Save the MCU's Continuity with Bishop

With the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuing to grow, how can we keep up with it all? For this we call in Bishop, a character who can save the continuity!

With Captain Marvel set to premiere soon, the events of Avengers: Infinity War to contend with, and Disney buying out most of Fox Entertainment’s assets, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting rather large and unwieldy. To solve this problem, the MCU needs to bring in Bishop. For those who are not familiar with the Marvel character, hold tight, we’ll get to him soon. First, here’s the problem that he’s got to solve.

Continuity

Marvel and any successful comic book publisher had a handful of titles to start with. When those took off, they created years and years of backstory. With the X-Men, Avengers, Spider-Man, and similar titles, that history turned into decades worth of material. It didn’t stop there though. Characters were introduced and given their own series. And then more characters, some of them getting their own series too. Then came new teams. And then new lineups with old team names. Superheroes died, resurrected, died again, and then came back to life…again. Sometimes someone would die and another hero would take up their superhero alter ego. And when the original one came back to life—well—how do you tell the difference? This was all well and good for someone who was there from the beginning. If you got sick and missed a few issues, you had some reading to catch up on. Then there were those who wanted to jump on long after the series got started. You had to go find the first issues, read those, and catch up on the history. Or, in my case, my girlfriend needed to understand why I was so engrossed with these comic books. I was about to make her sit down and read them all, but she refused. To preserve our relationship, I relented and gave a quick synopsis to catch her up. And then we got married. And I stopped reading comic books. When I try to read a comic book these days, I just accept that I’ll be lost when it comes to backstory.

The MCU

When Marvel finally got their act together and made a decent superhero movie with Iron Man, they started simple enough. You just had one movie to track. Then came The Incredible Hulk. Soon the MCU had the same problem their source material had- continuity. While each movie does a good job of being self-contained, there’s still the larger MCU to contend with. Fans, both comic readers and non-comic readers, have a difficult time keeping track of all the storylines. Not to mention also keeping up with other responsibilities of life- jobs, families, basic hygiene and whatnot. As much as I would like to appear “above it all,” there’s part of me that wants to watch all the movies to keep track of all that’s going on. No matter how mature I claim to be, the comic-reading-kid inside me refuses to be ignored. For the time-being, I get by reading synopses. Don’t judge me. I’m not proud of it, but we all make mistakes in life. This is how I know what happened in Avengers: Infinity War without ever seeing it. Again, I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but rest assured, I have to deal with this shame every day of my life. Throughout all of this, I’m concerned with the continuity issues that are now popping up all over the MCU. There is also the possibility, however remote, that the X-Men will finally get to be involved with the greater MCU and stop being quarantined to their own little universe. If that were to finally happen, there would be a lot more continuity issues to handle. Will the MCU become too big to be sustainable? Then I remember that there’s someone who can help us with this.

Bishop

Lucas Bishop has been, and will always be, a man outside of time. Hailing from Aborigine ancestry, all the way from Australia, Bishop was born a mutant in some future from an alternate dimension. Being a mutant, he was branded with an “M” over his left eye. Although meant to forever brand him as an outsider, it actually gave him a cool character trait. Anyway, this mutant grew up hearing stories of the mighty X-Men and wanted to one day resurrect the hero team. It wasn’t for him, for the millions of oppressed mutants of his time. Long story short- he joined a law-enforcement organization from his time and began pursuing a criminal named Fitzroy. Fitzroy gained control of a device that allowed him not just to travel through time, but across dimensions. Bishop, ever the determined one, pursued him through his own means. Once he caught him, however, both men lost their ability to jump through time and space. Now Bishop was stuck in the “normal” universe.

The Continuity Saver

With Lucas Bishop as the guy who knew about various other dimensions, the character can serve a unique purpose- bridging the gap between universes. It also wouldn’t hurt to have him jump in and out of the other Avenger’s storylines. This would serve two purposes; 1) Get a quick refresher on what’s going on, 2) Serve as a starting point for newcomers. Think of it; an Avengers-style movie with all the big names, albeit in smaller roles than normal, getting to meet Bishop and tying together all the storylines in a less convoluted story. And best yet, there will be minimal effect on the other all continuity! It’s a win-win-win etc.

Who Will Be Bishop?

The only real issue will be casting the character himself. For those who’ve seen Bishop, you know not just any actor will do. I, personally, would vote for Denzel Washington. But if he’s too expensive, then there’s Sterling Brown, Michael B. Jordan, and Daniel Kaluuya. I’m sure there are more qualified actors for the role, but these three have already proven their skill in physical acting. Not to mention they pull off the gritty toughness that Bishop is known for. He’s not a carefree and aloof mutant who easily spouts sarcastic quips. Bishop

He’s a serious man who says little. Casting decisions aside, the MCU should now have the rights to Bishop since Disney bought most of the entertainment assets from Fox Entertainment. So all that’s left to ask is- when are going to see the X-Men, and by extension, Bishop, show up in the Avenger’s storylines? Maybe I’m stating what others already have or asking a question that’s already been asked? But if more and more people are asking, then Marvel will have to give us a reality-hopping flick centered on Bishop. Right? Either way, I’ll have to make do with catching up on Marvel movies when I have the time. As soon as they show up on Netflix, I put it on my queue, or when they get put on the streaming option. You’ll have to do the same. But make sure that you’ve got the best internet deals and packages. This way catching up on all things Marvel will be a little more cost-efficient. In the meantime, what’s the best way to approach a Bishop movie? How would you write that story?