The MCU is full of tons of superheroes, and from Iron Man to Avengers: Doomsday, many new characters have been introduced, explored, and sent off. The interconnectivety of the cinematic universe means that these Marvel icons can show up in all kinds of projects, allowing them to get screentime outside of their own movies. This has allowed characters to be fleshed out far more than they would have in a normal movie series, with Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Nick Fury, and more appearing in countless movies and TV shows.
Despite the immense screen time of the MCU, some heroes have still been failed by the franchise. Whether they didn’t get enough screentime, or the screentime they did get wasn’t utilized properly, these five MCU heroes didn’t live up to their comic book counterparts.
5) War Machine
James “Rhodey” Rhodes has been in the MCU since the very beginning, and throughout the years, he has appeared in three Iron Man movies, three Avengers movies, a Captain America movie, and two TV shows, most recently 2023’s Secret Invasion. He was Tony Stark’s right-hand man and one of the longest-tenured Marvel heroes in the MCU. However, his appearances are far from perfect.
Firstly, War Machine has played an incredibly small role in the MCU outside of the Iron Man movies. He is a minor character in the Avengers movies, and while his injury in Captain America: Civil War does put him in the spotlight for a moment, it doesn’t last very long. In Marvel Comics, Rhodey is actually Iron Man in the original Secret Wars run, something that the MCU has failed to adapt for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. However, the worst part of Rhodey’s time in the MCU is that, in Secret Wars, it was revealed that Rhodey has been a Skrull since Secret Invasion. Not only did this take away from his character arc in seven years of MCU projects, but the reprecussions of this still haven’t been properly explored. It would be nice for the ever-in-development Armor Wars project to finally explore this and give Rhodey his due, but who knows if that project will ever be released.
4) Quicksilver
Alongside Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff (aka Quicksilver) was introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The MCU’s first speedster was also one of the franchise’s first mutants, even if that label wasn’t used. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s take on the character was a lot of fun, but unfortunately, he died before the film even ended. Quicksilver did get some moments to shine in Age of Ultron, but since the film was already overstuffed with characters, it still didn’t feel like enough. This death stings even more considering that Wanda became one of the MCU’s most popular characters, while Pietro was completely left behind.
Oddly, Pietro died while saving Hawkeye from gunfire. This is a big blow against the MCU’s handling of the character, as of all the Avengers, a speedster should be the one least likely to be hit by bullets. Compared to the FOX X-Men movies’ handling of Pietro, this one was a major letdown. Then, WandaVision spent several episodes teasing the return of a Quicksilver variant to the MCU, only for it to wind up being a lame boner joke.
3) The Incredible Hulk
2008’s The Incredible Hulk was the second MCU movie ever, and he was one of the original members of the franchise’s Avengers team. Hulk is one of Marvel’s most iconic superheroes and has more fans than many of the MCU’s other heroes. So, it’s shocking how poorly the character has been handled. Hulk has been relegated to a side character in basically every project he’s been in, with Mark Ruffalo never getting a solo movie. While this could be due to rights issues, as Universal owns the right of first refusal to distribute any Hulk solo movies, this doesn’t stop it from hurting his MCU iteration. Bruce Banner has one of the most complex dynamics in Marvel history, and it has been completely ignored for the vast majority of the MCU.
Even the screentime that the MCU’s Hulk has gotten has been a bit disappointing. From Avengers: Endgame through Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Bruce was Smart Hulk, something that is far less interesting when the Savage Hulk character hasn’t been properly explored. Major Hulk storylines have occurred offscreen, such as his time on Sakaar, his transformation into Smart Hulk, the birth of his son, and the invention of Bruce’s inhibitor. Considering that Mark Ruffalo is 58, it may be too late for a redemption arc for the MCU’s handling of Hulk, which is a real shame.
2) Iron Fist
Netflix’s Defenders universe was fantastic, and it’s a shame that more MCU fans haven’t seen it. Daredevil is arguably the best project that Marvel has ever released, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and The Punisher were all fantastic, and The Defenders was a really solid team-up that focused on Marvel’s street-level side. However, one Defenders project sticks out like a sore thumb: Iron Fist. Finn Jones’ iteration of Danny Rand was a massive disappointment. The character was poorly written, the action was bad, and his conflict with the Hand and the Meachum’s wasn’t interesting at all.
However, some redeeming qualities did shine through, even if it wasn’t in Iron Fist’s own show. Jones’ take on Danny was much better in his appearances in The Defenders and Luke Cage season 2, and these moments proved that the actor could play a good Iron Fist. Unfortunately, the MCU has seemingly abandoned Iron Fist despite bringing Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage back in Daredevil: Born Again, meaning that one of the MCU’s worst superheroes may forever wear that label.
1) Blade
Of all the heroes that the MCU has adapted, the one that has been treated the most poorly by far is Blade. The announcement of an MCU Blade movie starring Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali was met with an overjoyed response. Ali was considered to be a perfect choice for the half-vampire vampire hunter, and since the day that wit was announced in 2019, fans couldn’t wait for it to come out. Fast forward to 2026, and the movie still hasn’t released. Mahershala Ali announced that he has exited Blade, meaning that the movie will probably never happen.
So, we will probably never see the MCU’s Blade again, meaning that his only appearances are a voice cameo in Eternals and an animated appearance as mashup with Moon Knight in Marvel Zombies. A movie about a leather-clad vampire hunter shouldn’t be hard to make, but for whatever reason, the MCU couldn’t pull it off. All of this potential has been absolutely wasted, with the development of Blade being one of the biggest blemishes on the MCU’s run.
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