Marvel Studios introduced some incredible new characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in all of its 2025 releases. Over the last 17 years, Marvel Studios has adapted dozens of characters from Marvel Comics, heroes and villains alike, into the live-action MCU, and 2025 continued this pattern. In three feature films and three TV shows set on Earth 616, Marvel brought many vibrant, complex, and interesting characters into the MCU in 2025, but ten of them stand out as the most thrilling.
While Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Marvel Zombies took place in alternate realities, Captain America: Brave New World, Daredevil: Born Again, Thunderbolts*, Ironheart, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Eyes of Wakanda all explored the MCU’s Earth 616 in 2025. These six projects brought some brilliant new characters into live-action, some seeking redemption from poor past adaptations, and some being brought to life for the first time ever. Marvel is heading back in the right direction, spelling good news for future projects that will bring even more new characters into the MCU.
10) Red Hulk
Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt and Harrison Ford) has been in the MCU for many years, having debuted all the way back in The Incredible Hulk in 2008. However, Captain America: Brave New World finally marked Ross’ transformation into the Red Hulk, introducing this new Hulk to the MCU and to live-action for the first time ever. Ross’ transformation was manipulated by the Leader by feeding him gamma pills, feeding off his rage. The Red Hulk is more unbridled and heated than Bruce Banner’s Hulk—even in his most savage state—making him one of the MCU’s most formidable new characters.
9) Muse
It was great to see Daredevil: Born Again bring Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk back to the MCU, but the revival series also introduced one of the MCU’s most twisted and terrifying villains: Muse (Hunter Doohan). The artist-turned-serial killer wreaked havoc on New York City by killing citizens and using their blood mixed with epoxy to make paint for politically-charged graffiti. Muse is one of Marvel’s most shocking characters, and Born Again was the perfect place to introduce him—he’d only work in a TV-MA project—though it’s a shame we won’t be seeing him again after his premature death.
8) Shalla-Bal’s Silver Surfer
The Fantastic Four: First Steps took place on Earth 828, but the events of the 2025 movie will have a huge impact on the Fantastic Four team going forward, even when they join the MCU’s primary continuity. Their fight against Shalla-Bal’s Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) will have a lasting legacy on them, particularly Johnny Storm’s Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), who managed to decipher her language and use it to subdue the herald of Galactus (Ralph Ineson). Garner’s performance was incredibly, and Matt Shakman used unique and stunning visuals to demonstrate the Silver Surfer’s power.
7) Seth Voelker’s Sidewinder
Red Hulk wasn’t the only antagonist included in Captain America: Brave New World, and while the Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) is one of the MCU’s original villains, Seth Voelker’s Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) is one of the newest. Sidewinder leads the Serpent Society in the MCU, and, as a gun for hire, is a tenuous frenemy to Sam Wilson’s Captain America (Anthony Mackie). Esposito has teased future MCU projects for Sidewinder and the Serpent Society, and we can’t wait to see where he goes in the future after his brief but strong debut in 2025.
6) The Last Black Panther
Eyes of Wakanda was the first animated MCU series set on Earth 616, exploring the history of Wakanda and the mantle of the Black Panther. However, the series also explored an alternate future where the Queen of Wakanda became the last Black Panther (Anika Noni Rose) on a future Earth invaded by the extraterrestrial Horde. This Black Panther developed technology allowing her to time travel to rewrite the past and avoid the Horde’s invasion, making her the most powerful Black Panther we’ve seen. We’ve now seen several Black Panthers in the MCU, and even more may be on the way.
5) Galactus
Following his disappointing depiction as a cosmic gas cloud in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007, it was incredible to finally see a comic-accurate Galactus brought to life in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Imbued with the Power Cosmic, Galactus has an insatiable hunger for entire worlds, so travels the universe to find planets to devour. Galactus is one of Marvel’s most iconic characters, and First Steps did a wonderful job of demonstrating his sheer power. He was defeated by Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) and Shalla-Bal’s sacrifices, but we want him to return in the future nevertheless.
4) Mephisto
After years of teasing, speculation, and hints, Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen) finally made his MCU debut in Ironheart in July 2025. Mephisto is the demonic ruler of Hell in Marvel Comics, a cosmic being with a remarkable level of power, and this has been teased in the MCU. We’re yet to properly explore Mephisto, but Ironheart gave him a sinister debut as he struck deals with both Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) and Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). Mephisto is connected to almost every character already existing in the MCU, so there are many opportunities for him to return in the future.
3) Robert Reynolds’ Sentry
Bringing his comic-accurate backstory into the MCU with a fresh take, Thunderbolts* saw junkie Robert Reynolds (Lewis Pullman) become a super-soldier with the power of a thousand exploding suns at the hands of the OXE Group in Thunderbolts*. Unfortunately, the super-soldier serum not only transformed Reynolds into the supremely powerful Sentry, but also unlocked his dark alter ego, the Void, who has the ability to put everyone cast in his shadow into their own nightmarish memories. The Sentry has the potential to be the most significant and powerful hero in the MCU’s future, perhaps after his Avengers: Doomsday return.
2) The Fantastic Four & Franklin Richards
The Fantastic Four: First Steps not only debuted Galactus and the Silver Surfer, but also brought Marvel’s titular First Family into the MCU proper. First Steps version of the team is considered to be the strongest iteration yet, with Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach fully embodying their weird and wonderful nature, with a perfect retro-futuristic 1960s setting. Beyond the cosmically-empowered Fantastic Four, Reed and Sue’s newborn son, Franklin Richards, has the Power Cosmic in his veins, just like Galactus, and has already shown the ability to resurrect the dead. The Fantastic Four and Franklin Richards will be around for years to come, and their prominence in the MCU will only increase from here on out.
1) Doctor Doom
Ahead of his first full appearance in Avengers: Doomsday in December 2026, Doctor Doom made a cameo appearance in the mid-credits scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Four years after the Fantastic Four’s fight against Galactus, Doctor Doom—Robert Downey Jr. making his uncredited return to the MCU after a six-year hiatus—appeared in the Baxter Building and met with Franklin Richards for some unknown purpose. This scene will be expanded in Avengers: Doomsday, where Doctor Doom embarks on his mission across the multiverse, and First Steps has laid solid foundations for the Multiverse Saga’s new supervillain to wreak havoc. We can’t wait to see what’s next.
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