The first moment that we see a character in a movie is arguably the second most pivotal moment in their on-screen journey. The most pivotal, obviously, is their final moment in the film, because that’s the last we’ll ever see of them. It’s where we leave them. But their introduction is a close second. It forms how we view the character within the story, and what kind of person they are.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has endeared us to so many characters over the years – both its own versions of characters we already loved, like Spider-Man and the Hulk and more obscure characters who were relative newcomers, like Korg and Groot. So, here are the 10 best character introductions in the MCU.
Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron
Joss Whedon nailed the introduction of the eponymous villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Earth’s mightiest heroes are caught off-guard, enjoying a few drinks after most of their party guests have left. And then, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner’s A.I. stumbles in and greets them. He’s pieced himself together from (a box of) scraps, so he looks really creepy.
James Spader had the perfect voice for the character: unnerving, yet calm, and very commanding. Most fans’ disappointment with Ultron grew out of his development, or lack thereof. He never lived up to the promise of his introduction, and he turned out to be pretty easy to defeat.
Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok
When Thor crashes onto Sakaar after being banished from the Bifrost by Hela, he has no idea where he is. And then, a bunch of scavengers show up to capture him. And then, Valkyrie shows up to take him to the Grandmaster. But as she steps off her ship, she falls into a pile of trash, because she’s drunk.
She manages to stumble to her feet and use her weapons to get rid of the scavengers, then she takes in Thor. Tessa Thompson plays Valkyrie as a booze-swilling badass, and that was established right away in her first scene, instantly becoming a fan favorite.
Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War
In Captain America: Civil War, we were first introduced to the MCU’s incarnation of Spider-Man when he swung onto the airport runway and stole Cap’s shield. This was our introduction to the character in the trailers, too. But in the movie, we met Peter Parker before we met Spidey. As soon as Marvel fans saw the location of a scene captioned as “Queens,” they knew which character was coming.
Peter walked up to Aunt May’s apartment to the sounds of alt-J’s “Left Hand Free,” with a keyboard under his arm. He found it in a dumpster and he was planning to add it to a computer he’d been building himself, which told us Peter’s a genius and he’s financially struggling – two important aspects of the character.
Erik Killmonger in Black Panther
Erik Killmonger from Black Panther is one of the MCU’s best villains because his worldview is kind of right in theory; it’s the execution that’s questionable. Killmonger wants to use Wakanda’s resources to fight racial oppression, but he wants to do so by shedding blood and re-colonizing the world.
When we first meet Killmonger, he’s telling a historical expert at a London museum that their African artifacts were stolen by colonizers and should be returned – his worldview, and its justification, are established immediately – right before he, Ulysses Klaue, and their band of goons execute a perfectly planned heist to steal a Wakandan artefact.
Korg in Thor: Ragnarok
Taika Waititi reportedly based his performance as Korg on some bouncers he knew in New Zealand. The great thing about Korg is that he’s a huge, intimidating rock monster who fights in wars and gladiatorial matches – but he’s really just a sweet guy. When Thor first meets Korg, after being locked up with the Grandmaster’s other gladiators on Sakaar, he introduces himself with a “rock, paper, scissors” joke.
Then, he tells the God of Thunder that he tried to organize an uprising, but he didn’t print enough flyers, so nobody showed up. Within one scene, Korg was already one of the MCU’s funniest characters.
Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War
Any MCU character with a superhero alter ego technically has two introductions. We first meet T’Challa alongside his father, T’Chaka, representing Wakanda in the United Nations. After the bomb goes off, when T’Challa cradles his dead father, it’s a really powerful moment. But it’s not quite as memorable as his first appearance in the Black Panther suit, a few scenes later.
Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes have just escaped from the feds and jumped onto the adjacent rooftop. They think they’re out of the woods. And then, Bucky is attacked by a masked assailant with cat-like agility. It’s Black Panther, out for revenge.
Nick Fury in Iron Man
Nick Fury doesn’t appear in Iron Man until the very first post-credits scene in the MCU. After Tony Stark has announced to the world that he’s Iron Man, against S.H.I.E.L.D.’s wishes, Fury arrives to tell Tony that he’s “become part of a bigger universe.”
This has two meanings: Tony is about to learn that he’s not the only superhero and S.H.I.E.L.D. is putting together a team of remarkable people to see if they can become something more, and the audience is about to learn that Iron Man was just the first chapter in an entirely new kind of movie franchise.
Hela in Thor: Ragnarok
This is the third entry on this list from Thor: Ragnarok. Apparently, on top of everything else, Taika Waititi is great at introducing characters into his movies.
The villain, Hela, first appears right after Odin’s death in Norway. Thor launches his hammer at her – his trusty hammer, Mjolnir, that has gotten him out of every tough spot in the past – and she simply grabs it, mid-air, and crushes it into tiny pieces with her bare hands. This was a terrific way to raise the stakes and establish just how powerful (and thus, difficult to defeat) Hela would be in this movie.
Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy
Technically, Guardians of the Galaxy introduces us to its hero, Peter Quill, in a flashback to 1988. But that was really a prologue, and we didn’t meet Star-Lord in his true form until Chris Pratt was playing him in the present day. As he enters the Temple of the Power Stone on Morag, it feels like the beginning of every adventure movie from Star Wars to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
But then, he puts on a pair of headphones, presses “play” on his Walkman, and then dances around the temple to the catchy sounds of Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love.” Star-Lord isn’t Han Solo or Indiana Jones; he’s just an ‘80s kid who wants to be like Han Solo and Indiana Jones.
Tony Stark in Iron Man
Considering it began a franchise that would eventually have an alien warlord committing cosmic genocide with six magical stones, Iron Man was surprisingly grounded. A lot of it is set in Afghanistan, with the titular superhero fighting terrorists that feel all too real. In the opening scene, we meet Tony Stark riding with a military convoy across the Afghan desert, with a drink in his hand.
AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” which would basically become Tony’s theme, plays in the background. When one of the soldiers nervously asks for a selfie, Tony indulges, and offers up his first of many one-liners: “I don’t wanna see this on your Myspace page.” Then, the convoy is hit, and Tony is attacked with a missile bearing the Stark Industries logo.
