While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced a lot of amazing Marvel characters over the last 10 years and 20+ films, there are still a number of characters from the comics still waiting for their time on the big screen. In fact, a number of those characters have already been teased in the MCU.
Marvel set an interesting precedent in the MCU in Captain America: Winter Soldier when they slipped in a tease about Stephen Strange, with a Doctor Strange movie announcement following the tease. Since that revelation, fans have been studying the MCU films for teases of upcoming characters, though many that have made their way into the films have yet to make a full appearance, which we'll be exploring further today.
10 NOVA
The internet briefly exploded this week when the Russo brothers jokingly teased the appearance of Nova in Avengers: Endgame, highlighting the fans' excitement to see the Human Rocket make his way to the MCU. The character was teased in Guardians of the Galaxy with the inclusion of the Xandarian Nova Corps.
While the galactic police force is in the MCU, neither Richard Rider or Sam Alexander has yet to appear in the MCU. However, Kevin Feige has revealed that Nova is a definite possibility, so fans of the character might just have to be patient.
9 MAN-THING
Technically, Man-Thing has appeared on the big screen in the 2005 box office bomb Man-Thing, which only released in a few theaters before airing on the Sci-Fi Channel. Man-Thing is a monstrous plant creature who guards the Nexus of All Realities and is known for causing those with fear to burn at the touch of the Man-Thing.
The visage of Man-Thing appeared in Thor: Ragnarok on the Grandmaster's Tower of Champions. He shared that tower with Beta Ray Bill, another fan-favorite character that fans have been hoping to see in the MCU. Whether either of these teases were simply fun cameos or a look to the future remains to be seen.
8 LIVING TRIBUNAL
Casual fans may not have the slightest idea who or what the Living Tribunal is, but if the name sounds familiar, it's likely due to Baron Mordo wielding the Staff of the Living Tribunal in Doctor Strange. The weapon actually teases one of the most powerful cosmic forces in the entire Marvel Universe.
The Living Tribunal oversees the Marvel Multiverse and is responsible for maintaining the balance of the multiverse by dispensing judgment on those who would upset it. The Living Tribunal has been rumored to make an appearance in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
7 AMADEUS CHO
Dr. Karen Cho appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron as a colleague of Bruce Banner and Tony Stark. It was her work Ultron used to create the new body for himself, which would ultimately become the body for the Vision. Cho is actually the mother of Amadeus Cho, who would become one of the smartest people in the Marvel Universe by the time he was a teenager.
Amadeus Cho would become a friend to Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk, and would eventually figure out how to turn himself into the Totally Awesome Hulk and later the Champion known as Brawn. Hopefully, we'll see Dr. Cho's brilliant son make his appearance in the MCU sooner rather than later.
6 MILES MORALES
Spider-Man: Homecoming may have focused on introducing Spider-Man into the MCU properly after the character's appearance in the MCU, but it also didn't waste the chance to tease the appearance of Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider-Man. It may have been a throwaway line from his uncle Aaron Davis/Prowler, but it made fans excited for Miles' potential future in the MCU.
Unfortunately, due to the recent news that Marvel Studios and Sony, who own the film rights to Spider-Man and all related characters, have ended their partnership, this Miles Morales tease may remain just that as the Spider-Man characters prepare to leave the MCU behind.
5 HUMAN TORCH
Hammond was actually an android on display at a technology expo in Captain America: The First Avenger. While this small tease of the first Human Torch was likely just a comic nod to the era and to Marvel's early beginnings, fans couldn't help but hope we'd see Human Torch working alongside Captain America as the WWII Invaders.
4 THE LEADER
The Incredible Hulk was the second film of the MCU, which was still finding its footing as it developed the shared universe that grew over the next few phases. So while the film set up a number of follow-up characters like Doc Samson that could have appeared in future films, the MCU hasn't revisited the franchise due to complicated film rights for the character.
This left one of the Hulk's greatest villains on the MCU's cutting room floor, as fans were teased with the evolution of Dr. Samuel Sterns into the brilliant villain known as the Leader. The Leader and his giant green brain may seem a bit cartoony for the realistic MCU, but we still want to see the ultimate gamma-enhanced battle between brain and brawn.
3 JOCASTA
Following the evolution of J.A.R.V.I.S. into the synthezoid known as Vision, Tony Stark was forced to find a replacement for his AI that ran his computer system in his home, office, and Iron Man armor. He settles on the AI labeled "Friday," though eagle-eyed fans caught another option on his worktable labeled "Jocasta."
In the comics, Jocasta was created by the evil robot known as Ultron, with the hopes that she would be his mate. Jocasta was programmed with the brain patterns of Janet van Dyne/Wasp and rebelled against her creator, joining the Avengers.
2 CAPTAIN BRITAIN
We've actually seen a couple of potentially connected Easter Eggs in the MCU that point towards Captain Britain, Marvel UK's Protector of the Omniverse. The first came in Avengers: Endgame during a scene in the past where Captain America is watching Peggy Carter through a window, and the name Braddock is heard in regards to a missing agent. Captain Britain's real name is Brian Braddock.
The Spider-Man: Far From Home teased the existence of the Marvel Multiverse when he revealed he came from Earth-883 to the mainstream Marvel universe, Earth-616. While that ended up being false, the Earth-designate given does feature another nod to a Captain Britain, though this time it's Spider-UK, a version of Billy Braddock who is both Spider-Man and Captain Britain and featured heavily in the Spider-Verse storyline.
1 ADAM WARLOCK
Finally, the biggest tease that fans have been waiting to see in the MCU is without a doubt the character known as Adam Warlock. The powerful cosmic being was first teased in the post-credits stinger of Thor: The Dark World, which revealed Warlock's iconic regeneration cocoon in the background of the Collector's ship.
While that was later revealed by GotG director James Gunn to be an ancient version of the Sovereign's cocoon, the real deal showed up in one of the post-credit teases of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, when the actual golden cocoon was shown, with the Sovereign leader Ayesha naming the occupant "Adam." Fans were hoping to see Adam Warlock make his appearance before Infinity War and Endgame due to the importance of the character to the original comic storyline, yet we're still waiting to see Him (as he was known in his first appearance) on the big screen.