The 100 best Marvel characters ranked: 100-81

Out of the gate, the MCU take solved more than one problem: the foremost being that Shang-Chi’s original comic book sire was the classic pulp villain Fu Manchu, back when Marvel briefly licensed the character; it also made sense to incorporate the long-lingering mystery of the Mandarin, the villain hinted at after a bait-and-switch in with the verbose actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley). Since both Fu Manchu and the Mandarin originally drew upon and perpetuated offensive, outdated cultural stereotypes, it was shrewd to reconceive the character as 21st Century crime kingpin Xu Wenwu, with a backstory equally in line with Chinese legends and Hong Kong cinema. Leung’s magnetic performance infused the character with equal parts menace, gravitas and a simmering streak of nobility. The MCU approach will no doubt endure as a definitive take on Shang-Chi’s father, as both a formidable adversary and an empathetic figure. [Scott Huver]

There’s always been a sadness to Tom Hiddleston’s Loki—something that came into sharp relief when Richard E. Grant took on the role of his older, possibly wiser self in Disney+’s . Grant brings the ham, of course, literally conjuring scenery for a monster to chew on with his “Glorious purpose!” farewell. But it’s his frank, broken dismissal of his own place in the universe that lingers even more, a solemn jester who’s realized his own life has been the ultimate joke. [William Hughes]

Though not as iconically charming or surprisingly compelling as some other Marvel villains, Ultron deserves a shoutout for his weird villain arc: He starts as a shambling mess of garbage who is actually very scary, and he later becomes a nigh-invulnerable super robot with an army of machines who has the chatty, disaffected personality of a mechanical James Spader. He’s not particularly scary, but it is a fun choice, and he actually managed to kill an Avenger (or at least an honorary Avenger)—which is more than can be said about Loki. An alternate version of Ultron even got the Infinity Stones and nearly destroyed the multiverse on Disney+’s , but that doesn’t make him any more compelling. [Sam Barsanti]

Fans astonished by Marvel’s decision to even make a movie were probably bowled over to discover that Yondu (Michael Rooker), the blue-skinned, mohawk-sporting, blowdart-shooting, whistling surrogate father to Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) would be the emotional spine for the series. All credit goes to Michael Rooker, who somehow mines the character for a rich vein of pathos that flows over the film in an unexpectedly beautiful and touching way. Rooker’s long been cracking dingers in genre movies and on , and watching him reveal his unique and uproarious version of the scumbag with a heart of gold is one the MCU will strive hard to recreate. The character’s final moments rank among the best of any superhero movie, but it’s no surprise that Yondu has a certain magic. After all, he’s Marry Poppins, y’all. [Matt Schimkowitz]

“What if Aunt May was young and hot?” was the premise for the MCU’s take on this classic character. This isn’t a commentary on the physical beauty of Rosemary Harris or Sally Field; other characters in the films were constantly pointing out how hip and attractive Tomei’s Aunt May was. She was more than just a pretty face, though. As the first Uncle Ben-less May, Tomei played the role of single parent with aplomb—her familial chemistry with Tom Holland always felt warm and real. Working in community building herself, she recognized the value of a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and encouraged her nephew towards the greater good. Not to mention, she had her own moments of badassery to appreciate as well. [Mary Kate Carr]

Frank Castle is a truly lenticular character, depending on the angle from which he’s viewed: from one perspective, he’s a tortured anti-hero, righteous in his rage and anguish as he balances the scales of justice; from another, he’s a murderous vigilante with no bottom to his quest for vengeance, little better than the criminals he kills. The MCU lucked out when they cast Bernthal in the role, an actor with an acute ability to portray both facets and turn them on their heads: he can make you empathize with Castle when you want to condemn him, and vice versa. As in the comics, those gray areas come into sharper relief the further the Punisher veers from colorfully clad superheroes, and Bernthal’s version, too, is even more compelling, a gritty step removed from the traditional MCU. The character—and his Netflix series—can be polarizing, but all can agree that it’d be a difficult task to find an actor that plays him better—and more sympathetically—than Bernthal (and Hollywood tried, three previous times!). [Scott Huver]

Is it enough to say that he “never misses”? Colin Farrell’s Bullseye is maybe the most memorable part of an unremarkable film, and 2003's is maybe the most 2003 movie ever made, with its steely blue color palette (why isn’t it red?) and Evanescence-laden soundtrack. Farrell breaks through the nu-metal with a live-wire performance that borders on camp. His garish take, which pretty much boils down to “man who never misses,” isn’t particularly insightful to the human condition, but he does seem like the only one in this movie having fun with the implausibility of the character. Plus he kills a racist old lady and seems to gain sexual gratification from it? Yeah, you’re not getting a lot of that in the MCU. [Matt Schimkowitz]

It’s tough to inject heart into characters who so often seem to be the butt of jokes, but that just so happens to be James Gunn’s speciality, and he found the right actor to play along in Pom Klementieff. As Mantis, Klementieff is introduced as a meek servant, there to react to Drax’s increasingly brutal observations about her and to deliver plot-relevant information about her villainous master. But there’s something in Klementieff’s performance, in the way she navigates the subtle emotional resonances signified by Mantis’ antennae, that adds a layer of emotional gravity to everything she does. It’s no wonder that she’s stuck around since , and that she increasingly feels like an indispensable part of the MCU’s resident band of space misfits. [Matthew Jackson]

The best thing about Pepper Potts in the MCU is that she always seems like she has something better to do, which is actually a perfect reflection of how she tolerates Tony Stark’s bullshit. She got an Iron Man suit of her own in , but she’s at her best when she seems like she’d rather be somewhere else (like, say, running Stark’s company or just being anywhere other than where the superhero stuff is happening). Again: We’re talking about Pepper Potts the character and not Gwyneth Paltrow the actor, though it’s worth reiterating that is very much a feature and not a bug. [Sam Barsanti]

Both a byproduct of the impulse to create villains with identifiable motivations, and a benefactor of heavy-hitter casting, Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher is the best Marvel baddie in years. Driven by vengeance after his people’s deity laughs at the unimaginable loss of a child, Gorr carves a bloody path across the multiverse in using a badass weapon (that admittedly is poisoning his soul) to exact his brand of justice upon the powerful who dismiss those who worship at their feet. Not since Killmonger has an MCU adversary felt so full of rage, pain, and righteousness, and Bale amplifies all of those emotional dimensions while also giving him a haunting, unforgettable look. [Todd Gilchrist]

Maria Hill is an underrated part of team S.H.I.E.L.D. The ever-loyal agent has always got Nick Fury and Phil Coulson’s back, but she’s also proven her worth by supporting the Avengers when needed. Honestly, she’s reliable, fun, and has managed to survive alien invasions and robot villains. What more do you need? Hill is an integral comic book character who hasn’t been well-developed in the MCU yet, but Cobie Smulders’ on-screen alter ego still has a long way to go. She’ll be appearing in Disney+’s Secret Invasion alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, and Don Cheadle. [Saloni Gajjar]

The first scene of is a level-up moment for the whole comic book enterprise. The still-seamless special effects, kinetic camera and stunt work, and Alan Cumming’s makeup, physicality, and hissing announced a more creative, action-based, and, yes, political superhero movie than before. Pre-MCU, the White House break-in was the gold standard for these movies and one that not many have ever topped. The sequence is so fulfilling that it almost makes up for the fact that Nightcrawler gets a little lost in the film’s actual plot. [Matt Schimkowitz]

While it remains to be seen if Hardy’s quirky, semi-comic take on the alien symbiote-turned-antihero that took the comics world by storm in the ’90s is going to leave the same kind of enduring mark that, say, Robert Downey, Jr., left on all depictions of Iron Man, Hardy’s performance makes the first film considerably more watchable than it deserved to be, and clearly pointed to the more self-aware B-movie tone of the sequel. If Eddie Block and his symbiote sometimes seem ill-fitted to hang whole movie storylines on, Hardy’s version—relying, as the actor often seems inclined to do, on eccentric bits of business—uses both acting heft and star power to make the conjoined duo nominally more compelling. That said, even after two off-kilter attempts—Hardy’s Jekyll-and-Hyde movie monster version and Topher Grace’s straight supervillain—die-hard Venom fans likely haven’t seen the ultimate expression of the pitch-black extraterrestrial on screen just yet. [Scott Huver]