Marvel Characters in the MCU: Names, Real Names and Actors

The main Marvel characters in the MCU are the six original Avengers, the gods, sorcerers and cosmic misfits who joined them, and the villains who forced the team together. These are the film versions, so ages, origins and fates can differ from the comics, and each name links to its own character page where one exists.

Search results for Marvel characters lean on comic book lists, but the screen versions are the focus here. Some characters have more than one actor, as Bruce Banner / Hulk does, and several heroes share a name with a film, so films carry their year, such as Iron Man (2008) and Thor (2011). The actor by film breakdown is on the Marvel cast page.

The Avengers Marvel characters list starts with the heroes who anchor the saga, and the first appearance given for each is the earliest film in which they appear.

• Tony Stark is Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., a genius inventor and arms dealer who builds his first armored suit while held prisoner in Iron Man (2008), directed by Jon Favreau.
• Steve Rogers is Captain America, played by Chris Evans, the frail Brooklyn volunteer who is picked for a secret program in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), directed by Joe Johnston.
• Thor is the Asgardian prince played by Chris Hemsworth, who is banished to Earth in Thor (2011), directed by Kenneth Branagh.
• Bruce Banner / Hulk is the scientist who becomes the Hulk, played by Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk (2008), directed by Louis Leterrier, and by Mark Ruffalo from The Avengers (2012) onward.
• Natasha Romanoff is Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, who debuts in Iron Man 2 and leads Black Widow (2021), directed by Cate Shortland.
• Clint Barton is Hawkeye, played by Jeremy Renner, and he is part of the team lineup in The Avengers (2012), directed by Joss Whedon.
• Nick Fury is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., played by Samuel L. Jackson, who appears uncredited in the post credit scene of Iron Man (2008) and mentions the Avengers Initiative.
• Bucky Barnes is Steve Rogers' friend, played by Sebastian Stan, who returns as the Winter Soldier in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and later appears in Thunderbolts*.
• Sam Wilson is the veteran and Falcon played by Anthony Mackie, who is in The Winter Soldier and is billed first as Captain America in Captain America: Brave New World.

Beyond the original team, the gods and kings of the MCU carry some of its biggest set pieces.

• Loki is Thor's brother, played by Tom Hiddleston, introduced in Thor (2011) and the main villain of The Avengers (2012).
• T'Challa / Black Panther is the king of Wakanda, played by Chadwick Boseman, who arrives in Captain America: Civil War before Black Panther (2018), directed by Ryan Coogler.
• Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, is top billed in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where she faces Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta Mejía.
• Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel is played by Brie Larson in Captain Marvel (2019), directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and in The Marvels beside Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan.
• Peter Quill is Star-Lord, played by Chris Pratt, who leads Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), directed by James Gunn, alongside Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot and Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket.
• Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson, joins the story in Thor: Ragnarok.

The MCU's magic users and shrinking heroes each get a film of their own, and several of them reach the team through it.

• Stephen Strange is the surgeon turned sorcerer played by Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange (2016), directed by Scott Derrickson, with Benedict Wong as Wong and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo.
• Wanda Maximoff / The Scarlet Witch is played by Elizabeth Olsen, who arrives with her brother Pietro in Avengers: Age of Ultron and is billed third in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
• Scott Lang is Ant-Man, played by Paul Rudd, with Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, starting in Ant-Man (2015), directed by Peyton Reed.
• Shang-Chi, played by Simu Liu, leads Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Gemma Chan plays Sersi in Eternals (2021), directed by Chloé Zhao.

Peter Parker / Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, has his own franchise, so his films live on the Spider-Man pages: Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

In Deadpool & Wolverine, directed by Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds plays Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman plays Logan / Wolverine. The Fantastic Four: First Steps, directed by Matt Shakman, casts Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm. Thunderbolts* gathers Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes and Wyatt Russell as John Walker.

The villains are led by Thanos, played by Josh Brolin, whose role as the Other's master is first glimpsed in a credits scene of The Avengers (2012) and who drives Avengers: Infinity War. Others include Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane in Iron Man (2008), Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull, Christopher Eccleston as Malekith, Lee Pace as Ronan, James Spader as the voice of Ultron, Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger, Cate Blanchett as Hela, Jonathan Majors as Kang, Christian Bale as Gorr and Ralph Ineson as Galactus. Harrison Ford plays President Thaddeus Ross in Captain America: Brave New World, and Doctor Doom is seen in the mid credits scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

The next film is Avengers: Doomsday, which Disney's film page dates for December 18, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars follows in December 2027. Cast news for both is tracked, with status and source, on the Avengers: Doomsday trailer and next movie pages. For the order in which the characters meet, see Marvel movies in order, and for the full list of films see the Marvel movies hub.

An A to Z of the main names: Ant-Man, Black Panther, Black Widow, Bucky Barnes, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Deadpool, Doctor Strange, Drax, Gamora, Hawkeye, Hela, Hulk, Iron Man, Killmonger, Loki, Nebula, Nick Fury, Rocket, Sam Wilson, Scarlet Witch, Shang-Chi, Shuri, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Thanos, Thor, Valkyrie, Wasp, Wolverine.