From leading roles right down to clever cameos, here are the characters who've appeared in
the most MCU movies, ranked in order from least to most appearances.
Peter Parker has two titular films to his name and has been a regular in the Avengers
lineup ever since he swung onto the scene back in the airport battle in Captain America:
Civil War.
"Cap-Captain. Big fan. Spider-Man."
For those of you counting at home, that puts the crime-stopper from Queens at five entertaining
on-screen adventures, with Infinity War and Endgame.
However, depending on how loosely you define "appearance," you can tally up Spider-Man's
total MCU appearances at 6. Where's the sixth, you ask? Well, you have to go all the way
back to Iron Man 2 for that one. For years, it was rumored that it was none other than
kid Peter Parker who donned an Iron Man mask and faced down the Hammer Drone during the
Stark Expo in the Iron Man sequel. While fan theories are nice and all, Spidey actor Tom
Holland himself all-but-confirmed the guess in an interview back in 2017.
There are few supporting characters in the MCU poised to have a more promising future
than Sam Wilson. The airborne Avenger has faithfully served by Steve Rogers' side ever
since Cap zipped passed him on his morning jog in the opening scene of Captain America:
The Winter Soldier.
In that first appearance, the lovable veteran is instrumental in taking down a Hydra-infiltrated
S.H.I.E.L.D. He's eventually made a member of the Avengers in Age of Ultron. Soon after
that, he finds himself on the wrong end of a tussle with Ant-Man in the little guy's
solo flick before he joins in the divisive action of Civil War.
Wilson then takes part in the all-inclusive, dual superhero romp of Avengers: Infinity
War and Avengers: Endgame, coming out of the fray as the newly appointed, freshly anointed
Captain America. Filling Steve Rogers' super soldier-sized shoes is a task that will keep
Wilson returning to action, starting with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+
series.
Happy Hogan has always been a faithful alumnus of the Iron Man franchise, and in spite of
his relatively minor role in the MCU, the "forehead of security" managed to find his
way into a surprisingly robust six different movies across the universe.
He first appears on the scene right at the genesis of the MCU, serving as Tony Stark's
faithful bodyguard and best friend. Hap proceeds to play significant roles in all three of
Stark's films before he franchise-hops over to Peter Parker's narrative with Spider-Man:
Homecoming, and he nabs a little more screen time in Endgame.
With Stark's story wrapped up, it feels as if Happy's tale is also about to come to a
well-earned end. Except, it doesn't. He ends up making a comeback in Spider-Man: Far From
Home, where he shows up repeatedly, dating the superhero's aunt, delivering Stark's inheritance,
and ultimately giving Parker the pep talk he needs when he's at his lowest.
"Are you dating?"
"Yes."
"Not really."
Loki's illustrious career begins way back in Thor, where he figures prominently along
with his brother. He takes his villainous pursuits to all-new levels when he shows up
again in The Avengers, working for Thanos, wielding the Mind Stone, stealing the Tesseract,
and eventually leading the Chitauri invasion of New York.
From there, the prince of lies begins to temper his wicked side, substituting it for a mischievous
antihero vibe that he sports throughout the following two Thor films and right on into
Infinity War.
"Surprise."
Here, he tragically meets his end at the powerful purple hand of his past employer. Of course,
the son of Laufey isn't quite finished yet, as he pops up in another timeline and steals
the Tesseract again in Endgame.
To top it all off, the sneaky fellow is set to make his multiverse debut in his own Disney+
show. Whether he'll make it into another movie, though, is an open question.
If anyone has a right to beat out Happy Hogan in the Tony Stark allegiance game, it's Pepper
Potts. Pepper has faithfully stuck by Stark's side through thick and thin with the one exception
being that minor break up during Civil War.
Not surprisingly, she has hefty roles throughout all of the Iron Man trilogy, and she takes
part in every Avengers film with the exception of Age of Ultron which was close to the breakup,
so we don't blame her. She also appears at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, bringing
her total to seven.
While most of her appearances have revolved around her role as Tony Stark's romantic interest,
as well as her duties as head of Stark Industries, it was fun to see Potts finally don that Rescue
armor in Avengers: Endgame and join in on the action. With Stark out of the picture
for the foreseeable future, it's unlikely that Potts will add to her tally, especially
since Gwenyth Paltrow confirmed that Endgame would be her last MCU appearance.
Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, better known to fans of the MCU as Bucky, has had a major
supporting role throughout both Steve Rogers' and the Avengers' storylines. In fact, when
you boil it down, Bucky could be considered one of the major catalysts that led to the
entire Infinity Saga playing out the way it did.
"I'm with you 'til the end of the line, pal."
Barnes first appears in Cap's first film, where he plays the part of the loyal friend
before apparently falling to his death. He reappears in the sequel film, this time as
the brainwashed Winter Soldier. From there, Bucky's involvement goes from interesting
to essential. In the post-credit scene for Ant-Man, the stage is set for his involvement
in the catastrophic events of Civil War.
He also makes a brief appearance in the post-credit scene for Black Panther, serving as an early
premonition for Infinity War, a film that he also participates in, along with its sequel.
While Barnes has never been more than a supporting character, and more than one of his appearances
were in small roles or end-credit scenes, he's still managed to maintain a dynamic presence
throughout his MCU career.
Colonel James Rhodes, also known as War Machine, has been with the MCU since its inception,
showing up a total of eight times since those early days even if he does so as one of the
few characters to be played by more than one actor.
Rhodey books time in all three Iron Man films, Captain America: Civil War, and a mid-credit
scene in Captain Marvel. While he failed to make the original Avengers roster, he does
eventually join the squad, consequentially showing up in the second, third, and fourth
Avengers films.
From his early days spent reigning in an out-of-control Tony Stark to his later career spent helping
to save the universe, War Machine has shown himself to be a loyal friend, a fearsome warrior,
and a character with incredible resilience in the face of hardship and difficulty.
Hulk and Bruce Banner have grudgingly shared the silver screen for over a decade until
they finally made up and chose to collaborate as Professor Hulk in Avengers: Endgame. If
you count the two characters as one, you end up with a character who's shown up in the
MCU a whopping eight different times.
These appearances are as different as the two personalities, varying from their moody
solo film to Hulk's glory days as the Grandmaster's champion in Thor: Ragnarok.
"We're kind of both like fire."
"But Hulk like real fire. Hulk like raging fire. Thor like smoldering fire."
As Avengers alumni, the pair faithfully show up during all four Avengers films. Banner
also drops in for a pair of post-credit scenes in both Iron Man 3 and Captain Marvel. With
such a checkered history, it was a relief to see Professor Hulk finally bring some stability
to the big green guy's story.
Although, with the rage brought down to a low simmer, it begs the question of if and
how the pair will ever find their way back into anything beyond a Disney+ series.
From his early period of self-discovery to his later involvement in Asgardian politics
and his ties to the Avengers, Thor has managed to rack up eight different MCU appearances.
That doesn't even include a fourth solo film already in the pipeline and a rumored guest
appearance in Guardians 3 a possibility.
Three of his eight appearances come via his own trilogy. He's also participated in all
four Avengers films and even has a quick cameo in Doctor Strange. The character has gone
through an incredible amount of refining over the years. His own franchise atrophied heading
into the second film, only to be revitalized in the third installment. The about-face in
the character's narrative gave Thor a new MCU life and allowed him to bring a new dimension
to the Avengers storyline as well. With so much already in the rearview mirror, it's
impressive that Thor's MCU career still seems to have so much more to give.
Black Widow first appears way back in Iron Man 2, where her apparent innocence very quickly
gives way to her superhero skillset. From there, she bounces over to the Captain America
franchise, where she helps Steve Rogers and Falcon topple the Hydra-infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.
and takes part in a Civil War. She also sneaks in a quick end-credit appearance in Captain
Marvel. The other half of her onscreen moments come via the quartet of Avengers films, bringing
the number to eight.
"We need you to come in."
"Are you kidding? I'm working."
"This takes precedence."
"I'm in the middle of an interrogation, this moron is giving me everything."
Out of everyone on this list without a film to their name, Nat's resume is the most impressive,
and fortunately, the whole "without a film to their name" bit will be remedied in the
not too distant future when her first solo film officially opens the Phase 4 fun.
Only a handful of characters can claim to have appeared in the MCU ten times or more
three, to be precise. Brought to life through Robert Downey Jr.'s all-encompassing performance,
Tony Stark faithfully shepherds the entire first three phases of the MCU from start to
finish.
Along with his own trilogy and hefty appearances in all four Avengers films, Stark plays a
pivotal role in both Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming. He also shows
up in a short end-credit scene in The Incredible Hulk, bringing his count up to a robust ten
different appearances.
Stark plays a crucial role in setting up the MCU, assembling the Avengers, and finally
saving the universe itself from Thanos' iron grip. And while the chances of his appearing
again should be pretty low, given that, you know, that whole snap thingie at the end of
Endgame - there are reports of Tony popping back up in the stand-alone Black Widow movie
- so it looks like Robert Downey Jr. isn't quite done with the MCU yet.
Steve Rogers has been an MCU faithful right from the early days of Phase 1, steadily embodying
the heart and soul of the universe throughout all of its many twists and turns. Along with
Thor and Stark, Cap is one of the few characters that can claim to have an entire solo trilogy
and an appearance in all four Avengers films. On top of that, Rogers has popped into end-credit
scenes in Captain Marvel and Ant-Man, and he can be seen rattling off PSA messages throughout
Spider-Man: Homecoming.
"So your body's changing. Believe me, I know how that feels."
This puts him in a dead tie with Stark...but there's a tie-breaker, however fragile it
might be. Cap also indirectly makes an appearance in Thor: The Dark World via one of Loki's
illusions.
Firmly in first place, we have Nick Fury. Super spy, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the
true assembler of the Avengers, Fury manages to beat out everyone when it comes to his
sheer number of MCU appearances and no wonder, too. The "100 percent red-blooded Earth man"
has had his hand in practically every Earth-bound MCU tale to date.
He's there to recruit Iron Man, Hulk, and Captain America right from the get-go. He
helps bring the Avengers together in order to stave off disaster on multiple occasions.
Heck, the guy is busy hob-nobbing with Carol Danvers decades before the current MCU ever
gets into motion, and he's immediately back in action recruiting Peter Parker once Endgame
wraps up. Well, sort of. At the very least, he's enjoying a little space vacation during
Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Even with the Infinity Saga in the rearview mirror, Fury is still actively at the helm,
prepping for the future and making sure that he shows up wherever he's needed which means
he likely won't lose his place at the top of this list any time soon.
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