9 MCU Characters Who Deserved More Screen Time

The Avengers assembled, but they left this lot behind.

As the final battle of the Infinity Saga proved, the MCU is absolutely packed with characters. Even with 20 plus movies, their understandable focus on the major players left some starved for screentime.

This may be characters who’ve already left for good, either through death or just being written out, as well as perennial background characters. Moving forward, some of these background characters may get more screentime, but the fact remains that they certainly should have had more by now.

The likes of Jane Foster, who’ve been confirmed for bigger roles moving forward, have been left out here, but many characters have a future which is still up in the air. Either way, these characters deserved a lot more minutes than they got in the Infinity Saga.

For the stars of the show, the Infinity Saga was a near perfect character exploration. Such a laser like focus on Iron Man, Captain America and the rest though meant the supporting cast didn’t always get the benefit.

Given the success and popularity of the Infinity Saga, it’s not so much that things should have changed, just that these characters might feel like they could have contributed a bit more.

Honourable Mention

Edward Norton/Terrence Howard

Marvel Studios

This one’s a little bit of a curveball to kick things off. The other characters here are all actual characters, but Edward Norton and Terrence Howard still mark notable absentees from the MCU.

Their replacements, Mark Ruffalo and Don Cheadle, have both done brilliantly in their stead, with the Hulk and War Machine going on to become two of the most popular characters in the Infinity Saga. Clearly Norton and Howard would have tackled the role differently, and it’s interesting to think what might have changed had they stuck around.

Neither of them left for character or acting reasons, so it’s not like Marvel consciously wanted a different take. Norton had asked for more script responsibilities with Avengers, while Howard, the highest paid star of Iron Man 1, expected that arrangement to continue into the second film.

Norton seems like he wouldn’t have bought into the Marvel dynamic as well as Ruffalo, but by the same token might have better sold him as an outsider. Howard meanwhile played more of a pen pusher Rhodey, offering a keener contrast between Iron Man and War Machine.

As for how it would have worked though, we’ll never know.

Now on to the real characters...

9. Nakia

Quicksilver Thumb
Marvel Studios

Remember Nakia? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.

Now in fairness, as a Black Panther character, she’s only had one movie so far to shine in. While she doesn’t get the lion’s share there either, she gets a decent amount of screen time; certainly it’s not a blink and you’ll miss it cameo.

For a supporting character, while she’s slightly overshadowed by those at her level, she still gets enough of a look in. It’s this overshadowing which seems to have cost her dearly though.

While there’s only been one Black Panther movie, the character himself has been in several MCU films already, debuting in Captain America: Civil War then featuring in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. He’s an established major hero already, despite only a single solo flick.

Though you’d expect he’d get significant spotlight, Shuri and Ayo have proved to be the breakout supporting stars of Black Panther, both also featuring in Infinity War and Endgame. Nakia, meanwhile, is yet to really mark her arrival.

Despite the huge talents of Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, Nakia has been a bit part of the MCU’s wider world building.

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Self appointed queen of the SJWs. Find me on Twitter @FiveTacey (The 5 looks like an S. Do you get it? Do you get my joke about the 5?)