10 Awesome Marvel TV Characters The Shows Did Nothing With

:0:1

The Marvel Cinematic Universe and its related TV series are full of missed potential, particularly when it comes to fan-favorite characters that are given the short end of the stick narratively. It"s no secret that comic book properties live Marvel live and die off the strength of their characters, with all but the most obscure heroes and villains making up the franchise having dedicated fans of their own. This can make it all the more disheartening when one of Marvel"s many Disney+ shows include them briefly, only to squander their chance to develop them further.
Many Marvel characters have fallen into the niche categorization of being too niche to be worth including in a big-budget film, but recognizable enough to be worth including in a TV show. Some of these characters are given only the briefest time to shine before being killed off, written out, or simply ignored in perpetuity, joining the long roster of heroes and villains wasted by the MCU. It"s a shame not everyone in Marvel"s expansive catalog of characters has been given a chance to properly shine in their TV appearances.
10 Melvin Potter Daredevil

The Q to Daredevil"s James Bond, Melvin Potter is an ex-criminal who went on to become a talented armorer for Daredevil, designing his original demonic suit and allowing him to finally ditch the black athletic wear and headband from his early career. Potter"s mental challenges and curious romantic relationship with his parole officer, Besty, made for an interesting, multifaceted player in Daredevil"s story. However, he was never able to join the ranks of the MCU"s costumed heroes as he should"ve been.
In the comics, Melvin Potter is the supervillain Gladiator, a fact the Netflix show alludes to with a poster of a sword-and-sandal movie in the background of his workshop and the fact that Melvin flings a buzzsaw at Daredevil during their brief scuffle. Allegedly, the writers planned to have Melvin fully embody this persona in the canceled fourth season. Sadly, as it stands, Melvin only appeared briefly in 7 episodes throughout Daredevil"s run, woefully underutilized to the very end.
9 Jake Lockley Moon Knight

Moon Knight is one of the most unique superheroes the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever been tasked with adapting for live-action. Not only does the body of the hero contain the latent consciousness of the Egyptian god Khonshu, but he is also affected by dissociative identity disorder, acting as a system containing the alters Marc Spector, Steven Grant, and Jake Lockley. While Marc and Steven both get plenty of time to shine in the show, Jake Lockley is barely included as a tease for future seasons.
Jake is presented very differently in Moon Knight than he is in the comics, being a sadistic Spanish-speaking Mr. Hyde to Steven and Marc"s Dr. Jekyll with some undescribed allegiance to Khonshu. Regardless of this deviation, the idea of a less-than-empathetic personality residing within Moon Knight yet is an exciting one. Sadly, with season 2 of Moon Knight nowhere on the horizon after three years, it seems like Jake"s brief appearances will never be elaborated on.
8 Quicksilver WandaVision

Quicksilver is unique in the fact that he is one of the few characters to have a separate portrayal in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Fox X-Men movie timeline. Though he dies unceremoniously in the former, the Evan Peters version of the speedster is brought back suddenly in WandaVision as a result of Scarlet Witch"s subconscious reality-warping, seemingly "re-cast" and brought back from the dead. Peters" take on Quicksilver is decidedly more popular than Aaron Taylor-Johnson"s, and for good reason, getting some of the most enjoyable scenes in X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse.
While this inclusion may have been the perfect way to bridge the Fox X-Men into the MCU, it wasn"t to be so. It"s soon revealed that Quicksilver is actually the actor Ralph Bohner pretending to be Wanda"s brother for Agatha Harkness. Teasing such a ripe possibility as the Fox X-Men"s debut into the universe only to throw it all away for a cheap phallic joke is one of the more egregious missteps of WandaVision.
7 President Loki Loki

Compared to most other Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ streaming series, Loki does a pretty good job mining its fascinating cast for all they"re worth, including the likes of Classic Loki, O.B., and Mobius. But interestingly enough, one character that was featured quite heavily in promotional materials for the show ended up mattering very little, despite the potential he could"ve had. This was none other than President Loki, whose brief time in the series alluded to much more potential than he was given.
While in The Void, Loki meets many variations of himself that have all somehow ended up there. One of the few others to be played by Tom Hiddleston is the so-called President Loki, who forms a roving gang of Loki variants that raid The Void for whatever scraps of power they can manage. This Loki"s more villainous personality, dapper presidential wardrobe and charming snake-oil-salesman demeanor made for an intriguing presence, explaining his ubiquity in the series" marketing. It"s too bad President Loki is easily defeated in season 1, never to return in season 2.
6 Skaar She-Hulk: Attorney At Law

The Hulk himself is easily one of the most sidelined major characters in the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not being given a solo project of his own ever since his re-cast in 2012"s The Avengers. The closest thing has been She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which starred Bruce Banner as more of a mentor figure and supporting character to his cousin, Jen Walters. Hulk"s time in Sakaar is explored a little further in this series, which ends by introducing Hulk"s son, Skaar.
It figures that Skaar must have been conceived on Sakaar when Bruce Banner was trapped deep within the recesses of The Hulk, having an alien mother just like in the comics. Skaar barely appears in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, but his mere presence is by far one of the most interesting things about the series. It"s a shame that the MCU would tease such a vital character on TV only to leave him unaddressed for years.
5 Talos Secret Invasion

By far the most infamous of Marvel"s Disney+ shows, Secret Invasion earned little love from Marvel fans. From its A.I.-generated credits sequence to its baffling retcons and shockingly unfair character deaths, the series was a let-down as both an adaptation of the famous comic arc and a solo project for Nick Fury. Yet another of the series" failings was its treatment of the former Skrull general Talos.
Ben Mendelsohn does an excellent job as the weary alien leader, as previously demonstrated in his movie appearances in both Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home. The closer exploration of Talos" goals and personality as one of Fury"s closest companions working against the Skrull Resistance could"ve made for an enduring partnership that deserved to outlast the series itself. Unfortunately, the MCU chose to abruptly kill off Talos at the hands of Gravik, more or less removing the key figurehead for the Skrulls" struggle in the franchise.
4 Jack Duquesne Hawkeye

Similarly to Melvin Potter, Jack Duquesne is a Marvel comics character whose true costumed persona is only lightly hinted at in his debut series. Jack appears in Hawkeye as the recent lover of Kate Bishop"s mother Eleanor, much to Kate"s own disapproval. Duquesne starts out as a sort of red herring villain implied to have murdered his own uncle at first, only to turn out to be a genuinely good guy who was used by Eleanor.
In the comics, Jack Duquesne is actually Swordsman, a swashbuckling, rapier-wielding hero with panache and personality. This heroism is alluded to when Jack helps Kate and her allies fight off the tracksuit mafia, using his fencing sword to great effect. Tony Dalton of Better Call Saul cast fame plays Duquesne as a charming rogue, making it all the more painful that he never gets the chance to step into his musketeer boots as Swordsman. It"s safe to say Hawkeye egregiously fumbled Dalton"s brilliant performance with such little screentime.
3 Aisha Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel was able to introduce not only an exciting new character, but a whole world of supernatural possibilities for the MCU, only for both to go woefully underutilized. Aisha comes into the picture as Kamala Kahn"s great-grandmother, revealed to secretly be a being from the Noor Dimension, a sort of Southeast Asian equivalent to Scandinavia"s Asgard or China"s Ta Lo. This dimension is said to be the home of powerful entities such as the Djinn. Aisha meets Kamala after accidentally summoning her to help keep their family safe.
Ms. Marvel sets up an incredibly poignant story with Aisha"s two episodes, showing a woman who first hates her surroundings eventually learning to appreciate human culture and the Earthly realm. Eventually, Aisha ends up starting a family and doing everything she can to protect the dimension she once loathed. It"s hard not to feel like more could"ve been done with Aisha and the Noor Dimension in Ms. Marvel, but her tragic death at the hands of Najma curtailed such potential.
2 Smiling Tiger The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier presents an interesting case for an under-utilized character who never actually technically appears in the show"s single season. Smiling Tiger is the nickname of a notorious international criminal from Africa, Conrad Mack, who Anthony Mackie"s Sam Wilson disguises himself as during an infiltration mission to Madripoor. Smiling Tiger"s flamboyant clothes and the reputation that precedes him gives the character enough personality to be felt without actually even showing up.
Not only that, but Smiling Tiger is apparently infamous enough in the Brass Monkey Saloon to have a signature cocktail named after him, consisting of gin, triple sec, a finger of lime, and the heart of an equatorial spitting cobra. Sam"s impersonation of such a gregarious character seemed to be setting up a prime bit in which the real Smiling Tiger would appear and ruin the disguise, but The Falcon and The Winter Soldier isn"t clever enough to try this. This is all the more disappointing considering the fact that Smiling Tiger is a supervillain in the comics.
1 Jack Russell Werewolf By Night

Few Marvel Cinematic Universe projects feel as disconnected from the overall franchise as the made-for-TV special presentation Werewolf By Night. With only the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special as a peer, this feature, ironically, hardly includes its namesake character at all, with Jack Russell getting largely eclipsed by Else Bloodstone in his own movie. Jack Russell is a classic lycanthrope, a werewolf who transforms in the light of the full moon who uses his powers to help other unfairly hunted "monsters" in need.
In the brief scenes he"s given, Jack Russell has a lot of personality, warning Else of his true nature and reconnecting happily with Man-Thing, who he insists be called by his real name, "Ted". He also uses his powers to great effect, tearing through hordes of Verussa"s men with ferocious speed. Yet Russell doesn"t get much focus beyond this small action setpiece, leaving him as one of the most woefully underutilized MCU TV characters.
Upcoming MCU Movies