When superheroes appear in the pages of comic books, they’re moldable. There may be a disappointing run here or there, but eventually, the writers will get things back on track. Movies and TV shows are very different, however. Once a character makes the jump to live-action, there’s no guarantee that they’ll have enough juice to stick along for the long haul. But what’s even worse than never getting out of the gate is finding success early on, only to squander it. It’s becoming more and more common these days, but one company is more guilty of it than others: Marvel.
Since Marvel’s movie and TV history is so deep, some characters have a ridiculous number of live-action appearances. While that sounds great on paper, the more opportunities they have to flex their muscles, the higher the chance they regress. It’s already happened to a few major Marvel heroes, with all of them being worse off than they were early in their careers.
Hulk is one of the faces of Marvel Comics. Marvel Studios is well aware of that, so the character wastes no time making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. A recast after Edward Norton’s departure makes Hulk’s early days a little strange, but it doesn’t take him long to find his footing. By Thor: Ragnarok, Bruce Banner’s alter-ego is one of the best heroes in the franchise.
Unfortunately, Hulk’s story takes a major hit in Avengers: Endgame when Banner combines his two personalities. He’s no longer a terrifying threat that can level a city at any moment, which takes away most of his appeal. When Banner has everything under control, there’s really no reason for him to stick around.
Like Hulk, Hawkeye starts his MCU career off with a bang. After a brief appearance in Thor, Clint Barton shows what he’s made of in The Avengers, killing aliens with near-superhuman precision. While he delivers another epic performance in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the MCU starts to plant some seeds that lead to his downfall.
It feels like every MCU movie sees Hawkeye grapple with retiring. The shtick gets old after a while, but he keeps coming back. The Ronin story makes Hawkeye more interesting for a project or two, and there are some genuinely great moments in the character’s solo series. However, the MCU has been unable to recapture the magic of early Hawkeye, and it doesn’t seem like the character will have another chance to redeem himself.
Despite dealing with a recast after his first appearance, War Machine proves himself to be more than an Iron Man clone in the MCU. He becomes an Avenger, helps stop Ultron from destroying the planet, and always calls the other heroes on their crap. But all the goodwill he earns goes into the garbage when the MCU uses him to prop up a messy storyline.
The Disney+ series Secret Invasion reveals that a Skrull has been in War Machine’s place for a number of years. It’s a massive reveal, but the MCU has yet to earn it because it refuses to explore any of the ramifications. The lack of movement on the Armor Wars project is making things worse, as it leaves War Machine’s status up in the air.
The early 2000s were a strange time for comic book movies. Most of the projects failed to do enough to become massive franchises. The X-Men movies were a bit of an outlier, though, fleshing out a fascinating world and delivering several winners in a row. Professor X is a major part of the early movies, and he elevates them at every turn, proving to be a complicated character who struggles to find the right path for his students.
When the X-Men franchise reboots, Professor X doesn’t change much. Once the franchise’s quality dips, however, the leader of the X-Men takes a significant hit, making strange decisions that the powers that be at Fox fail to justify. Even after the leader of the X-Men appears to get his swan song in Logan, the MCU drags him back in and lets Scarlet Witch kill him without much of a fight.
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine puts the X-Men franchise on his back. He gets his own trilogy of movies that improves with each entry, concluding with the critically acclaimed Logan. The film follows the hero at his lowest, but as the story progresses, he finds a new purpose: helping save a young group of mutants. While Logan ends with the titular character dying, it’s the perfect send-off. Sadly, the MCU can’t leave well enough alone.
Jackman reprises his role in Deadpool & Wolverine, and while he isn’t the same character from the Fox movies, it’s hard to see a difference. He’s still a reluctant hero who comes around at the end and helps save the day. The MCU is just treading water with its new version of Wolverine when it should be working to reimagine him.
Are you upset about how these Marvel heroes have gotten worse? What other characters do you think deserve to be on this list? Let us know in the comments below!
Marvel has so many great characters, but the company just can’t seem to get this group of heroes back on track. Read More