Details are scarce about Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the absence of facts, the only reasonable thing to do at present is to submit an unlikely proposal.

Audiences are certainly going to tune in to movies within the greater MCU, and with Disney Plus generating series that tie in to the MCU, there are plenty of stories to be told. Still, Endgame marks a major milestone for the MCU, and moving forward to Phase 4, the MCU is going to be different, and with that comes a lot of opportunity for new, inventive stories.

In another world, the NFL constantly faces a need to keep fans interested as stars retire, dynasties shift, paradigms shame. Similarly to the ousting of the superheroes of yesterday in the MCU, the NFL relies on new recruits to keep fans engaged in interested. Young blood keeps the NFL’s hopes alive, just as new superhero tales promise to maintain fan interest in the MCU. With these similar struggles of maintaining a constant pool of interest, it only makes sense that Disney partners with the NFL to stoke interest across audiences to keep filling theaters and stadiums, thereby presenting an unlikely proposal: Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals and Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns will be the next leading men of the MCU.

Kyler Murray Baker Mayfield

Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield, perfect leading men for the MCU.

Accepting that as so plausible it has to be true, what stories will be told with ol’ Kyler and Baker? Certainly these men can’t be shoehorned into roles that are already at the forefront of audience’s minds. These men are the perfect vessels to bring attention to long-ignored heroes from the annals of Marvel history. Considering the possibilities, combing through passages about Marvel’s past, two members of the Avengers roster stand out as the perfect personas for Murray and Mayfield to adopt. The team-up movie no one asked for, but everyone will devour is: Two-Gun Kid and Triathlon! The plot practically writes itself.

Matt Hawk, the Two-Gun Kid, is a lawyer out of Boston that is inspired to fight crime after being trained by the gunfighter, Ben Dancer, and becomes the savior of the West, with his trusted horse, Thunder, and partner, “Boom Boom” Brown. This iteration of the Two-Gun Kid is set in the fifties, so in keeping with canon of the present MCU, Two-Gun Kid would have risen to prominence about a decade after the disappearance of Captain America. No stranger to time travel, the Two-Gun Kid is called up to present day initially to join the Avengers, and then partners up with Hawkeye. In the MCU, time travel has been introduced, and the Two Gun Kid consistently finds himself in need of defeating alien enemies, also not exactly a foreign concept to the MCU. His introduction to the MCU will be explained shortly, but first, there’s the matter of Delroy Garrett.

Delroy Garrett is an Olympic medalist with a tarnished reputation after his use of steroids is revealed. After being gifted the powers of the former 3-D Man, Garrett dons the identity of Triathlon, a hero with enhanced physiology and superhuman speed. Triathlon has a history of foiling the plans of arms’ dealers, so a feasible plot to bring Triathlon and the Two Gun Kid together would be an alien species illegally dealing arms, escaping detection by employing time travel. In the fifties, while Two Gun Kid is on the case, he is accidentally transported along with an arms shipment to present day. Lost without his trusted horse and partner, he is discovered by Triathlon, and the team pair up to save the day.

Kyler Murray, celebrated for his speed on the football field, is a logical casting for Triathlon, and his own Texan past coupled with his time as an Oklahoma Sooner add credibility to his teaming up with Baker Mayfield as the Two Gun Kid. Mayfield has the wit and charm to pull off convincingly the role of a western superhero. These two minor heroes rising to prominence in this way would make sense with Thor off-world assisting the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel likely involved in her own extraterrestrial capers. The West has been unexplored by the MCU, so this opens up a whole new world for Marvel.

In the comics, Two Gun Kid’s time travel antics end up being litigated by She-Hullk, and with the Two Gun Kid’s own legal background, a sequel that brings She-Hulk into the fray is equally plausible. Really, this idea only makes more sense the more it is scrutinized. Both characters also work well with the MCU’s jovial tone, and the MCU ushering in a zany western would be welcomed by most audiences.

Really, it’s almost a guarantee at this point that this story will be told in the MCU, so look for confirmation from Marvel Studios in the coming months.

By: Dan Burkett

@DanielBurkett

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