It's been a productive year for Marvel Studios, as 2022 Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law were released, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is yet to premiere in November 11th.
Between so many movies and series, the MCU has introduced some of its best characters, heroes, and villains in modern blockbuster cinema, but with so many pieces released every year, some characters have been more than disappointing.
Michelle Jones
A deleted Redditor mentioned Michelle Jones from Tom Holland's Spider-Man and elaborated, "Sometimes I feel like she's just there because they want Zendaya's face on poster. I'm glad they use her more in Far From Home but in Homecoming she's there to give some snarky comments."
It is true that sometimes MJ's character can come off as a little bit forced. However, many have loved Zendaya's portrayal of Michelle, and it's up to taste whether she has been as good as Spider-Man's other love interests from past films such as Gwen Stacy and Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane.
Malekith
Redditor Vin13ish commented, "the villain is just some another generic villain who wants to take over the world" and later added, "Malekith is just so forgettable," which is hard to argue against. The character was so badly portrayed in Thor: The Dark World that many consider him the worst villain Thor has faced.
Malekith is not necessarily bad because he is a one-dimensional villain - there are plenty of iconic villains who are just as equally purely evil - the execution of his wickedness, however, is boring and dry, which makes him, as the Redditor pointed out, very easy to forget.
Jane Foster
User Bruisername321 named Jane Foster, and it is safe to say that a lot of MCU fans agree. Although many tried to blame Natalie Portman's acting skills, the truth is, there's not much an outstanding actress like Portman could have done with such a poorly written character.
In the first two Thor movies, her dialogue is cringy, and her whole persona is unbearably corny, which is a shame, given Natalie has the talent to incarnate an unforgettable character. She became one of MCU's most hated supporting characters. However, under the direction of Taika Waititi in the latest Thor movie, her character became much more interesting and has won back many fans that weren't keen on her more dry former portrayal.
Falcon
Redditor brassmonkie mentioned Falcon, and CleanDishes added, "His initial introduction was cool and all, but he’s turned into a character that’s honestly so forgettable," which is a regrettable truth for many. Sam Wilson had everything to become an interesting hero, but his story has never really taken a particularly interesting direction (despite a bit more characterization in his Disney+ series).
However, most fans hope that Anthony Mackie is given a better opportunity to showcase his charisma and skill in the recently announced Captain America: New World Order, which will be his first big-screen outing as Captain America.
Star-Lord
Peter Quill's sense of humor is not for everybody, and user ateeightate expressed that sometimes Star-Lord made her feel like he was the worst character of the MCU. For many, his way of distracting Ronan with a dance battle was cringe-worthy, and others still do not forgive him for punching Thanos in a fit or rage right before his allies removed the gauntlet from his hand.
These fans are clearly in the minority, though, as Guardians of the Galaxy is still one of the best-rated MCU movies to date. Any overly-comedic character is going to be hit-or-miss to some degree, and it may just be that Star-Lord's style is a bit more divisive than some others.
Ivan Vanko
Redditor silverBruise_32 selected Ivan Vanko, one of the two villains in Iron Man 2, and added "not a bad character in theory, but lacking in development," which is why he is often considered one of the MCU villains that were killed off too soon.
Ivan Vanko's story was very interesting, and his intelligence was outstanding. However, it became evident that the character's potential was wasted. Vanko didn't have much chance to shine either, given that another much more interesting villain, Justin Hammer, stole the show.
Ultron
User Petros_ shared a lot of the discomfort fans had when they first saw Avengers: Age of Ultron about the film's main villain. He explained, "I can't stand his awkward lines, that annoying pitch in his voice when he throws a tantrum, the weird head tilt, and constant nodding when he speaks."
Ultron is considered one of the smartest MCU villains, but it is definitely not the best. He can appear shallow, simplistic, and plain dull. It is a relief, nonetheless, that James Spader voiced the evil robot, given he is almost unbearable to watch but a pleasure to hear. Many fans wish his character maintained the terrifyingly serious vibe from the movie's trailer and Ultron's introduction scene.
Karli Morgenthau
JPA17 was not alone when they mentioned "Flag Smashers," and many other Redditors named Karli Morgenthau as one of the worst characters MCU has presented. There have been very few other villains that have felt as flat.
On top of that, there are multiple things about her and her group that do not make sense and, therefore, become annoying, like what Redditor a_supertramp pointed out when they said "The Flagsmashers inexplicably blowing up a building so the viewer doesn’t start agreeing with them too much was just dumb." The group had a reasonable grievance, but their turn to violence and terrorism seemed abrupt and odd.
Hulk
NotRed9282 didn't have observations that were appreciated by other Marvel fan Redditors (given that his post was downvoted to zero). Nonetheless, one of his opinions was valid. He commented on the strange turn in Hulk's characterization, saying, "Now, he’s practically a sitcom character. Any identity of the Hulk is gone."
Many fans argue that Hulk's character has a lot of potential that has not been exploited yet and that it is time for Bruce Banner to have more of his own movies. Many feel that the slow character development over several Avengers movies was great but that his sudden jump to Professor Hulk off-screen was bizarrely sudden and under-explained.
War Machine
Audiences have not seen much of War Machine, and that is why his little interventions have come across as insignificant. Redditor kdray39 explained it further and commented, "I’ve never really felt he did much and found him kind of boring."
There is not much to say to defend a different point of view, really, given he has appeared so little in the Iron Man and Avengers movies. For now, he seems like a character writers have not paid too much attention to, which makes him one of the worst ones in the MCU. Fortunately, fans will get more of him in the upcoming Armor Wars series.