Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Avengers)
I have to be honest and say I almost forgot to include Hemsworth in this list. Just because I can hardly imagine Hollywood without him anymore. He may have garnered Aussie success in Home and Away, and his minor part in Star Trek was certainly haunting if brief. But he has now become the staple blond beefcake. His name means so much to studios that he now gets to act in categorically bad films because his brand is highly marketable (Blackhat and the deeply problematic Red Dawn remake come to mind).
But Hemsworth’s Marvel adventures are always good-natured and more often than not, enjoyable. Thor starts out grating in his arrogance but grows to fill the shoes of a true leader. His solo outings may have been tonally uneven so far, yet Hemsworth almost always manages to steal scenes in The Avengers team-up films.
Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist)
Henwick first got on the radar after landing a coveted role in Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, she was introduced during the show’s fifth season, which was generally less well-received than any of its prior seasons at the time. As one of the Sand Snakes, her plotline was particularly disparaged as well. However, her small role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens continued to edge her slowly towards fandom glory. It seems that Colleen Wing sealed the deal in that regard.
General consensus dictated that Henwick stole the show despite Iron Fist‘s poor reception amongst critics and fans and fans alike. She personifies the qualities of a hallmark MCU character to an impressive degree, imploring audiences to empathize with Colleen as opposed to the blanker canvas of Danny Rand. Henwick is the real point of intrigue in the story and receives the most fully realized part in the show. It’s amazing she wasn’t the protagonist because it was a lot easier to invest in Colleen’s journey thanks to her instantly captivating performance.
Tom Hiddleston (Thor, The Avengers)
Everyone was probably a little obsessed with Loki the moment he made his first MCU appearance, simply due to Hiddleston’s wicked playfulness. He portrayed one of the first MCU villains to really utilize silence and observation to his benefit, creating a memorable footprint that the company itself has tried to emulate with other villains. Hiddleston’s (and Thor director Kenneth Branagh’s) Shakespearean sensibility spawned probably the most iconic MCU villain origin story that enthralled fans to an egregious extent.
Hiddleston’s shrewdness has since been used to shift Loki’s allegiances towards antiheroism, and although he hasn’t graced an MCU film for a few years now. So I can’t help but look forward to his return in Thor: Ragnarok.
Related Topics: Marvel
