Phase 1
Iron Man
- In the overall franchise, Pepper Potts is the best received non-badass supporting character for her supportive, entertaining relationship with Tony and importance in the storyline without being killed off, as well as a strong performance from Gwyneth Paltrow. Half of the Heartwarming and Tearjerker page of Iron Man 3 is made up by Tony/Pepper and the pairing is universally agreed to be the best part of an otherwise controversial movie. She is so liked by fans that even slash fans tend to spare her from Die for Our Ship despite Tony's Launcher of a Thousand Ships status. Her already high popularity exploded in Avengers: Endgame for Take a Level in Badass and become Rescue as well as her absolutely Tear Jerker scene when Tony was dying after using a Snap to destroy Thanos's force.
- Ever since his first appearance in Iron Man, Phil Coulson has developed a large following, every scene he is in being a highlight for a lot of fans and him being the primary reason why they tuned in for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. when it premiered.
- Dum-E. Sure, it's an artificially living thing that exists only for quick gags but it has its fans.
- Christine Everhart for her appearance in the YouTube exclusive WHIH World News
. Even if a lot of that falls into the Love to Hate camp.
- Betty Ross, despite only appearing in The Incredible Hulk (mainly due to a rights issue) and thus being largely ignored by fans at first, has become tremendously beloved overtime, mostly due to being the Nice Girl, the performance of Liv Tyler and her relationship with Bruce (particularly for those who dislike Bruce/Natasha), with fans hoping she'll be able to return to the MCU. More then a few Clintasha fans joined them after Avengers: Age of Ultron, and fans were delighted when What If...? brought her back.
- Ivan Vanko's cockatoo, either his original bird or the new one which Hammer bought for him.
- The U.S. Marshall played by Kate Mara, despite not having a confirmed name, has a lot of fans.
- The kid wearing the Iron Man helmet got a lot more popular once it turned out that he was really a young Peter Parker, to the point where detractors point to his cameo as being the best part of the movie.
- Idris Elba's performance as Heimdall gets this. A classic case of Ability over Appearance, all but the most rabid of detractors enjoyed his performance and the hints that he's even more powerful than he lets on.
- Laufey can be considered as one. Although he's been long dead and more or less forgettable in the comics, he is surprisingly favorable due to having a pretty good characterization and being a Reasonable Authority Figure, despite still evil.
- Though she's more of a Base-Breaking Character, Darcy Lewis only appeared in the first two Thor films, yet due to a number of factors (including the fact that she managed to tase a depowered Thor into submission) she's now become one of the more popular characters in the MCU and a massive Launcher of a Thousand Ships. Her popularity may have contributed to her finally making a re-appearance in WandaVision.
Captain America: The First Avenger
- Connie, Bucky's date at the convention, is very popular due to being played by the same actress as Clara in Doctor Who.
- Abraham Erskine only appears in the first act of the movie and dies pretty early on, but he's incredibly beloved due to his wisdom, humor, and humanity, all played to utter perfection by Stanley Tucci. Many people consider him one of the best mentor characters in a superhero movie ever.
- Chester Phillips runs away with every scene he's in, in part due to getting all the best lines and his brilliantly dry wit, but also because this movie, like so many others before it, proves that you cannot steal a movie from Tommy Lee Jones, no matter how much bigger your part might be than his.
- Private Lorraine, the Sexy Secretary who seduces Steve, is this for being drop-dead gorgeous and being played by Natalie Dormer, which makes this Retroactive Recognition as well.
- "Galaga Guy" (the one Tony points out on the bridge) has developed a surprisingly large fandom for a person who had all of five seconds of screen time. Heck, he even has his own MCU wikia page!
- The old German man who defies Loki's order to kneel was liked for being brave enough to stand up to the already widely popular Loki.
- The waitress played by Ashley Johnson of Teen Titans (2003) fame has proven very popular in deleted scenes. Even more so after these scenes were released.
- The Other, who serves as the Mouth of Sauron for the Infinfity Saga's ultimate Big Bad, Thanos. His intimidating design and performance, the fact that he's a Canon Foreigner, has caused several fans requesting that he appear again in a future Marvel film. He does appear again in Guardians of the Galaxy, only to be killed by the film's Big Bad Ronan.
Phase 2
Iron Man 3
- Maya Hansen from Iron Man 3 and the U.S. Marshall played by Kate Mara in Iron Man 2 are surprisingly popular on Tumblr, especially with the latter appearing for only a minute of screentime.
- Harley Keener only appeared in one movie and had a cameo in another, but he has a surprising number of fans who want Tony to adopt him and/or give him his own Iron Man suit. There's also fans who ship him with Peter Parker, despite the fact the two have never interacted in canon.
- Heimdall was rewarded for achieving this status in the first Thor movie, but a couple new ones popped up:
- Howard the Duck due to his hilarious cameo at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel predicted this would happen and took full advantage of it by digitally re-releasing his original comic series the same week as the movie's launch.
- Madame B. for being Creepy Awesome and played by Julie Delpy.
- Michael Peña's performance as Luis has been one of the most heavily lauded by critics, even the ones that didn't particularly enjoy the movie.
- Kristy Puchko: You want proof that opening up Marvel movies to diversity makes for better movies? Look no further than the casting of Peña as a very atypical thief, who has equal enthusiasm for stealing smoothie machines as he does Belgian waffles, wine tastings and abstract art.
- Ant #247, nicknamed "Ant-thony." More than a few people were sad when she was killed.
- Fans are also rather fond of Cassie for being an utterly adorable little Nightmare Fetishist, and for her potential to grow up into Stature.
- Dave, for his funny expressions, great lines, and being played by T.I.
