3 Reasons Why We Think Marvel Could Be Adding A Filipina Superhero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

I know Ned’s Lola from Spiderman: No Way Home is already heralded as a fan favorite in Filipino homes around the world, but with the current trend of racially diversifying superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it might not be too far-fetched to question when a Filipino Thor or Captain Manila may be called upon to aid The Avengers. It’s too early to say for certain, but let’s dive into 3 reasons why we believe a Filipina heroine might be making a splash in the near future of the MCU. 

Wave art courtesy of Greg Pak via Twitter

1. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has not shied away from adding ethnically diverse superheroes.

2018 marked a monumental milestone for representation in the MCU with the blockbuster premiere of Black Panther starring the late Chadwick Boseman. It had fans across the globe wondering if Marvel would be satisfied with the lone achievement, resulting with regression to only white superheroes or if they would continue to give representation to other minorities. Cheers to MCU for taking action on the latter! Let’s take a quick look at the most recent characters that the MCU has introduced in the past year; 1. Kamala Khan, 16 year old Pakistani-American aka Ms. Marvel, starring in her own series on Disney+ 2. Marvel changed Moonknight character, Layla El-Faouly (originally a white woman), into full Egyptian ethnicity to be “respectful of the Egyptian mythology and history that runs throughout the show” 3. Of course, who can forget the huge win for the Asian community with the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in 2021. Marvel adding asian superheroes and Disney casting Halle Bailey for their 2023 live action version of The Little Mermaid, clearly shows us that Disney is sticking to what it representation on the big screen and I don’t think they have any intention of slowing down in the near future. 

2. What if we told you that a Filipina Superhero was already here?

In April 2019, the Marvel comic series The War Of The Realms added a new tie-in series called New Agents of Atlas which called upon 3 new heroes to protect the pacific rim from the invasion of Sindr and her legions of fire demons. One of those heroes is a Filipina named Wave. Wave is illustrated as having a pair of single-edged longswords believed to be inspired by the kampilan (a type of blade which originated in the Philippines) to go with her shiny black hair and brown skin tone. These details and features are most likely contributed by co-creator and Filipino comic book artist, Leinil Francis Yu. In regards to her backstory, co-creator George Pak wanted to keep most of her information a secret, later to be unveiled in the books but was able to divulge a few details. He says Wave was born in Cebu, she has the ability to manipulate water, and she has special fins and other features from her suit that will be later revealed as the story progresses. This is real exciting stuff considering that the new phase of the MCU is starting anew and the possibility for a new avenger force extending globally to our pacific shores is not out of the picture.

3. Marvel video games introduce characters with immediate / near-immediate relevance to the MCU.

In the popular mobile video game Marvel Strike Force (MSF), we have seen new character updates that mirror new heroes in the MCU. My guess is that they purposely enact this to generate interest through video games, in hopes to preemptively amplify the actual cinematic debut when it premieres. For instance, Thor: Love and Thunder was released in July of this year (2022) and just before, MSF released an expansion in June 2022 including Mighty Thor (Jane Foster) and the main supporting character Valkyrie. This has been the same trend with recent releases, Moonknight, Ms. Marvel, Dr. Strange (heartless), the list goes on and on. Although Wave was not one of the recent updates, one character in particular from the expansion stood out to me and he goes by the name of Brawn. Brawn’s actual name is Amadeus Cho, a world genius who took on the powers of The Incredible Hulk. For anyone not caught up on The New Agents of Atlas, Brawn is one of the protectors called upon to join forces with other global superheros, one of them being Wave. I know it’s not much to go on but let’s take a quick step back and look at the big picture, Brawn being added to Marvel Strike Force, The New Agents of Atlas mimicking a younger version of the Avengers, and the lack of direction for the storyline of the  Marvel Cinematic Universe, we can take an educated guess that Brawn will be added soon to the MCU and ultimately may rely on The New Agents of Atlas to battle world evil.  

Could this be our time to make waves in the marvel cinematic universe, one of the biggest productions on the planet? Will future generations grow up wanting to wield kampilan for halloween and proudly show off their brown skin and their island heritage? These are all hypotheses and speculations but this type of inclusion from the Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought hope to minorities everywhere that Filipinos might have a seat at the Avengers tower very soon. 

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Written By Niko Del Rey

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