MCU: 10 Weird Comic Characters We Can’t Believe Made It Into The Movies

Decades ago, comic book fans could only dream of a day in which they would see heroes like Black Panther and Doctor Strange in their own movie. The MCU has helped to make comic book films the biggest genre around and it has allowed some very obscure characters to become household names.

As the MCU continues to grow, fans have seen so many strange and wonderful characters whom they thought could only exist inside the pages of the comic books. Looking back at the MCU’s films and some of their future projects, it is still astonishing that these weird characters have been brought to the big screen.

10 Dormammu

Introducing Doctor Strange into the MCU opened the door for a lot of potentially off-the-wall new characters. That included one of Strange’s most famous enemies, the demon ruler of the Dark Dimension, Dormammu.

Though Kaecilius is the main antagonist in the film, Dormammu is the real threat as he looks to invade Earth’s dimension and take it over. Despite his limited screen time, Dormammu’s appearance is very memorable. The film manages to capture his general aesthetic from the comics while also infusing a psychedelic aspect as well.

9 Arnim Zola

Arnim Zola made his first appearance in the MCU in Captain America: The First Avenger as the meek Swiss scientist working for Red Skull. In the comics, Zola had his consciousness uploaded into a robot and his head is displayed on a screen on the robot’s chest.

In his first appearance, Zola looks like a pretty regular scientist, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier managed to adapt his comic book look in a somewhat grounded way. He similarly uploaded his consciousness into a computer and has his face displays on a computer screen.

8 Black Knight

As the MCU continues to grow, they seem more willing to bring in stranger characters. The Eternals will be introducing plenty of new and exciting heroes to the universe that fans might not be familiar with.

It was previously announced that Kit Harrington had been cast as Dane Whitman. Fans of the comics may recognize the name as the true identity of Black Knight, an obscure hero who wields a magic sword. It remains to be seen how close closely the character will follow the comics, but it seems like the MCU has embraced the medieval side of their universe.

7 Taserface

It seems like some Marvel characters are so ridiculous that filmmakers are drawn to include them in their films. James Gunn has always embraced the absurdity with his Guardians of the Galaxy films and that continued with the inclusion of Taserface.

This intergalactic goon is the leader of the Ravagers, who throw a mutiny against Yondu. He is based on a little-known character who debuted in the original Guardians of the Galaxy comics. He bears some resemblance to his counterpart in the comics, but it’s clear Gunn was just taken by the name, which is mocked relentlessly in the film.

6 Vision

Vision was a key member of the Avengers in the comics for many years. But even with gods and monsters, the multicolored android still seemed like a stretch to bring to the big screen. However, they managed to find a way in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Though some thought the introduction of Vision so late in the film seemed rushed, they did manage to cram a lot of his comic book stuff in there. The look of the character is spot-on. The MCU tied his origin to Ultron and even managed to combine him with JARVIS and the Infinity Stones. Most impressive of all, they even pulled off his unusual romance with Scarlet Witch.

5 Batroc The Leaper

Captain America: The Winter Soldier delivered a much more grounded superhero film than had previously been seen in the MCU. However, it still managed to include one of Cap’s most laughable villains, Batroc the Leaper.

Batroc is dressed in a silly costume and his whole gimmick is that he can jump really high. As dumb as that sounds, the MCU made him sort of cool. They adapted the color-scheme of his outfit into tactical armor and cast French-Canadian mixed martial artist George St-Pierre in the role, which made for a fun fight scene.

4 Korg

Thor is another character who has afforded the MCU to explore its weirder side. This is especially true in Thor: Ragnarok as Taika Waititi really took things to the next level. And Waititi himself plays one of the film’s most memorable characters, Korg.

The character is a rock monster taken right from the Planet Hulk storyline, which is adapted in the movie. Unlike the intimidating character in the comics, the film’s version of Korg is a hilariously kind and soft-spoken ally of Thor who will hopefully be a continued part of the MCU.

3 Red Guardian

Fans have been eagerly anticipating finally seeing Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff’s long-awaited solo film. One of the most interesting and exciting elements is the inclusion of David Harbour as Red Guardian.

In the comics, Red Guardian was a Soviet counterpoint to Captain America, down to the similar-looking suit. The character and the suit will be making their debut in this film and they look to be presenting Red Guardian as a washed-up hero, which has a lot of potential for fun.

2 Ego The Living Planet

One of the biggest questions going into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was who Peter Quill’s real father would turn out to be. Few fans could have predicted that it would be Ego the Living Planet.

In the comics, Ego is quite literally a planet in outer space who is alive and even has a face. The movie doesn’t shy away from the craziness of this idea, including the questions of how a planet could have a baby with a human woman. Luckily, Kurt Russell plays the human form of Ego to make the whole thing a little easier to swallow.

1 Groot

Guardians of the Galaxy was the first time it became clear that the MCU was getting more confident and starting to take risks with the characters they brought to their films. This rag-tag cosmic group was filled with obscure characters, but the biggest question mark was Groot.

Groot is a giant talking tree who can only say his own name. Yet somehow, this weird creature became one of the most popular and endearing characters in the entire MCU.

About The Author

Colin McCormick
(2032 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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