The Marvel Cinematic Universe spans a decade and has introduced many characters to audiences across the world. With each new film, the cast of character grows a little more and gives fans new characters to love. Whether they be villains or heroes, it does not matter to the truly dedicated. Of course, Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) snap took away half of those beloved characters at the end of Avengers: Infinity War.
Even though the pain lessens with time, helped along by the possibility of many of these characters returning in Avengers 4, we still need to honor those who graced our screens. After all, the MCU has the richest tapestry of characters of any franchise. Each of the MCU characters have their own fanbase, for the most part. With the new blood introduced in Phase 3, the long-awaited diversity within in the MCU begins to finally come to fruition.
Still with every successful character addition, there is usually the less well-received members. They are almost always the villains. While the MCU does heroes really well, the villains usually end up suffering for it. Now and then, we’ll find a diamond in the rough but even diamonds have their flaws.
With this in mind, we’re looking back as far as Phase 2 of the MCU to evaluate how these character additions affected the franchise. Some won our hearts and others broke them, not in a good way either.
Here are 10 New Character Additions That Hurt The MCU (And 15 That Saved It).
SAVED: M’Baku (Black Panther)
Black Panther brought us a cast of absolutely amazing characters. It only seems fitting to kick it off with the one who everyone loves the most: M’Baku.
The leader of the Jabari Tribe begins as a rival for the crown for Wakanda. Later, he provides shelter and acts as an ally to T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and his deposed family. Eventually, he becomes part of the Council and a staunch ally of the recrowned king.
It’s no surprise that audiences love M’Baku. He’s boisterously cheerful and friendly, but also one of the best fighters in the MCU.
HURT: Ronan (Guardians of the Galaxy)
We’re putting Ronan at low end of the Hurt list as he has a chance to redeem himself in the upcoming Captain Marvel.
Lee Pace was perfectly menacing as the character in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. The issue was that he committed the cardinal sin of being boring.
Ronan just did not have an interesting story.
We do not feel his personal stake in it. He speaks in terms of a bigger picture while audiences want more intimate details to hook onto. Characters work when there is something to relate in them. Ronan fails on that level.
SAVED: Zemo (Captain America: Civil War)
Perhaps it’s weird to call the man who broke up the Avengers a character who saved the MCU. Still, what he did stands for itself.
Zemo broke-up the Avengers. Sure, the plan does not make a whole amount of sense in hindsight, but in Captain America: Civil War, he enacts a plan that does what many bad guys before him attempted: irrevocably fractures the Avengers. He out-thought some of the smartest people in the world and made it look easy, on top of that.
With that, we got an excellent movie and a set-up to such films like Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.
SAVED: Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne (Ant-Man)
The duo known as Ant-Man and the Wasp probably will never receive the fanfare of say Captain America (Chris Evans) or Iron Man. That doesn’t mean that they haven’t brought some unique humor.
Where most Marvel films go big, the Ant-Man series goes small. Not just in the power department– both characters have intimate and personal stories.
They have motivations that are understandable: they want to keep their families.
By having these goals, it makes for some engaging storytelling. Hope wants to find her mother and repair the relationship with her father. Scott just wants to be a hero for his daughter. In the end, isn’t helping our families what we all want?
HURT: Everett Ross (Captain America: Civil War)
CIA agent Everett Ross very much represents the whole “company man” mentality that makes the Sokovia Accords possible. Introduced in Captain America: Civil War, Ross did not endear himself to like half of the fanbase when he laughed when asked if Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) can have a lawyer.
With his Black Panther return, he was very much the weak link in the movie. It’s not that Martin Freeman is a bad actor, but Ross was the weakest character in the film.
He would have functioned better as a one-off rather than trying to make him a multi-film character.
He just doesn’t have the charm to be the next Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg).
SAVED: Vulture (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
One actor who definitely did not waste his villainous role? The illustrious Michael Keaton as the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Adrian Toomes’ motives are perfectly understandable. Fired from his job in cleaning up after superheroes, Toomes turns to a life of crime in order to recoup his losses. His villainous enterprise makes a lot of sense, especially in his desire to target a shipment of Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) tech. Stark helped create the Department that cost him his job.
Unlike most of the MCU villains, audiences did not want to see him perish and we hope to see him again.
HURT: “The Mandarin” (Iron Man 3)
One of the most disappointing villains to ever grace the screen in the MCU, The Mandarin isn’t even really the Mandarin.
While it was meant to be a shocking twist in Iron Man 3, it failed to land.
More importantly, it frustrated a lot of fans who were hoping to see Tony Stark’s archnemesis on the big screen. Plus, the real Mandarin could have introduced magic into the MCU before 2016’s Doctor Strange.
While Ben Kingsley is a fine actor and did a great job in the role, it was just overshadowed the story.
SAVED: Wanda Maximoff (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
You do not end up an Avenger by living a happy, apple pie sort of life. Wanda Maximoff shines a light on that.
Stuck under rubble with her twin brother Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) after a Stark bomb destroyed her parents, given powers no one understands by HYDRA, losing her twin in the Battle of Sokovia, branded a pariah by the international community, Wanda does not live an easy life. Yet she continues to fight for a new day.
She finds new love with Vision (Paul Bettany) and finds friends in her fellow Avengers.
If Thanos did not have the Time Stone, she probably would have won.
HURT: Sharon Carter (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
In the comics, Sharon Carter, aka Agent 13, works as a major mover and shaker within SHIELD and as part of Steve Rogers life. She’s an expert fighter, master tactician, and an excellent spy. It’s a pity that we don’t get that in the movies.
In Winter Soldier and Civil War, Carter’s role is minimal at best.
They reduce her to a satellite love interest that, frankly, a large part of the fanbase does not want.
Seriously, kissing Steve in Civil War came right out of nowhere. If she was built up to the degree of hr aunt Peggy (Hayley Atwell) or Bucky, then maybe this would make sense.
SAVED: Okoye (Black Panther)
Who doesn’t love Okoye? Self-possessed, regal as a queen, a ferocious warrior, she’s the leader of the Dora Mijilae who puts her duty to Wakanda above all else.
Okoye is one of the most amazing characters that MCU brought with the amazing Black Panther. Okoye fights against her lover, wrestles between duty and truth, and rocks a truly stunning red dress. She’s who we all secretly wish we could be.
When she returned in Avengers: Infinity War, her lines and nonverbal expressions remain as on point as ever. The look she gives Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) when he trips in the Hulkbuster armor? Forever iconic.
HURT: Malekith (Thor: The Dark World)
Thor: The Dark World definitely remains a disappointment for MCU fans. It was touted as a journey across the realms. Instead, it ended up as a mixture of disappointing and boring, only saved by the actors really earning their paychecks.
Some talent was definitely wasted, though. Christopher Eccleston, best known as the Ninth Doctor, played the leader of the Dark Elves Malekith.
Malekith did not do much.
Sure, he attacked Asgard and took control of the Reality Gem. Yet, ask a casual MCU fan and they likely won’t remember him.
It takes a lot of bad decisions to take an actor as charismatic as Eccleston and make him a literal non-entity.
SAVED: The Grandmaster (Thor: Ragnarok)
Jeff Goldblum playing a quasi-immortal who likes to watch gladiatorial cage matches? We’re surprised this has not appeared on his resume sooner.
The Grandmaster is an amoral dude, yet he remains one of the most fun bad guys that the MCU has ever depicted. To make a great comic villain, you can go two ones: make them sympathetic or make them deliciously camp. The Grandmaster falls into the former category. Goldblum chews on all the scenery and has the time of his life doing so. This makes the audience have fun with him.
Let’s be real: Jeff Goldblum is probably a quasi-immortal off-screen too.
HURT: Darren Cross (Ant-Man)
Can we think of someone as petty as Darren Cross? He was more than ready to sell out to HYDRA shrinking technology as a giant metaphorical middle finger to Hank Pym (Michael Douglas).
Most of his motivations in 2015’s Ant-Man comes from the fact that Hank didn’t encourage him enough. It’s the whole “daddy didn’t love me” villainy excuse taken up to a hundred.
With his incessant whining, it’s not a surprise that Cross was a definite dud with audiences.
We’re just glad that he’s gone.
SAVED: Erik Stevens/N’Jadaka/Killmonger (Black Panther)
Out of all of the villains in the MCU, Erik Stevens stands separate. Calling him a villain, in fact, does a disservice to the character. He functions as a foil and an antagonist to T’Challa, wanting to use Wakanda’s resources to help the oppressed across the globe. He just goes about it in a very extremist way.
His final scene is definitely one of the most affecting in the franchise as well, saying that he wants to be buried in the ocean with the bones of his ancestors rather than live in bondage.
Jordan’s performance alone deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
HURT: Ego the Living Planet (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)
Sometimes, a villain’s plan does not make sense. It can definitely put a major cramp in things. Like Ego’s plan to turn the universe into himself. It’s definitely the weirdest villain plan that we’ve heard in a while.
More to the point, it doesn’t make sense. He goes around the universe, planting his seeds, fathering children, consuming said children so he can be alone.
Ego’s endgame just doesn’t make sense, neither do his methods.
In the end, it’s his callous nature that just makes him one note. He’s a Celestial. He should be more interesting than he was.
SAVED: Valkyrie (Thor: Ragnarok)
Who doesn’t love a hard drinking, hard fighting rogue? Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie is all that and more. She’s a bounty hunter with a tragic past and a smart remark.
While she tries not to care about Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the plight of Asgard, Valkyrie eventually allows herself to be dragged in. Full of empathy and practicality, she returns to Asgard and is able to help defeat Hela (Cate Blanchett).
Thompson’s Valkyrie became an instant favorite amongst fans, who hope that her bi orientation will be on-screen soon. Given her popularity, we are hoping that she’ll make an on-screen appearance again. She’s too good not to use.
HURT: The Black Order (Avengers: Infinity War)
For all that Thanos (Josh Brolin) was the centerpiece of Avengers: Infinity War, his Black Order was less than impressive. These are supposed to be his elite. Gamora probably was once part of the Order herself. Yet they all were more annoying than intimidating.
While it makes sense to have some people in Thanos’ crew, we just wish that they were a little more interesting and threatening over generic.
When they were all defeated, it just felt like swatting flies.
The focus on the film was on Thanos, as it should be. Bringing in the Black Order, however, just seemed unnecessary.
SAVED: T’Challa (Black Panther)
Regal and brilliant, T’Challa has a self-assured air about him that we all wish we could have. Chadwick Boseman does a brilliant job portraying the good man who tries to be king. His version of the character will prove to be the definitive version for years to come.
Not only does T’Challa solve his problems with the powers of the Black Panther, but he attempts to use diplomncy and cunning in order to resolve conflicts as well. He’s also one to learn from his mistakes– rather than fully take his revenge for his father’s passing, he leaves Zemo alive to face justice.
We’re really hoping that he gets un-Snapped.
HURT: Kaecilius (Doctor Strange)
Hannibal fans nuts when it was announced that Mads Mikkelsen would play a Marvel villain. After all, three seasons as the suave cannibal on the NBC show proves the Mikkelsen has a screen presence like no other. He plays one heck of an intimidating mastermind. Yet, as Kaecilius in Doctor Strange, his charisma just disappears onscreen.
What a waste of Mads Mikkelsen.
As a devoted follower of Dormmamu, Kaecilius plans on becoming immortal by tapping into the Dark Dimension. Yet his plan is a non-starter and only used to get Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to Dormmamu, who was the real bad guy.
SAVED: Sam Wilson (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Out of all the Avengers, Sam Wilson is probably the most well-adjusted of the lot. Steady as a rock, a friend to the end, and thoroughly done with supervillain nonsense, Sam is the superhero best friend that we all want. When running into danger, you want someone who will run in after you, even though he knows how stupid it is.
As his role grows in the MCU, fans are hoping that perhaps Sam will take over as Captain America following Evans’ final turn in Avengers 4. Hopefully, he will strap on the shield.
