[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Ironheart Episode 6, “The Past Is the Past.”] Mephisto is now officially in the MCU, and after such an intriguing introduction in Ironheart, we’re already hungry for more from Marvel’s head demon in charge. During his enthralling scenes with Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) and Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) in the Ironheart finale, Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen) mentions that he helps “people realize their wildest ambitions”, going on to share he’s made a deal with every member of the Forbes 100 Richest list, plus “fourteen kings, three popes, and a Beatle”. In the episode’s post-credit scene, Riri appears to join their ranks, bargaining with Mephisto to bring her friend Natalie Washington back — not as her A.I., but Natalie herself back from the dead. Not only do we need to see the full consequences of Riri’s deal with Mephisto either in a second season of Ironheart or another installment of the MCU, but with an actor as versatile as Cohen playing the demon, we’re now craving a solo Mephisto spinoff series.
Mephisto Has the History & Power Set to Sustain a Solo Series
First off, there’s plenty of material in the comics beyond MCU Mephisto’s relationships with Riri and Parker Robbins to support a solo series. The character first debuted in 1968 as an adversary of the Silver Surfer’s. Ever the tempter, he offered Norrin Radd a chance to reunite with his love Shalla-Bal on his home planet of Zenn-La. Unlike Riri, the Silver Surfer was able to resist making a deal with Mephisto, yet the demon would go on to torment a whole slew of other Marvel heroes. Mephisto is the reason we have Ghost Rider, since he bonded Johnny Blaze’s soul with the fire demon Zarathos, which imbued Blaze with his fiery powers. He’s also a notable thorn in Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s side, especially in the webslinger’s One More Day run published in 2007, where he destroys Peter and Mary Jane Watson’s marriage. We learn later that it’s because Peter’s daughter, Mayday Parker, is considered to be Mephisto’s archnemesis. There are countless other heroes and villains in the Marvel canon that Mephisto comes across, providing an embarrassment of story riches for a writer’s room to pull from for a Mephisto series.
Furthermore, Mephisto has a formidable power set that begs to be explored in full. The shapeshifting and magic we saw in Ironheart was the mere tip of the iceberg, and after that tease of Mephisto’s true form in the episode, we’re desperate to see him realize his full demonic potential. Mephisto has superhuman speed and stamina, along with a regenerative healing factor that helps power his immortality. As we saw in his scene with Riri, Mephisto can read minds, as well as utilize teleportation, telekinesis, and dream-walk to manipulate his targets. Along with his vast hellfire powers, Mephisto’s ability to manipulate time, warp reality through his devil’s bargains, and his cosmic awareness across timelines make him a truly daunting force to be reckoned with. Watching how an opponent of Mephisto would exploit the demon’s few weaknesses – such as needing a deal to influence others’ free will, or the strength of his powers being tied to his proximity and time spent in his home realm – could be one hell of an entertaining watch indeed.
SBC Has The Star Power to Sustain a Mephisto Spinoff Show
The popularity of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness in WandaVision, and then subsequently Agatha All Along, has provided a blueprint for Marvel should they wish to devote a spinoff to Mephisto. Both aforementioned series, along with the Doctor Strange films, have established the foundations of the supernatural corner of the MCU that Mephisto would operate in. Also, like Hahn, Sacha Baron Cohen is an accomplished actor in both comedy and drama. While most of us know him for his iconoclastic, hilarious character Borat, Cohen earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2020 for his performance in the drama The Trial of the Chicago 7; he is more than capable of carrying a series as an complex and compelling antihero, who could balance the darkness and menace of the character with his masterful comedic chops.
Taking his history and power set into consideration, we can see a series that follows Mephisto making deals and collecting on others, which includes a cast of both existing characters in the MCU as well as the notable figures he rattled off to Riri in Ironheart. Ideally, we’d love for a Mephisto spinoff to feel like a cross between Loki, Agatha All Along, and Fox/Netflix’s Lucifer, which also puts a devil with powers of persuasion at its center. There’s no doubt that Mephisto will appear again in the MCU; however, his rich history and the lauded actor playing him merit a proper spinoff show to showcase it all.
All six episodes of Ironheart are streaming on Disney+.
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