3 MCU Heroes Marvel Didn’t Understand

The Marvel Cinematic Universe got its start by banking on a C-level character (Iron Man) and turning him into an international movie star. As Marvel Studios learned early on, a hero’s pop-culture relevance and comic book sales weren’t make-or-break indicators of their viability as a movie franchise-starter: Take a charismatic actor like Robert Downey Jr., a good directorial vision, and some visual effects wizardry, and any Marvel hero could become a movie star.

Well… most heroes, anyway.

The truth is, there are some characters that the MCU simply got wrong. Despite decades of comic book lore and fan acclaim around these characters, the creative talents at Marvel Studios simply couldn’t pull off a proper adaptation for the screen. Here are the three most glaring examples of MCU heroes that Marvel Studios didn’t truly understand how to adapt, and why they failed to live up to their comic counterparts.

3) Namor

MCU fans waited a long time to get Namor in the MCU, but Tenoch Huerta’s version of the character is not what anyone really expected – nor were they asking for it. The Sub-Mariner of the comics is one of the most charismatic characters Marvel has, with his royal haughtiness and brash arrogance making him the livewire character, no matter who he’s paired up with. His powers, deep history with both the surface world and Atlantis, legacy as Marvel’s “first mutant,” and connections to so many other characters (Captain America and the WWII Invaders squad, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men) make Namor one of the most pivotal characters in the Marvel Universe.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever gave us none of that. Huerta’s “N’amor” had every pivotal Marvel connection stripped away, as Marvel Studios tried to focus on the more recent rivalry between Wakanda and Atlantis. But Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa wasn’t there to be Namor’s rival; the deep lore of the Atlantis myth was abandoned, and none of Namor’s best character connections were utilized. Missing the mark on adapting the comic version of Namor would’ve been fine, but the new version the MCU introduced wasn’t a suitable replacement. Huerta’s Namor lacked any real endearing charisma, veering way too far into just being kind of a jerk. He killed off a beloved character (Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda), and never really managed to sway viewers toward being sympathetic to his point of view.

The biggest tell of all, however, is that there’s been virtually no buzz around Namor’s next MCU appearance (Avengers: Doomsday) since Wakanda Forever hit theaters in 2022. That’s a steep fall for one of the original Marvel trinity members (Sub-Mariner, Human Torch, and Captain America).

2) Captain Marvel

Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel would probably be at the top of this list for many MCU fans, but as you can see below, there is one worse offender. However, Marvel Studios dropped the ball with Carol Danvers in a major way.

The issue started with the Captain Marvel movie of 2019. Writers/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck shot themselves in the proverbial foot, creatively, by introducing Carol as a brainwashed Kree soldier, trying to recover her true memories and identity. The contradiction of trying to depict a highly charismatic and spunky cosmic powerhouse as an emotionally muted and deadpan mind-slave was creatively fatal, and Larson took the brunt of the burn. By the time Captain Marvel rolled credits, the die was cast: audiences only had about 10 minutes of full-fledged Carol Danvers to relate to, and it wasn’t enough. Nor was it enough for Larson to try to find the character in the brief cameos she had during Avengers: Endgame, or even in The Marvels, a film that only gave Carol 30% (at most) of its focus.

At this point, the MCU Captain Marvel has never quite bounced back from her rocky start, and it looks like her solo franchise may have stalled entirely. It’s a wild thing to see; Carol Danvers’ place in the Marvel Comics universe has become far more prominent, even as the character struggles to find her place in the MCU.

1) The Hulk

Yes, we said it: Hulk is the character that Marvel Studios has gotten wrong most often, and most egregiously. Truth be told, the legacy of mishandling Hulk extends well beyond Marvel Studios, with Universal Pictures misfiring completely with its 2003 Hulk movie by Ang Lee. But that’s just it: Hulk had already been done so wrong by a major studio when Universal partnered with the newly-formed Marvel Studios for The Incredible Hulk (2008), and they still couldn’t make the character of movie star.

The Incredible Hulk didn’t get the character right from both sides: the stories about the film’s production are now infamous, with many of them centering on star Edward Norton and his many arthouse ideas for who Bruce Banner should be (Yoga enthusiast, meditation guru, heat monitor fitness junky genius… it was a wild mix). While most MCU fans were into the “Savage Hulk” design and characterization, there wasn’t too much backlash from fans when Norton moved on from the franchise. Incredible Hulk‘s weird status as a quasi-canon MCU entry only made the character’s stock plummet, as the larger MCU firmly established itself.

When Mark Ruffalo was cast as Bruce Banner, he was given the chance to be the embodiment of the term “third time’s the charm.” And, in The Avengers, it seemed like Marvel Studios had done it, casting a better actor as Banner (who perfectly channeled that aura of Marvel TV icon Bill Bixby), while also designing a version of Savage Hulk who looked more convincing and was capable of making more heroic choices. But after The Avengers, Marvel Studios also dropped the ball, hilariously, and repeatedly.

Avengers: Age of Ultron was total cringe with the way it forced a romance between Banner and Black Widow, and tried to give Hulk control therapy with Natasha’s “Sun’s getting real low…” mantra. The subplot of Hulk taking a ship off-world felt like a major cop-out by the franchise – which is why getting “Gladiator Hulk” in Thor: Ragnarok felt like the comeback story of the decade. And then, just when Hulk’s stock had never been higher in the MCU, Avengers: Infinity War gave Banner Hulk ‘performance issues’ that kept the Jade Giant on the sidelines as Thanos wiped out half of existence. What was the solution to that massive loss? We got Smart Hulk in Avengers: Endgame, a version of the character that angered most longtime fans by stripping away the Jekyll/Hyde dynamic that defines The Hulk.

Endgame ended with Smart Hulk having lost an arm after using the Infinity Gauntlet – arguably the biggest casualty of the fight, other than Iron Man (who died). Sure, the arm got fixed in She-Hulk, but Smart Hulk still hasn’t won over any new fans, and his cousin didn’t do much to help a larger Hulk franchise find its lane in the MCU. With behind-the-scenes rights issues being a longtime mess, it’s been hard to tell if MCU Hulk will ever see his stock value rise to the heights of his fellow Avengers. For now, it’s on the back of the next Spider-Man movie (Brand New Day) to give MCU Hulk yet another chance to bounce back – for as long as that good run even lasts.

Marvel Cinematic Universe content can be streamed on Disney+.

5 Marvel Characters That Have No Business Being in Avengers: Secret Wars