Which MCU Character Is the Most Over?
So right off the bat, I don’t like reading comics but I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For whatever reason, I enjoy watching these well-choreographed fictional fights that matter because of what the fight means to each larger-than-life character. It’s the same exact reason why I still like professional wrestling as an adult man who should know better.
Usually, I wait weeks to see a movie in theaters if I wind up seeing a movie in theaters at all (I like being alone in the darkness!). Last year, though, I decided to see Avengers: Infinity War on its opening night and it was great. To me, it felt like a going to a wrestling show. When a fan favorite like Captain America first made his appearance on-screen, the whole theater lost their marbles. The energy was comparable to when a big-name wrestler like Becky Lynch’s theme music hits in a crowded arena. Each time a character appeared for the first time, this type of crowd reaction happened. It was intriguing to gauge who everyone went wild for (Cap) and who people kinda just tolerated (Vision).
Being that Wrestlemania and Avengers: Endgame are coming out this April, I’ve been thinking a lot about them both recently. This of course begs the question: from a wrestling perspective, which MCU character is the most over?
For anyone who doesn’t watch wrestling, the idea of “being over” is the industry’s shorthand for when an audience connects with a particular character. There are plenty of ways a character can get over. Sometimes it’s because they’re part of a really interesting storyline. Other times, the character is just really good at fighting, and people always love that. There’s also a fourth-wall-breaking aspect to this now, where the character often bleeds into how fans connect with the real-life actor and vice versa. A few MCU characters have gotten considerably more popular this way in recent years.
Going into Avengers: Endgame, I thought it would be fun for me to rank each MCU character by using this very inexact metric of over-ness; you know, to fill the empty void inside of me. We’ll see if it works!
Just so everyone’s clear: this does take into account the totality of an MCU character’s work, but when it comes to being over, so much of it’s about the here and now, bay-bee. Also, I’m staying away from the characters that we know are absolutely dead and not just victims of the Thanos finger snap (I am including the victims of the snap, though!). This means that vanquished villains like Hela, as well as fan favorites like Loki (who probably would have been in the top 4), are not on this list. In certain instances, I grouped characters together and labelled them as factions because it felt more fitting. And finally, I had to leave the X-Men and Deadpool out for obvious reasons. Bummer!
For those who have no idea about the idiot jargon wrestling fans use, here’s a quick vocabulary guide for some of the phrases from that world I’ll be using throughout this piece.
- Babyface/Face — Good Guy
- Heel — Bad Guy
- Putting Someone Over —Usually done when a already popular character works with a newer character to make them look good.
- Booking — The given storyline written for a particular character.
1. Captain America
For an audience that typically prefers characters who are either dark, crude, or snarky, seeing them love a Grade-A babyface like Steve Rogers confuses me, but it’s also refreshing in a way. Much of this has to do with Chris Evans being very attractive, likeable in real life, and pretty good at acting. This should be the archetype DC takes when they reboot Superman for the 9th time, hoping people will finally give a shit about him again. Don’t just get the first square-jawed, failed model you can find. Have someone that’ll make people think of a golden retriever.
Cap also has the most consistently good collection of solo movies, which has proven to be a difficult task for most MCU characters given multiple sequels. Each one did a good enough job of modernizing his character beyond being strictly pro-US-Military propaganda. Of course, Cap is and always will be pro-US-Military propaganda, but he’s now a more palatable brand of pro-US-Military propaganda to match our modern liberal sensibilities delivered to us by a nice looking chap who says corny-woke things on the internet. No judgement if you like that sorta stuff, friends! It all works. He’s the hero who people are more worried about seeing die. This says a lot, considering how some of the other original Avengers have fizzled considerably in terms of popularity. Captain America’s actually picked up steam.
2. Thor
Part of me thinks he should be number one, while another part thinks I put him too high. He’s definitely booked as the strongest Avenger right now, which I think means something. As soon as he entered the Wakanda battle scene in Infinity War, I felt like there was at least a 10% chance Thor would be able to beat Thanos by himself.
What really put him over was Ragnarok. While the first couple of Avengers movies tapped into the lovable bimbo Thor angle a little bit, directorTaika Waititi quadrupled down on it and made what was arguably the best MCU movie of them all.
The problem here, though, is it took a bit too long for them to figure out what to do with Thor. His first two movies are considered to be the most boring additions to the MCU, all because someone thought it would be a clever idea to overtly apply Shakespearean themes to a comic book movie.
Regardless, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a red-hot babyface right now after Ragnarok and Infinity War. He’s more than made up for those missteps.
3. Wakanda
What made Black Panther so incredible wasn’t just T’Challa. It was being able to see the entire secret country revealing all of its genius to the audience scene after scene. There’s artistry in Black Panther that only one or two other MCU movies really come close to. With this incredibly vibrant world as the backdrop, it made introducing a myriad of new characters appear seamless. Each person brought something unique to the given environment, which is what every great faction needs. T’Challa proved to be a sturdy and unflappable leader, while his chaotic foe, Killmonger, a heel that the fans actually wound up cheering.
As an added bonus we got characters like Okoye and M’Baku in supporting roles, written and performed so well, they arguably wound up being more over than T’Challa himself. In M’Baku’s case, a lot of this has to do Winston Duke, the guy who plays him maybe being the biggest thirst trap of all time.
Overall, it’s impressive that after only two movie appearances that happened just a year ago, the Wakanda faction is this high and could possibly get even higher depending on where the MCU decides to go after Endgame.
4. Thanos
It’s been a recurring critique of MCU films that their heels are rarely much of a challenge to the babyface in question, thus leading to pretty predictable conclusions. My argument against this was that every superhero movie is inherently formulaic. It’s not like Iron Man is just gonna die in Iron Man 2 and then that’s all for Iron Man. That’s why I was okay with these doormat heels as long as everything else was enjoyable. Then came Thanos, mad king of Titan and worldbeating heel.
Within the first few minutes of Infinity War, he had already wrecked a ship, beat the hell out of Thor and The Hulk, and killed Tom Hiddleston. By the end of the movie, like Brock Lesnar going up against Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30, he snapped the Avengers’ winning streak. Thanos is now the 1 in 21–1 and, needless to say, the most over heel MCU’s ever had.
Thanos also proves that giving a character a signature weapon is always a good way to go. It worked for both Thor and Triple H with their respective hammers, and it worked for Thanos with his infinity gauntlet. Unfortunately, Hawkeye’s bow and arrows never really did it for anyone, but that just goes to show archery is for chumps and elves.
5. Iron Man
A few years ago, Tony Stark would have been closer to the top, but he’s definitely dropped down in recent years. Some of this has to do with both Iron Man 2 & 3 being mediocre efforts and both over 5 years old at this point. The more recent solo efforts by other MCU characters are fresher in everyone’s minds, and they’re just flat-out better.
Another reason for the drop in stature is the fact that Robert Downey Jr. himself doesn’t really do much these days. Unlike most of the other actors attached to franchises in the MCU, he’s no longer at the point in his career where he’s hungry and trying to build a name for himself. He’s already done just about everything an actor could do. I’d say most fans are pretty aware of this, which has definitely contributed to the out-of-sight-out-of-mind reality of his character right now.
Iron Man’s story arc is nearing the end anyway, and unlike with Captain America, fans seem to be fine with this. He’s now in the John Cena phase of his career, where the former face of the company is now moving aside for the newer guys.
6. The Spider-Verse
Figuring out where to place Spider-Man brings up the Thor issue x100. Tom Holland is probably the best live action Spider-Man of all time. The problem with that is being the best live-action Spider-Man isn’t an incredibly high bar to clear. Because of how many times we’ve had to sit through the Uncle Ben death scene and annoying teenage melodrama, Spider-Man fatigue was very palpable before he got re-introduced in Civil War.
Since then, they’ve done just about everything right with Spider Spider. They didn’t even bother doing the origin story because they knew everyone knew it, they made Iron Man his mentor which was a fun dynamic to watch in both Homecoming and Infinity War, and with Into the Spider-Verse, they gave shine to all the other iterations of Spider-Folks out there in other dimensions.
Spider-Man has always been one of the most beloved characters Marvel had to offer. Fans were really just waiting for a good enough reason for them to love him on film. That’s finally happening.
7. Captain Marvel
I did not see this movie yet. Maybe I will soon. Maybe I won’t. There are infinite possibilities in the world.
I guess take this assessment with a grain of salt then:
Comic book movies often have a problem with booking these uber-strong characters in a way that would make audiences care about them. They work well in the comics, they work well in the cartoons, but when they’re transferred over to live-action, it’s usually pretty boring. Usually, the reason for this is that there’s a ho-hum inevitability in watching someone with superpowers that are lazily portrayed as all-powerfulness, or something to do with telekinesis. Most Superman movies have this problem, as does Jean Gray in all her X-Men movie appearances.
Captain Marvel is in a similar class. But from what it seems, people just loved the hell out of Brie Larson in this movie so much that it didn’t matter. Teasing her arrival at the end of Infinity War also helped. Fans were fantasy booking her match-up against Thanos almost an entire year before her movie even came out.
8. Bucky Barnes
Much of this has to do with the Captain America trickle-down effect. They’re best friends! Maybe more, depending on who you ask. If I’m the person you’re asking, I think they’re in love with eachother and it’s adorable. It would be fun if they pull the trigger on it. This has been the most organic romance storyline the MCU has written thus far, and I’m not even sure they’re fully aware of it. Endgame is going to be three hours long. If we’re do not get so much as a single peck on the lips between Bucky and Captain, something’s gone wrong.
9. Guardians of the Galaxy
The Guardians dropped a few spots these past few years, due in large part to Star-Lord (for both in-the-movie reasons and real-life reasons). The problem with the Guardians, however, isn’t just Star-Lord. Their first movie was considered to be a breath of fresh air, but the sequel didn’t fully capture that same energy; whereas the other MCU movies that followed Guardians — like Ragnarok — further expanded upon what they did best.
Thanks to the staying power of supporting members like Drax (who’s actually from the WWE Universe, where all inhabitants have an innate sense of getting themselves over) and Groot (who is Groot), they didn’t drop too far. It’ll be interesting to see whether they can regain momentum in either Endgame or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which’ll probably be out next year.
10. Nick Fury
In the first batch of MCU movies, watching Nick Fury and his eye-patch briskly walk into a scene always caused a rush of excitement. Fury’s presence, even if he was there for only a few minutes, assured the fans that everything was building up to The Avengers and it was gonna be great.
A Nick Fury appearance doesn’t carry the same type of weight as it did, but he still delivers what people want to see. One of the biggest moments in Infinity War was when he dropped the Captain Marvel signal before disappearing into Thanos dust. This shows fans that whenever Fury’s on the screen, something important is happening. For that reason alone, he remains pretty over.
There have also been rumbling that Fury might be a secret Skrull. If there’s any truth to that, it could be make for an incredible heel turn.
11. Ant-Man
If there were any justice in the world, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man would be the ageless face of the company. After two super fun solo movies and a solid appearance in Civil War, it seems as though Ant-Man is on the verge of getting a solid push in Endgame. This is especially true if these theories about him killing Thanos via butthole expansion are true.
In the grand scheme of things, his character is always going to have a bit of a ceiling. He’s a perfect supporting member in the Avengers movies, and it doesn’t seem as though he’s going to much be more than that. He’s like the MCU’s Curt Hennig, where he’ll never get top billing, but will be the picture-perfect mid-carder.
12. Doctor Strange/Wong
Like I’ll mention in further detail with Hulk, Doctor Strange seems to work better when he’s paired with a more over hero that he can work counter to. He’s got plenty more going for him compared to the Hulk, though. He’s being played by reptilian-looking British man who is very popular for some reason, Strange himself is a much more interesting character than the Hulk, and his powers translate better to film. Having him at 11 might be too low for Benny Batch’s goatee, but Doctor Strange was good but pretty forgettable compared to the other new arrivals. He’s still being booked as a strong babyface who’s also important to the story going forward, so it’s likely he’ll be shooting up this list in the near future.
One slight hitch to any of the Doctor Strange potential could be that Wong is more over then him right now. Ever since Infinity War, the memes have kept pouring in for him, and it’s made Doctor Strange a bit of an afterthought in the grand scheme of things. I’ll take a Wong solo movie, why not?
13. The Hulk
Maybe the Hulk should be higher, but he’s never been able to carry a successful movie on his own, so there seems to be a real limit to how over Banner really is in this context. It’s just been proven too many times now that he’s best as a supporting member and can’t be the main guy. His popularity outside the MCU is obviously on par with just about any superhero ever, but there’s something that just never works when he’s put into a movie.
It also doesn’t help that they keep jamming this love angle between him and Black Widow. It’s got no sizzle! No zam! No va-va-voom! So cut it out already and get with the program. Hulk’s a specialist in these movies and he’s at his best when that’s embraced. Stop trying to get deep with him. I really only want to see him beating people up and breaking stuff. It’s when he gets the best audience reactions.
14. Valkyrie
Valkyrie’s only made one movie appearance, which is fewer than anyone else on this list, but she really popped on the silver screen. It just goes to show: if you want to capture the hearts of the common people, show them an alcoholic space gladiator.
Nobody really knew what happened to her in Infinity War, but the directors assure us that she’s still alive, so hopefully, they feature her enough in Endgame so her momentum doesn’t get completely killed.
15. Black Widow
Depending on how good her solo movie is, Black Widow might start to actually click. As I mentioned before, though, her and the Hulk batting eyelashes at one another is always the movie’s biggest downer that doesn’t need to happen. Just let it peter out. I promise you, Russo Brothers, nobody’s gonna be calling you two up to ask “where’s my Hulk and Black Widow resolution? Did they get married? What do their children look like, in terms of greenness? I need answers, guys!” It also must be mentioned that Scarlett Johansson hasn’t been doing herself too many favors when it comes to being over with the fans, so here she is at 14.
Maybe Black Widow can start generating more buzz in the future. A lot it rides on this solo movie. It could be good, or it could wind up being Cold War overkill after comic book fans have been treated to Wonder Woman 1984 and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, a heartbreaking love story set in post-war Poland. I think it’s going to be a dud, but hey, I’m no smart pants like these big-time Hollywood movie producers who’ve got those big fancy cars that go “BWONK BWONK!” when you press the button in the middle of that big driving circle. Keep that in mind while reading all of this!
16. War Machine
Don Cheadle is definitely more popular now than he was when he started out as War Machine in Iron Man 2. But the War Machine character itself never really got past being a solid tag partner for Iron Man. Being that the Tony Stark era is just about done, it’s hard to see how the MCU keeping this character around to capitalize on Cheadle’s increased stardom.
I doubt they’d do this, but if they decide to hand over Iron Man duties to him and start a new era of those movies starring Cheadle, it would be interesting. The queue of new movies is already so clogged, though, so I doubt that a new generation of Iron Man movies is at the top of Marvel’s to-do list.
17. Hawkeye
He’ s got great accuracy and a wife who loves him. Hawkeye’s doing fine. I just don’t give a shit about him.
18. Falcon
Falcon has the same issue War Machine does. Solid second-fiddle to the more over character in Captain America. Maybe there’s a Wong-type moment waiting to happen for Falcon, but right now, he doesn’t seem to be getting a push any time soon.
19. Vision + Scarlet Witch
From what I’m told by people who actually read the comics, both of these characters are supposed to be some of the strongest characters in the Avengers, Scarlet Witch especially. But again, due to a love story absolutely nobody cares about, these people are very disposable. From what I’ve gathered from talking to Scarlet Witch fans, it’s actually peeved off a lot of them.
The idea of two superheroes wanting to get away from it all and live a normal life is interesting. They just didn’t do it with these two. Why couldn’t they put them deep into witness protection somewhere in Florida and them get super into Jimmy Buffet or something. Seeing every hero have to deal with their newly-hicked-out friends would’ve been great. Instead, they’re in Edinburgh, getting ready to catch the Fringe Festival. They really dropped the ball into a big bucket of syrup with these two. What a shame.
600. The Fantastic Four
Please don’t make this mistake again. Just don’t do it.