Has the Marvel Cinematic Universe lost its way?
After the sprawling, sometimes chaotic ‘Multiverse Saga’, the studio finds itself at a strategic crossroads, needing to mint new stars to carry the franchise forward.
With Iron Man and Captain America gone, at least for now, the question on every executive and fan’s mind is: which character will get the next solo movie?
"…A solo Wolverine film is an inevitability. He is the most marketable superhero in the Marvel stable who isn’t a ‘Friendly Neighborhood Web Slinger’. "
This has led to intense speculation about which character, yet to have their name in a movie title, will be the first to headline their own film.
Based on industry analysis and fan demand, the strategic favorite is the Silver Surfer, with a 25% implied probability of being announced first.
According to our in-house analyst, the next move is crucial for setting the tone of the MCU’s future.
We’ve crunched the numbers and created the theoretical betting odds for the next big Marvel headliner. The odds displayed are purely speculative and intended for entertainment purposes only.
| US Odds | Implied Probability | |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Surfer | +300 | 25% |
| Scarlet Witch | +400 | 20% |
| Nova | +550 | 15% |
| Doctor Doom | +750 | 12% |
| Wolverine | +900 | 10% |
| Blade | +1150 | 8% |
| Ghost Rider | +1300 | 7% |
| Storm | +1900 | 5% |
The following odds are accurate as of 27 November 2025
This isn’t just a fan dream; it’s a calculated business decision. With the character’s debut in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the MCU fandom finally got to see the ‘Sentinel of the Spaceways’ for the first time since Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).
While Shalla Bal’s appearance in The Fantastic Four: First Steps ended with her fate left open to questions: there are still avenues open towards a sequel or a prequel.
Silver Surfer offers the cosmic grandeur that made Guardians a hit, but with a layer of philosophical depth that could attract a more mature audience.
In either incarnation: Norrin Radd or Shalla Ball, the Surger is visually spectacular, narratively complex, and the ideal candidate to steer Marvel’s cosmic arm into more ambitious territory. This is the smart money bet.
If this were a popularity contest, it would already be over.
Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff is an absolute powerhouse, backed by the colossal success of WandaVision and a rabid fanbase that tracks her every move.
Her story was left dangling at the end of Multiverse of Madness, creating a perfect recipe for a redemption arc that would print money.
We’ve seen one of her sons made real in Billy Maximoff’s appearance in Agatha All Along, and he’s expected to appear again in Avengers: Doomsday – could we see Wanda reunited with her boys?
Patience is a virtue, and a Nova project has been simmering in development for the better part of a decade.
That kind of long-term belief from the studio suggests they’re just waiting for the right moment. The narrative is pre-baked: Thanos wrecked his home planet of Xandar, giving him a ready-made origin story.
He’s the “cosmic cop” who can ground the MCU’s galactic tales with a human perspective, making him a logical and high-potential choice.
Here’s the bet for the sharps. With Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled for release during the holiday periods of 2026 and 2027 and currently no films slated between them: Disney has a blockbuster-size gap to fill in the summer of 2027.
Why not give Robert Downey Jr another opportunity to be the solo lead in another film and humanize Victor Von Doom?
Think of this like watching the prequel trilogy between Empire and Jedi.
A sophisticated, Joker-style origin story for Victor Von Doom would be a bold, mature pivot for the studio.
It would build immense audience investment in the character before he becomes the primary threat to the Avengers, a truly premeditated piece of franchise management.
Let’s be clear: a solo Wolverine film is an inevitability. He is the most marketable superhero in the Marvel stable who isn’t a ‘Friendly Neighborhood Web Slinger’.
However, betting on him to be the very next solo headliner is a long shot.
Marvel will almost certainly want to introduce its new Logan within a team context, both to build the X-Men brand and to create distance from the iconic Hugh Jackman era. That may happen when we see the X-Men in Avengers: Doomsday, or it may follow in Secret Wars in 2027… but that means it’ll likely be 2028 or 2029 before they before we seen Weapon X go berserk on the silver screen.
It’s coming, just not next.
Mahershala Ali as Blade should have been a slam dunk. Instead, we’ve had one off-screen appearance in The Eternals post-credit sequence, and the project has become a case study in development hell, cycling through directors and scripts with no end in sight.
While the film is technically “in the works,” its troubled status meant a planned 2025 release was cancelled. And with no new release date as yet, a newer, less complicated project could still jump it in the production queue.
This is a value bet, but one that requires faith that the studio can finally right the ship.
There is a palpable hunger from fans for a true horror-infused take on the Spirit of Vengeance.
Ghost Rider would kick open the supernatural of the MCU that has been teased on the big screen in Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. We’ve seen more of the supernatural in the Disney+ side of the MCU with WandaVision, Agatha All Along and Ironheart all crossing over into the world of the otherworldly.
He’s a cult favorite with massive visual potential. Still, with less concrete evidence of a film in active development compared to other candidates, he remains a fan-favorite longshot.
Like Wolverine, Ororo Munroe is an A-list mutant with a universe of solo story potential.
Her rich backstory as a goddess, a leader, and a thief is crying out for a standalone feature film.
But she faces the same hurdle as Logan: Marvel needs to establish its X-Men as a team before it starts spinning off the individual members.
Her time will come, but placing her at the front of the line right now is a serious reach.
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