The 20 greatest women in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Mark Lynch

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..L to R: Pepper Potts in Rescue Suit (Gwyneth Paltrow), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Shuri (Letitia Wright)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019

Who are the best women in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been full of amazing characters and, over the last five years, Marvel Studios has been making it their mission to include more women in their projects. This is a major step since there wasn’t a lot of female representation in their projects. Black Widow (Iron Man 2), Pepper Potts (Iron Man), and Peggy Carter (Captain America: First Avenger) made way for future generations of women in the MCU to help save the day. Without them, Iron Man would have been killed (earlier), and Red Skull may have taken over the world.

As time has gone on, the women have become more powerful than some of their male counterparts. For example, in Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel shrugged off one of Thanos’ attacks and, for a moment, he struggled to overpower her. Conversely, he easily defeated the Hulk in Avengers: Infinity War. Others were side characters and stole the show. Just look at Shuri and Okoye in Black Panther. They became two of the three most popular characters in the movie, probably more popular than Black Panther himself.

Let’s take a look at the best women in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the TV shows to the films and talk about the moments that made them larger than life stars. Things that were taken into account in this ranking were their effect on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, their importance to the stories, and their potential going forward.

20. Sif

Sif didn’t have a lot of screen time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, she made an impact whenever she was on screen. She helped Thor escape Asgard in Thor: Dark World. Without her help, Malekith would have taken over. She’s also appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and showed how great of a fighter she is. A personal favorite moment was when Thor was talking about how he helped all of his allies and, when he got to Sif, she proudly announced that she made her own way. Hopefully, we will get more of her in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future. Especially with New Asgard being a thing and Loki’s show on Disney Plus coming up.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Gamora (Zoe Saldana)

Photo: Film Frame

©Marvel Studios 2018

19. Gamora

Gamora is one of the most dangerous women in the galaxy. Considering how she was raised on top of her superhuman strength, it makes sense. While she hasn’t been used close to her full potential, she’s been the bad-@$$ we’ve wanted her to be. It isn’t just the fighting that puts her on this list. Despite her upbringing, Gamora was strong enough not to be brainwashed by Thanos’ teachings. Even after her sister, Nebula, tried to kill her, she kept trying to save her and show Nebula that she loves her. It’s not punching and kicking that always makes a person tough. Things like compassion also display true strength.

Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER..L to R: Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Shuri (Letitia Wright)..Photo: Matt Kennedy..©Marvel Studios 2018

18. Nakia

Like most of the women in Black Panther, Nakia was flat-out fantastic. She wasn’t just a fighter. She was instrumental in T’Challa becoming a better king and bringing Wakanda out of the shadows. However, when it was time to get into it, she was a great fighter. The scene in the casino showed that. It was amazing watching her not be satisfied with just keeping Wakanda safe. She knew that there were other countries that needed help. That was Killmonger’s point, but she had a more diplomatic way of getting her point across. It was great that they highlighted that early in the movie. She was a villain in the comic books, so maybe there’s a chance she will be in the MCU, as well.

Photo Credit: Linda Kallerus/Netflix from Marvel’s Iron Fist

17. Colleen Wing

Colleen Wing was easily the best part of Netflix’s Iron Fist. When Danny Rand got down on himself, it was Colleen who helped get him back to fighting form. When Misty Knight started becoming depressed after losing her arm, it was Colleen who reminded her that she was more than her missing limb. In her final scene, it was incredibly cool seeing her wield the power of the Iron Fist through her sword. While it’s not likely, it would be great to see her again in a movie or another TV show. She was too good of a character to be left out. Especially since we didn’t get to see her use that sword or explore her family’s history with the Iron Fist.

Credit: Marvel Studios

16. Ghost

Ghost (whose real name is Ava Starr) was a surprise bonus to Ant-Man and the Wasp. She was an incredible fighter with a backstory that made her a sympathetic villain. Finding out she saw her parents die and was then used as a weapon was terrible enough. Being in constant pain and knowing you’re going to die because of the accident that killed your parents may be even worse. This explained her personality, and it also made us think what we would do if we were in her situation. She gets ranked this high because of her potential. Will she still be a hero and help the Avengers save the day? Does the government who used her have payback coming their way? Hopefully, we’ll find out soon.

15. Maria Hill

It’s befuddling how we haven’t seen more of Maria Hill, especially since she’s been right by Nick Fury’s side from the beginning. She’s proven to be tough and doesn’t back down from anyone. She does her job and does it with the maximum effort of a Deadpool movie. But we haven’t seen the last of her, and don’t be shocked when she becomes an antagonist in the future. Maria Hill, in the comics, is a person who does things by the book. She would be the perfect person to usher in a new kind of villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One where the threat isn’t something that can be defeated by just punching it.

Credit: Netflix and Marvel Television for Marvel’s Iron Fist — Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson)

14. Claire Temple

13. Hela

It didn’t take long for Hela to come around and be one of the best villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She came into Thor: Ragnarok with the confidence you’d want from your villain. She then backed it up by effortlessly destroying Thor’s hammer with one hand, and looking him dead in the eye as she did it. After that, Hela went on to kill an entire Asgardian army by herself. An incredible display like we’ve rarely seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the end, Asgard was destroyed and so was she. However, she is the Goddess of Death. Who’s to say her death is permanent?

Marvel Studios ANT-MAN AND THE WASP..The Wasp/Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018

12. Hope Van Dyne

Who doesn’t love Hope Van Dyne? She has all the genius intellect and the fighting skil, and she’s the main reason why Scott Lang doesn’t get embarrassed when he’s fighting alongside the Avengers. Hope has the potential to be one of the greats in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and she’s only appeared in three movies thus far, with a small role but memorable role in the third. If she isn’t an Avenger in the future, it’ll be disappointing. She’s good enough to lead the team, even with Carol Danvers there. Even if it isn’t an official title, she will lead by example. We’ve already seen that she’s willing to make the sacrifice if it means the heroes win.

MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER – “Valediction” – Peggy faces the full fury of Leviathan, as Howard Stark makes his return in the explosive season finale of “Marvel’s Agent Carter,” TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Kelsey McNeal)

HAYLEY ATWELL

11. Peggy Carter

When we talk about the best characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, people forget Peggy Carter. She isn’t as flashy as the rest of the heroes, but she doesn’t need to be. All she needs is her brilliant, strategic mind, a steady hand, and the will to do what’s needed. She helped Steve Rogers become the man who helped save the universe, and she’s a hero who continued to save the world in ways we’ll never know. She was also instrumental in making certain Red Skull didn’t take over the world. It’s unfortunate that her show, Agent Carter, was cancelled. Still, Disney Plus could bring it back. But for now, we’ll have to settle for the premiere episode of What If? in which she becomes Captain America.

Marvel Studios’ THOR: RAGNAROK..Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson)..Ph: Teaser Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2017

10. Valkyrie

Valkyrie keeps getting better and better with each passing moment. Her first moment in which she fell off the ramp of her ship was funny. After that, she immediately went into “don’t mess with me” mode. She armed her guns and mowed down everyone who opposed her. She proceeded to take Thor out easily. She ends up overcoming her disdain for the Asgardians and her alcoholism to help Thor defeat Hela and her army. Now, she’s the ruler of New Asgard, so we can look forward to seeing her in her new role going forward.

Why she’s top ten

Valkyrie’s potential is the highest on this list. If it wasn’t for the lack of a big moment in Avengers: Endgame, she may have been top five. We know she has the skill to compete with anyone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but now, we’ll see a different side of her. She’s going to have to lead, not just an army, but people who don’t know about this new world. There are going to be plenty of ups and downs. Some will require diplomacy instead of a right hook. It’ll be interesting to see how she maneuvers and brings Asgard into a world they know nothing about. It may have been five years, but who knows what they’ve learned and if they’re still stuck in their ways. And of course, she’ll also have to deal with those who don’t understand Asgardian culture.

Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN MARVEL..Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson)..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2019

9. Captain Marvel

Marvel Studios has all but shown us that Carol Danvers is the strongest there is. Sorry, Hulk, but it’s true. She’s also going to be the one who leads the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the future. It makes sense, considering she has all the power of Thor (and thensome), the strength of the Hulk (and not just smart Hulk), and the leader’s mentality of Steve Rogers. Marvel Studios hasn’t gotten close to showing the world what Carol Danvers is capable of, and what we see next could be history in the making.

Why she’s top ten

Like Valkyrie, it’s too early to put her too high up, but her potential puts her high on the list. There’s also what she’s done already. In Captain Marvel, she fell to a planet she didn’t know and discovered that things weren’t right. She also ends up saving a bunch of refugees (the Skrulls) from being killed. In Avengers: Endgame, she saved Tony Stark and Gamora, continued to save planet all over the galaxy, and showed that she’s not to be messed with. As mentioned, she was evenstrong enough to take on Thanos with all of the stones in the Infinity Gauntlet! I don’t anyone could do that. The Avengers are in good hands going forward, as Captain Marvel is going to lead her team to victory and never look back.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

L to R: Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen)

Photo: Film Frame

©Marvel Studios 2018

8. Scarlet Witch

If you want to talk about untapped power, you have to mention Wanda Maximoff. The first thing people think about are her telekinetic powers, but that’s just the beginning. In her debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron, we saw her almost single-handedly take out the Avengers. Her mental powers are so powerful that even Thor felt the effects. In Avengers: Infinity War, she destroyed an Infinity Stone all by herself. It took other Infinity Stones to do that. Next up, she took on Thanos one on one in Avengers: Endgame. She put fear in him that we haven’t seen before, including the moment Tony Stark turned him to dust.

Why she’s top ten

Scarlet Witch has all the power, with the potential to do even more than we’ve seen. While she was fighting Thanos, she had a crazed look in her eyes, something that was reminiscent to a look she had in the comics during Avengers: Disassembled. Her powers may become unstable, which would make her powerful enough to reshape the universe in her image. Wanda may be a good hero, but she might make an even better villain.

Disney Plus’ WandaVison is going to be interesting. Her relationship with Vision and the missions they go on will be a new twist for the MCU. This could also be the platform where Vision helps Wanda learn to control the power inside her. We forget that she hasn’t had them too long. Also, the rumored 1950s angle could lead to her being able to time travel on her own if she can bend reality.

Photo Credit: Marvel’s Jessica Jones/ Marvel Netflix Image Acquired from Netflix Media Center

7. Jessica Jones

When it comes to women empowerment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jessica Jones is the first character that comes to mind. Before she gained her powers, she was a “take no mess” woman. If being mind controlled by a lunatic (Kilgrave) wasn’t enough, she’s always involved in superhero problems, and she hates being involved in all of that. Jessica just wants to drink her whiskey and make a living. But somehow, she keeps getting tied up into scuffles of people with powers. Even though she hates it, thankfully, she’s good at it. Luke Cage and Iron Fist owe her their lives.

"Everything changes, and nothing really changes. People die, new people are born, and we exist in between." The final season of Marvel's Jessica Jones is coming soon to Netflix. pic.twitter.com/NHHthvv1sP
— Jessica Jones (@JessicaJones) May 6, 2019

Why she’s top ten

Jessica Jones has the goods and is reluctant to use them. That’s a big part of who she is. It’s one thing to be a hero because you want to. Jessica could easily say, “This isn’t my problem” and stick with it. But every time she’s given the option, she goes against her initial thoughts and helps out anyway. Also, she isn’t the best fighter. Actually, she may be one of the worst in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but she manages to find a way to win. She’s crafty like that. That on top of everything she’s overcome makes her one of the best. Hopefully, the final season of her show, particularly the series finale, will be worthy of her.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

L to R: Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Nebula (Karen Gillan)

Photo: Film Frame

©Marvel Studios 2018

6. Nebula

The daughter of Thanos has had to overcome more torture than anyone on this list. Like her sister Gamora, she was taken from her family and raised by the Mad Titan. She was forced to fight her sister and was physically taken apart and rebuilt every time Gamora beat her. All of this lead to her hav a ton of resentment to everyone and to constantly seek the approval of Thanos. Even after she broke free of the need to please him, she still ended up being physically tortured by him for trying to do the right thing. If that wasn’t enough, she had to kill her past self to save her sister. Well, that moment may have been therapeutic.

Why she’s top ten

On top of the things she’s been through, Nebula has continued to improve as a character. Going from a side character to one of the most important parts of Avengers: Endgame was a huge leap. Nebula isn’t the goofball like the rest of her teammates in the Guardians of the Galaxy, but that’s perfect. She’s needed to be serious. However, she will continue to have some comical moments as a result of being overly serious. The next chapter of her time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will determine if she can have the best 180 degree turn in movie history.

Credit: Marvel Studios for Marvel’s Black Panther — Letitia Wright as Princess Shuri

5. Shuri

Our first impression of Shuri was that she was just the silly little sister of King T’Challa. Then we got see who she really is when she was first shown working in her lab. Shuri took her brother’s old Black Panther suit and gave it a serious upgrade, something he wasn’t going to do. She’s also responsible for a lot of Wakanda’s weapons and technology, which effectively make the country run.

In the final battle in Black Panther, Shuri puts on her gauntlets and shows everyone watching that she’s more than a genius. She’s a warrior, just like everyone else in her family. She took on Killmonger without any fear and, when her gauntlets were broken, she picked up a weapon and fought side by side with the Dora Milaje. And let’s also not forget how she stumped Bruce Banner in Avengers: Infinity War and fought alongside the group of female heroesthat helped take on Thanos head on in Endgame.

Why she’s top ten

We are witnessing something special here. Shuri has only appeared in two movies (three if you count her short appearance in Avengers: Endgame), and she’s being talked about as the future. Young girls everywhere can now have a Disney Princess that’s royalty, a genius, and a warrior. And all the while, she’s breaking the stereotype that smart people are weak. She’s another person on this list who would make a great Avenger.

4. Melinda May

It would be difficult to find a person who’s done more on the battlefield than Melinda May. She’s fought beings all over the world and back. She’s battled humans, metahumans, and gods, andlived to tell the tale. She’s the mother hen to the ragtag group of SHIELD agents, always there to lend a helping hand and, more importantly, the brutal truth when they need to hear it. She was the perfect character to help make the MCU’s first TV show an almost instant success.

Why she’s top ten

Phil Coulson once said this about Melinda May, “Getting in trouble, pulling pranks, thought rules were meant to be broken.” All of this was true, until she was forced to fatally shoot a young girl in order to prevent her from killing innocent people. May left field work after that. However, when Coulson asked her to rejoin, she accepted. This showed two important things. First, that Melinda May had the mental toughness to overcome an incident that almost broke her and rejoin S.H.I.E.L.D. Second, Coulson trusts her. Like with Nick Fury, you can count on one hand how many people Coulson trusts and can rely on. Whatever happens over these next two seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., this shouldn’t be the end of Melinda May.

3. Madame Gao

This one may come as a shocker, but she’s been one of the most thorough people in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While you have the crime bosses like Wilson Fisk, Cottonmouth, and Black Mariah, Madame Gao was leading and making moves behind the scenes. She understood that being in the spotlight was bad for business, a rule kept her alive and in charge longer than most. She was easily the calmest of the villains in any MCU project, never letting her emotions distract her from her real goal.

The seemingly frail woman was more powerful than anyone knew. She had a power that could knock over the biggest guys with a slight gesture from her hands, a power she saved for extreme circumstances or when she had to make a point. Gao was strong enough to take on Luke Cage by herself and hurt him, and bullets bounce off of Luke like pebbles.

Why she’s No. 3

More than anyone on this list, she’s exemplified what it means to be the best at what she does. Gao’s been alive longer than we know and has had her hands in more than just New York crime. Whenever she popped up on screen, something significant was going to happen. She will be missed.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Okoye (Danai Gurira)

Photo: Film Frame

2. Okoye

Not many people can make an instant impression like Okoye did. Whenever she’s been on screen her presence has been felt, and it’s been captivating. In Avengers: Infinity War, she was surrounded by characters that have been in our lives for around a decade, but still managed to stand out among the tall trees. It didn’t matter if she was making a joke or flat out beating people down, you knew she was around and that she was doing something amazing. In Avengers: Endgame, she ran into the war with without any fear in her heart. All she had was the will to survive and the determination to protect the world.

Why she’s No. 2

T’Challa may be king, but she was leader. Okoye exemplified what it meant to be in charge. Her warriors followed her without question, and she was loyal to the throne and Wakanda. Once she found out that Killmonger had a plan that would hurt her country, she took a stand and fought. Some may not get that, but it’s her duty. Okoye will one day be the most talked about superhero in the world. People love characters who are funny, tough, skilled, and willing to grow. Okoye probably won’t be an Avenger, but she doesn’t have to be on the team to show her greatness.

1. Black Widow

Black Widow has been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the beginning. People may not like Iron Man 2, but she had some great moments in it, including her first big, fight scene in the third act. It was the perfect set-up for her future. Then, The Avengers came out. Her interrogation scene proved she wasn’t going to be a one and done. Black Widow went on to have deep moments, as well. For example, her telling Bruce Banner about her time in the Red Room was a tragic scene. No one knew she went through something so traumatic. It made her feel like a monster. In that same movie, she had to push away someone she loved to save the world, only to have them leave.

Why she’s No. 1

Some people may not like her, but she was one of the greats in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She was always willing to fight, but wasn’t reckless in doing so. She had the ability to kill, but never enjoyed it. Widow was also smarter than many give her credit for. In Captain America: Winter Soldier, she helped Steve Rogers outsmart all of SHIELD (or Hydra) and saved the lives of millions of innocent people.

There was a time when women weren’t involved in comic book movies. Sure, there were Storm and Jean Grey, but Black Widow was the first to truly stand out for so long. Without her, it’s debatable that the other women on this list would have been given a chance. Thankfully, she was set a gold standard.

Mark Lynch

Trying to become Earth's Mightiest writer or at least one that people look for. Marvel guy with a dash of DC. Find him on twitter at twitter.com/oldmanwadecom, email him at markawlynch@gmail.com, or leave a comment on everything he writes.