Marvel Cinematic Universe/Characters

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Heroes

Tony Stark / Iron Man

"I've successfully privatized world peace. What more do you want?"

Portrayed By: Robert Downey, Jr.
Film Appearances: Iron Man / The Incredible Hulk / Iron Man 2 / The Avengers

A brilliant engineer with Powered Armor and CEO of Stark Industries. After being held hostage by terrorists, and escaping, his world view and philosophy changes, shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of his company, and becoming the hero Iron Man.

  • Adult Child
  • The Alcoholic: Definitely has the tendencies, especially in Iron Man 2.
  • Always Someone Better: In the second film, it seems Tony thinks his father was his Always Someone Better. Quite aside from Howard Stark's apparent lack of parenting skills, he's been "dead for almost twenty years...still takin' [Tony] to school".
    • It's not given a lot of screentime, but Tony seems to think of Steve this way. Not hard to imagine why, since he grew up hearing stories about how great Captain America is from his father.
  • Anti-Hero: Type III. Stark has such a large ego he's willing to use himself as a human guinea pig in his experiments, often with hilariously humiliating results—but the fact that he's doing it for the cause of justice means you can't help but root for him. His comic counterpart's alcoholism comes up in the sequel, where he became an even bigger jerk due to international recognition as Iron Man and the prospect of dying from palladium.
  • The Atoner: Initially, he really didn't give much of a shit who was blowing up what with his toys, but after being held hostage by terrorists, and subsequently having his life saved by Yinsen, he became this.
  • Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Tony's eccentric nature and constantly active brain makes him prone to zoning out of what he's supposed to be doing.

Stern: Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark!
Tony: (turns around) Hmm, yes dear?

  • Badass Normal: Aside from his Powered Armor, he's just an ordinary man. Well, a genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist, to be more specific.
    • Badass Mustache: He's notably one of the few mainstream heroes in comics or movies that regularly sports a mustache.
  • Bash Brothers: With War Machine.
  • Berserk Button: Tony's get pushed whenever someone he thinks is a better person makes a sacrifice in order to save him. After the deaths of Yinsen in Iron Man and Coulson in The Avengers, he stops screwing around and immediately starts furiously kicking some ass.
    • After Tony's shift from arms dealer to Technological Pacifist: Don't try to use his shiny tech toys to build bigger, deadlier weapons.
  • Blood Brothers: With Captain America after earning each other's respect through fighting side by side. Steve represents the idealism and nobility that Tony has since lost, but deep down still respects and wishes to have again.
  • Brilliant but Lazy
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer
  • The Cameo: Has one at the end of The Incredible Hulk.
  • The Casanova: Implied to pretty much be this way though the first Iron Man movie, although as he matures over the films, he begins to develop into a more steady relationship with Pepper. By the time of The Avengers, they're officially a couple.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: He certainly has some rather... eccentric behavior.
  • Comes Great Responsibility: After his switch to The Atoner, Tony is perfectly willing to wield the power of his money, fame, and genius for the greater good.
  • Cursed with Awesome: By The Avengers, this is how Tony Stark has come to view the electromagnet and the miniature arc reactor that are plugged into his chest 24/7 and are the only things keeping him alive. He spends a good deal of the film trying to convince Bruce Banner that the Hulk is a similarly awesome curse.

Tony: It's a terrible... privilege.

    • This is proven true later in the The Avengers when it's shown that the reactor basically makes Tony the only person unable to be controlled by Loki's scepter because it cuts direct access to his heart.
  • The Cynic: Which is why he finds Steve Rogers' "outdated and irrelevant" idealism to be annoying.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Disability Superpower: The arc reactor that powers Tony's Powered Armor is installed in Tony's chest in the first place as (roughly) a very fancy pacemaker. Remove the arc reactor and Tony's heart will very quickly give out.
  • Fiction 500: Oh, yes. Forget the private jet that turns into a nightclub with flight attendants who double as exotic dancers. He has the personal resources and completely automated production facility to build a fully functional Iron Man suit in five hours in his garage.
    • As of the end of Iron Man 2, that garage now also contains a miniature, personal Hadron Collider.
    • The Avengers has him kicking it up a notch, having bought the MetLife building and given it some drastic upgrades: he completely cut it off from the city's electrical grid, equipped it with 10 storeys of R&D, gave it the capability to both manufacture the Iron Man armor and remove it from Tony while he enters his apartment, and chopped the top off to rebuild it as what can only be described as a fantastic display of ego.
  • Foil: To Steve Rogers, playing the selfish cynic to Steve's old-fashioned idealist. For example, while both are shown to be dolls of the public (featured at big show events complete with dancing girls), Steve is made visibly uncomfortable with the spotlight and would rather be on the front lines, while Tony eats up the attention.
  • Gadgeteer Genius
  • Good Is Not Nice: Yes, Tony Stark works hard to keep the world safe, and his heart is in the right place. But he's also still a playboy, a glory hound, a drunkard, and an irresponsible jackass a lot of the time.
    • He also has no problem blowing up people who are trying to kill him, notably in the middle section of Iron Man.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: With Rhodey.
  • Honest Corporate Executive: At least after he gets back from Afghanistan.
  • Insufferable Genius
  • It's All About Me
  • Jerkass: He starts out as one, but after realizing what his company has been dealing under the table while he wasn't paying attention, he decides to atone and become a hero by hunting down and destroying the stockpiles of villains.
    • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: However, while Tony may be a definite good guy now, he can still act like an arrogant and irresponsible drunkard at times.
  • Jet Pack: On his Mark VII armor in The Avengers, to allow him to use both of his repulsors without having to use one to stay aloft in flight. It falls off into two engines into space when he loses power at the climax of The Avengers, but he can probably just replace it.
  • Jumped At the Call: Tony may be living proof that becoming a hero can still be a lot of fun.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: Tony marinates daily in cynicism and sarcasm before setting forth to bring world peace, protect the innocent, and mock the stupid.
  • The Last Dance: In Iron Man 2 until he manages to find a replacement element (which he named "badassium") for the palladium core of his arc reactor that was poisoning him.
  • The Lancer: Plays this role in The Avengers to Captain America, similar to the comics.
  • Let's Get Dangerous: Many people, both foes and allies, have assumed that Tony's Cloudcuckoolander irreverence and Obfuscating Stupidity mean he's a Rich Idiot With No Day Job who can't take anything seriously, let alone pose a threat. These people were very wrong.
  • Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: How he built the Mark I Iron Man armor.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: Who grew up to be a...
  • Men Don't Cry / Sand in My Eyes: The blue light reactor that keeps Tony Stark alive ALWAYS shines through whatever shirt he is wearing at the time. The ONE time it does not glow through his shirt is when is struck silent with grief by the death of Agent Clouson. There may be no tears, but a mighty heart has been broken.
  • The Nicknamer: Captain America is "Old Man". Thor is "Point Break". Hawkeye is "Legolas". Loki is "Reindeer Games" (due to the helmet). Loki's staff is "the Glowstick of Destiny".
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: He is, in his own words, a "genius billionaire playboy philanthropist". With a suit of Powered Armor.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: He often acts dimwitted, but is shown to be incredibly on the ball, delivering Deadpan Snarker putdowns to people who irritate him and managing to build incredible machines out of whatever he has on hand. After one night of study he also becomes enough of an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics to discuss the specifics of the tesseract with Bruce Banner.
  • Odd Friendship: With Bruce Banner in The Avengers, due to them being the resident science geeks.

Tony: Finally, somebody who speaks English!

  • Omnidisciplinary Scientist: He seems to be an expert at high-energy physics, materials science, and aerospace engineering all at the same time. Granted, he does have an AI to help him.
    • He's a quick study. After spending a night reading S.H.I.E.L.D.'s briefing packet, he can converse fluently with Nick Fury, Bruce Banner and the rest of the Avengers about the technical details of the Tesseract.
  • Parental Abandonment: Tony complains that his dad was cold, never around for him, and he seriously doubted that his father even loved him at all. This is eventually shown not to be the case.
  • Poor Communication Kills: Tony's not very good at talking to other people about his problems, which leaves everyone around him confused and irritated by his strange behavior while he does things like build a suit of Powered Armor in his basement or slowly die of palladium poisoning.
  • Playful Hacker: Among other things, he enjoys hacking other people's sound systems to play appropriate music for his dramatic entrances.
  • The Pornomancer: He's the page image for a reason.
  • Powered Armor
  • Power Palms: Repulsors, his main weapons, are fired from the palms of his armor's gauntlets.
  • Science Hero
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gets a pretty devastating one from Captain America, which he admittedly brought on himself.
  • Relationship Upgrade: To Official Couple with Pepper as of the end of Iron Man 2. Heroes Want Redheads after all.
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky
  • Technological Pacifist: Tony gradually becomes one through the first movie and is firmly seated in this trope by the end of it. He really does not want the government or military to get a hold of his technology by Iron Man 2, specifically because he believes far more lives will be saved if his suits are never mass-manufactured or used in wars.
    • This continues in Avengers, where he is livid that SHIELD wants to create weapons based on the Tesseract.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Tony doesn't like Steve. At all. But there's nothing like a battle that bonds brothers together.
  • Troll: Tony has an unfortunate habit of using sarcastic humor as an ice-breaker in interpersonal relationships, most tellingly in his tendency to give everybody goofy nicknames and being absolutely fine about humorously discussing personal traumas, such as with Captain Rogers' 70 year freeze and how he is a fan of how Banner "turns into an enormous green rage-monster."
  • Weaponized Exhaust: His primary weapon, the repulsor, wasn't designed to be a weapon, but rather a flight stabilizer. When he realized it worked as a weapon at full power, he incorporated it.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Tony's relationship with his father was strained, at best.
  • Wham! Line

Tony at a press conference: "...I am Iron Man."

  • The Wonka: In addition to creating the Iron Man suits, he has also built AI's that snark back at him.
  • Workaholic: If it wasn't for Pepper, Jarvis, and Rhodey, Tony would've starved or overdosed on caffeine down in his workshop years ago.

James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine

"The future of air combat... Is it manned, or unmanned? I'll tell you in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct."

Portrayed By: Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle (pictured left)
Film Appearances: Iron Man (Portrayed by Terrence Howard) / Iron Man 2 (Portrayed by Don Cheadle)

Tony Stark's best friend, and military liaison to Stark Industries. Uses a modified version of Iron Man's Powered Armor as War Machine.

Rhodey: Get a roof!

  • Not So Above It All: He tries very hard to be the responsible adult around Tony. Not as easy as one might think.
  • Only Sane Man
  • The Other Darrin: Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle for the second film. His first scene is framed in such a way that his face isn't visible until after Tony greets him, so that the audience is clear on who he is.

Tony: I didn't expect to see you here.
Rhodes: It's me, I'm here, deal with it, let's move on. Drop it.

Nick Fury

"I've got my eye on you."

Portrayed By: Samuel L. Jackson
Film Appearances: Iron Man / Iron Man 2 / Thor / Captain America the First Avenger / The Avengers

The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. He comes to each of the heroes individually, one by one, urging them to take part in the Avengers Initiative, to protect the world from an unknown threat.

Tony Stark: He is the spy. His secrets have secrets.

World Security Council: Director Fury, the council has made a decision.
Nick Fury: I understand that the council has made a decision, but being as it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.

Bruce Banner / The Hulk

"That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry."

Portrayed By: Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo (pictured left), Lou Ferrigno (voice)
Film Appearances: The Incredible Hulk (Portrayed by Edward Norton) / The Avengers (Portrayed by Mark Ruffalo)

A nuclear physicist who believed that he was trying to make soldiers immune to radiation, but was actually working on a new super soldier for General Thunderbolt Ross. He was so sure he was on to something that he experimented on himself, which turned him into the Hulk. He's been on the run, and in hiding ever since.

Hulk: Puny god.

  • The Berserker
  • The Big Guy: When Hulked out, as a Type 1. Coulson actually explicitly calls him this at one point.
  • Brainy Brunette: As Banner.
  • Character Development: The Incredible Hulk implies that he went from repressing his anxieties that lead to his Hulking out, similarly to the 2003 film, to using meditation techniques to manage them. The end of that movie ominously showed him purposefully inducing a Hulk episode. The Avengers showed that he'd subsequently gone past anger management and constantly trying to fight the Hulk, and merely existed in a state of Tranquil Fury at all times, keeping the Hulk at bay through mere discipline while at the same time not rejecting him instead keeping him close. This leads to him being able to Hulk out at will and makes the Hulk less animalistic and generally aligned with Banner's intentions. Tellingly, The Hulk's last appearance in the Avengers film never shows him to be particularly angry, merely bellicose and helpfully destructive.
  • Composite Character: Surprisingly, The Avengers film version brings in elements of the controversial 2003 film as well as the 2008 reboot. It's a bit of a list:
    • Banner's situation at the start of the movie mirrors that of Banner at the end of the 2003 film, where both of them are trying to help the local downtrodden populace while dealing with the Hulk.
    • Banner's relationship with the Hulk is slightly more nuanced in The Avengers film than in The Incredible Hulk, much like the 2003 version.
    • Bruce in the Avengers film is more uptight like the 2003 version, and calmer and more self assured like in The Incredible Hulk.
    • The Hulk's appearance in The Avengers resemble's his 2003 appearance in build and his 2008 appearance in behavior.
    • Bruce in the Avengers film claims that he is constantly angry but very well self-controlled, no longer trying to avoid anger as in the 2008 film. This hearkens back to Bruce's anger issues in the 2003 film, where he is a constantly repressed boiling pot of rage, with the Hulk near at hand at all times; trying to fight it was an exercise in futility.
    • The Hulk's transformation is more closely tied to anger, as in the 2003 and most comic versions, but general excitement can also bring him out, as was the case in The Incredible Hulk.
    • In most other cases, Ruffalo's Hulk resembles the comic version, as did the 2008 movie version.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Except for his fights against Abomination and Thor, almost every fight he's in qualifies.
  • The Dreaded: In The Avengers, he makes quite a few people very nervous just by being there, even the otherwise flawlessly confident Black Widow.
  • Driven to Suicide: He tried it at one point prior to The Avengers. He has since moved on.

"I got low. I didn't see an end. So I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it back out."

  • Dumb Muscle: Banner's intellect is drastically diminished when hulked out.
  • Friendly Rivalry: Seems to have one with Thor, unlike their usual Headbutting Heroes behavior in the comics. Hulk punches Thor off of a Leviathan they just defeated for no specified reason but, probably, said rivalry.
  • Heroic Neutral: Banner just wants to be left alone by the military and S.H.I.E.L.D., and maybe use his skills to do some good. This attitude extends to the Hulk as well, who rarely fights anyone or anything that didn't try to kill him first. This changes in The Avengers.
  • Homeless Hero: He's forced to stay on the run because of the government forces chasing him. Following his transformations, Bruce is often left with nothing but the pants he is wearing. At one point, he has to beg in order to survive.
  • Horrifying Hero: Until he managed to get himself under control more or less, Bruce Banner was at best tolerated by other heroes, at worst feared. His tendency toward collateral damage does not help.
  • Hulking Out: The Trope Namer, after all. It should be noted that this happens less in each movie between the two he has been in (The Avengers just had 2), and we never see him "Hulk back" ie. revert to Bruce.
  • Hulk Speak: A Hulk of few words, as per usual. Only says a few words in each movie where he appears.

Hulk: Leave me alone.

Hulk: Hulk...smash!

Hulk: Puny god.

  • Immune to Bullets: Funnily, at one point in The Avengers, someone opens up on him with a jet-mounted vulcan cannon, and he doesn't seem to even realize he's being shot until he hears the bullets bouncing off him.
  • Jekyll and Hyde: Subverted. Banner's Character Development over The Incredible Hulk and The Avengers is about realising that the Hulk isn't a villain or a mindless beast: he's part of Banner, driven by Banner's simplest and most uncomplicated instincts, and he needs to be accepted rather than constantly restrained.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Not only is the Hulk impossibly strong, he's also so fast it's scary.
  • Made of Iron
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Pretty much anyone in arm's reach when he turns into the Hulk, but the most spectacular one has to be Loki, when he tries to shout down the Hulk and ends up slammed into the floor.
  • Odd Friendship: With Tony Stark, of all people, as they bond over science geekery in The Avengers.
  • The Other Darrin: Edward Norton was replaced by Mark Ruffalo for The Avengers.
  • One Hulk Army: Tony Stark even lampshades it to Loki in The Avengers by comparing him to his army.
  • Person of Mass Destruction
  • Primal Stance: In The Avengers the Hulk behaves more like a gorilla than in previous movies, complete with chest pounding. At one point he's even hunched forward and leaning on his knuckles.
  • Psycho Party Member: Is this to the Avengers, until the third act of the movie shows that he's learned control.
  • Science Hero
  • The Smart Guy: He's the world's foremost expert in gamma radiation, and in The Avengers, once he gets curious enough to drop the heroic neutrality, he picks up on a tiny clue and gets halfway to unravelling S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scheming without trying before the rest of the Avengers realize there's even a puzzle to solve.
  • Super Strength: Increasing with increased rage.
  • Technological Pacifist: Stated to be this by Ross, who argues that "scientists" are not to be trusted with military matters in any way, shape, or form.

Ross: He’s a scientist. He is NOT one of us.

Banner: I'm sorry, that was mean, I just wanted to see what you'd do.

Banner: That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry.

"You wouldn't like me when I'm... hungry... Wait, that doesn't sound right."

Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

"This is monsters and magic and nothing we were ever trained for."

Portrayed By: Scarlett Johansson
Film Appearances: Iron Man 2 / The Avengers

A key agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the only female Avenger. Her initial assignment was to keep an eye on Tony Stark.

Romanoff: I'm Russian. Well, I used to be.

Thor Odinson / Donald Blake

"You people are so petty... and tiny."

Portrayed By: Chris Hemsworth, Dakota Goyo (young)
Film Appearances: Thor / The Avengers

The Norse God of Thunder, son of Odin, adoptive older brother of Loki, and the heir to the Asgardian throne. To learn humility, Odin exiled him to Earth where he met and fell in love with Jane Foster. Had an initially rocky encounter with Agent Coulson, but vowed his allegiance as an ally to S.H.I.E.L.D.

  • Adorkable: Painfully sweet, polite and considerate to women, especially Jane. And this is before we get into his irresistibly charming use of Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe.
  • Adult Child: With a hair-trigger temper. At first.
  • A God Am I: Technically, he is a God. At the start of his own movie he fits the trope, as he believes he can subdue Jotunheim by barging in and taking a few thousand of them down but by the end he's humbled and a man of sincere duty and honor.
  • The Atoner: While not a straight villain-to-hero example, his film was basically his evolution from a spoiled, vain boy to a wise man through atonement and humility.
  • Badass Creed: In The Avengers, he makes it very clear to Loki why he should leave Earth immediately.

Thor: Earth is under my protection!

"He's constantly having to battle the greater good and what he should do, versus it's his little brother there."

  • Big Eater: Pretty common among Asgardians, but Thor himself ate an entire plate of food and then asked for more. Darcy remarked that he had already eaten an entire box of Pop-tarts before that.
  • The Big Guy: Shares the role with Hulk in The Avengers. Lampshaded by his page quote here. A Type 2.
  • Blood Brothers: Captain America, a man of nobility, kindness and courage, is a human that Thor has come to regard as an equal; most tellingly when he offers his hand to help him up during the battle of Manhattan.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: He starts off a battle-seeking brat, but wises up and settles on this. "We drank, we fought, he made his ancestors proud!"
    • Bruiser with a Soft Center / Emotional Bruiser: For all his boisterousness, he shows plenty of emotional vulnerability - after Loki claims Odin is dead, he first simply asks "Can I come home?" When told he can't ever return to his family, he thanks Loki for coming to say goodbye. When he confronts Loki in The Avengers, the only times when his grin cracks are when he's begging his brother to come to his senses.
  • Brought Down to Normal
    • Brought Down to Badass: Stripped of his godlike power, he's still a very, very skilled and experienced combatant who's pretty much made of muscle.
  • Cain and Abel: The Abel to Loki's Cain.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Pretty much any fight he gets into, he wins no-holds.
    • Averted with the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man. In the former case it comes down to a draw, and in the latter he was winning but having to fight hard. It is also notable that of the six Avengers in the final battle, he and the Hulk are the only ones who aren't getting brutally exhausted and injured by the end.
  • Dork Knight: Especially towards women. If you can imagine a golden Labrador in the shape of a thunder god, you've more or less got him down.
  • Drop the Hammer
  • Elemental Powers: Wind and Lightning.
  • Fish Out of Water: He adapts to human ways surprisingly quick.
  • Fun Personified: Despite starting off as extremely spoiled and bratty, he's an incredibly friendly guy.
  • Flying Hammer
  • Friendly Rivalry: With the Hulk as mentioned above.
  • Hot-Blooded: Thor is incredibly exuberant about everything, wearing all of his emotions on his sleeve - this makes his Despair Event Horizon all the more noticeable, as after everything falls apart for him he closes up entirely.
  • Humanity Is Infectious: Adapts to Earth and dealing with humans rather quickly.
    • In The Avengers he categorically states that he considers Earth under his protection after Loki mocks him for begging Odin to let him return to his adopted home. Later he privately admits to believing that while his people are clearly more advanced than humanity, that doesn't make them better.
  • I Gave My Word: And he'll damn well honor it too!
  • Immortal Immaturity: Thor is in all likelihood at least 1000 years old, and yet it is only in the 3 days he spent as a mortal that he starts to emotionally mature.
  • Irony: As the first step in his Humiliation Conga, the God of Thunder gets taken down by... a taser.
  • Large Ham: As with everyone else in Asgard.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Those shirtless scenes probably were not strictly necessary, but letting his abs go un-ogled would have been a crime somewhere.
  • Perpetual Smiler: Of a sort. Thor is almost always cheerful, even in the middle of a fight to the death with an army of Frost Giants - this, alongside his vainglorious optimism, is seen by many as a symptom of his childishness. By the end of the movie, he learns to be truly serious about things and becomes more solemn as a result. While he does make jokes in The Avengers, this facet of his personality has not truly returned, as he is serious in any truly serious situation.
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: As befitting the Crown Prince of Asgard.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: The oldest of the Avengers, though Steve Rogers is the (chronologically) oldest human.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Loki's blue.
  • Sibling Rivalry: With his little brother Loki, although he doesn't seem to take it anywhere near as seriously as Loki does.
  • Sleeves Are for Wimps: Except in his latest Asgardian armor.
  • Strong as They Need to Be: Used for comedic purposes during the time he's depowered. When it's funny, he can be taken out fairly easily (by Darcy's taser, Jane ramming him with a van, getting an injection), but he's also shown curbstomping scores of highly trained SHIELD personnel who are in peak physical condition.
  • Sufficiently Advanced Alien: Like all Asgardians.

Black Widow: These people come from legend. They're basically gods.

Clint Barton / Hawkeye

"I see better from a distance."

Portrayed By: Jeremy Renner
Film Appearances: Thor / The Avengers

An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the greatest marksman in the world.


Steve Rogers / Captain America

"I don't want to kill anybody. I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from."

Portrayed By: Chris Evans
Film Appearances: Captain America the First Avenger / The Avengers

A sickly young man from Brooklyn turned into a perfect soldier by a government project. Unfortunately, the creator of the project was murdered, leaving Rogers as the only result of the project. Because of this, he was initially used as a propaganda tool to sell war bonds. He eventually earned his stripes as a soldier by rescuing an entire platoon from a HYDRA factory, where he first encountered the Red Skull. After defeating the Red Skull, Cap crashed his Valkyrie aircraft into a glacier where he went into a hibernation state and written off as KIA for nearly 70 years before being found by SHIELD in the modern day. His weapon of choice is a Vibranium shield designed by Howard Stark that can absorb all energy directed at it, making it ideal as both protection and as a projectile (as it does not lose energy when it makes contact with another surface when thrown).

Black Widow: These people come from legend. They're basically gods.

Steve: There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that.

Tony: Everything special about you came out of a bottle.

Phil Coulson

"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark."

Portrayed By: Clark Gregg
Film Appearances: Iron Man / Iron Man 2 / Thor / The Avengers / Marvel One Shots

An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Nick Fury's right-hand-man. For some time, he was trying to debrief Stark of his captivity by the Ten Rings, until eventually he was revealed for who he really was. Some time later, he was assigned to excavating Mjolnir, and bumped heads with Thor and his new human companions.

  • Action Survivor
  • Adorkable: On the job, deadpan and socially awkward. Off the job, a goofy teddy bear of a man who collects superhero trading cards.
  • Affectionate Nickname: Fury calls him "my good eye" when lamenting his loss.
  • Badass: Now with evidence.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit
  • Badass Normal
  • Beware the Nice Ones: On the surface, he's a pleasant man overall, but he's not called Fury's "one good eye" for no reason.
  • Breakout Character
  • Canon Immigrant: Finally made his debut on Earth-616 (Main line of comics) on the Mini-Series Battle Scars. He isn't revealed as Coulson until issue #6 though.
  • The Chessmaster: Rewatch Iron Man 2, Thor, and the shorts starring him. It becomes apparent that he knows exactly how people are going to react, but feigns ignorance to confirm it and make them think they had a choice. Nick Fury is the same, but Coulson augments it by managing to seem remarkably inoffensive to those who don't know any better.
  • The Comically Serious: He's quite snarky and sarcastic, but you'd never pick up on that from his demeanor.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Fan Boy: Of Captain America. He even has the trading cards.
  • The Heart: Becomes this post-mortem, thanks to Fury.
  • In the Back: Courtesy of Loki in the Hulk cell room
  • Even Heroes Have Heroes: He is very fond of Captain America.
  • Only Sane Man: Much like Fury.
  • Original Generation: Retroactively; see "Promoted to Opening Titles" below.
  • Promoted to Opening Titles: He started off as just a standard suit in the first Iron Man, but his role was greatly expanded by Thor. Now, he's deeply entrenched into the Marvel lore, even getting his own comics and short films.
  • Reason You Suck Speech: Gives one to Loki, and then fires at him with a BFG.
  • Sacrificial Lion: Though Maria Hill implies that Nick Fury might have been lying afterwards.
  • Seen It All: Hints of Type 1, as is typical of MIB. He also has a bit of Type 2's Genre Savviness as he orders his men to let Thor try and lift his hammer, and realized just in time that Destroyer's head opening and glowing is a very bad thing. When he calls Black Widow, who's been captured but then subsequently beats the tar out of her captors, his expression is of complete boredom as he listens to the resulting scuffle as if it were hold music.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: His suits get progressively sharper as we learn more about him.
  • The Stoic: There really isn't anything that can surprise him, be it thunder gods, men in metal suits or WWII vets who were frozen for the better part of a century.
  • That Makes Me Feel Angry: When speaking to Thor on the topic of the hero beating his men.

Coulson: You've made my men, highly trained professionals, look like a bunch of minimum-wage mall cops. That's hurtful.

Villains

Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger

"We're iron mongers; we make weapons."

Portrayed By: Jeff Bridges
Film Appearances: Iron Man

The CEO of Stark Industries, taking over after his friend Howard Stark died. His friendly image hides an amoral and sinister mind who seeks to use the Iron Man armor for his own ends.

Raza

"Whoever holds the weapons manufactured by Stark Industries rules the world... and soon, it will be MY turn."

Portrayed By: Faran Tahir
Film Appearances: Iron Man

The leader of "The Ten Rings", an international Terrorist organization. He was hired by Stane to kill Tony Stark (without really knowing it was Stark to begin with). Upon finding out that they in fact had the Tony Stark in custody, Raza got greedy and ambitious. It didn't end well for him.

Emil Blonsky / The Abomination

"It's not what you've done. It's what you're gonna do. I want what you got out of Banner. I want that."

Portrayed By: Tim Roth
Film Appearances: The Incredible Hulk / Marvel One Shots

A soldier assigned to a team headed by General Ross to capture the Hulk, and quickly becomes obsessed with bringing him down, to the point of being injected with a sample of the original super-soldier serum to enhance his strength. After a painful encounter with the Hulk, he becomes even more driven and has Samuel Sterns infuse him with Banner's blood, transforming him into an abomination.

  • The Ace: Considered to be one of the best seasoned soldiers around.
  • Arch Enemy: To the Hulk, naturally.
  • Badass
    • Badass Normal: Pre-serums. He led a platoon in close combat against the Hulk and was subsequently the only person to survive.
    • Badass Abnormal: Post-serums, he's a super soldier. After a transfusion of Banner's blood, he's nearly on Hulk's level.
  • Blood Knight: He eventually stopped giving a crap about orders, and just wanted to duke it out with the Hulk.
  • Call Forward: His descent into madness is an early hint of what Dr. Erskine explained in the Captain America movie that came three years later: with the serum, "bad becomes worse".
  • Evil Counterpart: Born of a combination of the super-soldier serum and The Hulk's blood; while Blonsky sacrifices his ability to be empowered by rage, he retains his intelligence.
  • Fragile Speedster: After taking the first imperfect Super Soldier serum, but before becoming the Abomination, he is faster than the Hulk and any normal soldier, but is taken down with one kick into a tree from the Hulk that breaks most of the bones in his body.
  • Healing Factor: The imperfect Super Soldier serum gives him one that allows him to survive (but not necessarily in good condition) full on blows from the Hulk.
  • Humanoid Abomination: After taking in Banner's blood. Dr. Sterns even lampshades this before the transformation itself.
  • Jerkass
  • Lightning Bruiser: After becoming the Abomination.
  • Personality Powers: As a result of the Call Forward, his transformation into the Abomination can be considered this, as he mixed an imperfect Super Soldier serum with the Banner's irradiated blood, and thereby turned into the as-far-as-is-known permanent monstrosity that Samuel Sterns calls "an abomination".
  • Removing the Earpiece: Before his second "fight" with the Hulk.
  • Revenge Before Reason: Disobeys orders and demands to be injected with Hulk blood, without caring about the consequences, just so he can become strong enough to beat the Hulk.
  • Super Speed: After taking the imperfect Super Soldier serum, he is able to jog far faster than any other normal soldier with him can run, and acts as though he was taking a calm stroll when he finally stops running.
  • Super Strength: Twice as strong as The Hulk. However, it's set and won't increase with rage as he does.
  • Too Dumb to Live: For future reference, aspiring villains, getting within three feet of the Incredible Hulk and stopping your fight just to taunt him is not a good idea. If it wasn't for the super serum in his system, he almost certainly would have died.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Even after turning into The Abomination, the WSC still considers him a war hero and The Hulk at fault, and was close to getting him into The Avengers. Thankfully, saner minds prevailed.

Ivan Vanko / Whiplash

"If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in him. There will be blood in the water. The sharks will come."

Portrayed By: Mickey Rourke
Film Appearances: Iron Man 2

Son of Anton Vanko, a former partner of Howard Stark, who forced his father's exile to Siberia, and a subsequently miserable life turned him to revenge against Howard's son Tony.

  • Badass: Hell yes.
    • Badass Normal: Even when not using his Palladium Whips, he manages to be extremely badass and dangerous with his hacking skills alone. Other than that, he showed the ability to kill guards with his bare hands, walk away from getting hit by a car, and even went up against Iron Man with only his whips.
  • Composite Character: Of Whiplash (the whips) and Crimson Dynamo (the Powered Armor, being Russian, and his name).
  • The Comically Serious
  • Eloquent in My Native Tongue: He's not terribly fluent in English, and comes off as difficult to understand. Or he just does that on purpose to put people off-guard.
  • Evil Counterpart: He built a miniature arc reactor out of scraps and used it to power weapons that gave Iron Man a good run for his money.
  • Fake Russian: Rourke is American but from many reports, spoke Russian very well.
  • Faux Affably Evil
  • Flunky Boss: Hacks War Machine and the "Hammeroids", sending them against Tony before he finally takes him on personally.
  • Genius Bruiser: Considered to be even smarter than Tony Stark.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has the traditional scar down his eye.
  • Made of Iron: Happy drives a car into him, and it barely stuns him.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: He shows that he's both fluent and eloquent in his early face-to-face confrontation with Tony Stark, but speaks to Hammer in broken, barely intelligible English just to mess with him.
  • Oral Fixation Fixation: His toothpick.
  • Pet the Dog: In his only display of kindness, he takes care of a cockatoo that isn't even his to the very end.
  • The Quiet One: Vanko is notably very quiet, especially when compared with Tony or Justin. In several of his most prominient scenes, Vanko says barely anything at all; most notably, during the climax, his only words are a simple "You lose," to Tony.
  • Renegade Russian: Tried selling Soviet nuclear fuel on the black market at one point.
  • Revenge Before Reason: Why he's not turning a huge profit on his arc reactor variant.
  • Shock and Awe: His whips.
  • Sins of Our Fathers: Tony's, specifically.
  • The Stoic: Ivan Vanko is extremely calm and collected, even when held in captivity or being scolded by his billionaire employer. When Hammer tells his guards to start taking Ivan's bird and other comforts away, you can see when he stops protesting and when he starts just going with it silently. It's like flicking a switch.
  • Tattooed Crook: Displays tattoos that are common with Russian criminals.
  • Tragic Villain: All his disdain for Tony's family is well-founded. His father was cut off from the project he helped start, was deported to a winter wasteland, and he himself got wrapped up in organized crime to make a living. Beneath his cold exterior is a genius mind that even Tony Stark is impressed by.
  • Whip It Good: And it cuts real well too.

Justin Hammer

"I wanna make Iron Man look like an antique."

Portrayed By: Sam Rockwell
Film Appearances: Iron Man 2

CEO of Hammer Industries, and a (self-perceived) rival of Tony Stark. He forges a temporary alliance with Ivan Vanko, but the latter just makes use of his resources - not taking him seriously at all. An all-around obnoxious loser.

Tony: ...Hammertech?
Rhodey: Yeah...

  • More Dakka: His armors and drones are often equipped with massive ammunition.
  • Motor Mouth
  • Never My Fault: As he's being dragged to jail for attempting to kill Tony Stark and allying himself with Vanko, he accuses Pepper Potts of ruining his career and reputation.
  • Smug Snake: One of the oilyest, most dickish characters in recent memory.

Loki Odinson truly Loki Laufeyson

"I never wanted the throne! I only ever wanted to be your equal!"

Portrayed By: Tom Hiddleston, Ted Allpress (young)
Film Appearances: Thor / The Avengers

The Norse God of Mischief and Lies. In truth, he is a Frost Giant adopted by Odin and raised as his son. This revelation begins his Start of Darkness. He is also Thor's adoptive younger brother.

Tom Hiddleston: It's all of them against me. I am the supervillain. So it's Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury forming a team because I've got so badass.

  • Big Bad: Debatable for Thor, quite definite for The Avengers.
  • Blade on a Stick: While Odin is sick, he uses Gungnir as both a scepter and a weapon. In The Avengers, he seems to have picked up a smaller model. Both are Boom Sticks.
  • Break the Haughty: This combined with Bullying a Dragon is his getting slammed into the ground by the Hulk.
  • Cain and Abel: The Cain to Thor's Abel.
  • The Chessmaster: The chessmaster. Even though he was supplied by Thanos for the invasion in The Avengers, he still did the legwork (or forced other heroes to for him) in the invasion itself. He was a more straight version in Thor, though.
  • Consummate Liar: Comes with the territory of being the God of Lies and Mischief.
  • Cool Helmet
  • Cry for the Devil: It's heartbreaking to watch his Start of Darkness.
  • Deuteragonist: In Thor, of the villainous kind.
  • Disney Villain Death: Subverted, as he survives to be the Big Bad of The Avengers.
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
  • Energy Ball: His magic/energy knife things.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Papas: Believe it or not, he did care about Odin, as most of his plan in Thor was to prove his value to him. Notice that this only applies to Odin; he clearly couldn't care less about his real father - though since said real father left baby Loki to die, that's not surprising.
  • Evil Sorcerer
  • Gender Bender: Referenced in Thor, even if not actually seen in action. In the beginning of the film, Odin rides in on Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse, who, in Norse mythology, is Loki's son (the product of shape-shifting into a mare, having relations with a stallion, and ending up pregnant for two years). Makes this a literal Mythology Gag.
  • Go Mad from the Revelation: Learning of his true parentage causes any jealousy and insignificance he feels towards Thor to explode into full-blown madness driven by his desire for acknowledgement from Odin.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: While it's not his motivation, Loki is consumed by his envy of Thor and has a hell of a time hiding it in the first act of Thor.
  • Green Eyes: Apropos for the above, but only in the marketing. In the film, he has blue eyes.
  • Hannibal Lecture
  • Hero-Killer: He kills Agent Coulson.
  • I Am Who?: He's actually a Frost Giant and Laufey's son, rescued from Jotunheim when Odin last defeated the Frost Giants. He doesn't take The Reveal very well.
  • Inferiority Superiority Complex: He chooses to express his crippling self-worth issues by trying to blow up / subjugate planets.
  • I Need a Freaking Drink: Tony initially offers Loki a drink, which he rejects. After his defeat, he decides to take him up on his offer.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Sure, he ruins Thor's big day for "a bit of fun", but he also did it to reveal how unfit to rule his brother was in Thor. He may eventually become the villain, but at the time he spared Asgard a massive headache.
  • Knife Nut: Can make them out of energy and throwing them can take down a charging Frost Giant in his tracks.
  • Large Ham: Far less than Thor or Odin, but he does get his moments.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Nonromantic love for Odin , but love nonetheless.
  • Manipulative Bastard: His speciality.
  • Master of Illusion: He's fond of using illusionary copies of himself to distract his enemies.
  • Not Quite Dead: The epilogue of Thor reveals that he's alive and well within human society, and he returns in The Avengers more badass than ever.
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain: He calls Natasha a 'quim' - extremely vulgar medieval slang for a certain female body part..
  • Pretty Boy: While his appearance in the comics is very much Depending on the Artist and has ranged from withered and ugly all the way to smolderingly handsome, this is probably the most daintily good-looking Loki incarnation ever.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old
  • Redemption Rejection: When Thor is still willing to offer him a chance as the Chitauri tear New York apart, he seems to genuinely consider it... then shanks him with a throwing knife.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Thor's red.
  • The Resenter: A seething ball of jealousy from his very first scenes onward.
  • Royal Brat: Like Thor, Loki has overtones of this. He has no problem getting guards and jotuns killed for the sake of a prank on his brother.
  • Sanity Slippage: Falling through a rift in space at the end of Thor did nothing good for his mental health.
  • Self-Made Orphan: By killing Laufey, his real father.
  • Self-Serving Memory: In Avengers, he claims that Thor threw him into the void, apparently forgetting that he chose to fall in after Odin refused to condone Loki attempting genocide in his name.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: When he appears before the imprisoned Thor in Midgard.
  • Sibling Rivalry: In spades with Thor.
    • Sibling Yin-Yang: The fact that they're total opposites in personality doesn't really help matters either.
  • Start of Darkness: Compared to where Thor over time becomes a better man, Loki becomes more evil and menacing.
  • Sufficiently Advanced Alien: Like all Asgardians, though he is also known as a "master of magic", making things a little complicated.

Black Widow: These people come from legend. They're basically gods.

The Destroyer

Portrayed By: N/A
Film Appearances: Thor

An extremely powerful set of armor created by Odin to defend Asgard. As one does not wear it, but project their consciousness into it, it can be misused.

  • Animated Armor: Controlled with a user's mind.
  • Badass Automaton: Technically not a robot, but still badass.
  • Breath Weapon: Sort of. The heat ray of the Destroyer is fired from the opening in the helmet.
  • The Dragon: Temporarily a non-sentient one to Loki in Thor.
  • The Juggernaut: Until Thor gets his power back and is able to fight it.
  • Magitek: One of the only real examples shown from Asgard so far.
  • Menacing Stroll
  • Playing with Fire
  • Power Glows: The opening in the face glows when it is about to fire.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: In the film it isn't shown what happened to it after it was destroyed. The tie-in comic Fury's Big Week shows that S.H.I.E.L.D. took custody of it, and are now trying to reverse-engineer it. As shown in The Avengers, they are at least somewhat successful as of yet.

Johann Schmidt / Red Skull

"You are deluded, Captain. You think of yourself as a simple soldier, but you are simply afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind! Unlike you, I embrace it proudly! Without fear!"

Portrayed By: Hugo Weaving
Film Appearances: Captain America the First Avenger

A brilliant yet completely insane German scientist during World War II, the head of the Nazi party's deep science division HYDRA. His pursuit of power from Norse Mythology turned him into a greater threat than Adolf Hitler himself. Being a Super Soldier prototype doesn't hurt either.

HYDRA grunt: "We fought to the last man!"
Schmidt: "Evidently not..."
Disintegrates the lone survivor with his Tesseract handgun.

Dr. Arnim Zola

"The insanity of the plan makes no difference."

Portrayed By: Toby Jones
Film Appearances: Captain America the First Avenger

Weapons designer for HYDRA, and right hand man to Schmitt.

The Chitauri

Film Appearances: The Avengers

A mysterious race of cyborg aliens in the employment of Loki and Thanos. They invade Earth in The Avengers.

  • Alien Invasion: Though they don't get very far.
  • Another Dimension
  • Awesome Personnel Carrier: Their main transport is a gigantic flying serpent-like creature that carries hundreds of soldiers and can fly through skyscrapers. It takes huge amounts of explosive or electrical damage to put one down. Or one Hulk punch and a few missiles.
  • Bayonet Ya: Their infantry sport them on their rifles.
  • Cyborg: They clearly have both mechanical and organic parts, and shut down when their command ship is destroyed.
  • Easily-Thwarted Alien Invasion: It just takes one tactical nuke launched by SHIELD and aided a bit by Iron Man to completely end the invasion. Takes a while for it to actually happen though.
  • Frickin' Laser Beams: Two varieties. One is fired from a thin rifle used by Chitauri foot soldiers. The other is a powerful Arm Cannon that's mounted on Chitauri units riding hovercrafts. Both fire blue colored lasers.
  • Humanoid Aliens
  • Keystone Army: Taking out their command ship depowers them.
  • Mooks


Thanos

Portrayed By: Damion Poitier
Film Appearances: The Stinger for The Avengers

Leader of the Chitauri who lent Loki his forces to attempt to conquer the Earth in exchange for the Tesseract.


The Other

"And the humans, what can they do, but burn..."

Portrayed By: Alexis Denisof
Film Appearances: The Avengers

An ally of Loki and servant of Thanos.

Other

Virginia "Pepper" Potts

"You know, there's only 8,011 things that I really need to talk to you about."

Portrayed By: Gwyneth Paltrow
Film Appearances: Iron Man / Iron Man 2 / The Avengers

Tony Stark's faithful personal assistant, and eventually love interest.

Pepper Potts: I have your clothes here; they've been dry cleaned and pressed. And there's a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go.
Christine Everhart: You must be the famous Pepper Potts.
Pepper Potts: Indeed I am.
Christine Everhart: After all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry cleaning.
Pepper Potts: I do anything and everything Mr. Stark requires. Including, occasionally, taking out the trash. Will that be all?

  • Sexy Backless Outfit: Bought herself one as Tony's birthday gift to her. She feels distinctly uncomfortable in it when she wears it in the first Iron Man, to say nothing of the fact that she forgot to put on deodorant and is dancing with her boss in front of a lot of her co-workers, his reputation not helping.
  • Sexy Secretary

Harold "Happy" Hogan

"Anything else, boss?"

Portrayed By: Jon Favreau
Film Appearances: Iron Man / Iron Man 2

Tony Stark's loyal bodyguard and chauffeur.

J.A.R.V.I.S.

"What was I thinking? You're usually so discreet."

Portrayed By: Paul Bettany (voice)
Film Appearances: Iron Man / Iron Man 2 / The Avengers

An extremely advanced AI which Tony Stark developed. He's operated by a multitude of terminals, assists him in just about everything he develops, has complete functional control of various in-house robots, and he is in a lot of ways Tony Stark's house itself. A J.A.R.V.I.S. uplink is also used as the operating system for the Iron Man suit, making him essentially one half of Iron Man, the other half obviously being Tony.

  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Completely averted, surprisingly for the idea that it seems more like Tony's engineering partner than a computer at times due to how competent it is.
  • AI Roulette: One of his robots (supposedly, Tony's first) is incredibly incompetent. Tony describes it as a "tragedy."
  • Deadpan Snarker: Good lord, is he ever.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: He's a computer AI, fully capable of engineering components himself and carrying out other complex tasks.
  • Master Computer: J.A.R.V.I.S. assists in just about every aspect of Tony's life. Averted in that J.A.R.V.I.S. is generally nice and compliant, albeit sarcastic as hell and prone to questioning his creator's more reckless stunts.
  • Mythology Gag: The name references Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' butler in the comics.

Dr. Yinsen

"So you're a man who has everything, but nothing."

Portrayed By: Shaun Toub
Film Appearances: Iron Man

An Afghan physicist who saves Tony Stark's life, and brings out his true potential.

Dr. Samuel Sterns

"I've always been more curious than cautious, and that's served me pretty well."

Portrayed By: Tim Blake Nelson
Film Appearances: The Incredible Hulk

A scientist who helps Bruce under the moniker "Mr. Blue". He synthesized Banner's blood so he could study it better, and then used that to turn Blonsky into the Abomination. When Abomination went on his rampage, he injured Sterns, and a dribble of Banner's blood landed on his head, expanding his brain, which will likely result in him becoming the Leader.


Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Ross

"You weren't that hard to find."

Portrayed By: Liv Tyler
Film Appearances: The Incredible Hulk

Daughter of General Ross, and Bruce's confidant and love interest. She was one of the leading scientists on Bruce's experiment, and feels partially responsible for his condition. Has an understandably terrible relationship with her father.

General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross

"As far as I'm concerned, that man's whole body is property of the U.S. army."

Portrayed By: William Hurt
Film Appearances: The Incredible Hulk

A General who hunts down Bruce Banner believing him to be a threat - in truth, he's after his blood as it contains answers to perfecting the Super Soldier serum.

Dr. Leonard Samson

"You know, it's a point of professional pride for me that I can tell when somebody's lying. And you are."

Portrayed By: Ty Burrell
Film Appearances: The Incredible Hulk

A psychiatrist and Betty Ross' boyfriend while she is away from Bruce Banner.

Allfather Odin Borson

"A wise king never seeks out war, but he must always be ready for it."

Portrayed By: Anthony Hopkins
Film Appearances: Thor

Lord of the Aesir and King of Asgard. After Thor starts a war with the Jotuns, he exiles him in hopes of learning humility. Upon revealing Loki's origins to him, his old body goes into the "Odinsleep." Loki promptly takes advantage of this and starts scheming.

Queen Frigga

"He mourns for his brother. And he misses her... the mortal."

Portrayed By: Rene Russo
Film Appearances: Thor

The Wife of Odin, mother of Thor and Loki (well, adoptive mother for the latter), and Queen of Asgard. As Odin falls into the Odinsleep, Frigga takes care of him, unaware of what Loki is doing on the throne.

Lady Sif & The Warriors Three

Sif Portrayed By: Jaimie Alexander
Fandral the Dashing Portrayed By: Joshua Dallas
Hogun the Grim Portrayed By: Tadanobu Asano
Volstagg the Voluminous Portrayed By: Ray Stevenson
Film Appearances: Thor

Thor's closest and most loyal friends. Upon his exile, they plan to defy Loki and return their friend to his home.

Volstagg: Hush! Heimdall might be watching...
Guard: (enters the room) Heimdall demands your presence!
Volstagg: ...We're doomed.

Heimdall

"Be warned, I shall uphold my sacred oath to protect this realm as its gatekeeper."

Portrayed By: Idris Elba
Film Appearances: Thor

The gatekeeper of Asgard and guardian of the Bifröst. His eyes see all that takes place in the Nine Realms, and his omniscience is thought to be even greater than Odin's. The most loyal warrior of Asgard.

King Laufey

"You've come a long way to die, Asgardian."

Portrayed By: Colm Feore
Film Appearances: Thor

The King of Jotunheim and a Frost Giant. Over 1,200 years ago, Laufey invaded Earth (Midgard) in an attempt to conquer it, but Odin and the Gods came to Earth's aid and pushed them back to Jotunheim and defeated them, and took the Casket of Ancient Winters, a powerful artifact, from them. Since then, Laufey desires peace first, but if possible, to get the Casket back.

Jane Foster

"Well, 'magic's just science we don't understand yet.' Arthur C. Clarke."

Portrayed By: Natalie Portman
Film Appearances: Thor

An astrophysicist who fins out that a wormhole she's been observing is really the Bifrost Bridge. Helps out Thor, and eventually falls in love with him. Is currently a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist working under Coulson trying to find a way to reopen the Bifröst.

Erik Selvig

"It's not a bad thing finding out that you don't have all the answers. You start asking the right questions."

Portrayed By: Stellan Skarsgård
Film Appearances: Thor / The Avengers

An astrophysicist and college professor working with Jane Foster on studying wormhole anomalies. He first begins to suspect Thor of being crazy as he recognize all of his stories from childhood, but in the end helped him out - specifically creating a fake identity for him as "Donald Blake." Is currently working under Nick Fury studying the Tesseract. Unknown to everyone, however, he is also currently "possessed" by a very alive Loki.

Thor: "We drank, we fought. He made his ancestors proud!"

Darcy Lewis

"Myeuh-muh? What's Myeuh-muh?"

Portrayed By: Kat Dennings
Film Appearances: Thor

A political scientist and intern with astrophysicists Jane Foster and Erik Selvig.

Peggy Carter

"You can't give me orders!"

Portrayed By: Hayley Atwell
Film Appearances: Captain America the First Avenger

A British Army Major and member of the SSR. She inspires Rogers to become more than just a propaganda icon.

Howard Stark

"Once you think you have figured out a dame, you, sir are... boned."

Portrayed By: John Slattery, Dominic Cooper (pictured left)
Film Appearances: Iron Man 2 (portrayed by John Slattery) / Captain America the First Avenger (portrayed by Dominic Cooper)

The founder and CEO of Stark Industries, and Tony Stark's father. During World War II, he was America's biggest military contractor, and one of the leading scientists behind the Super Soldier project. He occassionally assisted Rogers in several missions during his tenure before returning to Stark Industries.


Colonel Chester Philips

"If you have anything to say, now would be a perfect time to keep it to yourself."

Portrayed By: Tommy Lee Jones
Film Appearances: Captain America the First Avenger

The US Army Colonel in charge of the Super Soldier project alongside Erskine. Upon first seeing Rogers (before the serum), he "wanted to cry" and had absolutely no faith in the young asthmatic, but quickly realized the project worked. While he went off to the battlefield, he intended for Rogers to be locked up in a lab - didn't work out quite so well as the Cap became America's greatest propaganda icon. After the Cap saved 400 Hydra prisoners, the two worked together to bring down Schmidt.

  • Badass
    • Badass Normal
    • Colonel Badass: When he goes into combat, he shows that he's very much a badass: He joins the fray in the final fight and coins the response to HYDRA agents' "cut off one head, two more will take its place" evil creed.

HYDRA Soldier: Cut off one head, two more shall--! (gets shot mid sentence by Philips)

Colonel Philips: Let's go find two more.

Colonel Philips: He's still skinny.

James "Bucky" Barnes

"This isn't a back alley, Steve, this is war!"

Portrayed By: Sebastian Stan
Film Appearances: Captain America the First Avenger

Rogers' best and oldest friend, and later one of his assault commandos. Before the experiment, Bucky was the one who always stuck up to Rogers and got the girl, and now that it's the other way around, he still takes it all in stride.

Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan

"You know, Fritz, one of these days I'm going to have a stick of my own."

Portrayed By: Neal McDonough
Film Appearances: Captain America the First Avenger

A Hydra prisoner Rogers rescued, and a hand-picked member of one of his commandos.

J. Montgomery Falsworth

"...I beg your pardon?"

Portrayed By: JJ Field
Film Appearances: Captain America: The First Avenger

A Second Lieutenant in the British Paras and POW who joins Captain America's elite squad.

Falsworth: (leading a toast with the other Howling Commandos) To the Captain.

Dr. Abraham Erskine

"Why someone weak? Because a weak man knows the value of strength, the value of power..."

Portrayed By: Stanley Tucci
Film Appearances: Captain America the First Avenger

A German scientist and inventor of a Super Soldier formula. He picks Rogers as the candidate out of an entire muscled platoon, believing that a weak man knew the value of strength, and knew that Rogers was a truly good man.

Heinz Kruger

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place!"

Portrayed By: Richard Armitage
Film Appearances: Captain America the First Avenger

The Red Skull's top assassin. Follwing Rogers' experiment, he kills Dr. Erskine and steals a vial of the Super Soldier serum. He is caught by Rogers, and commits suicide.

Maria Hill

"Who would bring those people together and not expect what happened?"

Portrayed By: Cobie Smulders
Film Appearances: The Avengers

Nick Fury's aide, mostly present on the S.H.I.E.L.D. bases such as a research base on the ground and the Helicarrier.

Tony Stark: (simulating an eyepatch while looking at two screens) How does Fury see these?

Maria Hill: He turns.

The World Security Council

Portrayed By: Powers Boothe, Arthur Darbinyan, Donald Lee, Jenny Agutter
Film Appearances: The Avengers

A secretive international group in charge of SHIELD. Nick Fury reports directly to them... but he doesn't always agree with them.

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