I did not anticipate all of the responses to my previous Marvel article, but I have to say that I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed hearing everyone’s thoughts, and that made me decide to write another Marvel article, this one ranking Marvel characters. Now, before I get into the ranking, I just want to disclose that I could definitely not include every Marvel character. There are so many amazing characters in the MCU that I had to pick and choose which I included, so I created two rankings to try and add as many characters as possible. The first ranking encompasses the major characters, which you’ll see today, while the second ranking includes my 20 absolute favorite minor/background characters, which I’ll be publishing next week. The ranking of the major characters is based mainly on my personal opinion, but I also took into account the following criteria: backstory, personality, sense of humor, costume/look, powers/technology, and evolution. Enjoy!

*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD*

29. Sprite and Ikarus 

• It’s no secret that I am not a fan of Eternals, and I was originally planning to group all 10 main characters together for one spot in the ranking, but I decided to break the characters from this movie into 3 different groups because, while I strongly dislike some, I genuinely like a few. Sprite and Ikarus are two that I strongly dislike, and I truly cannot express how much I hate these characters. Sprite was willing to kill one of her best friends of 7000 years (Sersi) to help the man she’s in love with, and Ikarus also fought against Sersi, his wife that he abandoned after thousands of years of marriage. 

28. Nebula

• I do not like Nebula at all because I think she has a horrible personality and she always seems to be trying to kill someone without proper justification. I understand that she had a horrible childhood, and that she was tortured by Thanos because she wasn’t as skillful as Gamora, but Gamora always beating her in fights isn’t justification for Nebula to try and kill her (Gamora was a frightened child just like Nebula, fighting to survive). The only redeeming thing about Nebula is that she sided with the Avengers against Thanos, and that she changed her ways to stand against her father and avenge her sister. 

27. Thena, Gilgamesh, Sersi, Phastos, Ajak, and Kingo 

• Thena, Gilgamesh, Sersi, Phastos, Ajak, and Kingo are six Eternals that I don’t really like or dislike. I feel there wasn’t enough time in the movie to develop these characters, so I am really neutral about them because I know nothing about them. Ajak was only present for a few minutes, I genuinely forgot that Gilgamesh was a character for a portion of the movie, and the other characters just got lost in the crowd. 

26. Mantis 

• Mantis, quite honestly, creeps me out at times. She is really funny because of her lack of understanding of sarcasm or social cues, but she does annoy me because of her ignorance. I also dislike that she was complicit in helping Ego trap the Guardians in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, as she could have told them sooner and helped them escape before it was too late. 

25. Rocket Raccoon

• I really can’t write much about Rocket. He is ranked so low on my list because, though I don’t dislike him, there’s nothing that makes me really like him that much either. He is definitely a funny character, and I appreciate his humor, but I feel like his humor is all that stands out to me. We also don’t have much of his backstory, and I feel like I don’t truly know who Rocket is. I think that he’s really rude towards everyone he meets, and even though it’s his coping mechanism for his suffering, he definitely needs to dial it back because none of the people he hurts were responsible for hurting him. 

24. Stephen Strange (Dr. Strange)

• I ranked Dr. Strange so low because, although he has an interesting backstory, intriguing powers, and a memorable costume, I hate his personality. He is a very arrogant character, and though he has improved over the course of his story, I still feel like he is the type of person you would hate if you met. He acts like he’s better than everyone, and he is a major narcissist. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, when Peter comes and asks Strange to cast a spell that would tamper with the multiverse, Dr. Strange said it was a bad idea, proceeded to do it anyway, and then blamed Peter when the spell went bad (even though it was actually Strange’s fault). 

23. Drax

• Drax, though we don’t see much of his backstory, is a hilarious character because of his inability to understand sarcasm. He has the funniest one-liners throughout the movies, and he just gives off a lovable idiot vibe. He is ranked near the bottom of my list solely because there are so many amazing characters in the MCU, and he is usually one of the last that I think of. 

22. Bruce Banner (Hulk)

• I have Bruce Banner ranked near the bottom because he just seems really boring to me. I don’t think he has an interesting personality, and he doesn’t really have a sense of humor either. I also dislike him because of the romantic storyline he shared with Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron because I thought they were horrible together and it made me dislike his character so much more. I feel like his backstory wasn’t completely explored, so I never really knew anything about him other than the fact that he turned into the Hulk. 

21. Gamora

• Gamora is an interesting character, but I didn’t know whether I liked her for the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. By Avengers: Infinity War, though, I knew that I really enjoyed her character, largely because of the backstory established in this movie. I also really like her evolution throughout the MCU, as she went from servant of Ronan (the bad guy) to reluctant member of the Guardians of the Galaxy to fighting against Thanos to save the universe. 

20. T’Challa (Black Panther) 

• My opinion of T’Challa fluctuates, though I usually like him. I appreciate how calm and collected he usually is, and I like how rationally he thinks about situations. I did not like how he attempted to kill Bucky in Captain America: Civil War, but I really respect how he was able to admit that he was wrong when he learned that Bucky was innocent, and I love that he offered to protect Bucky from the governments of the world. In regards to his costume and technology, I really like his suit, and I think his vibranium technology is very interesting. 

19. Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel)

• Carol is ranked right around the middle for me because she definitely has an awesome suit, and I love her personality, but she does aggravate me at times. After she met the Avengers, she sort of acted like she thought she was better than everyone else, and, even though I know it’s not her fault, it really annoyed me that she only showed up to fight Thanos near the end of the fight. 

18. Druig and Makkari 

• Druig and Makkari are my two favorite Eternals, and I honestly love them. They were the light in the middle of a dark movie, and they are the only reason that I would consider rewatching Eternals. Their relationship was really captivating and interesting, and I love how comfortable they are with each other. I also love their powers, especially Druig’s mind-control abilities, and this is probably the power I would choose if I could have a superpower.  

17. Groot 

• Groot is right around the middle of my list because, while I didn’t love teenage Groot, I absolutely adore adult Groot and baby Groot. Even though he only ever says three words, I feel like he has a very complex personality that is established over the course of four movies. His gentle demeanor and loyalty to the Guardians made him so lovable, and I love that I can always expect something completely new from him. 

16. Hope Van Dyne (Wasp)

• Hope Van Dyne is a really interesting character, and while I wasn’t sure about her in the beginning, she definitely grew on me over the course of the Ant-Man movies. In the first Ant-Man movie, to be completely honest, I hated her hair so much that it made me dislike her character for a little while. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, however, I really enjoyed her character and really liked seeing her suiting up as the Wasp for the first time. 

15. Vision

• I didn’t really like Vision in the first few movies he was in because I felt like he was emotionless and uninteresting. As his storyline with Wanda Maximoff progressed, however, he began to develop a really endearing personality and sense of humor, and by Wandavision, I was really sad to see him go. He has an amazing evolution throughout the course of the MCU, mostly due to Wanda, and I really love watching how he evolved from that emotionless robot to someone that could almost be human. 

14. Thor

• Thor is a character that I have gone back and forth on, and I wasn’t his biggest fan in the beginning. I thought he was arrogant and reckless, and he seemed to care so little about the people around him. As his story progressed, however, he became a much more lovable character, and I have ended up really liking him. I love how loyal Thor is to Loki, and how he will always fight to protect his brother. I also love the personality and sense of humor that Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame gave Thor, and I feel like he really became a unique character in these movies.  

13. Peter Quill (Starlord)

• I really like Peter Quill because the way he acts and his sense of humor is a lot like my dad’s (and unlike a lot of people, I actually like my dad). He is really funny, has an amazing personality, and I love watching him interact with others. He has a really interesting evolution throughout the movies, and he is one character that has a fully developed backstory. He is a character that you know will act stupid and make you laugh in such a “normal person” kind of way, even though he’s surrounded by superheroes that seem larger than life. 

12. Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow)

• If you had asked me to rank Black Widow a few years ago, I would have put her at the very bottom of my list. I did not like Natasha for years, and it was only after Avengers: Endgame came out that I actually began to like her. I feel like she didn’t really have a personality or sense of humor until her more recent movies, and I really love the change in these movies that gave her this personality. I also love the costume/look change they gave her in Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow, especially the intricate braids, because it made it feel like she was finally establishing who she was as a person and becoming unique. 

11. Peter Parker (Spider-Man)

• Peter Parker is a really relatable character, and I think this is one of the reasons that I like him so much. He is a teenager going through high school just like us, and he approaches being a superhero like any inexperienced kid would, which I really enjoy. I love his suits each movie, and his humor and jokes really made Spider-Man a lovable character that is engaging to watch.  

10. Shang-Chi

• Shang-Chi was a really surprising character, and I definitely didn’t expect to love him as much as I do. In the trailers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, he seemed very serious and stoic, and I didn’t think he would be an interesting character, but he actually turned out to be really dorky and funny in the movie, which I really enjoyed. They actually gave him a personality and a unique sense of humor, which caught me completely off guard, but it made his character likable and intriguing. I also really like his powers and his backstory, and I really enjoy how different he is from every other MCU hero we’ve seen so far. 

9. Scott Lang (Ant-Man)

• Scott Lang, just like Peter Quill (Starlord), has the same stupid sense of humor as my dad, and his personality is so lovable and endearing that it’s almost impossible to hate him. I think Scott’s technology is really cool (shrinking and growing), and even though that power probably doesn’t sound that awesome, the way Scott utilizes this technology throughout the movies makes this power a lot more interesting than I expected. 

8. Tony Stark (Iron Man)

• Tony Stark is a hilarious character with a really interesting personality, and his evolution throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the greatest evolutions of any MCU character. He entered the MCU as a weapons dealer that didn’t care what his weapons were used for, to a superhero trying to make amends, to a member of the Avengers, to the man that ultimately defeated Thanos and sacrificed his life to save the universe. Another thing I love about Tony is his technology, which has grown drastically throughout the course of the MCU. The only reason that I don’t have Tony ranked higher on my list is that I completely disagree with Team Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War, and I really disliked Tony throughout this movie (I am not just Team Cap because I like Captain America better than Iron Man; I genuinely agree with Team Cap’s side throughout the movie and I think Tony was wrong). 

7. James Rhodes (War Machine)

• Rhodey is a character that has never really held the spotlight, always staying in the background as a side character. Regardless of this, he is one of my favorite MCU characters because of his logic and dry sense of humor. Rhodey has this way of shutting down someone’s argument or solving a problem with one sentence that is so unexpected and full of logic that it just makes other characters stop because they are so taken aback. For example, in Avengers: Endgame, when the Avengers were discussing traveling through time to defeat Thanos, Rhodey suggested that they go back in time and kill baby Thanos, and though the other Avengers were affronted by this suggestion, it was actually a really good idea that was much more logical than most of the others. 

6. Sam Wilson (Falcon/Captain America)

• Sam Wilson is an incredibly loyal character, and I love how he was first introduced as this random guy in Captain America: The Winter Soldier who ended up joining Captain America and becoming a superhero to save the day. His evolution throughout the movies, from Falcon to Captain America, is amazing to watch and it’s really inspirational. There are times in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when Sam really aggravated me because of how unsympathetic he was in regards to Bucky and his trauma, but overall, I really like Sam and enjoy his character a lot. 

5. Steve Rogers (Captain America)

• Steve Rogers is a character that I have loved consistently throughout the MCU. From Captain America: The First Avenger to Avengers: Endgame, Steve was so selfless and always fought for what was right, even when he had to go against the government to do so. I really love how loyal he was to Bucky and the Avengers, and he is the embodiment of what a hero is. His background in World War II and his evolution from WWII to present day is amazing to watch, and I really love how he never strayed from what he knew the right thing was. I also have to mention that I am Team Cap in regards to Captain America: Civil War, and though I do like him more than Tony Stark, I am Team Cap because I actually agree with his side in this movie. I began to love him even more after he decided that becoming a fugitive and fighting the government and half the Avengers was necessary to saving Bucky Barnes and stopping the bad guy (Zemo). 

4. Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch)

• Wanda Maximoff holds a place in my top 5 for many reasons. Firstly, she has one of the most in-depth backstories of any MCU character, and I really enjoy following the story of a young child losing her parents in a bombing, becoming a superhero with her twin brother after being experimented on by HYDRA, turning on their evil allies to help the Avengers, and becoming an Avenger, where she meets the love of her life. Her backstory shows her evolution throughout the MCU, from being a scared teenager who was on the wrong side of the fight, to a young woman who is powerful enough to manipulate reality and is arguably the strongest Avenger. I also love all of her costumes, especially her newest suit that debuted in Wandavision. Her powers are spectacular, and Wandavision really showcased her incredibly powerful telepathy and telekinesis. 

3. Loki

• Loki has been one of my favorite characters throughout the course of the MCU. He is such an intriguing character, and I feel like he changes and evolves every time he has an appearance. He has a really fun personality, and his sense of humor makes him one of the most enjoyable characters in the Thor movies. Though he appears as a villain for at least half of his involvement in the MCU, his love for his brother (Thor) always overpowers his desire for power, and I really love that he ended up as a hero (he died trying to protect Thor and save the remainder of his people). I was also really happy that the Loki show expanded on his powers, and I love seeing how powerful Loki actually is (before this point, his powers had never really been explored in the MCU). 

2. Clint Barton (Hawkeye)

• Clint Barton was my favorite Avenger for many years and has remained one of my favorite MCU characters since before The Avengers even came out. From the first time he was introduced, I loved Clint’s dry personality and wry sense of humor, and I really enjoyed how calm and collected he always seemed. I am a huge fan of his archery, and the Hawkeye show made me love it even more because of the trick arrows and other skills that they introduced, including his actual fighting ability. Even when watching a movie with Captain America and Iron Man in it, Hawkeye was always my favorite. 

1. Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier)

• Bucky Barnes is my favorite MCU character because of his personality and sense of humor, his backstory, and his evolution throughout the movies and shows. His backstory, from Captain America’s best friend in World War II, to a HYDRA prisoner, to a brainwashed HYDRA assassin, to recovering on the run from the world, to fighting against Thanos, to teaming up with Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, Bucky Barnes’ story has intrigued me and made me like his character so much. His evolution over time from being a soldier fighting Nazis in the 1930s to being an Avenger that fights aliens in the present day is probably the greatest evolution of any character in the MCU. His personality and sense of humor also make him my favorite character, as he has the same sarcastic approach to situations as me, and he is definitely not a people-person (like many superheroes are), just like me. He gets annoyed at people so easily, and I relate to him so much because I feel like I would act just like him if I were in a world of superheroes.