Stories by @stevenkelly

Casting Uncle Ben for the MCU

who should play Uncle ben in the MCU

Wonder Woman (DCU)

As Themyscira’s ambassador to the world, Wonder Woman balances her duties as a diplomat, humanitarian, and superhero while remaining committed to the Amazon belief that compassion is stronger than violence. Her life changes when she rescues a mysterious young woman named Donna Troy from the sorceress Circe. After Donna invokes the ancient Hecatea, Diana becomes magically bound to protect her. An investigation reveals that Donna has no real identity or memories, leading Diana to take her to Themyscira, where the waters of Mnemosyne reveal the truth: Donna is actually Troia, a second clay-born champion created by the Titans to oppose the gods. Circe reveals that she erased Donna’s memories to protect her, but Zeus believes Donna murdered Hercules and takes her to Olympus to be executed. Diana reluctantly allies with Circe to rescue Donna, traveling through the mythical world and discovering that the monsters hunting them were sent by Olympus. When Circe attempts to assassinate Zeus and betrays Diana, Diana becomes trapped in the Labyrinth and begins questioning whether her compassion is truly a strength. With help from the reformed Minotaur, whom she names Ferdinand, Diana escapes and reaches Olympus. Zeus offers to free Diana from the Hecatea if she abandons Donna, but Diana refuses. Donna then releases her from the oath, allowing Diana to choose to protect her. Donna embraces her identity as Troia, and the sisters stand together against Zeus. Though they cannot defeat him through strength, Diana's willingness to endure Zeus’s devastating power to protect Donna finally forces him to yield. Peace returns, Donna stays with Diana as her sister and partner, and Ferdinand joins the embassy as its chef. But Ares soon appears, revealing that he secretly manipulated the conflict and warning Diana that his next game will be about something even more dangerous: conflict itself.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (DCU)

Three years after the death of Jason Todd, Batman continues protecting Gotham alongside Nightwing, Robin, and Oracle, but the loss has left Bruce increasingly overprotective and emotionally distant from his family. His world is disrupted when Talia al Ghul brings his eleven-year-old biological son, Damian Wayne, to Gotham. Raised by the League of Shadows and trained to kill, Damian struggles to understand his father's refusal to take a life. At the same time, a mysterious vigilante known as the Red Hood begins executing Gotham's most dangerous criminals. As Batman investigates, he discovers the shocking truth: Red Hood is Jason Todd, resurrected after his murder by the Joker. Jason has returned determined to end Gotham's cycle of violence by eliminating the criminals Batman refuses to kill. With Lady Shiva and the League of Shadows becoming involved, Gotham descends into chaos while Bruce's fear of losing another child causes him to push Dick and Tim away. The conflict reaches its breaking point when Jason captures the Joker and forces Batman to confront the person responsible for his death. Jason gives Bruce the opportunity to kill the Joker, arguing that Batman's code has accomplished nothing but allowing innocent people to suffer. When Bruce refuses, Jason prepares to kill Joker himself, leading to a brutal confrontation between father and son. Damian arrives and nearly executes the Joker, but Bruce challenges him to recognize that killing is not justice. Damian ultimately lowers his sword and chooses his father's philosophy over the teachings of Talia and the League. Jason escapes after destroying the warehouse, leaving his fate uncertain. In the aftermath, Damian chooses to remain with Bruce and becomes the new Robin, while the Bat-Family begins rebuilding its fractured relationships. However, the final scene reveals that Jason survived, watching the Bat-Signal from a Gotham rooftop—still conflicted about Batman, but not yet finished with his mission.

Captain Marvel (2019)

Carol Danvers is a gifted but reckless Air Force fighter pilot whose lifelong struggle to prove herself, fueled by an abusive father, ultimately costs her her career. Given a second chance as a security officer aboard a S.W.O.R.D. orbital research station, Carol becomes caught in an attack by Skrull agents that destroys the station's experimental faster-than-light engine. The explosion infuses her with energy from the Tesseract and transforms her into a human-Kree hybrid with extraordinary abilities. Taken to the Kree Empire by scientist Walter Lawson—secretly the Kree warrior Mar-Vell—Carol joins Starforce and becomes an elite soldier in the Kree-Skrull War. But as she travels across the galaxy, Carol begins questioning the Kree's propaganda and discovers that the Supreme Intelligence has deliberately prolonged the war to maintain Kree power. Carol eventually uncovers Mar-Vell's secret connection to the Skrulls: he once fell in love with a Skrull agent named Anelle, and together they had a son, Dorrek, a child born of both Kree and Skrull blood. When Dorrek is captured, Carol realizes that the war has turned innocent people into weapons and sees how closely the Kree's manipulation mirrors the abuse she suffered from her father. During a massive confrontation between the Kree and Skrull fleets, Carol rejects her role as a living weapon and uses her powers to protect civilians and rescue Dorrek. After Mar-Vell sacrifices himself to save her, Carol destroys the Supreme Intelligence and embraces her identity as Captain Marvel. Returning to Earth with Anelle and Dorrek, Carol reconciles with Maria before setting out into space once again—not to prove her worth, but to protect a galaxy filled with worlds that have no heroes.

Snow White (2025)

Ten years after her father’s death and her kingdom’s fall under the rule of the ruthless Evil Queen, eighteen-year-old Snow White lives in the castle as a lonely scullery maid, stripped of her identity and forgotten by her people. Her life changes when she encounters Jonathan, her childhood best friend who has become a rebellious smuggler helping starving families. After he shows her the suffering caused by the Queen’s regime, Snow White realizes that the kingdom she once knew is still worth saving. When the Queen discovers through her Magic Mirror that Snow White has become the fairest in the land—and that her goodness threatens the source of the Queen’s power—she orders Snow White killed. The Huntsman secretly spares her, forcing Snow White to flee into the Enchanted Forest, where she finds refuge with the Seven Dwarves and begins rediscovering the courage and compassion she had nearly lost. Reunited with Jonathan, Snow White gradually becomes a symbol of hope for the oppressed kingdom, winning over villagers, bandits, and former rebels through kindness rather than force. But just as a rebellion begins to grow, the Evil Queen disguises herself as a peddler and tricks Snow White into eating a poisoned apple, placing her into an enchanted sleep while Jonathan and the resistance are captured. Inspired by the childhood promise they made beneath an apple tree, Jonathan escapes and awakens Snow White with a kiss. Remembering who she truly is, Snow White leads the dwarves, woodland creatures, bandits, and resistance back to the kingdom. Rather than destroy the Queen, Snow White defeats her by refusing to become what she hates. When the Queen's own vanity turns the Magic Mirror's power against her, she is destroyed, and Snow White is restored to the throne. With Jonathan at her side, she becomes the ruler her kingdom needs—a queen who is truly kind, brave, and true.

Scream 7

Years after surviving multiple Ghostface massacres, Sydney Prescott has finally built a quiet life in Pine Grove, Indiana, with her husband Mark and teenage daughter Tatum. But Tatum resents living in her mother's shadow and being treated as though she is destined to become the next victim of the Prescott family curse. When a new Ghostface begins murdering people and claims to be the supposedly deceased Stu Macher, Sydney's carefully constructed life collapses. As the killer uses terrifying AI recreations of Stu, Dewey, Jill, Roman, and Maureen to psychologically torment Sydney, suspicion falls on Tatum, whose unexplained whereabouts during the murders make her a potential suspect. The killings become increasingly personal, claiming Tatum's friends and eventually putting her entire family in danger. Sydney and Gale Weathers attempt to uncover the killer's identity while Tatum struggles to prove that she isn't responsible for the bloodshed surrounding her. Their investigation ultimately leads to a horrifying confrontation at Tatum's school auditorium, where the truth is revealed: the supposed Stu Macher is an elaborate deception, and three people—Chloe Parker, Sydney's neighbor Jessica Bowden, and drama teacher George Willis—are behind the new Ghostface attacks. Their goal is to reinvent Ghostface as "pure" terror, without the personal trauma or complicated motivations that characterized the previous killers. In the climactic battle, Sydney, Tatum, Gale, and Chad fight back against the killers, forcing Tatum to finally step out of her mother's shadow and become her own survivor. Although the massacre leaves devastating casualties—including Mark and Ben—the surviving characters emerge determined to end the cycle of Ghostface violence once and for all.