MCU movies, for better or worse, operate like well-oiled machinery. The franchise is putting out more content than ever before, and their popularity remains at an all-time high. Although many notable directors like Edgar Wright have historically stepped away from directing Marvel movies thanks to creative differences, the franchise’s existing properties across movies and television have expanded in style quite a bit. For instance, last year's Best Director Oscar winner Chloe Zhao recently helmed Eternals, which marked a new creative direction for the MCU. With the involvement of a visionary filmmaker like Zhao, it seems there’s no better time to get some new talent involved in the production of these movies.

Plenty of directors in Hollywood could put together a competent superhero movie with enough action and drama, but the question remains which directors could challenge the genre and bring something new to it, simiarly to what Zhao did. Here are 5 directors we think should direct an MCU movie.

Related: The Marvels Cast Photos Suggests More Marvel Crossovers Are On the Cards

5 Kathryn Bigelow

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Sourced via Summit Entertainment

Known for creating high-profile, renowned war films like The Hurt Locker and Zero-Dark-Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow has proved she has the chops to mine meaning out of the horrors of violence and warfare. The MCU, which only sometimes chooses to indulge in the consequences of mass death and property damage, could benefit from the directorial hand of someone well versed in exploring the consequences of the violence depicted in those movies. Her perspective on the nature of heroism, too, could add some depth to the characters that so many audiences know and love. She's also known for working within existing Hollywood trends and styles, while imbuing her work with rich subtext that deals with social issues, a combination that could make for an incredible Marvel movie.

4 Matt Reeves

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Sourced via Chernin Entertainment

War For The Planet of the Apes is an epic of a film. Matt Reeves manages to impart the gravity of war, lost friendship, and sacrifice with a deft hand that makes the film’s stakes feel much larger than life. It's also a film with a complex, multidimensional view on morality, where the "right" thing to do is almost never clear. It’s easy to imagine how those elements could be a huge asset for a superhero film, and with Disney’s huge marketing and production budgets, a Matt Reeves MCU film would become a home run blockbuster. The director is already a subject of public discourse while audiences await the release of his new Batman film with Robert Pattinson, which means he’s already gained the experience needed to make a superhero film.

3 Alfonso Cuarón

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Sourced via Universal Pictures

The genius behind Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, and Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón has an auteur’s reputation that might bring a genuinely new style and tone to the MCU. Similar to Sam Raimi, Cuarón is known for unique camera work that adds a sense of momentum and brings fantastical subject matter to life. Marvel movies, which depend on kinetic and visceral action, could benefit from Cuarón's careful and intentional use of the camera. His films are also ripe with visual symbolism and motifs that guide the path of the story. If Cuarón were to try his hand making a superhero film, it would have the potential to redefine the genre as audiences understand it. Roma, Cuarón’s 2018 film, took home 3 oscars for Best Cinematography, Director, and International Feature Film. The director is no stranger to the awards circuit, a quality that the executives at Disney and Marvel no doubt covet.

Related: Every Best International Feature Film Oscar Winner of the 2010s, Ranked

2 Boots Riley

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Sourced via Focus Features

A modern-day renaissance man, Boots Riley has only actually directed one feature-length movie. The man is known for his rapping career and political activism, making his past a true departure from the paths of most established directors in Hollywood. His movie Sorry To Bother You is a surreal tale following a black telemarketer with an exceptionally good “white voice” who struggles with his participation in a local labor rights movement. The way the film is shot, in its cinematography and editing, would lend itself well to an action setting and the commentary that Riley could weave into the film’s subtext would be the subject of endless debate. The politics of Marvel movies have been criticized by people on all ends of the political spectrum, and though Disney is not known for making politically provocative work, a departure from that tradition in the hands of Boots Riley might shake up the place and purpose of franchise films as the public understands them.

1 Ari Aster

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Sourced via A24

Known for the unsettling, mind-bending movies Hereditary and Midsommar, indie horror filmmaker Ari Aster would make an MCU movie unlike anything that has come before it. The franchise is beginning to embrace many genres, forecast by the upcoming Sam Raimi horror film Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. The talents of a director who knows how to shock and disorient an audience holds the promise of a thrillingly different theater experience. Ari Aster’s sinister take on the MCU would twist the characters and stories into shapes that audiences couldn’t begin to image. The director expressed distate at the monopoly that Marvel movies have on the industry, but the franchise could benefit from giving the filmmaker full creative reign to create something truly different. After the insanity of Midsommar, thoughts of an Ari Aster-helmed MCU movie sends true shivers up the spine.