The Marvel Cinematic Universe is expanding rapidly and that means it is filling up with powerful characters at an astonishing rate.

The versatility of the powers now on show is huge, with characters exhibiting super-strength, super-speed, energy blasts, illusion-casting, phasing and flight, amongst other powers.

However, one power that is noticeably missing from the franchise is telepathy. Loki and Scarlet Witch have demonstrated mind-altering powers, but not through psionic control in the manner of, for example, Professor Xavier.

With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at some psionic characters who should be introduced to the MCU in order to keep things varied. Here are five of them.

Xemnu

Now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded into the cosmos, some weird and wonderful characters (a walking humanoid tree, a talking raccoon etc) have already been introduced – so this guy wouldn’t be out of place.

Xemnu is an alien space criminal who resembles what a Yeti classically looks like in movie depictions – but he’s far more powerful than any abominable snowman.

In the comic books, he initially arrived on Earth when his spaceship crash-landed and subsequently used his telepathic powers to control the planet’s population into rebuilding his ship. He later attempted to abduct Earth’s children to take to his home planet in order to repopulate it.

He has clashed with MCU heroes such as the Hulk and Doctor Strange in the comics and he’d certainly be a visually striking addition to the franchise – and his story would be an interesting concept to adapt to the big screen.

Mentallo

Mentallo is a mutant, so you might think he is more suited to the X-Men franchise – but that’s not actually the case. He’s actually more associated with the likes of S.H.I.E.L.D., A.I.M. and HYDRA in the comic books – making him far more suitable for the Marvel Cinematic Universe than Fox’s X-Men franchise.

He’s not really a big enough character to appear in a movie, but he’d be a great addition to the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television series – a place where he could, perhaps, be given new origins as an Inhuman.

His real name is Marvin Flumm and his mutant power is telepathy – something he augments through technological means. He was recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. but attempted to take over the organisation, bringing him into conflict with the likes of Nick Fury.

He could be introduced to the television series as a HYDRA agent (perhaps working alongside Grant Ward) who has a history with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Phil Coulson – and that would be cool to see.

Leader

Samuel Sterns has already appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – in both The Incredible Hulk and an Avengers movie prequel comic – but he has never been seen on screen with any powers (he did briefly appear with them in the comic, but whether or not they’re considered canon is debatable).

In The Incredible Hulk, he was an ally of Bruce Banner’s, trying to aid him with his Hulk problem, but he was caught up in an assault by Emil Blonksy and ended up with some of Banner’s blood in a head wound – resulting in a mutation starting to occur.

That was a hint towards the Leader potentially appearing in the future with his telepathic powers – and most fans would still like to see that happen in a movie.

He could appear in a future Hulk movie as a solo villain or as part of a group of villains – the Intelligencia, for example (who were responsible for the creation of the Red Hulk). He could even be used in a television series if Marvel Studios don’t think he’s big enough for a movie (although seeing him trying to telepathically control the Hulk would be more of a treat).

Moondragon

Moondragon AKA Heather Douglas is one of the most powerful telepathic characters in Marvel Comics. Born on Earth, Thanos crash-landed near her parents’ car when she was a young girl and, not wanting any witnesses to his presence, he destroyed it. Her parents were killed, but she survived.

She was subsequently discovered by Mentor – the father of Thanos – who took her to his home world of Titan, where she was raised by the monks of Shao-Lom.

The monks trained her to unleash her full psionic potential and she also trained extensively in martial arts and engineering. She is, therefore, telepathically formidable, a highly capable combatant and very intelligent.

She subsequently spent time both on Earth and in the cosmos, where she has been a member of both the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. She would be a very interesting addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sentry

The entire schtick of Robert Reynolds when he first appeared on panel was that he was a former hero who had used his massive telepathic powers to wipe the memories of himself from the minds of everyone on Earth (prior to him being forced back into action, that is). With that in mind, he could already exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but people could have just forgotten about him – and wouldn’t that be a unique and interesting way to (re)introduce him to the franchise.

He is Sentry – a character whose power stemmed from a super soldier serum that was infinitely more powerful than the one given to Captain America, which granted him the power of “one million exploding suns”.

As well as massive super-strength, speed, durability and stamina, he can fly, use the aforementioned telepathy, manipulate matter and energy, and various other powers. He also has a powerful, evil alter-ego called the Void.

The character concept is so interesting that he’d be an awesome addition to the franchise and would be a step up in terms of power level on the heroic side of things.

What do you think? Would you like to see these telepaths in the MCU? Which others would be cool to see? Have your say below.