This article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange and The Multiverse of Madness
Phase Four of the MCU started in early 2021 with WandaVision and will continue until mid-2023 when The Marvels premieres in July. Thanks to its willingness to step out of the Marvel formula and a slew of diverse and wildly creative projects, Phase Four has been slightly more divisive than its predecessors. However, it makes up for its mixed reception thanks to the brilliant performances across its multiple movies and television shows.
The MCU has always attracted impressive talent to its ranks, but Phase Four allowed many of its actors to go deeper into their characters than ever before. The result is a series of compelling performances than confirm Phase Four as the best chapter in the MCU's ongoing history.
Harish Patel - Eternals
The MCU is famous for its highly comedic tone. Every film has at least one comic relief character, meant to make things lighter when the situation turns particularly bleak. These figures aren't always a success, but they almost always steal the spotlight away from the hero when they are.
Harish Patel's loveable and loyal valet Karun is one of the MCU's best comic relief characters. The actor takes a potentially one-note character and turns him into a beacon of light and humor, a way for the almighty Eternals to remember the humanity they're meant to protect. Patel steals many of the film's scenes to the point where his role is more memorable than some of the other Eternals.
Jeffrey Wright - What If...?
Voice acting is a severely underrated art. Mainstream audiences often discard it, ignoring the nuances that go into giving a truly compelling vocal performance. Fortunately, recent years saw a significant rise in voice acting appreciation, thanks to memorable roles from Scarlett Johansson, Phyllis Smith, and Eddie Murphy.
As the infamous Uatu the Watcher, Jeffrey Wright dominates every episode of What If...? His narration opens every chapter, delivering blatant exposition with such style that it's impossible not to fall under his trance. Fans sorely miss him when he's not around, and a second season of the show is more than welcome if it means hearing more of Wright's husky voice.
Kathryn Hahn - WandaVision
Villains in the MCU are often some of the most underwhelming characters. Even when played by some of Hollywood's most famous actors, Marvel's antagonists are often one-note and stale, one-and-done baddies without any real depth or development.
WandaVision subverted fans' expectations thanks to the charm and talent of the underrated Kathryn Hahn. Blending humor with wickedness, Hahn became a standout in a show full of memorable moments. She even has her own theme song. Hahn received a richly-deserved Emmy nomination for her role, and her success was such that Marvel gave her a spin-off. Considering how great she was in WandaVision, fans have high hopes for the Agatha Harkness Disney+ show.
Tony Leung - Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
Phase Four is delivering some of the best villains in the MCU, not necessarily because of the writing itself but rather because of the actors who are doing their darndest to elevate the material, and Chinese superstar Tony Leung Chiu-wai is the perfect example.
On paper, Wenwu is the same as every other megalomaniac MCU villain. However, Leung finds the emotion and torture in Wenwu's heart, using it to turn the character into both a menacing villain and a compelling figure. The task isn't easy, but Leung is more than capable of pulling it off, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a much better film because of it.
Florence Pugh - Black Widow/Hawkeye
Black Widow and Hawkeye were mostly underwhelming entries in Phase Four. Because of their small scale and relatively low stakes, they couldn't help but feel unnecessary, especially among the larger multiversal shenanigans of other movies and shows.
However, both projects had one saving grace: Florence Pugh's sensational portrayal of Yelena Belova. Pugh's Belova was a hit from the get-go, thanks to her mix of dry humor, sarcasm, and genuine vulnerability. Her performance in Hawkeye will most likely result in an Emmy nomination, and fans can't wait to see what's next for her witty character.
Andrew Garfield - Spider-Man: No Way Home
For years, The Amazing Spider-Man movies received mockery and disdain from fans and critics alike. Audiences agreed that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone had great chemistry and played their characters amazingly, but the scripts they had were underwhelming at best.
Spider-Man: No Way Home gave Garfield a chance at redemption, and the two-time Oscar nominee took it to heart. Garfield is funny and charming yet jaded and tortured. The scene where he saves MJ's life is a perfect moment of catharsis, and Garfield's emotion really sells it. Fans can't wait to see where Garfield's Spidey shows up next, but one thing is sure: they'll be there to support him.
Jonathan Majors - Loki
It takes a truly gifted actor to steal an entire show with just one episode; Jonathan Majors is that actor. The feat is even more impressive considering how great a series Loki was and the significant repercussions it presented for the MCU overall. Alas, Majors was all people could talk about after the finale aired.
As He Who Remains -- a variant of the MCU's next big bad, Kang, the Conqueror -- Majors is nothing short of splendid. His participation is basically one massive and exposition-filled monologue, but Majors is so magnetic, so energetic and charming that it's easy to forgive and forget the lazy writing. Like Pugh, Majors is a major Emmy contender for his work, cementing him as one of the MCU's best additions.
Willem Dafoe - Spider-Man: No Way Home
Certain actors are born to play certain characters, and Willem Dafoe is the living proof. The actor first stepped into Green Goblin's glider in Sam Raimi's game-changing 2002 superhero film Spider-Man, delivering one of the most unhinged performances in recent memory.
Spider-Man: No Way Home brought Dafoe back to reprise his role, and it was like no time had passed. Dafoe sank his teeth to the role, confirming why no one can do what he does. His physicality and emotional connection to the Goblin were impressive, becoming the centerpiece in a film full of cameos and fan service. However, Dafoe never phoned it in, displaying a level of commitment that few other actors covey.
Oscar Isaac - Moon Knight
Dissociative identity disorder is a complex and often misunderstood mental health condition. Over the years, many shows and movies have been seen to stigmatize the disorder further due to the actors and writers looking at misinformation when conducting their research. Fortunately, Oscar Isaac took a more respectful and restrained approach, delivering an honest, vulnerable, and layered performance in the MCU's most recent streaming effort, Moon Knight.
For many fans, they were glad to see that Isaac wisely stays away from the stigmas and, instead, tries his best to show an accurate depiction of an individual living with dissociative identity disorder. The series was mainly praised by critics for the amount of research that the writers and Isaac had put into the project, with many also hoping that Moon Knight will still show up in other places within the MCU.
Elizabeth Olsen - Wandavision/Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
If Phase Four has a definitive shining star, it's Wanda Maximoff. Since her debut in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda has been through hell and back, enduring trauma that would break most people. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness finally shows her unrestrained and broken, desperate to find her children by any means necessary.
Through it all, Elizabeth Olsen remains in control of her character. Olsen wears Wanda's pain on her sleeve, turning every shift in Wanda's broken psyche into another layer of an already complex character. Olsen is overwhelming as Wanda, blending rage, pain, hope, and exhaustion to create a grueling portrayal of grief and devastation. No one comes close to what Olsen achieved in WandaVision and Multiverse of Madness; indeed, the actor has set the bar too high.