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This guide lists major MCU characters and their released feature-film appearances in theatrical release order, through The Marvels (2023). “Major” here means a character with a leading or recurring story role, substantial membership in a central team, or repeated appearances—not every one-scene cameo, photograph, or credited voice role. The MCU is grouped into Phases, with Phases One through Three forming the Infinity Saga and later Phases belonging to the Multiverse Saga. Television-only roles are not counted as movie appearances.
Release order makes the lists easier to follow and verify; it is not the same as in-universe chronology. Some characters have changed identities, performers, or versions over time, so those distinctions are noted where they affect the film list.
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Original Avengers and Phase One connectors
The first Avengers team consists of Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton. Nick Fury, Phil Coulson, and Loki connect several of the early films. The lists below include films in which each character has an on-screen story role; they do not treat a photograph or an uncredited cameo as equivalent to a full appearance.
| Character | MCU film appearances, release order |
|---|---|
| Tony Stark / Iron Man | Iron Man; The Incredible Hulk (cameo); Iron Man 2; The Avengers; Iron Man 3; Avengers: Age of Ultron; Captain America: Civil War; Spider-Man: Homecoming; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame. |
| Steve Rogers / Captain America | Captain America: The First Avenger; The Avengers; Thor: The Dark World (brief appearance); Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Avengers: Age of Ultron; Ant-Man (mid-credits scene); Captain America: Civil War; Spider-Man: Homecoming (recorded appearances); Avengers: Infinity War; Captain Marvel (post-credits scene); Avengers: Endgame. |
| Thor | Thor; The Avengers; Thor: The Dark World; Avengers: Age of Ultron; Doctor Strange (mid-credits scene); Thor: Ragnarok; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Thor: Love and Thunder. |
| Bruce Banner / Hulk | The Incredible Hulk (Banner is played by Edward Norton); The Avengers; Iron Man 3 (post-credits scene); Avengers: Age of Ultron; Thor: Ragnarok; Avengers: Infinity War; Captain Marvel (post-credits scene); Avengers: Endgame; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (mid-credits scene). |
| Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow | Iron Man 2; The Avengers; Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Avengers: Age of Ultron; Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War; Captain Marvel (post-credits scene); Avengers: Endgame; Black Widow. |
| Clint Barton / Hawkeye | Thor (brief appearance); The Avengers; Avengers: Age of Ultron; Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Endgame. His later solo story is in the television series Hawkeye, not a feature film. |
| Nick Fury | Iron Man (post-credits scene); Iron Man 2; Thor (post-credits scene); Captain America: The First Avenger (post-credits scene); The Avengers; Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Avengers: Age of Ultron; Avengers: Infinity War (post-credits scene); Captain Marvel; Avengers: Endgame (post-credits scene); Spider-Man: Far From Home; The Marvels. |
| Phil Coulson | Iron Man; Iron Man 2; Thor; The Avengers (flashback footage). His continuing post-resurrection story is in television, not in further MCU feature-film appearances. |
| Loki | Thor; The Avengers; Thor: The Dark World; Thor: Ragnarok; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame (an alternate-timeline version escapes in 2012); Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (mid-credits scene, alternate-timeline version). |
Expanded Avengers and their allies
Phase Two and Phase Three add new Avengers, partners, and successors. The films below are listed by original theatrical release, including appearances in ensemble films as well as solo stories.
| Character | MCU film appearances, release order |
|---|---|
| James Rhodes / War Machine | Iron Man; Iron Man 2; The Avengers (archival footage); Iron Man 3; Avengers: Age of Ultron; Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame. |
| Sam Wilson / Falcon, later Captain America | Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Avengers: Age of Ultron (mid-credits scene); Ant-Man; Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame. His transition into the Captain America role continues in television; a film appearance under that mantle is not included in this list. |
| Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier | Captain America: The First Avenger; Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Ant-Man (mid-credits scene); Captain America: Civil War; Black Panther (post-credits scene); Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame. |
| Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch | Captain America: The Winter Soldier (mid-credits scene); Avengers: Age of Ultron; Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. |
| Vision | Avengers: Age of Ultron; Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War. |
| Scott Lang / Ant-Man | Ant-Man; Captain America: Civil War; Ant-Man and the Wasp; Avengers: Endgame; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. |
| Hope van Dyne / Wasp | Ant-Man; Ant-Man and the Wasp; Avengers: Endgame; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. |
| Pepper Potts | Iron Man; Iron Man 2; The Avengers (brief appearance); Iron Man 3; Spider-Man: Homecoming; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame. |
| Peggy Carter | Captain America: The First Avenger; Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Avengers: Age of Ultron (vision); Ant-Man (archival footage); Avengers: Endgame; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (alternate-universe Captain Carter). |
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Guardians’ core film team is introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy. Rocket and Groot are voice performances in these films; the entries refer to their characters, not to a claim that the actors appear on screen.
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| Character | MCU film appearances, release order |
|---|---|
| Peter Quill / Star-Lord | Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is a television special and is not counted as a feature film; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. |
| Gamora | Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame (2014 variant); Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2014 variant). |
| Drax | Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. |
| Rocket | Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. |
| Groot | Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The films feature different stages of Groot’s life. |
| Nebula | Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Thor: Love and Thunder (brief appearance); Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. |
| Mantis | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Thor: Love and Thunder (brief appearance); Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. |
Wakanda, Spider-Man, and the mystic arts
Several Phase Three additions became leading characters in later films. The lists distinguish the character from a role’s title or version when that matters, such as the Black Panther mantle and Spider-Man’s multiverse encounters.
| Character | MCU film appearances, release order |
|---|---|
| T’Challa / Black Panther | Captain America: Civil War; Black Panther; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame. |
| Shuri | Black Panther; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (as Black Panther). |
| Okoye | Black Panther; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. |
| Peter Parker / Spider-Man | Captain America: Civil War; Spider-Man: Homecoming; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Spider-Man: Far From Home; Spider-Man: No Way Home. |
| Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange | Doctor Strange; Thor: Ragnarok; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Spider-Man: No Way Home (mid-credits scene); Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. |
| Wong | Doctor Strange; Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; Spider-Man: No Way Home; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness; She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is television, not a film; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (brief appearance). |
| Valkyrie | Thor: Ragnarok; Avengers: Endgame; Thor: Love and Thunder. |
| Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel | Captain Marvel; Avengers: Endgame; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (mid-credits scene); The Marvels. |
Later film introductions and newer heroes
Later Phases bring in new leads alongside the established cast. Several of these characters first appeared in television; a TV introduction alone does not make a character’s show a movie appearance. Only released feature films are listed here.
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| Character | MCU film appearances, release order |
|---|---|
| Yelena Belova | Black Widow. |
| Shang-Chi | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. |
| Kate Bishop | No MCU feature-film appearance through The Marvels (2023); her MCU introduction is in the television series Hawkeye. |
| Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel | The Marvels. Her first MCU appearance is in the television series Ms. Marvel. |
| Riri Williams / Ironheart | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. |
| Jane Foster / Mighty Thor | Thor; Thor: The Dark World; Avengers: Endgame (archival footage); Thor: Love and Thunder. |
| Marc Spector / Steven Grant | No MCU feature-film appearance through The Marvels (2023); the character’s MCU story is in the television series Moon Knight. |
| Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk | No MCU feature-film appearance through The Marvels (2023); her MCU introduction is in the television series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. |
| The Eternals | Ajak, Sersi, Ikaris, Kingo, Sprite, Phastos, Makkari, Druig, and Thena appear in Eternals. The film introduces them as an ensemble; this list does not imply additional film appearances. |
What counts as an appearance—and what this list leaves out
A character may be present in a movie as a main cast member, a supporting player, a cameo, a post-credits scene, archival footage, or a variant from another timeline. The tables retain brief story appearances and flag many of the less substantial cases so that readers can tell them apart. They do not attempt to inventory every background appearance, photograph, voice credit, or one-off antagonist.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThe MCU’s phases offer a useful map, but a phase is not a cast boundary: earlier characters return in later films, while newer heroes may have only one released movie appearance. In-universe chronology also diverges from theatrical release order, particularly around time travel and multiverse stories. For a first pass through these characters’ film stories, follow each list from top to bottom; for a full franchise watch order, consult a current release-order or chronology guide and check whether it includes television and adjacent Marvel continuities.
Some Marvel films and characters associated with other continuities cross into MCU multiverse stories. That does not make every earlier film in those franchises an MCU movie. The appearance lists above count the character’s MCU feature-film appearances, not every film in which an actor played a similarly named or related version.
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