Every MCU Dad - Ranked From Worst To Best
The MCU has some serious daddy issues.
Though there are some legitimately good fathers in the MCU, there are a lot of pretty poor ones too. In honour of Father’s Day recently, this ranking catalogues them from worst to best. The judgement is purely based on them as fathers, not on characters, heroes or individuals.
To thin out the crowd from just everyone with kids, only the ‘major’ fathers have been counted. This means they need to have been on screen with their child, and need to have played a decent part in the story or have enough scenes that we can truly judge them.
For example, neither Loki’s father Laufey and Killmonger’s father N’Jobu get enough screen time for it to be worth ranking them; although it’s clear Laufey isn’t the best dad ever.
Likewise, Anton Vanko, father of Ivan Vanko (Whiplash) seems to get along with his son, but also leads him to become a psychotic super villain. Off one scene, it’s hard to justify any ranking, high or low.
Adoptive fathers feature a lot in the MCU, and especially with them being some of the best dads, they’ve obviously been included here.
13. Thanos
The poster child for bad dads.
He kills his allegedly favourite daughter Gamora in pursuit of the Soul Stone, and frequently tortures Nebula when he finds her unsatisfactory. This behaviour eventually turns both daughters against him, which in turn plays a major role in his eventual downfall and death. Karma.
It’s heavily implied that MCU Thanos had many adoptive children like Gamora, Nebula and his Black Order, but that several never made it out of childhood alive. This may have been because they were killed by Thanos, the other kids or just that their bodies could no longer take it.
If your children keep dying due to the regime you’re putting them through, that should set off some pretty big red flags that you suck at this whole parenting thing.
The worst part about Gamora’s death too is that Thanos genuinely finds it a sacrifice. Yes, he killed somebody he loved but there’s still several things to unpack here. He loved Gamora, enough to earn the Soul Stone. And still, that’s how he treated her.
Thanos is one of the best villains and best characters in the MCU full stop, but he’s easily the worst dad.