Marvel has tackled many genres across its MCU movies and TV series. But one we haven’t seen come to life yet is “romantasy,” which is currently one of the hottest genres out there. In case Marvel is looking to bring the MCU into a whole new market, we have a suggestion: a Disney+ Marvel series all about Pyro’s life as a gothic romance novelist starring Aaron Stanford. Wouldn’t that be iconic?
Marvel Comics fans might know that Pyro, a.k.a. St. John Allerdyce, isn’t just a fire manipulator; he was also a journalist and is a gothic romance novelist. Yes, everyone’s favorite hot-head writes juicy stories about haunted mansions, supernatural interludes, madness, crumbling walls, lace bodices, and more. We don’t know too much about Pyro’s gothic romance novels, but we do know some of their titles include The Burning Within and Men Overboard. Additionally, one of Pyro’s upcoming gothic romances is called The Secret Tides of Salt Wives, and that one’s about a love story between an Australian seafarer and a woman, which evidently also involves a vampire infestation. You can read an excerpt from Pyro’s gothic romance novel below. (From Mauraders #23)
Aaron Stanford, who plays Pyro in X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, and the MCU’s Deadpool & Wolverine is certainly fascinated with this aspect of Pyro. He shares with Nerdist that in X2, we see a very different Pyro than the one we see in Marvel Comics, which worked well for the project of the X-Men movies. But Stanford notes that in Marvel’s comics, “Pyro is, of all things, a gothic romance novelist, which is absolutely fascinating. And I wish they had delved into that at some point.” From our conversation with Stanford, it sounds like Deadpool & Wolverine will bring a bit more Marvel Comics inspiration to Pyro but doesn’t get into the gothic romance novelist aspect of him, either. A shame!
When we at Nerdist suggest to Stanford that this part of Pyro should and could still be explored further, he notes, “Let’s make it happen.” And so, we are here to make it happen. Between Moon Knight, Werewolf by Night, and hopefully Blade, the MCU is leaning into Marvel’s horror comics. But, one area which the MCU hasn’t really visited is the romance department. Other franchises, like Star Wars, have been pushing a little more heavily into love story territory recently, so why shouldn’t the MCU follow suit? And what better way to explore than via the foundation of horror the MCU has already built? It already has the gothic, now it can just add romance.
Having a writer as the foundation for a story is always fun because within the major plot, minor plots of the author’s works can also exist. If the gothic romance novelist Pyro series came to exist, the MCU could use the conceit to tell many tantalizing tales using its existing heroes. It could even blend live-action and animation in a cool new way. And more to the point, everyone loves a gothic romance, especially right now. Not spreading its wings into the romance genre feels like a shame for the MCU.
Aaron Stanford’s Pyro will be back for Deadpool & Wolverine, but something tells us already that his cameo won’t give us nearly enough Pyro back. And so, we’re pulling for this Pyro mini-series with Stanford as its star to become real.
Give us those literal and metaphorical flames; we’re ready!