Top 5 Character Arcs in the MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has included over 700 characters since it first launched back in 2008. There’s many heroes and villains to choose from for your favorite, but not all character arcs are created equally in the MCU. Some characters we see a lot, but they don’t change much. Others, it’s the exact opposite. So join us as we discuss the top 5 character arcs in the MCU.

Criteria

1. Must have appeared more than once in the MCU as of writing this (Sorry Shang-Chi)

2. Must have changed/developed notably throughout the series (Sorry Hawkeye)

3. Must have grown for the better (Sorry Nick Fury’s Secret Invasion) 

4. Must be earned through story development and not production changes (Sorry Thor)

5. Peter Parker/Spider-Man

I’ll admit, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Peter Parker for the majority of his appearances in the MCU. He was a 15 year-old kid, and he certainly acted like it. I know that’s part of what Spider-Man is, but I just wasn’t into the high school superhero theme all that much, especially when previous versions of the character had been older and more mature. 

In his first introduction in Homecoming we see Peter get chewed out by Iron Man for his recklessness and immaturity. This surprisingly doesn’t change much in Far From Home where Peter grieves the loss of Tony Stark, but not in a way that moves his character development as much as I feel it should have. But finally in No Way Home Peter faces the inevitable moment all Spider-Men face when someone close to them dies and it’s their fault. I was sad it had to be Aunt May in this case, but it's the crucial point of all Peter Parker stories and the one that forces him to grow.

In quick succession after that we see Peter lead his own team of Spider-Men and then ultimately sacrifice himself by having Doctor Strange wipe the memories of everyone he loves to forget him. Peter shows his growth even more when he starts his new life on his own and decides to walk away from MJ and Ned rather than reintroduce himself and put them all at risk again. That’s a long way from being chewed out by Iron Man on a roof just a few years before.

4. Shuri

This is a sneaky one on the list, but one that I think is definitely earned once you dive into it. Obviously Shuri starts out as the younger sister and sidekick to Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa and she never thinks about or wishes to become the Black Panther herself. This is what makes her journey so great and meaningful because she is forced to pick up a mantle she never wanted.

We see her in Black Panther establish herself as a crucial character not only to T’Challa, but to Wakanda as a whole. She is the architect of the city and all its technology. She’s fun and lighthearted, but clearly takes her work seriously, and never feels jealous over the fact her brother is the first born. She knows her value from the beginning. 

Yet it is who we see her become in Wakanda Forever that puts her on this list. Talk about earning your character development. Shuri goes through the death not only of her brother, but also of her mother in the same movie. You can see that it rapidly matures her and Shuri carries around a heavy weight throughout the movie. Yet you also see in her relationship with Ironheart and others in Wakanda that she has not let her grief completely strip her of her spirit. She is still a fighter and an innovator.

Everyone was questioning who would be the next Black Panther after Chadwick Boseman’s passing. Fans theorized that maybe they would pass the torch to M’Baku since he was already a tribe leader. Or perhaps handing it to Nakia or Okoye who were older and more experienced. It was clear that if Shuri was to inherit the mantle, she would need to grow into it and earn it. That’s exactly what she does in Wakanda Forever. She could have easily run from her duties and left Wakanda behind after all she went through. Yet despite losing the remaining members of her family, she is still there on the front lines fighting for her country. By the end of the movie there’s no doubt she earned the right to become the next Black Panther, and her grand entrance in the suit solidifies that to the audience.

3. Loki

Loki is an obvious choice for this list considering he is one of the few villain to hero stories in the MCU, and by the far the best one at that. Loki was already a complex character from when we first saw him early on in Thor and The Avengers. He clearly has a troubled past, and you can’t really blame him considering his father never told him he was a frost giant. That comes out in complex ways as you see him toeing the line between good and evil.

A large part of Loki’s development comes through his brother, Thor. Loki could have easily devolved into a one dimensional villain early, but his clear love for his brother keeps off a path of complete destruction. His turnabout from evil to good isn’t rushed or haphazard. We see his descent into villainy in The Avengers due to the fallout of Thor. Then in The Dark World, Loki starts to help his brother, but always with his own agenda in mind. In Ragnarok he’s a begrudging teammate of Thor’s and by the end he’s even there trying to save Asgard which he had almost destroyed just years before. Then we see his death in Infinity War and you can tell he’s no longer running, he died living up to his family’s legacy.

What’s so great about Loki’s character arc though is that we get to see it not once, but twice. After he dies in Infinity War, we see them start all over again with the Loki from The Avengers who is transported to the TVA in Loki. This Loki hasn’t gone through all the turmoil of Ragnarok and is still selfish to a fault. Yet he still finds the path to redemption in the show where he ultimately tries to stop Sylvie and Victor Timely and by the end turns into a full fledged hero as he sits on the throne and becomes He Who Remains, forever doomed to sit outside of time and reality. 

One Loki redemption arc would’ve been enough to land him on this list, but getting two within the MCU puts him in the top 3. 

2. Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch

The best kinds of character arcs take a character the audience doesn’t really like and makes them into a fan favorite. Now, maybe I was in the minority of not initially liking Wanda, but there’s no denying she grows tremendously in the MCU.

For such a long time, I was frustrated by the underutilization of Wanda’s powers in the MCU. It was obvious right from the start she had extraordinary potential as she single handedly dismantled the original six Avengers through mind manipulation in Age of Ultron. Yet in much of that movie we see her hiding behind the likes of Clint Barton despite her far superior powers. That doesn’t change much in Civil War when she’s shown to be relegated to basically house arrest by Tony and Steve after the incident in Sokovia which seems ridiculous given her abilities. 

I get that she doesn’t have control over her powers at this point. I get that they were holding back with her that whole time just for the later Scarlet Witch setup, but it still is just downright odd to watch the arguably two most powerful Avengers in Wanda and Vision get smacked around by Thanos’ minions before Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon come and save them. I mean come on, Cap is the only one with actual superpowers out of those three. It doesn’t get any better later in Infinity War and Endgame where Wanda is constantly held back when she seems the most capable to take out Thanos’ entire army single-handedly. 

Finally this all changes through in WandaVision. Diving deep into the greatness of this show is for another day, but the very best aspect is the payoff of Wanda’s character. We see new sides of her as she goes through the decades each episode. We see her humanity, vulnerability, and strength. And then finally, finally, we see her reach her full potential at the end where they name her the Scarlet Witch. No more holding back, no more hiding. It’s clear Wanda has finally become what everyone always thought she could be, and it’s definitely worth it.

Now, one could argue that Multiverse of Madness single handedly ruined all of Wanda’s carefully crafted character arc. After spending years building her into the Scarlet Witch, a being layered with complexity and emotion, they go all Daenerys Targaryen with her and make her go crazy. It’s a sad and frustrating turn of events from someone that had arguably just become the most interesting character in the MCU post-Endgame. Yet we do see her change slightly back to normal at the end, and I think there is still hope they can rectify her character in the future. Because she’s not dead yet, right?

1. Tony Stark

There’s a million reasons the MCU is so successful, but I think most people agree that number one on the list is Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark. The MCU was never going to work if it didn’t select the right Avenger to kick everything off. It had to be the perfect blend of superhero and human and be a character who they could develop over the long haul. It also had to be someone who would always be a fan favorite, no matter where he was in his development. They picked the perfect one in Iron Man, or more specifically, Tony Stark.

Interestingly, we see mini reflections of his overall character arc in each of the movies Tony is in. He starts off as an arrogant, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and turns into one of the most self-sacrificing heroes in all the MCU. We see a foreshadowing of this even in the very first Iron Man movie where he starts out oblivious to real world problems and content in living the high life and being awful to those around him. That all changes when he gets kidnapped and sees firsthand what his weapons do. We see him immediately trying to make up for those mistakes, though he still has a long way to go. Likewise in the Avengers movie, he argues with Cap over his selfishness, but in the end, it’s Tony who risks his life to carry away the nuclear missile.  

Over and over we see Tony mature both as a man and superhero. You can see the responsibility he takes on as he puts the safety of the world on his shoulders. You see it in his growth with Pepper and his care toward Peter Parker. You can see it when he makes the ultimate sacrifice in Endgame. 

Iron Man was never the hero of the MCU, it was always Tony Stark. The Tony Stark that started off the MCU wouldn’t have been strong enough to hold all six infinity stones, but the hero he grew into was. I doubt we’ll ever see another character that grows more between two mirroring lines of dialogue than Tony Stark did from the first time he said “I am Iron Man” to the last. 

Thanks for reading! Let me know what your favorite MCU character arcs are in the comments!