Black Widow -- which just beat the box office sales of Star Wars: Episode IX in its opening weekend -- introduced audiences to a myriad of new characters, including O-T Fagbenle's Rick Mason, a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who now works as an independent contractor. The door is wide open on where Mason could appear next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Fagbenle has some ideas on where Marvel could take him -- like working with Deadpool.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Fagbenle was asked which Marvel characters he would like to see Mason team up with in future projects. Fagbenle responded, "My number one might be Deadpool. I think Deadpool could probably do with a bit of help."
Before Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Deadpool appearing in the MCU was extremely unlikely. However, things are different now. On July 14, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool made his first MCU appearance alongside Thor: Ragnarok's Korg in a trailer breakdown for Free Guy. Reynolds later took to Instagram to further confirm the Merc with a Mouth's inclusion in the MCU.
No explicit confirmation has come down from Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President and Marvel Chief Creative Officer, about Deadpool appearing in the MCU; however, Feige did reveal that production is actively moving forward on Deadpool 3. As such, Rick Mason working alongside Deadpool is not outside the realm of possibility. His banter with Natasha in Black Widow highlights how "Mason and Deadpool could have a real 'marathon of the mouths' while working together."
Deadpool isn't the only character Fagbenle wants to see Mason work with. "I mean, listen, there are a lot," the actor said. "I think there's no doubt the whole Black Panther community. I think Mason could do great work there." Currently the sequel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in production. The sequel's spinoff series Black Panther: Kingdom of Wakanda is also in production over at Disney+.
Appearing in a Disney+ series is a likely next step for Fagbenle's Rick Mason, as the first wave of MCU series on Disney+ established a pattern of taking supporting characters from movies and giving them more substantial roles. Randall Park's Jimmy Woo and Kat Dennings' Darcy Lewis started out as minor comic relief in the Ant-Man and Thor movies respectively and became fan favorites in WandaVision.
Directed by Cate Shortland, Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, O-T Fagbenle as Mason and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff. The film is now in theaters and available on Disney+ Premier Access.
Source: Comicbook.com