SPECULATION Which MCU Film Introduced the Most Iconic Characters?

Which MCU film introduced the most major characters? In thinking about the character-heavy films of the MCU, which films featured the most new additions that had staying power?

In looking at this, I'm trying to determine this from a list of a few things:

1) Must be in more than one film (so even though Hela is great, I can't count her). I'll also consider the TV shows as an entry, too (with the exception of What If, because everyone is in that). If they're a super main character (like Shang Chi) that has only been in one film, I reserve the right to reassess this on a situational basis. This is particularly so for characters likely to appear in future media (so Yelena from Black Widow makes the cut, Red Guardian does not currently).

2) Can be played by more than one actor (so I'm considering Hulk's first film as 2008's entry, not Avengers)

3) "Major" is kind of a subjective term, so you'll just have to bear with me on that one. For instance, I'd consider Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man to be a major character, but not Dastmalchian's "Kurt" character. So, being in multiple films doesn't necessarily make someone a major character, but it helps. Similarly, some villains like Abomination just barely make the list in my opinion, while other more minion-like villains like Baron Strucker don't quite make the cut. Again, it's kinda subjective at times.

4) Post-credit scenes count

5) Only currently released media counts

So... let's see! (And if you disagree with me on the placement of anything, let me know and I'll see if it needs fixing)


Iron Man: (7)
Tony Stark, James Rhodes, Pepper Potts, J.A.R.V.I.S., Phil Coulson, Happy Hogan, Nick Fury


The Incredible Hulk (3)
Bruce Banner, Thaddeus Ross, Emil Blonsky

Iron Man 2 (2)
Natasha Romanoff, Howard Stark

Thor (10)
Thor Odinsson, Jane Foster, Loki, Erik Selvig, Heimdall, Darcy Lewis, Odin, Frigga, Clint Barton, Lady Sif

Captain America: The First Avenger (5)
Steve Rogers, Johan Schmidt, Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes, Zola

The Avengers (2)
Maria Hill, Thanos

Iron Man 3 (0)

Thor: The Dark World (1)
The Collector

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (5)
Sam Wilson, Brock Rumlow, Sharon Carter, Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff

Guardians of the Galaxy (9)
Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Rocket, Ronan the Accuser, Nebula, Yondu Udonta, Korath

Age of Ultron (2)
Ulysses Klaue, Vision

Ant-Man (5)
Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne, Cassie Lang

Captain America: Civil War (5)
T'challa, Peter Parker, Baron Zemo, Everett Ross, May Parker

Doctor Strange (3)
Stephen Strange, Wong, The Ancient One

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (1)
Mantis

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2)
MJ, Ned Leeds

Thor: Ragnarok (1)
Valkyrie

Black Panther (4)
Nakia, Okoye, Shuri, M'Baku,

Avengers: Infinity War (4)
Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive

Ant-Man and the Wasp (1)
Jimmy Woo

Captain Marvel (3)
Carol Danvers, Talos, Monica Rambeau

Avengers: Endgame (0)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (1)
J Jonah Jameson

Black Widow (1)
Yelena Belova

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2)
Shang Chi, Xu Xialing

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 21, 2021, Original Post Date: Oct 21, 2021 ---

Not too surprising that shifting to a new setting (Asgard in Thor, cosmic in GOTG) sees a big shift in new characters. But I was really surprised by how many major characters the first Thor added still, even with me perhaps being a bit liberal with claiming Odin and Frigga as major characters.

Not too surprising that crossover films are less likely to introduce new characters.

It does feel like newer films have been adding less major characters lately. I wonder if that might change in the rest of this phase, given the wiping of the slate after Endgame.

 

Whoops! That's the one released film I haven't seen yet, so I wasn't sure exactly who to add- I figured the main character, and apparently the other person was important. I didn't know about anyone else, but we can consider her added

Very fair, that is probably more the lens I was going through. And of course, I wasn't weighting how major a character was, but Iron Man 1 would definitely be a heavy hitter in that regard.

 

Good catch



Kind of along that line that we're discussing... a tier list of Marvel characters would be interesting. Not like which characters are coolest or whatever, but who is most iconic and integral to the MCU.

 

Spoiler: Eternals spoilers

WOW, Eternals might've potentially dropped a lot.

Again, going forward it's going to be tough to necessarily say who's "Iconic" and who isn't without the benefit of hindsight (plus that itself was already a complicated task) but I think the following have a lot of potential to play a big role in the series going forward:

Sersi
Kingo
Sprite
Phastos
Makkari
Druig
Thena
Dane Whitman
Blade
Pip the Troll
Eros

That's 11! Technically that could put it above all the others, if each of these ends up becoming iconic in their own rights. Now, I think that's to be expected with a large new team being introduced, but the inclusions of Black Knight, Pip, Starfox, and even technically Blade really bolster these intros. I think this was really the shot in the arm that the post-Endgame cast needed (and I'm also looking forward to finally seeing Shang-Chi this weekend as well).

And honestly, I loved the movie. It utterly baffles me that it's getting bad reviews, because I thought the ideas were really cool, well shot, and man, I'm a sucker for how they jumped around and showed the team at various eras in time. AND THE LOVECRAFTIAN ELEMENT OF THE CELESTIALS... ugh, inject that into my veins.

Anyway, I'd honestly say that I think Eternals easily makes it into my top 10 MCU films, perhaps top 5.

 

Thought I'd provide some updates. Be advised for spoilers!

Also, note that the shows, while often based on existing characters, do still bring a lot of new stuff to the table. I believe that many of these shows could potentially get sequels or cross over to other shows, so even seemingly minor parts (like Torres in TFatWS) still have potential to be very important.

Spoiler: Spoilers through Doctor Strange and the MoM, including shows

Wandavision (5)
Agatha Harkness
Billy
Tommy
Monica Rambeau
Tyler Hayward

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (5)
John Walker
Joaquin Torres
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
Eli Bradley
Isiah Bradley

Loki (6)
Mobius
Sylvie
Kang
Ravonna Renslayer
Hunter B-15
Miss Minutes

What If...? (3)
The Watcher
Strange Supreme
(kinda hard who to pick from the series, and there could potentially be a lot more, but for now this is where I'd set it)
(also, I'd originally put Captain Carter here, but removed her since Peggy is already allocated to Cap 1)

Hawkeye (6)
Kate Bishop
Jack Dusquesne
Eleanor Bishop
Kazi
Echo
Wilson Fisk (new canon)

Spider-Man No Way Home (4)
Spiderman (Tobey)
The Amazing Spider-Man (Andrew)
Daredevil (new canon)
Venom
(unrelated, but I'd also add Flash Thompson to Homecoming now, giving that film a score of "3")

Moon Knight (4... or 6?... or 8? Not sure how to count this one, but 4 if we're taking all Isaac's performances as one)
Moon Knight/Mister Knight/Grant/Spector/Lockley
Scarlet Scarab
Khonsu
Anton Mogart

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (5)
America Chavez
Charles Xavier
Black Bolt
Reed Richards
Clea
(Note that Captain Carter's intro technically was with Peggy in Cap 1, while Monica's was in WandaVision)
(Additionally, I'd add both Christine Palmer and Mordo to the original Strange movie, bringing that total to 5)

Extra spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder. Haven't seen this one yet, but from what I've read, I believe this will be the addition:

Spoiler: EXTRA SPOILERY, ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER

Thor: Love and Thunder
Zeus
Hercules
Love
(I'd add Korg and perhaps the Grandmaster to Ragnarok, bringing its count to "3". Eitri added to Infinity War, bringing its count to 5, since both Dinklage and Goldblum were at least intended on being in this film.)
(Again, as The Mighty Thor is a recontextualizing of an existing character, I do not add her to this entry)

So, so far I'd say that Eternals still serves as a potentially influential film for Marvel's future, but it also seems like the TV shows and multiverse stuff are doing a lot of heavy lifting. Multiverse of Madness, in particular, seemed almost designed to tease some possible avenues that future MCU films could go down.

Excited to see what's next in store!