All of the main players in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as Captain America, Iron Man and Thor possess super powers of some kind. Cap and Thor are both incredibly strong and can lift up big hammers. While Tony doesn’t actually possess any powers organically, the fact that he was able to design himself a super suit places him on equal footing with the others.
However, the MCU also features many characters who only need to rely on their fighting abilities and intelligence when facing off against alien armies or insane robots, and so it’s high time they’re recognized for their brilliance.
Jane Foster
Jane’s appearances in the MCU have been polarizing, to put it lightly. Natalie Portman did an excellent job in her portrayal of the character, but many fans and critics felt that Jane merely existed to serve as a love interest for Thor, which severely limited and hurt her character development.
In the first Thor movie, we were told that Jane was an outstanding scientist in her field, but she spent most of the film looking after and being attracted to Chris Hemsworth (although we can’t really blame her for that one). In The Dark World, all Jane did was mope around because Thor didn’t come back. Hopefully she will be much more assertive in Thor: Love And Thunder.
Happy Hogan
Happy appeared alongside Tony Stark in the very first film in the MCU movie, Iron Man. He served as Tony’s bodyguard, as well as other, more uncertain roles. Happy shared a funny, but meaningful friendship with his employer, and when he almost got killed in an explosion, Tony was angry enough to challenge the Mandarin directly.
As Tony’s later Head of Security, Happy could hold his own in a fight, as long as the assailant was an unnamed extra and there was only one of them attacking at a time. When Stark died, Happy was grief-stricken, and as a result, he and Peter Parker grew closer, with Happy becoming a mentor to your friendly neighborhood Night Monkey.
Phil Coulson
While Coulson has definitely come into his own on the show Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., he first began life on the big screen in a supporting role in Iron Man. During that first film, Tony saw him as nothing more than another person to be rude to, but even back then, Phil Coulson wasn’t putting up with any crap from Stark.
He next appeared in the second Iron Man movie, as well as Thor, but the film in which Coulson really broke out was The Avengers He and Nick Fury were responsible for bringing Earth’s mightiest heroes together to defeat Loki and his Chitauri army. However, Coulson gave his life trying to stop Loki, and his death was used to motivate the Avengers.
Pepper Potts
Pepper started off in the MCU as Tony Stark’s personal assistant, which basically meant having to clean up after him and, as she so eloquently put it, “taking out the trash.” Clearly possessing a talent for cutting one-liners, everyone knew that Pepper was destined to go far in the MCU.
She was promoted by Tony to run Stark Industries in Iron Man 2, when Tony was dying from Palladium poisoning. She later helped design the Avengers tower, defeated Aldrich Killian, and even got the biggest womanizer in the history of forever to settle down and start a family. Not to mention she suited up in the final battle against Thanos.
Hawkeye
Everyone appears to hate on Hawkeye because they see him as the weakest member of the Avengers, but really he’s no less of a fighter than Black Widow. We’re not saying that Natasha is useless, rather that Hawkeye is far more integral to the Avengers than people assume.
Yes, okay, so he got a little bit possessed for the majority of the first Avengers flick, but he came through it. And then it transpired that he balanced his job and his family, which is something few other heroes have to do. That alone takes strength. Plus, Hawkeye was the only one who didn’t get whammied by Scarlet Witch in Age Of Ultron.
Peggy Carter
Peggy Carter was Captain America’s first and only true love. Unlike Jane Foster, though, her role in Captain America: The First Avenger was much more than that of the Cap’s love interest. Peggy was the only woman in her field, which meant some of the less gentlemanly soldiers treated her rather unfavorably.
Peggy, of course, was more than able to handle herself, and soon showed everyone that she was way more than just a pretty face. She was extremely intelligent, an excellent strategist, and a brilliant foil to Steve Rogers’ endless naivety. That being said, however, her gradual relationship with Steve was well executed and the two leads shared undeniable chemistry.
Erik Selvig
Erik Selvig was probably the only important human character (besides Coulson) to appear in the first Thor film. He was there to act as a supporting character for Thor to interact with, but Selvig’s intelligence and his work meant that he was one of the few Thor characters to make an appearance outside of that particular franchise.
Selvig actually appeared in two of the Avengers films but since Age Of Ultron, it is unclear as to what he has been up to, and even whether he’s still alive. Selvig is so intelligent, though, that Loki kept him alive to engineer the space stone to open a portal for the Chitauri, so it’s doubtful that Kevin Feige would have offed the character off-screen.
Helmut Zemo
Although it’s fairly well known that the MCU used to have a problem with portraying compelling villains (note the past tense), the Captain America franchise has done consistently well in that department. The Red Skull was absolutely captivating, and Alexander Pierce missed out on this list by a whisker.
However, neither of those two antagonists impacted the Avengers as much as Helmut Zemo did. When Zemo’s hometown of Sokovia was destroyed, taking his family along with it, Zemo embarked on the ultimate revenge, setting events up so that the Avengers would destroy themselves. Unlike many villains anywhere, Zemo’s plan worked without the help of any superpowers.
Nick Fury
Nick Fury is one of the most complicated characters in the MCU. You can never be sure if he’s working with you or against you, or even if it really is the real Nick Fury (eh, Spider Man?). Fury is also one of the most powerful people within the MCU, and he has achieved everything without the use of enhanced abilities.
If you were to play the schoolyard game of asking who would win in a fight between Fury and Captain America, obviously Cap would win. But Fury’s power comes from the ability to manipulate others for his own ends, and his ability to predict the actions of both his allies and enemies makes him an individual not to be messed with.
Natasha Romanoff
Really, who else could top this list? Black Widow has been a core member of the Avengers since the first film in 2012 and proved to everyone that she was capable of holding her own next to the likes of the Hulk and Thor. Natasha’s combat skills were second to none, and she also possessed a fierce intelligence that allowed her to best Loki in a battle of wits.
Nat has appeared in every Avengers movie since, and has had a starring role in the last two films in the Captain America franchise, thanks to her adorable friendship with Steve Rogers. Black Widow is finally going to get her own solo film, out later this year, and will be the only non-superpowered character to have done so in the MCU.
