Dark Knights of Marvel invading Netflix

dark knights of marvel invading netflix 2016 images

dark knights of marvel invading netflix 2016 images

Hold on. I think I just cheated on my wife. Ghost Rider might just be coming to Netflix along with Blade and Moon Knight. I’m a big, big fan of Ghost Rider especially the Dan Ketch version and recently the Robbie Reyes version. Non-fans, don’t get confused. There are several Ghost Riders aside from John Blaze. Anyway, this is exciting news even if it’s just a rumor. Something may have fanned the flames a bit, and that’s all that’s needed to set the internet ablaze.

I haven’t lost hope for my favorite flaming skeletal anti-hero despite two lackluster films. I think Ghost Rider is great in either TV or film if given the right creative team. He’s already made great appearances in several animated series, he managed to put down Galactus and went toe-to-toe with the Hulk twice. It’s just highly unfortunate that he was given to a bunch of hacks in the sequel movie. The first movie is kind of decent though. I’ve already discussed him as a potential Netflix property along with other heroes. Cloak and Dagger wasn’t picked up by Netflix, but I’m excited just the same when they got picked up by Freeform to become some sort of teen drama. Hoping it will be much more. Blade, which I also discussed is included in the rumor along with the unexpected Moon Knight. The Punisher, who made a great performance in Daredevil Season 2, already has a green light for his own series. Together, these often street-level heroes are the dark knights of Marvel. They even used to have their own brand of comics at Marvel called Marvel Knights.

First, the Doctor Strange film, if successful despite the #yellowface scandal, will open up the Marvel Cinematic Universe to mysticism and alternate realities. So with mysticism, we get several heroes that deal with the supernatural. Foremost of which is Ghost Rider, the spirit of vengeance who appears whenever innocent blood is spilled. As mentioned, there are several Ghost Riders in the Marvel Universe; dozens actually tasked the balance of good and evil on earth. The most famous of which is John Blaze whom the general public identifies from the two previous movies starring Nicolas Cage. But Netflix can use the Daniel Ketch version which propelled the Ghost Rider character during the 90s and revitalized the supernatural genre in comics. The 2007 film actually used Dan Ketch costume but not the bike. The Dan Ketch bike is way cooler, and his version is mostly set in the streets of New York. Speaking of New York, as an introduction, Ghost Rider could appear in Daredevil as shown in the Daredevil comics Shadowland saga. Basically, the same way the Punisher character was introduced as Daredevil’s co-star.

How to go about implementing Ghost Rider on TV? In terms of effects, they don’t seem to have a problem with Firestorm in The Flash. In Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, the Inhuman Hellfire pulled off the flaming chain quite nicely. The flaming bike could be tricky. Or how about a flaming Dodge Charger? The Latino Robbie Reyes incarnation is rather cool if Netflix wants to add some diversity, but the New York-based Dan Ketch is the better choice with a great set of enemies like the death-eating Deathwatch, the vampiric assassin Blackout, the death-dealing Stern, who has the same unbreakable skin as Luke Cage and the soulless mystic Centurious.

Next is Blade. Netflix could sure use its own vampire serial since every cable channel has or had one. Blade, made famous by Wesley Snipes, will introduce the MCU to vampires. If Marvel is going supernatural, then there should be vampires. As an introduction, he could guest in an episode of Luke Cage or Ghost Rider if the Ghost Rider series comes first. Blade was actually made into a TV series before but didn’t get past its first season. With the same writing caliber and production values shown in Daredevil and Jessica Jones, Blade could become another hit through Netflix. The rest of his NightStalkers team (Frank Drake and Hannibal King) could be in it too. Perhaps, due to a shortage of gigs and taxes to work on, Wesley Snipes could reprise his role.

An unexpected addition to the rumored trio is Moon Knight. Moon Knight is also a street-level hero who is a cross between Batman and Deadpool but with mystical powers. He stalks the streets of Chicago Illinois in a silver suit with hood and cape just like DCs caped crusader. His real name is Marc Spector, wealthy businessman but he also goes by the name Jake Lockley, cab driver and also Steven Grant, wealthy entrepreneur. Later on, he becomes mentally unstable, and these identities become other personas. He would make a great addition to the MCU after all, crazy heroes are all the rage. Moon Knight also has a mystical element as he is the avatar of the Egyptian God of the Moon Khonshu. Spector has died several times in the comics but was resurrected by the Egyptian deity.

If Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are destined to become the Defenders, this new batch of mystical heroes, along with Doctor Strange could become the MCU incarnation of The Midnight Sons. I’m hoping that superhero fatigue doesn’t set it or ‘reality-TV’ doesn’t make a comeback. I’m hoping to catch them together in the future in a feature film.