For over 15 years now, we’ve been witness to all the Marvel movies in order, and what a journey it has been! We’ve come a long way since Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man first took flight, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe introducing so many characters into its movies and TV shows, that some of our favorites just haven’t had enough of the limelight yet. Let’s talk about the MCU characters that could use more screen time than they’ve currently been given.
Valkyrie
After the dismal reaction to Thor: The Dark World, the God of Thunder had an awesome comeback in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok. The third Thor movie was partially awesome due to the debut of Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, who instantly became a fan favorite for her wit and all-around standout performance. Despite all the love for Valkyrie, she’s remained on the sidelines in every one of her appearances.
Captain Carter
OK, so technically Hayley Atwell had a television series on ABC in the early days of the MCU called Agent Carter, but watching that series only made me want to see the character more. Especially when Peggy Carter came back in the Multiverse Saga for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for a short cameo and in animated form for …What If? Captain America’s great love is one of the most interesting MCU characters who deserves to have her hero’s journey fleshed out more.
Maria Hill
Early in the MCU, Cobie Smulder’s Maria Hill was established as a key part of the universe in The Avengers as Nick Fury’s right hand, but over the years, she’s never really gotten any sort of major arc in either of the movies or TV shows yet, despite sharing she’d love to do more. She was barely in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and has mostly been used for a few jokes here and there over the years.
Morgan Stark
One of the most heartbreaking arcs in the MCU was the death of Tony Stark, especially after it was revealed that the character had a daughter with Pepper Potts, named Morgan Stark. (We’ll never forget the “I love you 3000” line). While it does make sense to wait a bit before we see Morgan Stark again, it would be interesting to catch up with the daughter of Iron Man, and see how her life progresses in the MCU following Endgame.
Jimmy Woo
Randall Park’s FBI agent character Jimmy Woo was first seen in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp as Scott Lang’s parole officer. Woo has since been seen in WandaVision and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in brief roles. Sure, Jimmy Woo isn’t a huge Marvel character or anything, but Park is so hilarious, I’d love it if he earned a larger role in the universe.
Okoye
One of the best Black Panther characters is definitely Danai Gurira’s Okoye, who has had somewhat of a central role in both of the movies, but when you look at the screen time she actually had (about 13 minutes in Black Panther and 16 minutes in Wakanda Forever), she’s still rather a minor character. The former general of the Dora Milaje and head of Wakandan armed forces isn’t just very impressive in her strength and power, but a magnetic character I’d watch a whole movie about.
M’Baku
Winston Duke got on the Hollywood map due to his role in Black Panther, and while he was only in the first movie for about six minutes, he left a lasting impression on fans that had us wanting to see more. Especially following the end of Wakanda Forever, where he actually assumes the role of King of Wakanda. Here’s hoping the next Black Panther project gives him more to do.
Adam Warlock
As soon as Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock was announced to be part of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Marvel fans were excited to see the cosmic being in live action. However, it felt like the third Guardians movie didn’t really know what to do with the character, and is admittedly filed under “the worst thing” in our list of best and worst parts of every Marvel movie. The character deserves some redemption!
Cosmo the Spacedog
In the final Guardians of the Galaxy movie, James Gunn decided to introduce one of the cutest Marvel characters, Cosmo, but she was barely in the film! The Labrador astronaut, who has enhanced intelligence and psychic powers is such a fun and hilarious character, especially as voiced by Maria Bakalova. While it seems like the Guardians movies have wrapped up, I would love to see more of Cosmo.
Lady Sif
In the original Thor movie, Jaimie Alexander’s Lady Sif was brought on board the MCU as an Asgardian warrior and good friend to the God of Thunder. However, the heroic character, who is based on the Norse goddess who is known as the wife of Thor, had an anticlimactic role in the franchise. After showing up for around eight minutes in the first movie, her only other big appearance was in an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. She’d be a solid character to show up in the next Thor movie.
Moon Knight
Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight getting a TV show rather than a big-screen movie will always be a mystery to me. Sure, he’s not the most popular Marvel hero, but given the studio has sold us on all sorts of smaller characters over the years, I don’t see why an antihero with dissociative identity disorder with roots in Egyptian mythology would have pulled in a crowd.
Korg
Not only is Thor: Ragnarok a movie that is so much fun on its own, but it also introduces Taika Waititi’s hilarious character of Korg, a Kronan warrior who Thor meets on Sakaar. Korg has only had short supporting moments in the last two Thor movies, but because he’s so loveable, we’d happily catch his return.
Quicksilver
Aaron Taylor-Johnson played Quicksilver, the brother to Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but had a hero’s death while shielding civilians from gunfire coming from Ultron. We have to wonder if the MCU would ever bring back the actor’s version of the character, especially after the multiverse was opened up. The actor has since jumped to playing another Marvel character for Sony’s Spider-Verse with the Kraven The Hunter movie.
Wong
When Doctor Strange came out in 2016, Benedict Wong’s role of Wong introduced the keeper of ancient books of the mystic arts. Since the MCU has progressed, Wong has been promoted to the Sorcerer Supreme. Following his title shift, we’re thinking about how the character could get a bigger spotlight that follows his own adventures.
America Chavez
When it was announced that America Chavez was coming to the MCU, we were excited to get to know the hero, also known as Miss America. Xochitl Gomez was highlighted in the key plot of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but she deserves a lot more attention in the MCU. Perhaps, she could be in the Young Avengers team we think the MCU is quietly setting up.
Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire)
After Tobey Maguire was the first big-screen Spider-Man in a trilogy of blockbuster films, his Spider-Man joined the MCU in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. While we imagine his appearance was more for nostalgic purposes, we’d genuinely love to see Tobey’s Peter Parker be part of the MCU again, and perhaps see Sam Raimi do the Spider-Man 4 movie that was previously cancelled. Spider-Man 3 ended the character on such a sour note, and the actor makes for such an awesome version of the hero.
Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield)
Andrew Garfield was such a Spider-Man in Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies, however, they came at the time right before Disney earned the rights to the character. So, the cord was pulled on Garfield’s version and Tom Holland was part of the reboot. Garfield’s version technically joined the MCU when he showed up in Spider-Man: No Way Home. We’d love to see Garfield return to the MCU with his Spidey brothers, and perhaps continue where his movies left off.
J. Jonah Jameson
In Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies, J.K. Simmons was perfectly cast as J. Jonah Jameson, so we were unsurprised when the MCU cast him as the character for short cameos in Tom Holland’s movies. Except in the version we’ve seen, he’s only been seen on TV screens across the city. We don’t have a lot of Spider-Man 4 details right now, but wouldn’t it be fun if Holland’s Peter Parker began working for him?
Ned Leeds
Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds has always been such a fun addition to the Spider-Man movies with Tom Holland. Ned is Spider-Man’s “guy in the chair”, but the comic book character has more of a backstory that can be explored in upcoming Spider-Man movies. In the Spider-Man comics, Edward Leeds becomes a supervillain called the Hobgoblin!!
MJ
Mary-Jane Watson has always been an iconic part of the Spider-Man universe, but the character herself has yet to ever get a larger role that surpasses simply being a love interest to Spider-Man. Zendaya’s MJ is a step in the right direction for the character, but we have to wonder if there’s more the MCU could do with her.
Dane Whitman
When it was announced Kit Harrington was joining the MCU in 2019 in the role of Dane Whitman/Black Knight, we thought it was going to be a much bigger deal than it turned out to be. Harrington ended up having a rather anticlimactic role in Eternals, and we’re not even sure if we’ll get the payoff for the awesome character who has been in teams like the Avengers and Defenders in the comics.
Kate Bishop
When it comes to the best Marvel TV shows, Hawkeye is definitely one of the good ones, especially for how perfectly it established the character of Kate Bishop. Hailee Steinfeld hit the bullseye when it comes to portraying the second generation of Hawkeye. After being in her own TV show, Kate showed up in The Marvels mid-credits scene with Kamala Khan, and we hope the MCU does promote her to an Avenger.
The Collector
In the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Benicio del Toro’s take on The Collector was brought into the MCU. He’s a villain in Marvel comics with a long history dating back to 1966 and tons of storylines with the Avengers and such, however, so far del Toro’s character has only had a few cameos.
Zeus
The king of the gods, Zeus, has even entered the MCU. In Thor: Love and Thunder, Russell Crowe had a small role as the Greek mythology legend. Since it’s such an epic character, and Crowe is an incredible talent, we’d be hyped for Zeus to have more screen time.
Luis
In Ant-Man, Michael Peña brought lots of laughs to the MCU as Luis. The character doesn’t have a comic backstory, and is really just a regular guy who used to be the cellmate of Scott Lang. However, Luis is so genuinely hilarious that we’ve missed him lately. We were especially bummed that he wasn’t in the third Ant-Man movie.
Namor
In the second Black Panther movie, audiences were introduced to the king of the underwater kingdom of Talokan, Namor. Tenoch Huerta did a fantastic job playing the villain of Wakanda Forever, and while he was technically defeated by Shuri in the movie, he’s very much alive, and is an interesting enough character to get more screen time, somehow.
Heimdall
It’s a shame that Idris Elba’s Heimdall died in Avengers: Infinity War, because the Asgardian gatekeeper was never really given much of a role in the MCU. The character could sustain a movie on his own considering what he does on Asgard, but here’s hoping he is still afforded the chance.
James “Rhodey” Rhodes
Don Cheadle’s James Rhodes was introduced in Iron Man 2, after Terrance Howard previously played the character in the first movie. Rhodes has become a member of the Avengers as War Machine / Iron Patriot, but he’s definitely been among the members of the team that’s not highlighted enough. At least the character is still reportedly set to front his own movie called Armor Wars, which would be very much deserved.
Madisynn King
In She-Hulk, a hilarious MCU character was born with Patty Guggenheim’s Madisynn (“with two n’s and one “y”, but it’s not where you think”). She was accidentally sent to a hellish dimension before crossing paths with Benedict Wong’s Wong, which she lovingly calls “Wongers.” She’s a laugh-out-loud addition to the universe that’d be so fun to see pop up again somewhere.
Sharon Carter
The niece of Peggy Carter, Emily VanCamp's Sharon Carter has been in two Captain America movies, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and an episode of What If...? But still, it never fully feels like the MCU knows what to do with her. Perhaps if she was interwoven into the plotline more, she could have deeper ties to the universe.
Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is the director of the CIA in the MCU, who has been sprinkled in recent chapters in the MCU and is set to be part of the Thunderbolts cast. Currently, she isn’t giving us a lot to care about her, so here’s hoping the MCU does her character right and gives her more screen time going forward.
Hulk
May we remind you that Hulk is the only member of the original Avengers who has never been given his own solo project? It’s so wild! Yes, he left a huge mark on the main Avengers saga, but Mark Ruffalo is so good as Bruce Banner, that he deserves his own arc without being part of a team.
