credit: MCU
There have already been a lot of arguments that have arisen from the lack of respect that many characters in the MCU have been given, but the truth is that a lot of them are valid enough to think about, given that the MCU hasn’t exactly been kind to several individuals.
The casting has been on point for the most part, but the manner in which each character has been presented and treated throughout their time in the MCU hasn’t exactly been the best representation that fans can recall. There was a lot of promise when the first few heroes were brought in, along with the characters that came with them and were expected to be seen.
But as the years have pressed onward, several characters have been given the type of treatment that makes it evident that Disney doesn’t quite value them as much, apart from the fact that they’re still cash cows that can be used and abused in various ways to make sure that people understand how their ‘evolution’ is best when being directed one way or another. In other words, Disney took on another franchise that they didn’t fully understand.
Here are five characters that the MCU has messed up with over the years.
5. Hawkeye
credit: MCU
A couple of characters have been mocked over the years upon entering the MCU, but somehow, Hawkeye has managed to take the brunt of the abuse since he’s a guy with a bow and arrow on a team with superhumans and a genius that can rely on various suits of armor. The unfortunate truth is that this is accurate, but it’s not the whole story.
Hawkeye is more than just a modern-day archer since his skill set identifies him as an assassin and a specialized one at that. It’s true that when standing toe to toe, he can’t do much against a lot of people, but then again, even Black Widow would be hard-pressed to take down a superhuman, and yet she’s been given a lot more respect than someone who can kill from a distance and up close.
4. Crossbones
credit: MCU
This character was wasted in a big way since despite fighting Captain America, a guy who could beat him rather easily apparently, he’s still a dangerous character from the comics and was afforded little to no respect. Crossbones is the type of guy that could, with time, find a way around some of the heavy hitters in the Marvel Universe, but in favor of presenting him and then getting rid of him quickly, it was left to Wanda to make the mistake of containing the explosion that Brock set off and place him where he could do even more damage. It would have been fun to see this character stick around, but apparently, keeping villains around for longer was never the idea.
3. The Mandarin
credit: MCU
Anyone who’s read the Iron Man comics from back in the day would remember that the Mandarin, the REAL Mandarin, went toe to toe with the armored Avenger more than once and ended up possessing rings that belonged to massive space dragons that came back to retrieve them at one point.
But the MCU pulled a huge joke on the fans by bringing in the character that was supposed to be a highlight of Iron Man 3, and the idea of making up for it, kind of, in the Shang-Chi movie doesn’t really do anything to get the fans back on board with the idea. The battles that the Mandarin and Iron Man used to have on the page were great, but it doesn’t appear that this was the plan in the MCU.
2. Drax
credit: MCU
In all honesty, Drax has been, and remains, the comic relief in the MCU. He’s pulled off a few impressive feats during his time in the franchise, but despite his imposing look and ability to take a massive amount of damage, he hasn’t done anything that’s really that great.
The Drax from the comics has gone toe to toe with Thanos and even ripped his heart out of his chest, and has been able to handle himself with the Hulk. In the movies, he’s been amusing and interesting to look at, but every heavy hitter he’s gone up against at this point has knocked him around like he’s nothing, meaning that the MCU obviously didn’t think that Dave Bautista was good enough to power up to the level of his comic book counterpart.
1. Thor
credit: MCU
Geez, where do I start with this one? This Thor is fun to watch, he’s funny, and he’s the type of character that a lot of people can get behind, but apart from that, he’s a goof. He showed a lot of promise in the first movie and even in the second. But once he was given more and more comedic lines, Thor became a running gag character that, at this point, has been nearly emasculated following Love and Thunder.
I get it, the MCU is trying to make every movie fun for families, which means some of the material needs to be dialed back, but Thor performing the splits to Guns ‘N Roses and Thor acting like a moron most of the time kind of insults the character in a big way.
Follow Us
