The MCU can still adapt Ryan Coogler's scrapped idea for Black Panther's first movie villain. The Black Panther franchise has evolved into a massive pop culture phenomenon even though T'Challa doesn't have a rogues' gallery as famous as those of Spider-Man and the X-Men. After turning figures like Killmonger and M'Baku into cinematic icons, Marvel will undeniably continue to revisit the expansive lore of Wakanda.
Although the MCU has already introduced hundreds of heroes and villains ranging from the world-famous to the deeply obscure, Marvel Studios has only scratched the surface of its source material. For every household name like Iron Man, there are dozens of fascinating characters waiting in the wings of the comics’ long history, possessing the potential to become the next breakout sensation.
Kraven The Hunter Could Have Been Black Panther's First MCU Antagonist
Ryan Coogler's Kraven Idea Was Logistically Unfeasible
Before Killmonger became one of the MCU’s most iconic villains, Ryan Coogler initially envisioned Kraven the Hunter as the primary antagonist for the first Black Panther movie. While Sergei Kravinoff is particularly obsessed with Spider-Man in the comics, Kraven occasionally stalks other Marvel heroes, including the King of Wakanda. However, since the film rights for Kraven are owned by Sony, the idea was discarded early in development.
A movie face-off between T’Challa and Kraven would have been an unprecedented jungle-set game of cat and mouse that would have looked amazing under Ryan Coogler’s meticulous direction. While Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger provided a profound emotional and political mirror to Chadwick Boseman's T’Challa, Kraven would have offered a radically different challenge. Instead of a battle over ideology and the throne, Kraven could have turned 2018’s Black Panther into a survival thriller, testing T’Challa’s physical limits and possibly his connection to the Panther goddess, Bast.
Seeing a master tracker navigate the advanced technological traps of Wakanda would have been a fascinating exploration of Black Panther’s advanced nature and Kraven’s savage brutality. Perhaps Kraven would have been too big a leap for Black Panther’s first solo movie, especially since it would have been difficult to add Spider-Man into the mix. Still, a Kraven vs T’Challa battle would have been a unique sight in the MCU and an epic start for Black Panther’s solo journey.
Ka-Zar Could Replace Kraven As Black Panther's MCU Antagonist
Ka-Zar Deserves An MCU Adaptation
With Kraven even more strongly anchored to Sony following Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s portrayal in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, Marvel Studios has the perfect opportunity to revive Ryan Coogler’s Kraven the Hunter idea. The MCU could pivot by introducing Ka-Zar in a similar role. As the protector of the Savage Land, Ka-Zar occupies a similar space as Kraven, being a master survivalist.
Replacing the Kraven concept with a conflict involving the Savage Land allows the MCU to maintain Kraven’s primal hunting energy. Whether through Shuri’s continued growth as a leader or an eventual T'Challa recast, a clash with Ka-Zar could center on a geopolitical dispute over the Savage Land’s existence, much like the tension between Wakanda and Talokan in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Accustomed to highly futuristic technology, Black Panther would have to face the prehistoric fury of creatures like dinosaurs and sabertooth tigers.
Ka-Zar has strong potential as an antagonist-turned-hero, mirroring the arcs of MCU icons like Scarlet Witch, Loki, and Namor. As the feral protector of the Savage Land, Ka-Zar could initially clash with technologically driven heroes, first considered to be a dangerous man of the wild. Over time, Ka-Zar could grow as a noble, fiercely principled hero who can contribute a whole world of creatures to the Avengers' battles.
The Savage Land Could Be Key To The MCU's X-Men
A Savage Land Saga Would Make The MCU's X-Men Truly Unique
The MCU has explored the deep cosmos, the oceans, and the infinite possibilities of the multiverse, but it lacks a primal, prehistoric frontier where technology fails and raw survival takes center stage. On his own, Ka-Zar offers a unique perspective as an outsider to modern civilization, but as a complement to the broader MCU, the Savage Land serves as a neutral ground where geopolitical titans like Wakanda can clash without the interference of international law.
The Savage Land is a vital piece of X-Men history that Fox’s X-Men movies never touched despite its prominence in the comics. In the MCU, this hidden Antarctic jungle could serve as the birthplace of mutates, which would provide a fascinating precursor to the natural emergence of mutants. Such a vibrant, dangerous environment could give Marvel a way to move away from the repetitive storylines of the past and lean into the high-concept, weird-science adventures that help the team’s best comic runs stand out.
An entire era of X-Men stories could be set within the Savage Land's prehistoric basin. A season of a Disney+ series or a standalone movie could center around the X-Men stranded or hunted by Sauron and the Savage Land Mutates, and forced to build a community from scratch far away from the comforts of Westchester. This would allow the MCU to showcase the team’s resourcefulness and internal dynamics in a high-pressure environment.
