Jeffrey K. Lyles' Movie Files

One of the coolest aspects of “Marvel’s The Avengers” was finally seeing Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Hulk come together in one film to trade quips, fight each other and finally team up to meet one of their toughest threats. After three times seeing this comic book come to life, my mind can’t help but think of the already announced sequel. And as you know, in any sequel one of the prerequisites is adding new characters.

Fortunately in The Avengers case, they’ve got a wealth of characters to draw from for future installments. Following the record-breaking opening weekend, I looked at Marvel Studios’ post-Avengers plans. This time I’m looking at the potential new additions to the team’s ranks for the sequel:

Ant-Man – Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead”) is directing a standalone of Hank Pym, a biochemist who creates a size-altering formula and using his other talents, devises a way to communicate with ants. Ant-Man was one of the two founding members who didn’t make it to the Avengers opening act, but the continued interest in the character indicates a strong likelihood that Ant-Man will show up in the Avengers sequel.

Odds: 1 to 1. About a solid a lock as you can get since his own film is now set to come out in 2014, putting him in good position to get his own buzz before “Avengers 2.”

Black Panther – T’challa, the Black Panther, is king of his own technologically advanced nation and could give Starks a run for his money in the brains department. He’d come across very similar in fight scenes to the Black Widow, the team’s sole female member.

Odds: 6 to 1. Black Panther is one of my favorite Marvel characters and he’d bring a sense of stylish cool to the team, but Marvel Studios realizes his own franchise potential and has writers working on treatments for his own standalone film, which could delay him joining the team.

Quicksilver & Scarlett Witch – Pietro and Wanda are a sibling mutant duo that have super-speed and reality-altering powers respectively. Scarlet Witch was also married to fellow Avenger Vision, which could add some romantic tension and family strife as Quicksilver doesn’t want his sister marrying a glorified robot.

Odds: 5 to 1. During Avengers’ press interviews, Marvel President Kevin Feige said the siblings’ mutant status puts them in a grey area as they can be used in the X-Men films or Avengers films. That he’s aware of their popularity (at least Wanda’s) and their availability hints that they could be soon to arrive in the Avengers movie universe.

Falcon – Captain America’s best friend and frequent partner against crime actually was introduced in the comics as a pawn of Cap’s arch-nemesis, The Red Skull. Free of his control and with a flight harness created by The Black Panther, Falcon soars to the skies in the fight against evil.

Odds: 8 to 1. Falcon was infamously originally added to the team to help meet minority quotas and could be added to the movie universe to bring about a more diverse Avengers lineup as well.

Warbird -  Carol Danvers is a former test pilot enhanced with an alien gene that gives her the power of flight, super strength,  speed and energy absorption/projection.

Odds: 10 to 1. Warbird is one of the better-developed female Avenger characters, but she’s going to have to get worked into the movie universe before she can show up in the any Avengers films.

War Machine - Tony Starks’ best friend and fellow armored hero has been a feature player in both solo “Iron Man” films so audiences are already familiar with him.

Odds: 3 to 1. Don Cheadle, who played the role in “Iron Man 2,” has confirmed a War Machine spin-off is in the works. A quick cameo – whether in armor or in a Pepper Potts type role in “Avengers 2″ would definitely help spark interest.

Wasp – The other original founding member who wasn’t introduced in the first round of Avengers films. Janet Van Dyne has the power to shrink to wasp sized and can shoot energy blasts. She’s a fashionista who continually changes costumes, which could make for a fun running gag. Wasp is a fun character who would help lighten the mood, especially in the face of the overwhelming odds the team faces.

Odds: 1 to 1. There’s little chance of her not being in the Ant-Man film alongside longtime boyfriend Hank Pym so she should be a lock for the Avengers sequel.

Vision

The synthoid/android who can turn intangible/diamond hard, fly and shoot solar rays has been an Avengers mainstay and he’d add greater diversity to a team that already counts a thunder god, armored billionaire, ace archer and super soldier among its members with his robotic personality and power set. Marvel Studios has also hired writers to develop screenplays for several heroes, including Vision, so he’s definitely on the radar.

Odds: 2 to 1. Vision’s origin also ties in to one of the team’s greatest enemies — Ultron — who could easily be the villain in a sequel, so Vision’s got as good a chance of any member of joining the team for the sequel.

Spider-Man

For some as yet to be explained good reason, Spider-Man is actually a current member of  The Avengers.

Odds: 100,000 to 1. His rights are locked up by Sony Pictures, so Spidey thankfully will be far removed from the Avengers movie universe.

**My amazing dad, Ricardo Lyles, patiently took these pics for me to accompany this round-up.