One of the most famous and renowned dynasties in Hollywood is the Skarsgård Family, who have acted alongside each other in a number of projects and also achieved great success on their own. So far, two members of this talented Swedish clan have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - namely veteran actor Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Erik Selvig in two Thor movies and two Avengers movies, and his son, Bill Skarsgård, who joined the Eternals cast as Deviant leader, Kro. However, I must say that I am surprised that the eldest sibling, Alexander Skarsgård, still has yet to make his own Marvel movies debut.
There was actually a time, according to MTV News, when the Emmy-winning Big Little Lies star could have starred alongside his father in the title role of director Kenneth Branagh’s Thor before the part went to Chris Hemsworth. While that ship may have sailed, he would eventually receive the opportunity to play a Nordic prince turned shredded, vengeful warrior as the lead of Robert Eggers’ The Northman cast in 2022 - which, I think, is all the proof we need that he is ready for the big leagues. If and when Alexander Skarsgård finally becomes a comic book movie star, we have a few Marvel characters for him in mind, starting with one who has something in common with another one of his best-known roles.
Hannibal King
In 2008, Alexander Skarsgård first started to become a household name in the United States as part of Showtime’s True Blood cast in the role of a 1,000-year-old vampire named Eric Northman. If he ever wanted to return to the world of supernatural creatures such as this, he could by entering the world of the MCU as Hannibal King - a private investigator from Milwaukee who became a vampire hunter out of disdain for having been turned into one himself. The character was last played by Ryan Reynolds in 2003’s Blade: Trinity - the third installment of the Blade franchise that Marvel Studios is rebooting with Mahershala Ali as the titular half-human, half-vampire, meaning there is a chance to see King to return to the big screen and, if so, Skarsgård has the experience to nail it.
Ka-Zar
Years before he played the lead hero of the The Northman, one of Alexander Skarsgård’s biggest and most iconic starring roles in a feature film was in 2016’s The Legend of Tarzan as the reformed King of the Jungle who is now living in 19th Century London as John Clayton, but must channel his animal instincts again to defeat a Belgian slave baron in Africa. If he were ever interested in going this wild again, he should considering play another jungle man named Ka-Zar, who was first introduced into the Marvel Universe by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in a 1965 issue of X-Men and still has yet to get his own movie. Hell, if she ever gets the chance to take a break from the DC movies, why not also cast Margot Robbie - who previously played Tarzan’s wife, Jane Porter - as Ka-Zar’s wife: Shanna, The She-Devil.
Doctor Doom
In addition to portraying heroic characters like Tarzan or Amleth in The Northman, Alexander Skarsgård has proven that he can also play a really good villain, such as the dangerously jealous Charlie in the 2011 remake of Straw Dogs or in the 2020 update of The Stand as demonic recurring Stephen King character, Randall Flagg. I think that his impressive work as such horrifying and nefarious characters may have earned him the right to at least be considered to play one of the most notorious and powerful villains in Marvel Comics history: Doctor Doom. It is likely that the power-hungry Latverian genius and sorcerer will make his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when his arch nemeses make theirs in director Jon Watts’ highly anticipated upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, so maybe Stellan could put in a good word for him?
Sentry
On second thought, with more heroic roles coming his way lately, perhaps Alexander Skarsgård would rather not make his MCU debut as a flat-out villain, but maybe as a superhero who often struggles with having a darker side to himself, such as Sentry. Previously known as a rebellious, degenerate meth addict named Robert Reynolds, consuming an experimental serum that he stole from a science lab gave him the ability to do pretty much anything you could imagine a superhero might be capable of, which I would not be surprised has something to do with why he does not have his own movie yet. However, I think a character like this who tends to be his own worst enemy could lead to some intriguing storytelling in the MCU, especially with someone of Skarsgård’s talent in the role.
Hyperion
Another superhero who has yet to make his big screen debut is Hyperion, who has often been referred to as a Marvel Comics equivalent of Superman for his vast arsenal of abilities, being the sole survivor of his extra-terrestrial race, and having one known weakness: radiation. Other than the fact that he is kind of a dead ringer for the character, what made me think of Alexander Skarsgård as a good candidate is how Hyperion was originally introduced as a villain, which is actually the iteration I would like to see adapted for the MCU. Reason being: I think it would be a fun opportunity to savagely lampoon the Man of Steel, and the actor has previously shown us his penchant for comedy in the Zoolander movies and Long Shot, most notably.
Bruto The Strongman
In my research for this article, I came to the realization that there is not much Swedish representation in the MCU (hell, even the Swedish Stellan Skarsgård’s aforementioned character, Dr. Erik Selvig, is of Norwegian descent), but that could also stem from he fact that Swedish representation in the Marvel Comics is pretty scarce. Well, perhaps the younger Skarsgård, Alexander, could be of some help in that territory by playing one of the more notable Swedes from the comics: Bruto the Strongman. The former circus performer made his debut in the third issue of Incredible Hulk in 1962, which convinces me that he and the actor’s now iconic, chiseled physique would be a great addition to the upcoming She-Hulk TV show on Disney+.
If none of these characters were to work out for Alexander Skarsgård, maybe he could just appear in an upcoming Marvel movie as Dr. Erik Selvig’s son as a fun way to share the screen with his own father. If not even that, I bet the new DC movies could use an actor of his caliber.
