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The Marvel cinematic universe has brought us a lot of entertainment and fun, with its great mix of action, story telling and comedy, the MCU since its inception in 2008 has a been a non stop success after success. Part of the charm that has made this movies such a hit has been the incredible range of characters presented in each film, with more than 50 recurring characters in the MCU, we want to talk about the best of them and why we loved them.
(Needless to say this post may contain spoilers for almost every film in the MCU, so you have been warned)
10 - Loki
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Played by:
Tom Hiddleston.
Film Appearances:
"Thor, "Marvel's The Avengers", "Thor: The Dark World", "Thor: Ragnarok", "Avengers: Infinity War".
The God of Mischief it's one of the strongest villains in the MCU, he's conniving, selfish, smart yet at the same thing very conflicted because of the ambiguous relationship he has with his brother Thor, this relation with his adopted relative has been extremely interesting to see over the years, definitely a highlight of the MCU in terms of character development. The way Loki has evolved though the years, especially in "Thor: Ragnarok" makes him into a character worth watching in every scene he's in.
09 - Hulk
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Played by:
Edward Norton/Mark Ruffalo.
Film Appearances:
"The Incredible Hulk", "Marvel's The Avengers", "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Thor: Ragnarok", "Avengers: Infinity War".
After Edward Norton, played the character in "The Incredible Hulk" (good movie, even though you can tell that Marvel was just starting), Mark Ruffalo has really owned this role. The cool thing about Hulk, it's that Marvel really has a clear path where they're going with the big green giant, since "Avengers: Age of Ultron", Hulk has been in a journey of self discovery, falling in love with Black Widow then abandoning The Avengers, finding his own voice and worth as a Champion Warrior in Sakar and then coming back to Earth after being defeated by Thanos, all of these things have made an impact on Bruce/Hulk and you can see that eventually we will see both personalities in harmony.
08 - Black Widow
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Played by:
Scarlet Johansson.
Film Appearances:
"Iron Man 2", "Marvel's The Avengers", "Captain America: Winter Soldier", "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Captain America: Civil War", "Avengers: Infinity War".
Natasha Romanoff is a remarkable character because in almost every film, she faces situations where she encounters foes who are phisically stronger than her yet she always manage to handle things using her inteligence and her incredible fighting skills. Trained to be an assasin, Natasha always feels that she needs to help and be good because of her awful past as a killer, this weight that she always carries has been dealt brilliantly by Scarlett Johansson through every film where she has portrayed Black Widow and you can always tell that Natasha is doing her best to erase that person that she was and that she has always been on a straight path to redemption and being able to live without any heavy burden.
07 - Spiderman
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Played by:
Tom Holland.
Film Appearances:
"Captain America: Civil War", "Spiderman: Homecoming", "Avengers: Infinity War".
The youngest Avenger has had a magnificent revival after the dissapointing reboot in Sony's "Amazing Spiderman" series, introduced in "Captain America: Civil War"; Holland's Spiderman has been a much needed breath of fresh air for the MCU. Young, outrageous, naive but at the same time filled with purpose, this version of Spiderman is everything that the comic book fans wanted for years. Holland brings to the table a character that's impossible not to love or related to, especially with his very accurate movie references that are always right for saving the day.
06 - Star-Lord
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Played by:
Chris Pratt.
Film Appearances:
"Guardians of the Galaxy", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Avengers: Infinity War".
You can feel that the role of Peter Quill aka "Star-Lord" has been taken from a Judd Apatow movie, Apatow has a tendency of dealing with these "man-child" characters that always find themselves in a position where they need to grow and become the adult they need to be and leave their man-child personas behind, Star-Lord it's like that in his MCU representation. After the tragedy of losing his mother and being abducted from Earth as a kid, when we first meet him, he's a wildcard, he steals stuff and has affairs with lots of women, in both Guardians films, we see him changing thanks to his new family composed by the rest of the Guardians and his newfound love, Gamora. Pratt takes a very good take on the role because even though he's been living in Space for many years, he remains very much a human and has a lot of emotions, mostly expressed through the cassette tapes his mom left him before she died, Star-Lord is a well loved character and Chris Pratt deserves all the praise he can get for the success the hero has had.
05 - Ant-Man
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Played by:
Paul Rudd.
Film Appearances:
"Ant-Man", "Captain America: Civil War", "Ant-Man and The Wasp".
The MCU's tiniest hero is probably its funniest, casting Paul Rudd was a masterstroke by Kevin Feige, a well knowned actor, who can handlethe comedic aspect of the role, as well as the family side of it. Ant-Man is not your typical superhero and he pretty much knows it, so he just can believe that he's in the same world along with people like Captain America and Falcon playing a minor role in their adventures, at least for now, Marvel has introduced the Quantum Realm in the Ant-Man movies, so he's certainly going to have a bigger role in the future of the MCU.
04 - Thor
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Played by:
Chris Hemsworth.
Film Appearances:
"Thor", "Marvel's The Avengers", "Thor: The Dark World", "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Thor: Ragnarok", "Avengers: Infinity War".
The God of Thunder has been a somewhat controversial character, the first two Thor movies are considered some of the weakest films in the MCU, but his part in the Avengers films has always been very well received, Chris Hemsworth himself hasn't been entirely happy with the way the character was dealt in his solo movies until "Thor: Ragnarok" arrived. This "new" Thor, very influenced by the tone of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, is a funny, brave and powerful Avenger that has a clear mission as a King, finding a home for his Asgardian people. "Ragnarok" brought new life to the character and has opened a lot of wonderful posibilities for the role, an important hero in the MCU yet it feels that the best of him is yet to come, thanks to Taika Waititi (director of "Thor: Ragnarok") we have that to look forward to.
03 - Captain America
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Played by:
Chris Evans.
Film Appearances:
"Captain America: The First Avenger", "Marvel's The Avengers", "Captain America: Winter Soldier", "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Captain America: Civil War", "Avengers: Infinity War".
Captain America will go down as one of the most mature and well grounded characters in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chris Evans embodies everything that Captain America stands for, honour, leadership, respect, values and principles, this are all things we can see in " The Cap". In each of his solo films, we have seen him evolved from a kid from the 40's who just wants to help his country as a soldier to a twentieth century leader who is well aware of the dangers of the universe that lie ahead of him. Always firm to his believes, always knowing what to do and how to do it, the soldier of the Avengers is a character that Marvel should be proud of.
02 - Doctor Strange
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Played by:
Benedict Cumberbatch.
Film Appearances:
"Doctor Strange", "Thor: Ragnarok", "Avengers: Infinity War".
Stephen Strange was the introduction of magic in the MCU, always a difficult element to introduce in any film, Doctor Strange managed to do it in a way that is both convincing and astonishing. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the surgeon/wizard and he does it with his accustomed flair and style, being ahead of every one and always been the coolest guy in the room. He's one of Earth most smart assets against threats from other dimensions, and as we already saw in "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Avengers: Infinity War", he's wise and knows exactly what to do every time, he can also stand his ground against other powerful colleagues such as The Ancient One, Thor and Iron Man, not many can do that. With just three appearances he has become a reference in the MCU. Marvel see him along with Captain Marvel and Black Panther as one of the cornerstones of their franchise post-Avengers 4, that in itself just shows how big the character is and is going to be.
01 - Iron Man
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Played by:
Robert Downey Jr.
Film Appearances:
"Iron Man", "Iron Man 2", "Marvel's The Avengers", "Iron Man 3", "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Captain America: Civil War", "Spiderman: Homecoming", "Avengers: Infinity War".
It's not a surprise that the character that was the image of the rebirth of Marvel is also its best. Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man it's the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about the MCU, the american actor has owned the role so much that it's difficult to think of someone else playing the part of Iron Man, his charisma, his charm, his ego, his intelligence, everything that makes Tony Stark interesting is thanks to RDJ brilliant perfomance. He steals the show in every scene he's in and he's also capable of dealing with the more emotional side of things, like the revelation about his parents in "Captain America: Civil War" and the brutal ending of "Avengers: Infinity War". Large part of the success of Marvel is responsibility of how the studio has had a creative and open minded approach to writing stories for its characters, among many others things but no one can deny that Marvel's triumph couldn't have been possible without Iron Man and of course, Robert Downey Jr.
See you next time!
