The Marvel Cinematic Universe has done a great job at not just creating superheroes and villains that fans love to see fight, but creating characters that viewers love to watch progress through their lives. These often result in relationships that help deepen the stories in all the movies. However, oftentimes, the relationships crash and burn.

Often the relationships were never meant to be. Those can burn a hole through any of the MCU franchises. However, there are other relationships that Marvel tried to put out there that fans just rejected and turned their noses up to. These relationships often failed, and thankfully, most of them were set aside and the MCU put them in the rearview mirror.

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Steve Rogers And Sharon Carter

One of the greatest relationships in the MCU was the one between Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter. These two fell in love in World War II and then lost their chance at love when Steve ended up frozen in ice. When he returned, Peggy was at the end of her life and Steve turned to her niece Sharon.

This was wrong from the start. Steve and Peggy were meant to be and seeing him with Sharon felt like he was just moving on to the next in line. The good news is that this relationship never got very far and Steve ended up back with Peggy thanks to time travel. Meanwhile, Sharon proved she never deserved Captain America.

Natasha Romanoff And Bruce Banner

One relationship that Marvel hinted at since Phase 1 was between Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner. This all started when Natasha went to bring Bruce in to help fight Loki. The entire relationship was built on tension from that moment in The Avengers.

It also looked like the two were moving closer in the direction of a romantic relationship, especially when Black Widow was the only person who could calm a raging Hulk. However, it never felt right, fans never really bought it, and the MCU ended it without a word.

Thor And Jane Foster

Thor and Jane Foster have always seemed like a relationship that was meant to be. They dated in the comics, they dated in the MCU, and in both, it appears that Jane ends up as Thor as well. Also, in both the comics and movies, it appears that their relationship ended with them as only friends.

Thor and Jane seemed a good match in the first Thor movie, but then when she became very important in Thor: Dark World, even meeting Thor’s mom, things started to sour in the eyes of fans. That was also the end of Thor and Jane and he only mentioned later that they broke up.

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T’Challa And Nakia

The relationship between T’Challa and Nakia was cute at first in Black Panther. She was the girl that got away, and everything concerning the romance between the two was based in the past. When T’Challa went to bring her home for his coronation, his jitters showed how much he liked her.

However, that was as far as it went. T’Challa had a kingdom to lead and Nakia wanted to get out of the country and help others in any way she could. They were star-crossed lovers, and it was never going to work out between them.

Scott Lang And Hope Van Dyne

There are likely a lot of people who love the relationship between Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne. It is a fun one, with lots of back and forth bantering between them which makes their partnership as Ant-Man and the Wasp a fun one when they are fighting together.

However, there is something off with these two. Scott is awkward and never sure of himself, while Hope has all the confidence in the world. Their connection is through her parents, the original Ant-Man and the Wasp, and while fun, this relationship has never proven that it could have legs.

Bruce Banner And Betty Ross

There has only been one solo movie with Hulk as the main character, and that is likely all there will be thanks to studio politics. In that movie, The Incredible Hulk, the MCU recast everyone from the previous Hulk movie with Liv Tyler and Edward Norton taking over the roles from Jennifer Connelly and Eric Bana.

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That was part of the problem. While Norton was fine as Banner, his relationship with Tyler’s Betty Ross never felt important. The story showed he loved her, but the two never had the chemistry needed to push their relationship to the next level.

Stephen Strange And Christine Palmer

In some MCU movies, there are friendships that are just as important, if not more so, than romantic relationships. A perfect example is Shang-Chi and Katy, who remain best friends in the movie and fight together, side by side. However, in Doctor Strange, his relationship with Christine was supposed to be more than friends, but never felt like it.

What If showed Strange going evil because he loved Christine so much. That never appeared in the movie, though, as he never treated her as more than a possible relationship. She had very little to do with his story, and this relationship never made it from the page to the screen.

Peter Parker And Liz Toomes

Peter Parker and MJ had one of the best relationships in the MCU, thanks to their innocence and teenage love connection. However, Peter wasn’t trying to date MJ in the start. He wanted a more popular girl in his school in Liz Toomes.

The problem is that Liz’s dad was The Vulture and that ruined any chance Peter had of getting very far in his relationship with Liz. Much of Peter’s journey in Spider-Man: Homecoming was guided by his relationship with Liz, and that was one of the only parts of the movie that didn’t work.

Okoye And W’Kabi

Maybe the strangest relationship in the MCU was the one between Okoye and W’Kabi. In Black Panther, she was the General of the Dora Milaje and was a mighty warrior whose sole purpose was to serve and protect the King of Wakanda.

Yet, somehow, she had time to find love with W’Kabi. If not for a couple of lines in the movie, their relationship would never have even been known. It made them fighting on different sides a big deal, but it seems their relationship was more a plot device than a real relationship.

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Sersi And Ikaris

Sersi had two relationships in Eternals. The first was with the human Dane Whitman. Comic book fans know that Dane eventually becomes the Black Knight and he and Sersi have a strong connection in the books. However, her first love was with another Eternal named Ikaris.

This relationship seemed, from the start, to be one built on conflict. The two were strong willed and determined, and they never seemed compatible. When Ikaris showed his true colors, it became abusive, and this was one MCU couple that was toxic from the start.

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About The Author


Shawn S. Lealos
(829 Articles Published)

Shawn S. Lealos is a senior writer on ScreenRant who fell in love with movies in 1989 after going to the theater to see Tim Burton’s Batman as his first big screen experience.

Shawn received his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma with a minor in Film Studies. He has worked as a journalist for over 25 years, first in the world of print journalism before moving to online media as the world changed. Shawn is a former member of the Society of Professional Journalists and current member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has work published in newspapers such as Daily Oklahoman and Oklahoma Gazette and magazines such as Vox Magazine, Loud Magazine, and Inside Sports Magazine. His work on the Internet has been featured on websites like The Huffington Post, Yahoo Movies, Chud, Renegade Cinema, 411mania, and Sporting News.

Shawn is also a published author, with a non-fiction book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers and has begun work on a new fiction series as well. Visit Shawn Lealos’ website to learn more about his novel writing and follow him on Twitter @sslealos.

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