The Best Performances in Marvel Movies

Out of the hundreds of actors who have appeared in the 35+ films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, only one has received an Academy Award nomination in one of the four acting categories. That was Angela Bassett, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — but ultimately lost the award to Jamie Lee Curtis for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

So the Academy doesn’t necessarily think of Marvel movies as showcases for great acting, and I suspect most members of the moviegoing public generally agree. They return again and again to Marvel movies to see other things: Epic tales about the never-ending battle between good and evil, cool special effects, and additional scenes that can only be watched after sitting through extremely long closing credits.

But I also suspect if we asked Marvel fans to name their favorite moments from the MCU, a fair number would pick smaller scenes between beloved characters. Sometimes all the digital effects and alien invasions and glowing blue sky lasers keep people from recognizing how many talented actors have dedicated a fair amount of their careers to Marvel, and how much of their work is the secret sauce in the studio’s formula.

So today let’s try to correct that, with a list of the 15 best performances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ranked in ascending order according to my personal (yet 100 percent correct and objective) preference. Maybe these roles weren’t worthy of Oscars. Then again, maybe some of them were. Either way, Marvel wouldn’t be half as popular without them.