There are way too many villains that get the ‘one and done’ treatment in the MCU, don’t you think? There are several villains that didn’t necessarily die but didn’t come back save for a mention or perhaps for a story set in the past, before the present-day stories. Ronan from Guardians of the Galaxy is a great example, yeah? But there are a few other villains that would have been fun to see move forward in a bigger, more elaborate manner since their intelligence, power, and skillsets would have been enough to challenge the heroes in ways that have already forced a certain amount of evolution upon the heroes, as well as the landscape of the MCU. Aldrich Killian, who was played by Guy Pearce, would be a great villain to bring back, and, even better, his ability to regenerate would be an easy enough plot point to use to make it happen. It might take some doing, and it’s even possible that a lot of fans might accuse the MCU of retconning yet again, but it does sound like something that could treat Killian with a little more respect than he was afforded in Iron Man 3.
It’s still a bit confusing to see a Marvel villain show up and be crossed out by the end of the movie they appear in since their comic book counterparts have typically been around for a long time and have managed to go back and forth with the various heroes of the Marvel universe. Those villains that have healing factors or regenerative powers are some of the hardest to get rid of, meaning that Killian could have easily been written in as a character that had disappeared instead of being killed by the end of the movie. There is still a chance to be fair since Killian could be far tougher than the movie makes him out to be, and it could be that he’s currently being kept in the wings for a miraculous return that would owe more to the power he took on than a serious need to see him back.
But Guy Pearce is on board with the idea of a comeback to the MCU, and if he could return as Killian it does feel that he might be able to come in and create serious problems for the Avengers that remain, especially since his powers are the type that are tough for a lot of street-level heroes to deal with. It’s fair to say that he might even be able to take on a few heavy hitters and last for a little bit thanks to his ability to heal so quickly and come back from massive amounts of damage. Thinking that he could come back for a Disney+ series or even be shown in a movie again would be easy enough, but the desire to see this villain is something that might have to be gauged. In terms of what he can do, Killian is the type of character that could be inserted into a lot of different scenarios without too much difficulty. But the fact is that Killian was set up as a villain that wasn’t going to move on, which is kind of like a death knell in the MCU that takes the entire movie to finally toll.
It could be a new trend in the MCU to bring back villains who weren’t given a proper ending, and it could even be a byproduct of the multiverse being opened. Even if the possibility of lazy writing could be used to bring him back, the hope is that someone would be able to write this character into a story in a way that would explain where he’s been, and what part he’s going to take on in the MCU. Now that Iron Man is gone it does feel that he might not have a grudge to bear against anyone, save for War Machine. Perhaps the Disney+ show Armor Wars could see the return of Killian at some point. It does feel like a long shot, but at the same time, it feels as though it would be a great way to reintroduce a character that could be so much better.
It’s an idea at the very least that one hopes that the MCU might consider, but if it does happen it doesn’t feel as though it would come anytime soon. It’s fun to hold out hope that the MCU would develop characters that weren’t used to their greatest potential might be brought back, but relying too heavily on the multiverse would be a huge mistake. Using the multiverse in a way that could explain why certain characters are returning or being revealed wouldn’t be such a big issue, but using it as a way of cheating death over and over feels like it would cheapen the MCU in a big way after only a few uses.