The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced us to a lot of characters over the years. Heroes, villains, supporting characters in each category; the MCU is full of life. From Earth to Space, the universe to the multiverse; there are plenty of memorable characters in this legendary franchise. And that's not even including all of the ones we are yet to meet, for the MCU will continue to expand in new ways in the years to come.
Characters make a good story great, as they give us heroes to get invested in, unlikely villains to root for, and vessels for which we get to experience the story through. Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Hulk, and Hawkeye were the original six Avengers and it became very clear very quickly that the MCU had struck gold with them. The beauty of it is that we still continued to meet amazing new additions to the franchise in the years that came after The Avengers, most of whom managed to make us fall in love with them too.
But even the biggest movie series of all time has faltered from time-to-time, as Marvel did have some misses along the way. Yes, that sadly means that there were some questionable characters that fans didn't take to. You might even say they really disliked them. Whether it's a missed opportunity in terms of storytelling or a weaker, poorly-developed character that just didn't resonate the way that Marvel Studios was hoping, some characters have indeed drew the ire of audiences.
But "disliked" is such a complicated word, because there have also been some absolutely incredible villains who also made audiences feel really strongly about them. Ones that fans just loved to hate. And that meant that Marvel was accomplishing its mission in that respect.
On that note, let's take this opportunity to look back across the MCU's 34+ movies and 11+ TV shows and discuss some of the characters that, for one reason or another, fans just couldn't take to. From good bad guys to bad good guys, here are the MCU's most disliked heroes, villains, and everything in between.
11. Ralph Bohner
WandaVision is a gem of a series that may well be Marvel's greatest accomplishment ever. But even the Emmy-winning series divided audiences from time-to-time, and nothing divided them more than Mr. Ralph Bohner.
Hear me out, because I was there, too: I saw the response. I was part of it. Seeing Evan Peters in the MCU was a delight. Seeing him back as Pietro, playing on the fact that he played the role of Quicksilver in Fox's X-Men saga, was a thrill. Revealing that it was too good to be true was a blow, but a necessary one that added to the drama. The show needed to highlight Agatha Harkness as an all-powerful threat and it did. But naming him Ralph Bohner... that wasn't so great.
Look, it was always going to be a tough pill to swallow if Peters' character wasn't who he said he was, but that wasn't the issue. The fact that Marvel's first potential foray into the multiverse (at the very beginning of The Multiverse Saga) was actually just an opportunity to make an unfunny innuendo that felt like it belonged in a 2000s teen movie - which wasn't exactly the style WandaVision was going for. That's what really divided audiences.
Whatever, it's far from the worst offense in the MCU (and let's face it, Ralph's return in Agatha All Along benefitted the character's arc a great deal). Quicksilver never was and Ralph came and went. But this was below WandaVision and fans haven't really been able to let it go because of that.
Continued on the next slide...