THE Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of wasted potential, with hordes of characters being introduced only to not be utilized properly. The strength of the MCU films is conveyed primarily through their characters, with bombastic personalities and perfect casts being the vast majority of reasons to watch a Marvel film in the first place. Unfortunately, the franchise is well known for introducing interesting new characters only to waste their potential.
In particular, Marvel has a notorious villain problem, in which interesting new antagonists are introduced and killed off in the same film without getting adequate screen time or development. In recent years, the franchise has also started to ease up on introducing new post-products.Avengers: Endgame characters only to let them languish in obscurity for much longer than was previously done. Whatever the case, Marvel movies are a graveyard of wasted on-screen potential.
10
Ultron
Avengers: Age of Ultron
By far the easiest character to point to when it comes to specifying villains who needed a bigger place in the MCU is the killer robot Ultron. Introduced in his eponymous film Avengers: Age of Ultron, The homicidal AI quickly becomes one of the greatest threats ever faced by the Avengers, bringing with it plenty of potential for exciting stories. Unfortunately, Ultron is killed by his successor, Vision, in the same film in which he is introduced.
Following his importance to the comics, Ultron deserved to be an overarching multi-film villain on the same level as Thanos. James Spader is also excellent as the character, conveying a cold indifference to humanity and delusions of grandeur with his dulcet tones. Hopefully Ultron’s return in the upcoming Vision series can fulfill the prophecy of a terrifying villain that he should have fulfilled from the beginning.
9
Mercury
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ultron himself wasn’t the only character to be introduced and killed in the same film, despite having a lot of promise in the series. Enter Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, the Infinity-Stone-enhanced speedster who circles around the Avengers in his introduction. As fast as he is, Pietro can’t outrun some bullets fired by an Ultron drone while saving the lives of Hawkeye and a random child, causing him a horribly anticlimactic death.
THE X-Men the previous films demonstrated Quicksilver’s potential much better, giving him a fun action montage utilizing his super speed in two consecutive films. As if to add insult to injury, this version of Quicksilver was teased to enter the MCU in WandaVision, only for the character to crumble once again under the revelation as the pretext for a lame juvenile joke. Considering how important his sister ended up being, it’s a shame that Quicksilver wasn’t able to last longer on the series.
8
Shang-Chi
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
In 2021, the Marvel Cinematic Universe added a worthy new hero in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the titular martial artist hero. In the film, Shang-Chi finds the hidden kingdom of Ta Lo, confronting his father, the immortal warlord Mandarin, and freeing the city from the influence of the evil Dweller-In-Darkness. In Shang-Chi’s post-credits scene, he is informally introduced into The Avengers by Wong, Captain Marvel, and Bruce Banner, the latter of whom tells him “Welcome to the circus.“
However, more than three years since his film debut, Shang-Chi has yet to make a second true appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Compared to newcomer Black Panther in 2018, which also added some valuable representation to the MCU cast by introducing an entirely new aspect of world-building, Shang-Chi has been much slower to reappear in a crossover event. This lack of presence is often cited as evidence of the MCU’s lack of planning after the Infinity Saga.
7
Doctor Samuel Sterns
The Incredible Hulk
One of the longest-running teasers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has yet to come to fruition after more than 15 years, Dr. Samuel Sterns in The Incredible Hulk is one of the biggest unresolved plot threads in the series. The film ends with the cellular biologist being affected by Bruce Banner’s gamma-infused blood entering a wound in his head, dramatically increasing his mental capacity at the cost of deforming his head. This obvious setup would have Samuel Sterns become the classic Hulk villain from the comics, The Leader, who is the brains to the Hulk’s brawn.
Since his last appearance in a live-action film, Sterns has only appeared in the obscure comic books. Even there, he doesn’t do much, being captured by Black Widow and placed in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Supposedly, Sterns will finally make his big return in Captain America: Brave New World, but between Red Hulk and Sidewinder, it’s unlikely the Leader will have much time to step into the villainous role he deserves.
6
The Scorpio
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Teasing the appearances of future villains was not a habit the Marvel Cinematic Universe developed in Phase One. In the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Michael Keaton’s Vulture is approached in prison by a scarred inmate who asks for Spider-Man’s secret identity, only for Toomes to show a change of heart and protect Peter Parker’s life. The prisoner was none other than Mac Gargan, aka The Scorpion, played by Michael Mando from Far Cry 3 and Better call Saul fame.
The fact that a unique Spider-Man villain was teased so early only to be averted in two consecutive solo films is incredibly strange, begging the question of why Spider-Man: Homecoming even bothered with the scene in the first place. It would have been interesting to see how Mac Gargan reacted to Spider-Man’s identity becoming public knowledge at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Unfortunately, Michael Mando’s Scorpio appears to remain yet another unresolved villain teaser.
5
Jane Foster
Thor: Love and Thunder
According to many reports, Thor: Love and Thunder is a very flawed film, with comedy that isn’t enough, a wasted cast on Christian Bale as Gorr, the God Butcher, and some painfully bad CGI effects. If there’s one aspect of the film that really works, however, it’s the reintroduction of Jane Foster as The Mighty Thor, being chosen by the shattered Mjölnir to be the next hero worthy of wielding Thor’s power.
Considering Thor permanently moved from Earth in the MCU, living off-planet to raise Love alone, Jane Foster would be perfect as his functional replacement as Earth’s hero. This would even reflect the comic book debut of the Mighty Thor, continuing Thor’s legacy as a new Avenger. Sadly, Foster succumbs to a cancer diagnosis in Thor: Love and Thunder, the film introduces a cool new hero with history in the franchise, only to cruelly sideline it.
4
Ulysses Klaus
Black Panther
One of the most underrated villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Andy Serkis’ Ulysses Klaue. A riff on, if not an exact adaptation of, the classic Black Panther villain from the comics, Klaw, Ulysses Klaue is a cowardly Vibranium thief who is cursed with a bionic arm for his troubles, getting into several confrontations with Black Panther and The Avengers. . Andy Serkis plays the unabashedly evil villain with such flamboyance and joy that it’s impossible not to enjoy his screen presence.
Unfortunately, Klaue is unceremoniously killed by Erik Killmonger in Black Panther. Although he also dies in the comics, Klaw is resurrected to become a genuinely powerful villain with a body made of pure sound, whose unique condition causes him to become a strangely important part of the Secret Wars crossover comics. Considering Avengers: Secret Wars is on the horizon, it’s a shame the MCU never took the opportunity to immortalize it in the same way.
3
The Three Warriors
Thor
Thor’s shift from the Shakespearean fantasy drama of Asgard to the cosmic realm of the wider Marvel galaxy in Thor: Ragnarok unfortunately it left some fascinating characters from the original out to dry in the narrative. That is, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, Thor’s best friends and brothers in arms in the defense of Asgard. Some of the most decorated and deadly Asgardian warriors, the trio are Hogun the Grim, Fandral the Bold, and Volstagg the Slender.
The Warriors Three are distinct personalities, each specializing in a unique form of medieval weaponry, which makes them fun characters for Thor to play as. Unfortunately, their relationship is not explored much in any individual Thor film before being unceremoniously killed by Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. It would have been great to see a crime-style adventure film, with Thor spending more time developing his bond with the three of them, not to mention Lady Sif.
2
Goliath
Ant-Man and the Wasp
THE Ant-Man The films have slowly introduced more and more characters capable of utilizing Hank Pym’s specialized technology, from his daughter Hope, the next Wasp, to Scott’s 5-year-old daughter Cassie Lang. An interesting figure who doesn’t get more time is Laurence Fishburne’s Bill Foster, Hank’s former lab partner. Foster was the first to test Pym Particles’ gigantic applications on people, although Scott quickly broke his old record in Captain America: Civil War.
In the comics, Bill Foster is a superhero, Goliath, who specializes in becoming a titan-sized fighter. The MCU briefly explored this possibility briefly in the And if…? episode, What if… Peter Quill attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?in which a young Bill Foster takes on the mantle of Goliath. Even though Laurence Fishburne’s age is a limiting factor in making him an active superhero, if Hank Pym can get in on the action in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the same should happen with Bill Foster.
1
The Eternals
Eternals
Sometimes the Marvel Cinematic Universe will not only miss the opportunity presented by a new character, but also an entirely new cast. Enter the Eternals, a race of superheroes sent to Earth to protect humanity for eons as sentient life developed, protecting them from predatory Deviants. Although their absence in the previous films had to be explained, the Eternals ended up being some of the most important characters to the MCU’s Earth lore, being key to humanity’s survival under the gaze of Arishem the Judge.
Much like Shang-Chi, the Eternals have been strangely absent after their debut a few years ago, with most of them being sent into space at the end of the feature film. Even though Eternals wasn’t the huge hit Marvel Studios intended it to be, humanity’s immortal protectors should have been back in the game at least once by now. Let us hope that the future of Marvel Cinematic Universe There’s some kind of place for these super-powered divine beings.