5 Marvel properties that should get their own R-rated movie if the MCU is to keep up with DC after 'Joker'
The success of Todd Phillips's 'Joker' has significantly upped the demand for mature movies based on comic book characters and with good reason. Sure, the comic book medium's target audience might still be quite young but that doesn't mean these characters don't have more depth to them than meets the eye.
While we're quite certain DC will be doing a whole lot of R-rated films to follow up on 'Joker', the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still quite lacking in that area ('Deadpool' doesn't count). So here are five Marvel Comics properties that we think should get their own R-rated movies.
Doctor Doom
If there's one Marvel character who deserves his own movie, it's Doctor Victor Von Doom. The character has been featured in every 'Fantastic Four' movie ever made and it's inevitable that he will be introduced in the MCU eventually but that said, Doom would truly shine in his own R-rated film. There's a certain likability to the character even though he might be a mad scientist and a dictator and we'd love to see the character get a proper exploration (perhaps with Michael Fassbender in the lead role).
Marvel Knights
To be clear, we're not talking about the dormant comic book imprint (though that did give us some very enjoyable stories), what we'd like is a movie featuring the unnamed team assembled by Daredevil in 'Marvel Knight' #1 to capture the Punisher. That line-up featured Daredevil, Black Widow, Dagger, Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, and Luke Cage and the story had influenced Marvel's Netflix shows. Perhaps the team's roster could be adjusted a little to include more obscure heroes but there's plenty of potential here for a great, gory, action movie.
X-23
Laura Kinney, Wolverine's clone, has had a very tragic life, raised to be a weapon, forced to kill her own mother, and turned into a prostitute before eventually finding some degree of peace at the Xavier Institute. The character made a very successful appearance on 'Logan' (played by Dafne Keen) and fans have been eagerly hoping to get more of her ever since. An R-rated movie would be able to really explore Laura's life and truly do justice to her story.
Green Goblin
Perhaps the most famous Spider-Man villain of all time, the Green Goblin / Norman Osborn has had a number of film appearances, most notably being played by Willem Dafoe in Sam Raimi's 'Spider-Man' trilogy. While the character is usually depicted as a raving lunatic, there's still a lot to Norman that's yet to be explored and an R-rated movie could be just what he needs to really bring out the Goblin within.
Mister Sinister
Characters like Doom and the Joker are interesting because somewhere, deep down, they still have a shred of humanity. Mister Sinister, on the other hand, is the most inhuman monster you could ever meet. The character has been referenced in multiple 'X-Men' movies but he's never made an actual appearance in a live-action movie, which is a shame because he has a really fun (if not twisted) sense of humor. With a whole movie to focus on him, Marvel would be able to really showcase Sinister's insanity while leaving audiences delightfully shocked.