10 Behind The Scenes Reasons For MCU Characters' Quirks

There's a very specific inspiration for Tony Stark's OCD tendencies.

The Avengers
Marvel Studios

The Marvel Cinematic Universe simply wouldn't be the global phenomenon that it is today without its bevy of entertaining and endearing characters - both heroes and villains alike.

The MCU's most iconic characters have distinct personalities and perhaps even specific tics which differentiate them from everyone else.

It's clear that a great deal of care has been spent crafting these characters and cementing who they are across a wide tapestry of movies, but sometimes the most memorable personality quirks didn't simply originate from the mind of a talented screenwriter.

Sometimes there's a wider behind-the-scenes, inside baseball explanation for how these character traits came to be.

Maybe the writer overheard something the actor themselves said, perhaps the actor ad-libbed an action that became a defining quirk, or it could even have been a result of last-minute production changes.

Whatever the reason, these 10 unforgettable MCU character quirks all exist for reasons far beyond mere creative inspiration: in some cases it simply happened out of necessity, while in others it reflected what the actor brought to the part.

Despite how carefully curated the MCU feels, it's never been beyond throwing something unexpected into the mix because it just works...

10. Yelena's Hatred Of Superhero Poses

The Avengers
Marvel Studios

One of the funniest and most memorable running gags in Black Widow is Yelena's (Florence Pugh) mockery of Natasha's (Scarlett Johansson) tendency to pose while performing a superhero landing.

This culminates of course in Yelena doing a pose herself after dropping out of a vent and immediately recoiling with self-loathing, even calling it "disgusting."

The joke actually wasn't part of the original script at all but added to a subsequent draft by screenwriter Eric Pearson after he heard Florence Pugh and Scarlett Johansson talking during pre-shooting rehearsals.

During an interview with MTV, Pugh confirmed that during stunt training she learned that the superhero poses you see in movies aren't realistic and "everybody would die" if they tried to land that way in reality.

Pugh then passed this piece of information onto co-star Johansson, which was overheard by Pearson, who found the banter amusing enough to shape into a gag in the movie.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.