Since his breakout role in Hamilton, Daveed Diggs has built up a remarkable filmography of great variety, from playing a cyclist in HBO sports mockumentary Tour de Pharmacy, voicing a hedgehog in Ferdinand (the first of a few animated animal characters) and, most recently, appearing as a Chicago detective stuck on a self-sustaining bullet train with the last of humanity in Snowpiercer. Interestingly enough, an actor of his magnitude would normally have a Marvel superhero movie role under their belt by now, but what’d we miss?
Well, it turns we have not missed anything, and the 38-year-old actor, writer, producer, and musician still has yet to play a superhero. While it is no secret that the man is busy with several projects, including his casting as the new voice of Sebastian in the forthcoming live action update of The Little Mermaid, his cred with Disney alone should be enough to get Kevin Feige give him a call.
Furthermore, the amount of amazing characters who have yet to be introduced into the MCU is sizable. The following six of those heroic or villainous names are the ones I believe Daveed Diggs would blow us all away as if cast.
Black Marvel
Among the numerous iterations of this masked vigilante (most recognizably the wealthy Daniel Lyons' alter ego, a more intriguing origin, in my opinion, comes from the '90s Spider-Man cartoon. Spidey teams up with a group of veteran superheroes called the Six American Warriors who discover their super soldier serum enhanced member, the Black Marvel, was not Dan Lyons as they assumed, but a black man named Omar Mosely. While this socially conscious twist predated a similar reveal in HBO's Watchmen, to avoid seemingly copying the 2019 miniseries, perhaps it would be best to just change the origin altogether if Daveed Diggs were cast.
Bishop
Since the merger between Disney and Fox, fans have been curious if Marvel Studios' plan to bring the X-Men into the MCU will involve a full-scale recasting or perhaps binding the alternate realities together in some classic dimension-spanning fashion. One character who could help make that possible is Lucas Bishop, who originated from the timeline in which the deadly Sentinels drive all mutants into hiding, and was played by Omar Sy in X-Men: Days of Future Past. If the French actor were to turn down a reprisal of the multi-powerful mutant for an MCU debut that could connect the universes together, Daveed Diggs has already been rocking a similar look on Snowpiercer.
Night Thrasher
Daveed Diggs' astonishing athleticism, which he has displayed by literally leaping on the stage in Hamilton performances, would come in handy if he were cast as the acrobatic Night Thrasher. The alter ego of Dwayne Michael Taylor, who was supposed to debut in the cancelled Freeform series The New Warriors, has a similar origin to Batman, as he's also a wealthy businessman whose parents' murder inspired his self-training in expert martial arts, weapons design, etc. If those similarities mean that Diggs would fill the role of MCU's equivalent to Batman (especially after Avengers: Endgame sealed Tony Stark's fate), then so be it.
Doctor Voodoo
His name and spooky attire may give off a bit off a bit of a menacing impression, but Doctor Voodoo has actually been very helpful whenever the Avengers would require assistance from the magic of his namesake. The Haitian-born Jericho Drumm is, essentially, the Sorcerer Supreme in the realm of voodoo, and actually held that title prior to Stephen Strange, whom it's rumored he'll fight alongside in Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness under his former alias of Brother Voodoo. The role has yet to be cast, so assuming this character is indeed showing up, Daveed Diggs still has a chance to work his magic in the audition room.
Patriot
Another character who has been teased to make a live action debut in the MCU at some point is Patriot, who is not to be confused with Super-Patriot, whom Wyatt Russell's character in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was once known as in the comics. Coincidentally, the upcoming Disney+ exclusive series is where we may expect to see the Captain America-esque alter ego of Elijah Bradley, as his Captain America-esque grandfather Isaiah is reportedly said to play a role of some sort in Sam Wilson's (Anthony Mackie) evolution to take the place of Cap. That news strongly suggests that Elijah could, and honestly should, be involved, and even if Daveed Diggs is a bit older than the traditional depiction of the Young Avengers member, he could totally pass as, at least, 21.
Nova
One character whose MCU introduction has been much-anticipated and often teased, especially by Guardians of the Galaxy helmer James Gunn, is Nova, the cosmic warrior alter ego of Richard Rider. The sole surviving officer of the Nova Corps has yet to be make a transition from the pages of Marvel into a screen adaptation of any kind, which I interpret as a golden opportunity to take a few creative liberties. That being said, Daveed Diggs could be the perfect choice to portray a reimagining of Nova, having had experience in playing a victim of tragic circumstances in Blindspotting.
What do you think? Does Daveed Diggs deserve at shot at bringing these comic book characters to the MCU, or does he seem more like a DC guy to you? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on the multi-talented artist, as well as even more hypothetical superhero movies casting calls, here on CinemaBlend.
