There can be no arguing with the top spot.
Everyone knows The Avengers and the main players that have appeared throughout the MCU, but what about some of the characters that haven’t been given their proper dues?
With this in mind, we’ve decided to rank the supporting characters in the MCU that really made an impression on us.
FYI, we’re more concerned here with those characters that aren’t quite top billing, or the main villains. Basically, if someone had a smaller role and was memorable, they’re here.
FYI, spoilers ahead.
27) Peter Serafinowicz – Denarian Garthan Saal in Guardians of the Galaxy
“What a bunch of a-holes.”
He deserves his place on the list for that line alone.
26) Gregg Turkington – Baskin Robin’s manager in Ant-Man
A character that can lay claim to conducting the nicest firing in cinematic history.
After Scott Lang’s criminal past is discovered, he can no longer keep his job at the ice cream parlour but his boss clearly just wants to be mates with him. At least Scott got a free smoothie on the way out.
25) Ty Simpkins – Harley in Iron Man 3 and Endgame
A human punching bag for Robert Downey Jr.’s gags in Shane Black’s film, the duo really had great chemistry in the film.
Nice to see him reappear during the funeral scene of Endgame.
24) Kat Dennings – Darcy in Thor and Thor: The Dark World
No sense of personal space, privacy, or decorum.
Completely impulsive and off the cuff, she’s the perfect comedic foil for the more science-heavy Thor saga.
23) Winston Duke – Mbaku in Black Panther, Infinity War, Endgame
A brick shithouse with a heart of gold.
When the future of Wakanda was in limbo, he answered the call.
22) Tommy Lee Jones – Chester Phillips in Captain America
We know that he’s a good guy, but Christ almighty, he’s still terrifying.
This being said, you have to respect a guy that threw a live grenade at his own soldiers as a test of their courage.
21) Marisa Tomei – May Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home
She’s just cool. That’s it.
Much like every step that Marvel have taken with the Tom Holland era of Spider-Man, her casting was perfect.
Not too strict, not too preachy, not too dull. She’s just the perfect fit for that role.
In Spider-Man: Far From Home, she also gets a more well-rounded character arc, which is nice to see.
20) Sam Rockwell – Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2
Absolutely over the top and completely mad.
Aside from Mickey Rourke’s cockatoo, he was the most memorable thing in the sequel.
19) Michael Douglas – Hank Pym in Ant-Man, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Endgame.
Takes no crap, more than capable of standing up for himself, raised an ass-kicking daughter while simultaneously searching for his missing wife.
To compound matters, he’s also a genius that’s not afraid to defy the Stark empire.
Rebel with a cause.
He’s also an absolute gent.
18) Karl Urban – Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok
Meet my two friends, Des and Troy. Destroy.
Genius.
Appears high on the list for this weird shake weight gag alone.
17) Danai Gurira -Okoye in Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.
If you’re going to war, you would want her by your side.
A complete badass that’s unbreakable, unshakeable, and unmovable.
16) Toby Jones – Arnim Zola in Captain America: First Avenger, Winter Soldier.
Jones really is one of those actors that steals most scenes that he’s in and his evil Nazi scientist was so chilling that even after death, he still nearly killed Captain America via a sinister computer system.
Red Skull, Loki, Thanos, Vulture, Mysterio, Killmonger, The Winter Soldier, Ultron, Ronan the Accuser, and more may be the main villains, but he’s the man that laid the foundations.
Hail Hydra!
15) Robert Redford – Alexander Pierce in Captain America: Winter Soldier and Endgame.
Cleverly channeling his earlier experience from the likes of Three Days of the Condor and All the President’s Men, Pierce was the brains that helped the brawn of Hydra infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.
Swarmy, slippery, and suited, he’s the perfect foil to Nick Fury’s no-frills approach.
14) Stellan Skarsgård – Dr. Erik Selvig in Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron
Madder than a box of frogs. What’s not to love?
13) Hayley Atwell – Peggy Carter in Captain America.
At a time when women were being discriminated and objectified in the workplace, Agent Carter proved that she was tougher and more resourceful than 99% of the men.
Without her, it’s unlikely that The Avengers would have ever been formed – she was one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. – and if you’re looking for one scene to encapsulate her character, we’d opt for this one.
Clip via Mini Movies
12) Goose – The cat/flerken from Captain Marvel
Aside from scaring the living shite out of the Skrulls and becoming best friends with Nick Fury, we learned that this critter is no ordinary being.
Granted, that scene was practically a shot-for-shot copy of Groot’s finest moment in GOTG, but damn was it funny!
11) Jacob Batalon – Ned Leeds in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home
The guy in the chair.
Yes, he’s a geek but Ned’s a true friend because he’s always there for Peter whenever he needs him and in Far From Home, well, he’s a bit of a player.
10) Daniel Brühl – Helmut Zemo in Captain America: Civil War
If ever a character was desperately needed for the MCU, it was the main villain of Civil War. Truth be told, the MCU was starting to get a bit stale as a series of Infinity Stones and aerial dogfights took precedence.
Also, every villain had a supernatural entry.
The Avengers were familiar with Loki’s tricks, battled Ultron, and dealt respectively with space elves, red skulls, men in metal suits, and countless others.
What they needed was a different threat. Someone that was far more interested in psychological warfare and again, the man had a reason to feel angry.
FYI, while we’ve avoided including some of the main villains from previous standalone MCU films – Vulture, Mysterio, Ego, etc – we’re including Zemo here because his screentime in Civil War was very limited in comparison to other villains. Also, depending on your point of view, you could argue that Civil War’s main villain is Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers.
9) Tom Vaughan-Lawlor – Ebony Maw in Infinity War and Endgame
An outstanding villain that combined a real physical threat with a wickedly-evil fanaticism.
Like a demented butler that could unleash hell at the flick of his baby finger, there was a chilling authority and presence that defined the character.
The mixture of arrogance, contempt for life on earth, and the horror that he could unleash at any moment really did make for a great character.
Truth be told, he deserved a better ending because he stole every scene that he was in during Infinity War.
8) Letitia Wright – Shuri in Black Panther, Endgame, Infinity War.
She’s got the brains of Tony Stark, the skills of Q, and the bravery of T’Challa.
Without a doubt, Shuri the smartest character in the MCU and while her brother might be King of Wakanda, she’s the deadliest weapon in his arsenal.
We reckon that her role in the next few Marvel films is going to be amped up significantly.
Ok, Black Panther 2 hasn’t officially been announced but come on! The first one made like 172 billion at the box-office. It’s going to happen.
Aside from this, Tom Holland really wants to see Peter Parker and Shuri team up.
We wouldn’t be against that.
7) Benedict Wong – Wong in Doctor Strange, Infinity War, Endgame
Doctor Strange was always going to be a hard sell for audiences to buy, but it’s arguable that the real heart and soul of the film is Wong’s performance as the bad ass librarian because his cantankerous charm grounds the film and gives audiences an ‘in’ to the proceedings.
Fussy, uptight, but with a real sense of warmth, the Master of the Mystic Arts provided the biggest laughs in the film and he backed this up in Endgame.
Seriously, who ever thinks that he’d be a tuna melt kind of guy?
6) Ben Mendelsohn – Talos/Keller in Captain Marvel
A perfect bait-and-switch from Marvel in terms of the their marketing for the film, the majority of viewers were convinced that his character was going to be the big bad of Captan Marvel.
However, after showing up with a coke in one hand and expressing his severe dislike of cats, it was clear that the tables were turned.
As is the norm with Marvel, this proved to be an inspired piece of casting because the Australian actor has made a career out of playing bad guys – Rogue One, Ready Player One, Robin Hood.
As pointed out previously, he could be one of the most important characters for the future of the MCU.
5) Tessa Thompson – Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok
Hard-drinking, ass-kicking, and completely disinterested in Thor’s charms, she made an immediate impression when she drunkenly stumbled off that platform on Sakaar.
After the snap occurred, she was one of the main off-screen characters that fans of the MCU were immediately concerned about.
The rightful ruler of New Asgard and a character that’s vital for Marvel to develop.
4) Michael Rooker – Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy: Volumes 1 and 2
“He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn’t your daddy.”
That’s easily one of the most emotional goodbyes for a character in the MCU and in many ways, it perfectly reflects the relationship between Quill and his surrogate father.
In the first GOTG, it seemed like Yondu was close to killing Star-Lord as he hunted his fellow Ravager down. However, the complete 180 of that character has arguably been the heartbeat of the franchise.
We’re sad to see him go.
3) Jeff Goldblum – The Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok
What’s not to love about Jeff Goldblum going full-Goldblum?
Orgy spaceships, intergalactic jazz bands, magical orbs that melt people, The Hulk on demand, absolutely no idea what age he is, moments of silence for no reason whatsoever.
This is one of Goldblum’s finest roles in years because he just chews up every scene that he’s in.
Case in point.
Clip via Bobby Singer
2) Michael Peña – Luis in Ant-Man, Ant-Man and The Wasp
No word of a lie, there are millions of people that would want Luis’ smiley face to recap the entire events that unfolded in the MCU.
They’re right, too.
Avengers: Endgame should open with Luis recapping the events of Infinity War.
— ManaByte (@ManaByte) January 9, 2019
Truth be told, we’re 100% not against this happening because whenever he’s on screen, it’s impossible not to love Peña’s charisma and friendliness.
Aside from this, you always gets the impression that he just happened to ‘stumble into’ an MCU film. When you think about it, it’s possible to put Luis in any film and the character would still be a joy to watch.
Now that’s a sign of good writing and an excellent performance.
FYI, nobody tells a story quite like Luis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-r3mhlIJi0
Clip via soolly 357
1) Taika Waititi – Korg in Thor: Ragnarok and Endgame.
If Marvel are looking for films to greenlight in their next stage of films, we’re fully behind a spinoff adventure featuring Korg and Miek where they start the revolution, you know, if they print enough pamphlets.
After basing his character on Polynesian bouncers from his native New Zealand, there’s a childlike innocence to Korg that’s impossible not to love.
In terms of memorable lines and scenes. there isn’t a single second when Korg’s on screen that’s not a joy to behold.
“I’m made of rocks. You don’t need to be afraid unless you’re made of scissors,” “Another day, another Doug” and “Thor, he’s back. That kid on the TV just called me a dickhead again” are just some of his finest moments.
The dude is made of rocks, cracks jokes, kicks ass, and wears a Hawaiian shirt.
Here are four minutes and thirteen seconds of pure joy.
Clip via ClipsyBox
Is anyone else excited for Asgardians of the Galaxy featuring Miek, Korg, Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy?
Dear Marvel, please make this film happen.
For those that are interested, here’s Taika Waititi’s take on creating that incredible character.
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