Marvel May Be Bringing the Dark Avengers to the MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it is most likely coming to an end with next year’s release of Avengers 4. With the universe completely flipped on its head and our heroes trying to recover from Thanos’s brutal snap in Avengers: Infinity War, we know that some of the biggest names in the MCU are nearly at the end of their run. Marvel’s plan for after Avengers 4 may have something to do with a knockoff Avengers team formed by Norman Osbourne: the Dark Avengers.

That Hashtag Show had the exclusive news that Marvel has developed and finished a script for Dark Avengers, but where it stands on the priority list for the studio and if it has a chance to develop past the script stage remains to be seen.

In the comics, the Dark Avengers are formed by Spider-Man villain Norman Osborn after the Secret Wars storyline. The Skrull invasion of Earth erodes trust in the current Avengers team, and Osborn takes control of a reformed S.H.I.E.L.D. and introduces his own take on the classic Avengers, made up of several other villainous characters. Some are even disguised as other members of the Avengers, to lend an air of credibility to the new team. Some of the members include:

• Ares, the god of war
• Sentry
• A new Captain Marvel named Noh-Varr
• Mac Gargan combined with the Venom symbiote, as Spider-Man
• Bullseye, as Hawkeye
• Wolverine’s son Daken filling in for his dear old dad
• Moonstone, as Ms. Marvel

Norman himself dons a red, white, and blue version of the Iron Man armor and begins calling himself the Iron Patriot.

It seems like there would still be a lot of steps to take before introducing the Dark Avengers into the MCU, but the upcoming Captain Marvel film may be setting the scene: the Skrulls are expected to be a central antagonist of that film, and their invasion leads to the formation of the Dark Avengers in the first place. Marvel has enough good will and deep enough pockets that they can play the long game, and any plans for a Dark Avengers film would most likely be several films off from now.

We may get a better sense of whether or not a Dark Avengers film may be on the way once we get a look at the upcoming Captain Marvel and Avengers 4 films. Captain Marvel stars Brie Larson and releases March 8, 2019. Avengers 4 releases May 9, 2019. Stay tuned for more information on the MCU as it becomes available.