The Marvel Cinematic Universe has some of the greatest actors in the world in its movies, and that's one of the reasons the highest-grossing film of all time, Avengers: Endgame, is part of it.
Since MCU's main focus is superhero movies, action scenes need to be convincing to keep viewers interested. That's why a lot of actors insist on doing their own stunts. They always have doubles, of course, because no one can be expected to be able to perform those kinds of activities, and it's completely understandable if some actors decide not to. But as long as it's safety-conscious, it's always fun to see.
Does His Own Stunts: Chris Evans
Chris Evans, aka Captain America, will never turn down an opportunity to be a superhero, at least for a while. He loves doing his own stunts and has the experience and the intelligence to do so without hurting himself or others. He says his character allows him to do so because Captain America's abilities are more realistic and human, so it's mainly fighting hand to hand.
"Any time I can get the gloves on and get in the ring, and they'll let me, I'll do it," he said about it. With how good his performances have been, the directors will probably let him for as long as he wants.
Won't Risk It: Mark Ruffalo
Mark Ruffalo plays Bruce Banner, or the Incredible Hulk, in the MCU, but as ironic as it is when thinking about his character, the actor won't do his own stunts. He has, however, a stunt double whose resemblance is uncanny.
The stuntman in question is Anthony Molinari, and he was born for the job. It's not difficult to see why he would choose not to worry about the action scenes when having practically his twin to cover for him. There are a lot of pictures of the two of them together, and fans can hardly believe their similarities.
Does Her Own Stunts: Scarlett Johansson
When playing Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson had a couple of stunt doubles for the parts that were absolutely impossible for her, but she did perform a lot of her own stunts through the years. She's been Black Widow since Iron Man 2 in 2010, and has dedicated "many, many, hours, days, and months of stunt training, and strength training."
About preparing for the character, she said: "I think that the research that I did was mostly a lot of the stunt work that I put into it. The character herself I think remains quite mysterious, which is important. She’s covert."
Won't Risk It: Chris Hemsworth
In Chris Hemsworth's defense, Thor's stunts are insanely dangerous, and it's impossible for someone who is not a properly trained stunt double to do them safely.
His stuntman, Bobby Holland Hanton, who has worked with Chris in many other films outside the MCU, has talked a little bit about how wild Thor stunts were, including how he snapped his inner thigh when rehearsing a battle between Thor and Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok. There were other injuries on set, but thankfully he's healed well.
Does Her Own Stunts: Brie Larson
The reason why Brie Larson ended up doing her own stunts is actually pretty funny. She said that when she was cast as Captain Marvel, she "just assumed everybody did their own stunts," so she trained and got ready to do anything that her character demanded.
She ended up doing most of them because at some point she realized she could use a double for the most dangerous stunts, but it's still impressive. Captain Marvel’s producer, Jonathan Schwartz, said that “on any other Marvel movie, stunt doubles would be doing 99 percent of what she’s doing.”
Didn't Risk It: Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick was an amazing actor, and his death was one of the darkest moments of the year for fans. His work in Black Panther was admirable, but he was not fond of stunts. Instead, he would leave it to Daniel Graham to trick the crowd, and he did a great job.
The scenes he had his stunt double in consisted mostly of gymnastics and graceful movements in the middle of a fight, the kind of things that inevitably require special training.
Does His Own Stunts: Tom Holland
Tom Holland has said many times that, while playing Spider-Man, he was excited to do his stunts. If it had been up to him, he would have done them all.
“I did as many (of the stunts) as I could, but there are some things legally that I couldn’t do,” he said to Comicbook. “There were stunt doubles who were all very, very talented guys who really supported me throughout the process. Whenever there was a stunt that I didn’t necessarily feel comfortable about, they would step in and show my how to do it, and coach me through the process.”
Won't Risk It: Anthony Mackie
Anthony Mackie appeared for the first time in the MCU as Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in 2014, and hasn't been very interested in doing his own stunts. In fact, he was thrilled to see his stunt double, Aaron Toney, do his job, and even took him as his 'date' to the Avengers: Endgame premiere.
"I’m very happy to be this guy's acting double! Thanks for being the best stuntman in the land!" he tweeted that night. It's heartwarming to see he values his hard work.
Does His Own Stunts: Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. loves doing his own stunts, and nothing, not even a broken ankle will stop him. Guy Pearce, who co-starred with Robert, told the story of how the actor was so invested in his character, that it resulted in an accident on the set of Iron Man 3.
"Robert broke his ankle in the middle of that film, because he had to do a stunt where he jumped from one platform down to another platform and be on a cable. They wanted to rehearse it and he said, ‘I don’t need to rehearse it.’ And he jumped and the guy holding the cable wasn’t sort of ready or something and he landed hard and he broke his ankle. So the film sort of shut down for like 5 or 6 weeks."
Won't Risk It: Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson is probably wiser than most and won't push himself past his limits. He respects his castmates who decide to do their own stunts, but when he portrayed Nick Fury he said he didn't want to take the risk. He was more than happy to allow stuntmen to take over.
"Why would I do that?" he said about it. "You're gonna get hurt. Something's gonna happen. You're gonna twist an ankle, break a nail, something. No, you do as little as you can."