his name to Adam-for being the first cosmic artificial human being, Warlock-for his immense power.
Warlock was crucial to the ’90s Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War comic series, so it’s surprising that he has yet to make an official appearance in the MCU.
That being said, Adam Warlock has actually been hinted at twice in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, both in mid-credits scenes.
His first cameo was at the end of Thor: The Dark World when Lady Sif and Volstagg delivered the Aether to the Collector. James Gunn directed this scene and has since come out to say that this cameo was actually a mistake.
Adam Warlock was also, undeniably, featured in the mid-credit scene for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. After being beaten by the Guardians, Ayesha can be seen sitting in front of a cocoon and saying “I think I will call him Adam.”
With a hint as big as this, we can expect Adam to be joining the MCU soon.
Villains: The Sinister Six (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
After several years of everyone’s favorite web-slinger being absent from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony Pictures and Disney finally struck a deal in 2015 so that Spider-Man could be featured in Captain America: Civil War in 2016.
While the deal between Marvel and Sony is quite complicated and can be explained here, all that matters is that Spider-Man can be featured in future Marvel movies, with limitations.
Moving on to the Sinister Six, they were not a part of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy with Tobey Maguire but were supposed to be a huge part of the Amazing Spider-Man movies with Andrew Garfield.
Unfortunately, the Sinister Six were only beginning their story when future movies were canceled, but thankfully it looks as if the story might be picked up by Marvel.
Fans may have missed the reference in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but the Sinister Six were teased in the mid-credits scene.
When Mac Gargan (Scorpion) runs into Adrian Toomes (Vulture) in prison, he mentions that he has “some boys on the outside” who would want to take down Spider-Man.
While this could mean a variety of things, he most likely means the Sinister Six who are a group of Spider-Man’s most powerful enemies.
Hero: Jocasta (Avengers: Age Of Ultron)
When the name Jocasta comes up, you may think of Greek mythology, but Jocasta was actually a character from Marvel comics. While she was created by Jim Shooter and George Pérez in real life, she was brought to life by the villain Ultron in the comics.
First appearing in The Avengers #162 in August 1977, Jocasta was an android created by Ultron so that he could have a significant other.
Jocasta was intended to have the mind of the Wasp since Ultron found her intelligence suitable for his creation. Jocasta somehow realized that this would mean the demise of the Wasp so she turned against Ultron and helped The Avengers.
After Ultron was defeated, Jocasta would become a member of The Avengers.
Ultron was, of course, the main villain in the second Avengers movies, so it was only fitting that the filmmakers would add in a Jocasta Easter egg.
The name JOCASTA could be seen on one of Tony Stark’s A.I. chips when he was looking for a new U.I program to replace J.A.R.V.I.S.
This was the extent of Jocasta’s Marvel Cinematic Universe role but we never know what Marvel could do with her character in future Phases.
Villain: The Leader (The Incredible Hulk)
While a lot of superheroes and villains on this list have little more than an Easter egg in the Marvel movies, the Leader’s alter ego was actually a main character in the 2008 Incredible Hulk.
The Leader was a supervillain of the Hulk, and like many others was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Tales to Astonish #64 marked his debut and revealed how Samuel Sterns became the evil villain. Much like the Hulk, Sterns was infected by gamma radiation which caused him to become an incredibly smart entity with green skin and an abnormally sized brain.
While he shares some characteristics with the Hulk, he differs because devotes his life to crime rather than vigilante work.
While Louis Leterrier included Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky, Abomination, as the big baddie for The Incredible Hulk, we also got a hint for the Leader.
Samuel Sterns was portrayed by Time Blake Nelson, who went by the code name Mr. Blue while trying to help Bruce Banner find a cure for his gamma radiation poisoning.
Eventually, Emil Blonsky finds Sterns and is injected with Banner’s blood. When mixed with the super-soldier serum, it turns Blonsky into Abomination.
Dr. Sterns is hurt in Blonsky’s transformation and some of Bruce Banner’s blood falls into one of Stern’s cuts on his head.
In Stern’s final scene, we see his head starting to bubble as he begins his transformation into the Leader.
Hero: Beta Ray Bill (Thor: Ragnarok)
Beta Ray Bill comes from the Korbinite species. Korbinites were a peaceful race until Surtur, the fire demon in Thor: Ragnarok, destroyed their homeworld.
Beta Ray Bill was the chosen leader of the Korbinites as they ventured to their new home, but they were interrupted by Nick Fury and Thor.
Beta Ray Bill battles Thor and actually beats him. Thor ends up dropping his hammer which Beta Ray Bill was able to pick up and wield.
There have been very few people in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who have been able to pick up Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Since Beta Ray Bill proved himself worthy and was able to lift Mjolnir, Odin has a unique hammer crafted for him called Stormbreaker.
Beta Ray Bill may not have played a huge role in Thor: Ragnarok, but the filmmakers did put a hint of him in the finished product.
When Thor crash lands on Sakaar, he is taken to fight in the Grandmaster’s Contest of Champions. When Valkyrie flies close to Grandmaster’s tower, we can see some of his champions faces sculpted into the building.
Besides Hulk, the sculpted champions included in the tower are Man-Thing, Ares, Bi-Beast, and Beta Ray Bill.
This hint indicates that Beta Ray Bill was in the MCU even though he may currently be deceased.
Villain: Graviton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does not always deal with the movie plots in every episode, the show is still considered canon since they often have to deal with the outcomes from the movies.
Since Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a TV show consisting of several 45-minute episodes per season, it can cover a lot more ground when it comes to villains than a 2 and a half hour movie could.
That being said, one villain who was hinted at on the show was Graviton. The Avengers #158 in April 1977 saw the first of the villain known as Graviton.
His origin story is somewhat similar in both the comics and in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In the show, Franklin Hall was researching the properties of Gravitonium when he realized his partner Ian Quinn wanted to exploit the abilities of the rare element.
Franklin Hall was a teacher for S.H.I.E.L.D. and tried to help them take down Ian Quinn. His good deed backfired on him after Coulson changed the plans for the operation.
Hall accidentally falls into a vat of gravitonium which is then locked in a secure storage facility by S.H.I.E.L.D. While this is the last time viewers see him, one can only hope that this Graviton hint will later evolve in an episode of the show or even in a movie.
Hero: The Living Tribunal (Doctor Strange)
The Living Tribunal is really neither a hero or a villain. He is a cosmic entity, but he is still considered more of a hero than a villain. Stan Lee, Marie Severin, and Herb Trimpe developed the character back in June 1967 for Strange Tales #157.
Since then he has been in several comics over the decades and was even mentioned in Marvel’s 2016 Doctor Strange.
The Living Tribunal is a cosmic entity that can warp reality and has omniscience and omnipresence. This means that The Living Tribunal can be everywhere and know everything there is to know in the universe. This being is someone who both Thanos and The Avengers would love to have on their side, and he was even been hinted at once in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In Doctor Strange when Karl Mordo is training Stephen Strange, he pulls out a weapon he calls the Staff of the Living Tribunal.
The weapon is used for training and combat purposes and can shapeshift depending on the wielders desire.
While this is the only mention of The Living Tribunal, his staff could indicate that he may appear in a future movie.
Either that or his legend will only live on through old relics.
Villain: Tina Minoru (Runaways)
The Minoru family is a group of Dark Wizards within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nico Minoru is a relatively new villain compared to a lot of those who debuted in the ’60s. Nico Minoru debuted in 2003 for Runaways #1.
Tina Minoru was the mother of Nico Minoru and the wife of Robert Minoru. The Minorus are most known for being a part of the supervillain group called The Pride.
In the Marvel show on Hulu called Runaways, Tina Minoru is one of the co-founders of the Wizard technology company as well as a member of Pride.
Even though she is already a well-established character on Runaways, she was also supposed to appear in Doctor Strange.
Linda Louise Duan played Tina Minoru in Doctor Strange but all of her scenes were cut from the movies. The showrunners for the show seem to think that their version of the character is now canon, but Marvel films do not always share continuity with their TV shows.
While the evil Minorus will likely only live through the Hulu show, the hint in the credits for Doctor Strange indicate she may appear again in movie, but only time will tell.
Hero: Miles Morales (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
While Peter Parker was the original Spider-Man, there have been many people to don the red and blue suit.
In the Ultimate Spider-Man comic series, Peter Parker passes away in the arms of Aunt May and Mary Jane after the Green Goblin fights him. Miles Morales enters the picture in Ultimate Fallout #4 but instead of a red and blue suit, he wears a black and red one.
Miles Morales has somewhat different powers than Peter Parker including camouflage and an ability called “Venom Blast.”
Fans were initially put off by having someone other than Peter Parker be Spider-Man since he had been Spider-Man since August 1962, but most people eventually warmed up to him.
Miles Morales may actually be appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe based on a hint in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Donald Glover plays the character Aaron Davis who is a Spider-Man villain known as the Prowler.
What is special about his role is that he mentions his nephew, whom he wants to keep safe.
Aaron Davis’ nephew is Miles Morales who, like we mentioned above, becomes Spider-Man.
Tom Holland has been confirmed to play Peter Parker in the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel in 2019, but after that, we may see Peter Parker pass away.
Villain: Mr. Hyde (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
While Calvin Zabo, also known as the supervillain Mr. Hyde, first came into the fold in Journey into Mystery #99 in 1963, he was most recently teased in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
For most of the show he is simply known as “The Doctor,” but his true identity is revealed in the episode “What They Become”.
In the comics, Zabo was obsessed with the real-life book called Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He desperately wanted to duplicate the experiment from the story but did not have enough money, so he turned to a life of crime.
Once he actually performed the experiment he turned into a superhuman monster and called himself Mr. Hyde.
In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Mr. Hyde is the father of Daisy “Skye” Johnson. He may be briefly affiliated with HYDRA, but his main goal is to keep his daughter safe.
His story arc has seemingly come to an end after Coulson used the T.A.H.I.T.I. memory machine on him. He is now known as Dr. Calvin Winslow who operates as a veterinarian.
Even though this wasn’t the Mr. Hyde most people are used to, there is always the possibility his character could return and act as his true comic form.
Hero: Namor (Iron Man 2)
Namor the Sub-Mariner is very similar to DC’s Aquaman. Namor debuted in 1939 for the Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly, while Aquaman did not debut until 1941.
Whether Aquaman is a ripoff or not, neither one of them is very popular. Aquaman had always been at the center of jokes for DC until Jason Momoa brought a grittier version to life.
While Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly was never released publicly, Namor did appear in Marvel Comics #1 that same year.
Namor is the son of a human and a princess from Atlantis. He possesses the powers of advanced aquatic mobility, flight, and the ability to talk and mimic sea creatures.
Namor the Sub-Mariner may not have been popular enough to include in the Marvel movies, but his movie rights are also apparently complicated. Regardless of who owns the rights to the character, there was still a hint of Namor the Sub-Mariner in Iron Man 2.
Near the end of the movie when Tony Stark is meeting with Nick Fury, there is a world map with locations highlighted.
This also doubled as a hint for Black Panther since one of the areas was located in Africa, aka Wakanda.
Another point was located off of the Eastern coast of Brazil. Many people speculate this is where Atlantis will eventually be discovered especially since Ivan Vanko has newspaper clippings with the word “Atlantis” on them.
Villain: Blackwing (Agent Carter)
Marvel’s Agent Carter may have only lasted for two seasons and a total of 18 episodes, but it began to hint at the villain known as Blackwing.
Blackwing’s alter ego is Joseph Manfredi, who was an animal trainer in the Circus of Crime. Blackwing was often seen in the ’70s battling Daredevil but has also fought the likes of Black Widow and Nick Fury.
Like many supervillains, he has an impressive list of affiliations such as Masters of Evil, Skeleton Crew, HYDRA, and Maggia to name a few.
The Agent Carter version of Joseph Manfredi is a bit different than the comics since Manfredi is mainly seen as almost a mobster for his story arc on the show.
Throughout the show, he is in love with Whitney Frost, who is also a supervillain that debuted in 1968. His love for Frost clouds a lot of what he does and he even takes the life of six people when his love marries Calvin Chadwick.
While Agent Carter did produce a version of Joseph Manfredi, it only hinted at the possibility of Blackwing.
Characters presented in the TV shows are not off-limits by any means, but Kevin Feige seems to have his own plans for Marvel, which may or may not include Blackwing.
Hero: Silk (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
Spider-Man: Homecoming was chock-full of classic Spider-Man characters and villains. Some were obvious like the Vulture, Shocker, and the Tinkerer, but others like Silk may throw some people for a loop.
Silk is a popular Spider-Man hero who has many of the same abilities as Peter Parker, but also some new powers such as her eidetic memory and organic webbing.
Her first cameo appearance in the comics was in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 in April 2014, but her character came to fruition completely in The Amazing Spider-Man #4 in July of 2014.
It is often believed that the radioactive spider passed away after it bit Peter Parker, but the spider also crawled over to Cindy Moon and bit her as well.
While Silk does not have an appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming, her alter ego Cindy Moon does.
Cindy Moon is a student at Midtown School Of Science and Technology, as well as part of Peter Parker’s decathlon team.
With hints already made about Miles Morales being in the MCU, an appearance from Cindy Moon could indicate that she could soon be crawling up walls in a future movie.
A movie featuring Miles Morales’ Spider-Man and Silk? Yes, please.
Villain: The Real Mandarin (All Hail The King)
Many people were more than upset when it was revealed that Ben Kingsley was not actually playing the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. Trevor Slattery was indeed a big twist, just not a good one.
The Ten Rings was a terrorist group that was seen in the first Marvel movie; Iron Man. The organization’s name was based on the ten rings that the Mandarin wears, which let him use different powers such as electro-blast, flame-blast, and impact beam.
While the Mandarin is supposed to be one of Iron Man’s arch enemies, he was played off as a joke in the movies and fans gave Marvel a lot of heat for it.
In the Marvel One-Shot titled All Hail the King, we see Jackson Norris question Trevor Slattery about his impersonation of the Mandarin for a movie that he is working on, however, things escalate quite quickly during their last conversation.
We see Norris’ video camera begin to form a gun on the inside and eventually, it pops out and Norris destroys everyone in the room besides Trevor.
He then informs Trevor that he is going to help him escape so that he can meet the wrath of the real Mandarin and suffer his wrath.
Whether this is a hint for a future villain or just Marvel trying to correct their mistake, one can only hope that we see Mandarin and Iron Man face off in another movie.
Hero: Man-Thing (Iron Man 3)
Filmmakers just cannot seem to stay away from Man-Thing. He has actually been hinted at three times in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Man-Thing is often mixed up with Swamp Thing from DC since they were introduced only a few years apart in 1971 and the fact that Man-Thing’s species is called swamp monster.
They both look very similar, but Man-Thing is the monster form of Dr. Theodore Sillis. Man-Thing can produce acid for a weapon and can also teleport.
He is not really a hero but is considered more of a hero than a villain since he stays neutral in most matters and just wants to be left alone.
He was first teased through the character of Ellen Brandt in Iron Man 3. Ellen Brandt was an agent for A.I.M. and she was also the wife of Theodore Sillis.
She appears in the movie with a burnt face since, in the comics, she betrayed her husband and ultimately made him turn into Man-Thing.
In Thor: The Dark World, Erik Selvig’s cluster of notes on the chalkboard mention the Nexus of All Reality which Man-Thing protects.
Last but not least, his head was also sculpted at the bottom of Grandmaster’s palace in Thor: Ragnarok indicating that he was also at one point a champion in the Contest of Champions.
Villain: Thanos (Thor)
While Thanos has been teased a lot in post-credit scenes and cameo roles in previous Marvel movies, we have finally gotten to see the Mad Titan in full glory in Avengers: Infinity War.
Even though it has been a long road getting here, Thanos was first teased in Thor back in 2011.
The purple Mad Titan brought terror to comic readers all the way back in Iron Man #55 in 1973. While his appearance has slightly changed over the years, his motive has stayed basically the same– destroy the world.
After he discovers the Infinity Gems, he thinks his objective will be easy but he ends up losing in the comics because of his dark secrets that happen to be part of his weaknesses.
When the Destroyer is vaporizing the Ice Giants in the first Thor movie, there is a quick glimpse of the Infinity Gauntlet which is almost always linked with Thanos.
This, however, did make a big continuity error for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, since later movies would reveal that there was two Infinity Gauntlet’s floating around.
Thankfully, Thor: Ragnarok fixed this mistake when Hela knocked over the Infinity Gauntlet revealing it to be a fake. Even though the Infinity Gauntlet Easter egg turned out to be a mistake, it is crazy that Marvel had been hinting at Thanos for this long.
Are there any superhero or supervillain hints in the MCU that we missed? Let us know in the comments!
