While Black Panther: Wakanda Forever deals with losing T'Challa as a hero, it also establishes that the people around him were capable heroes themselves. While the main Marvel heroes might get all the spotlight, there are some underrated allies who have not yet gotten their due.

These characters are often seen as sidekicks or love interests but ended up playing huge roles, sometimes doing more than the Avengers themselves. They might not get the same recognition as the likes of Iron Man and Thor, but their hard work and heroics helped to save the day.

Surtur

There are many who would call Surtur a villain rather than a hero but that seems to be a matter of opinion. He is a fiery demon god who is prophesized to destroy Asgard, but while that might initially sound evil, it actually turned out to be entirely necessary.

With Thor and the other heroes unable to defeat Hela as she draws power from Asgard, they decide to summon Surtur to destroy it all and defeat Hela. While his intention may or may not have been to save the universe from an unstoppable Goddess of Death, Surtur succeeded where the heroes failed.

Heimdall

Along with being one of Thor's best friends in the MCU, Heimdall has proven himself an underrated hero in his own right. He has proven many times that he is willing to fight to his last breath to ensure the villains are stopped.

With Thor and the other heroes no longer in Asgard, Heimdall is the one who saves its people from being massacred. There could have been an entire movie dedicated to Heimdall as a rogue hero. And his final moments in Avengers: Infinity War show him sacrificing himself to send Hulk to Earth and prepare them for Thanos' attack.

Helen Cho

Fans might likely have forgotten about Helen Cho as she only appeared briefly in Avengers: Age of Ultron as a scientist helping the heroes. She is later abducted by Ultron who forces her to build him a new body that will make him unstoppable.

The episode of What If? shows the massive destruction that would have been caused had Ultron been transferred into this new body with the Mind Stone. That is averted when Cho shuts the whole thing down and giving the Avengers a chance to steal the body from Ultron.

Yinsen

Before Tony Stark sacrificed himself in Avengers: Endgame, another MCU character died heroically to make that possible. When Stark is captured by the Ten Rings, he meets a fellow captive named Yinsen who helps him build the first Iron Man suit.

Even more importantly, Yinsen decides to give his life in order to allow Stark to escape. His sacrifice not only allows Stark to live, but also gives him a sense of responsibility that will eventually end up saving the universe.

Ned Leeds

Ned Leeds is an MCU sidekick who's best in a supporting role, but that doesn't mean he doesn't occasionally make some big heroic plays. Ned's skills as a hero are first seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming when Ned helps Peter fight Shocker and proves to be a good shot with the webshooters.

Even more impressively, Ned seems to show a skill for the mystic arts in Spider-Man: No Way Home, even being responsible for bringing all the Spider-Men together so they can fight the multiverse villains.

Mantis

Mantis has often seemed like a less formidable member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, not showing much in the way of fighting skills and doesn't have a lot of confidence as a warrior. However, she has still played a pivotal role in taking down two of the most powerful villains in the MCU.

Mantis' abilities to put people to sleep have been used on both Ego and Thanos, taking an incredible amount of strength from her. Had the other heroes been more competent, they could have easily taken out these villains thanks to Mantis.

JARVIS

While his eventual transformation into Vision allowed him to become a full-fledged member of the Avengers, JARVIS had already proven himself an asset in a fight many times over. Iron Man 3 really shows his value as Tony seems temporarily lost without his A.I. sidekick.

However, it is in the final battle with all of Tony's Iron Man suits that JARVIS really does most of the work. He is in control of the majority of those suits, saving Tony and taking out the bad guys.

Nakia

Nakia steps into a more central role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but she had already established herself as a hero in her own right. While other characters like Okoye and Shuri have had bigger presences in the MCU, Nakia saw what they were unable to see.

Long before Killmonger was fighting to open Wakanda to the world, Nakia was telling T'Challa how much they could help those in need if they shared their resources. She also refused to honor the throne of Wakanda while Killmonger sat on it, a decision that helped save T'Challa and Wakanda as a whole.

Janet Van Dyne

Though she is confirmed for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Janet Van Dyne has not had much to do in the MCU up until now. However, the entire mission in Ant-Man and the Wasp is solved thanks to her.

As Hank and Hope seek to find her in the Quantum Realm, it is Janet who shows them how to do it. And while Ghost is a sympathetic villain who is trying to end her pain, had she just allowed Janet to escape the Quantum Realm, she would have seen that she was the cure she needed.

Erik Selvig

Erik Selvig is one of the smartest characters in the MCU and someone that the other characters turn to for help with their various scientific problems. And while he might not join the fight against the villains, his brain has saved the day.

In The Avengers, Selvig is brainwashed by Loki to create a portal to bring his army to Earth. But while the likes of Hawkeye were completely overcome by Loki's magic, Selvig was able to fight against it enough to include a way to turn off the portal, thus saving the Earth from being conquered.

NEXT: 10 Best Underdogs In The MCU