Since 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has dominated the superhero genre in Hollywood. Featuring some of the most iconic Marvel characters like Captain America, Thor, and Captain Marvel, the MCU has expanded through film and television to create a complex (though sometimes confusing) world of interconnected stories for over more than a decade.
Having become the highest-grossing film franchise of all time, the MCU is lush with countless fan-favorite characters, many of whom have starred in individual film sagas. Still, not everything Hollywood lays its hands on is perfect, and while there have been plenty of characterizations faithful to Marvel's source material, countless other characters have been paid dust.
10 Improved: Nebula
Despite her status as one of Thanos's adopted daughters in the MCU, Nebula is actually just some random space pirate who happened upon Thanos's ship after his apparent death. Though she claimed that the mad Titan was her grandfather, this was nothing more than a boastful claim to better solidify her control over his ship.
Having her actually be a part of his "family" on-screen better establishes her and nicely sets up the rivalry between her and Gamora. Nebula also becomes much more sympathetic this way, with Thanos having torturously experimented on her various times over for her failure to best Gamora in combat. Even before her official switch to "the good guys," she was a character audiences couldn't help but find themselves rooting for.
9 Worsened: Hellcat
Introduced in Marvel's Jessica Jones as the titular character's best friend, Patricia Walker is a former child star turned radio host. She often assists Jessica with her cases and occasionally provides financial support, openly trying to get Jones to become a full-blown superhero. Over time, she begins to desire powers for herself and consents to an experiment that nearly kills her. Surviving the ordeal, she's granted superhuman agility, reflexes, strength, endurance, and enhanced vision.
She subsequently becomes an antagonist in the third and final season of the series, seemingly damaging her friendship with Jones to the point of no return. Lacking her signature mystical powers from the comics and being less threatening than nearly every other villain in the show, her character arc concludes without much closure.
8 Improved: The Purple Man/Kilgrave
Also introduced as part of Marvel's Jessica Jones, Kilgrave is arguably Jones' most iconic villain. He possesses the power to compel everyone around him to do as he says, his influence on others even lasting for 24 hours of them not being around him. Individuals can regain their free will sooner if they complete their orders, with Jessica placing a bullet in Hellcat's mouth to fulfill Kilgrave's order of "put a bullet in your skull, Patsy."
With a terrifying and incredible performance by David Tennant, Kilgrave's threatening presence is given that extra "oomph" to solidify him as one of the MCU's most powerful villains. Jessica Jones doesn't shy away from explicitly stating just how violating his powers are, something that isn't as thoroughly discussed in Alias, the comic the first season of the show was based on.
7 Worsened: Mantis
In comic book canon, Mantis is perhaps one of the most skilled martial arts fighters on Marvel's roster, notably taking down powerful opponents like Thor with ease. Additionally, she's capable of astral projection, pyrokinesis, chlorokinesis, telepathy, and resurrection (via plant-life).
None of that is present in her MCU adaptation. The only ability she's capable of is emotional manipulation, having shown little visible fighting skills. The MCU version has also come under fire for enforcing Asian stereotypes. Her behavior can arguably be attributed to her inexperience with humans, but there are better ways production could have handled it. The "alien-learning-human-culture" archetype and characterization could have easily been accomplished by taking notes from DC's Starfire (at least her 2003 animated version).
6 Improved: Hank Pym
The original Ant-Man, Hank's MCU incarnation is a welcome change to his comic origins. On the page, Pym's actually quite abusive towards his wife, Janet van Dyne, an aspect that isn't translated onto the big screen.
Definitely more of a family man, Pym is more openly concerned for the well-being of Janet and their daughter, Hope, often acting selflessly for their benefit. He's also a lot wittier, often making comments and jokes at Scott Lang's expense.
5 Worsened: The Ancient One
In perhaps one of the most high profile cases of white-washing in the MCU, The Ancient One's character was changed from an Asian man to a white woman. Granted, the original incarnation of The Ancient One had many stereotypical elements to him, but those could have been easily written out to keep the character's ethnicity intact.
It's also really not that hard to find an Asian actress for the role either. Maggie Q, Gemma Chan (who later appeared in Captain Marvel and has a starring role in the upcoming Eternals), and Fan Bingbing are just a few of the women who could have easily done the part.
4 Improved: Black Mariah
Despite her role as one of the key antagonists in Marvel's Luke Cage, Black Mariah isn't much of a threat or character of substance in comic book canon. Though she wasn't empowered with super-strength, she often used her weight to put more power into her strikes; something comic writers made light of more than a few times.
Her television adaptation is much more dignified. A politician in Harlem, Black Mariah - known by her real name Mariah Dillard in the series - wants to make positive changes to her neighborhood, even if it means resorting to crime. This, combined with her backstory, makes her a much more sympathetic and understandable character.
3 Worsened: Black Widow
Black Widow started as a relatively well-developed character, even if it was through another character's starring movie. She retained all the abilities, combat prowess, and intelligence of her comic book counterpart. Additionally, she's free from romance subplots... until Age of Ultron, that is.
What could have been an interesting glimpse into her past is nothing more than a quick montage and a blatantly misogynistic statement about Black Widow believing she's a monster because she's unable to have children. Her connection with Bruce Banner came off as clunky and forced but thankfully wasn't explored further in MCU films.
2 Improved: M'Baku
M'Baku is actually the perfect example of what could have been done with The Ancient One. The creatives behind Black Panther were able to take a central, iconic character in Black Panther's origins and incorporate him into the MCU while simultaneously avoiding racial stereotypes, something M'Baku's comic book incarnation is known for.
In the comics, M'Baku is known as "Man-Ape" and is an exiled Wakadan warrior whose abilities rival the Black Panther. He gained his powers by slaying a white gorilla, eating its flesh, and bathing in its blood. The producers and writers of Black Panther changed the character to revere and worship gorillas, showing just how easy changing a character can be without whitewashing them or altering them to the point they're a separate entity entirely.
1 Worsened: Spider-Man
Aside from his name, powers, and suit, the Peter Parker on screen isn't even closely related to his origins. Spider-Man's just flat out not his comic book counterpart. Despite Uncle Ben playing a large part in Parker's development in nearly every canonized version of the character, Tony Stark is the character who's been the most actively involved with Spider-Man's life. Even though their partnership started through literal blackmail, Stark is idolized and practically worshipped by Spider-Man.
While building a connection between the two is certainly a fresh way to introduce Spider-Man's character, the amount of influence Iron Man continues to have in Spider-Man's story detracts so much from him. Spider-Man was originally so popular with audiences because of his reliability - he'd often struggle mentally and financially but was driven to help those in even worse situations than he was. His only desire to help others in the MCU stems from his wish to impress (and live up to) Iron Man.