Who has the best performance in the MCU and why?

I vote Tim Hiddelston for so perfectly portraying the depth and character progression of Loki

Tilda Swinton

Loki without a shadow of a doubt

Definitely Oscar Isaac. His seamless yet distinct transitions from Marc to Steven are amazing.

Tom Hiddlestone and Vincent D'Onofrio are my picks

RDJ is the face of the MCU for me, he was great as iron man and very memorable. Also Chadwick Boseman, though we only saw him for a few movies (R.I.P.), was phenomenal.

moon knight, marc spector’s mom

Who: Scarlett Johansson

Why: Dat ass!

/s

Well..

* Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man is the 'face' of MCU Phases 1-3. He is the MCU more than anyone else.
* Chris Evans as Steve Rodgers was front and center in (arguably) the best MCU movies, both ensemble and in his own right.
* Tom Holland as Spider Man is probably the strongest character the MCU has left that it hasn't written out or otherwise couldn't easily revisit.

The rest aren't as heavy hitting as these three.

Honestly, just based on development and commitment to character, even when they don’t agree with the direction the writers are taking them in. Elizabeth Olson. Stand out performance from this woman and the MCU is blessed to have her as Wanda. I have never seen such an accurate portrayal of grief and her scenes with Vision are some of the most touching and poignant. We’ve seen her at her best and at her absolute worst and each time she nailed the assignment.

Loki

D'Onorfio and Hiddleston

Pre-Endgame:

1. RDJ

2. Tom Hiddleston

3. Chris Hemsworth

4. ScarJo

5. Chris Evans


Post-Endgame:

1. Florence Pugh

2. Oscar Isaac

3. Iman Vellani

4. Wyatt Russell

5. Hailee Steinfeld

I’d say based on the volume of performances and what we saw of the character’s arc — RDJ as Tony Stark.

My personal opinion, regardless of quantity of appearances, is Vincent D'Onofrio as Kingpin with a close runner-up of Angela Bassett as The Queen Mother.

Loki and Wanda

Josh Brolin is the clear winner. Then RDJ

RDJ, he did a little bit of everything in the MCU. 

Fisk , moonknight , loki , date devil too

I give it to Josh brolin, no one even questions that he was an animated character.

Charlie Cox

“I BEAT YOU”

RDJ and Hiddleston did a great job.

But I would honestly also mention Wyatt Russell.

Dude has only been in 2 projects so far, but he is an amazing actor, imo.

I believe elizabeth olsen delivered a powerful performance throughout the mcu, she stole the show in Multiverse Of Madness.

Edward Norton, Charlie Cox, Jon Bernthal, Vincent D'Onofrio and Deborah Ann Woll have entered the chat!

Karen Gillian absolutely crushed her role as Nebula. She had fantastic writing which helped, but ultimately she sold the tragedy that Nebula truly is, a young woman who had been horribly abused and desperately just wanted someone to care about her, and when she got it finally, her abuser tossed her sister over a cliff.

Hemsworth and Hiddleston, and especially when they’re together

Me probably

RDJ and Tom Hiddleston. They're just too iconic.

It’s Tom Hiddleston and it’s not even close. Loki is easily my favorite character and he has such growth over the course of the films. Going from a heartless villain betrayed by everyone to the glue that physically holds the multiverse together. If that’s not a dynamic character arc then I don’t know what is.

All controversies aside, apart from the mentioned ones, J. Majors CRUSHED it in Loki

Honestly Robert Downey Jr, he just owns every scene😎

Tom Hiddelston, Chris Hemsworth, charlie Cox and Vincent Denofrio(sp?)

Tchallas mom in black panther 2. Why?
Because I say so

Loki

Tom Hiddleston mostly because he's the one I see as most embodying his character to the point that I forget it's actually him.

Robert Downey Jr. is generally pretty engaging as Stark and changed the character for the better imo so he's probably a close second. I also really buy Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop.

Personally, these actors did such a great job that they defined the character on the silver screen:

RDJ

Chris Evans

Chadwick Boseman

Tom Huddleston

Elizabeth Olsen

Benedict Cumberbatch

Scarlett Johansson

RDJ. Without him there's no MCU.

don't forget Sebastian Stan on falcon and the winter soldier TV show, that scene where he is in wakanda , I think it's in wakanda

It's an insult to anyone who has had anything to do with an MCU movie (including the viewing public) to put Gweneth Paltrow on the list of suggestions. Shame on you! Shame! Hang your head in shame!


Maybe not "the best in the MCU," but shout out to Bradley Cooper for Rocket in Guardians 3.

Elizabeth Olsen and Hiddleston, especially in Wandavision and Loki.

They perfectly captured the weight and pain of the characters

Honestly? Wolverine’s speech to Deadpool in DP&W on why he’s the “worst” Logan is definitely up there—even Wade’s speech to Vanessa at the end got me tearing up. Not expected in an action-comedy.

Tobey’s speech to Tom on why he shouldn’t kill Goblin though was most definitely heartbreaking—even more than when May passed, imo.

All these scenes say to me that they were Oscar-worthy performances—all having to do with sacrifice.

One of my favorites was Tilda Swinton’s passing scene in Dr. Strange 1. That was the first time I teared up in an MCU film. Mainly also because it was the first time I think Stephen finally realized that his ego was what was holding him back, and he had to face another person he cared about’s passing to truly realize it. Strong stuff!

Tom Hiddleston. Loki is so well portrayed beginning to end. From villain to legend

I think this is an unfair comparison because they can only work with the scripts they were given. And some of these actors have characters with wayyy better scripts and movie/show runs than others.

That being said, my biased answer is Robert Downey Jr. or Tom Hiddleston.

Madisynn!

Oscar Isaac by several miles

Chris Evans, Scarlet Johansson, and RDJ.

Karen Gillian was so good I forgot it was her

Charlie Cox. Incredible actor.

Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3, Hail To The King and Shang Chi.

Bernthal is absolutely phenomenal at making a really emotionally complex psychopath both believable and sympathetic. So many instances.

It’s been overshadowed by the last two movies, but I think Thor’s arc has been unbelievably tragic, and Hemsworth’s speech about having nothing left to lose in Infinity War, while supposed to be Thor’s traditional boasting has so much incredible emotive acting in such a tiny time. You really feel the ocean of loss Thor is keeping down at any moment. His rage at the end of the movie is incredibly cathartic. And then his emptiness killing Thanos at the beginning of Endgame, that his revenge comes too late. Even in the fat suit in Endgame, his interaction with his mother is so sad…Hemsworth is also a great comedic actor with great timing. He really has done a lot with what he’s been given, pretty good for the sort of generic big handsome guy.

Tom H, Tom H, Robert D & Angela B.


Runner ups:
Michael B. J, Chris E, Chris H. & Elisabeth O

Chris Evans, not even close. Cap isnt an easy character to embody, in the same way Superman is. It would have been easy for him to be kinda cheesy but Evans plays him so earnestly. Theres a reason he's the leader.

Charlie Cox and Vincent D'nofrio by a long shot. Then Tom Hiddleston.

Honestly wether or not you liked certain movies, all the actors nailed their roles

For me it’s between Loki and Star Lord. Tom Huddleston is a perfect actor and brings so much to Loki. Chris Pratt may not be the best actor, but the character he and James Gunn adapted for the MCU plays to Pratts strengths, both the silly and emotional, with that character 

Loki is my favourite, and what he says before breaking the loom in Loki S2 was one of my favourite scenes.

BUT... I gotta give it to Tom Holland. His performance as spiderman, being silly and fun, and also being able to do the deep dramatic scenes (the snap, Tony death, aunt May death) and his rage (when he wants to kill Green Goblin), was unmatched. In my opinion at least :)

It's wild seeing Nebula as a normal person. It took me a while to piece together who that was ha.

It's Lomi for me but Nebs does have an incredible character change over the movies and she does a great job

Ever Anderson as the young black widow

Sebastian Stan is underrated. But I'd say Tom Hiddleston is lowkey an actors actor.

hate when you fellas say MCU and only include movie characters. just say mcu films atp

I gotta give it to Tom Hiddleston, for all those times Loki shapeshifted. His dead-on impressions of other actors were just so impressive. Props to the makeup team too for the incredible work on the prosthetics, most of them ALMOST had me fooled.

Jon Bernthal. Because just watch him FFS.

Red

Hard choice, but I will say in terms of being in character, I'm now always surprised to see Zoe Saldana in her natural skin and not green.

Captain America

To be honest. They all nail their characters. Quality of movies was mostly due to scripts, directing or circumstances which had to be dealt with.

Olsens versatility would be my number one

Tom Hiddleston. He did everything. Antagonist, villain, anti-hero, hero....still able to find new shades to the character. Played two different versions of Loki and you actually can tell the difference. The last scene where he was walking the stairs and had to imagine it all and use basically just body language and face without any words was a total peak.


Also, maybe except RDJ who was always proud about his work in the MCU, Tom never backs up from conversation about MCU  and Loki, reads everything related to the character and is able to talk hours about Loki. 


From your selection, again except RDJ, who is great, of course, I would say Elizabeth Olsen. I never liked how they handled Wanda overall but she seems to love the character enough to keep comming back 


I would mention Katryn Hahn. She is fantastic.

Cumberbatch, Brie, and Hiddleston

I think Karen Gillian gave an amazing performance that erased “Karen Gillian” and created a wholly unique new character that I completely believed was real. And then that character evolved and grew, and I believed that, too.

i agree with everyone in the comments but i feel as tho chris hemsworth isn’t being mentioned enough. his character development throughout the movies are amazing and the fact that there are SO many things in his movies that are improvised, i think is awesome! thor ragnarok alone is 80% improvised! “he’s a friend from work” “get help” “the snake story” and the banter between him and hulk were all improvised and that impressed me a lot tbh 🤷‍♀️

RDJ and Elizabeth Olsen.

In the pre-Endgame movies:
RDJ, Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson

In TV:
Elizabeth Olson, Charlie Cox, and Tom Hiddleston

In post-Endgame movies:
Florence Pugh and Tom Holland

My favorite individual scene in terms of both writing and acting was Sebastian Stan in Captain America and the Winter Soldier when he was cured. It was such a simple scene, just two people at a campfire and one of them is speaking nonsense, but to think about all of the build up to that one moment, 100 years worth of trauma and pain and you can see every moment of it in Bucky's face while she's talking and the subtle but clear shift from fear and sadness to pure elation is nothing short of perfect.

The guy who played Loki's dad disguised as Loki was actually hilarious, low-key.

I think it’s probably someone like Anthony Hopkins in Thor, but both Karen Gillan and Chris Pratt really stood out to me in Guardians 3, I think their performances were excellent

Bradley Cooper as Rocket.

More recognition for voice acting!

... your post lacked enough effort to promote new or productive discussion to the subreddit. If you're attempting to start a discussion with a low effort screenshot or video, try making a text post where you analyse the topic of the discussion and offer your own opinion.

If you're asking an open-ended question, try to add your own personal answer and the reasoning.

IMO I think it’s Chris Evans. RDJ is Iron Man’s persona. Same with Ryan Reynolds Deadpool. Tom just fits Loki and so does Hemsworth for Thor..well ragnorok and on the first 2 thors he seemed he was trying to hard to be “god Thor”.

But Evan’s always reminded me of cocky punk like in the first fantastic 4, Not another teen movie, Scott pilgrim vs the world, etc.

But his captain America seems genuine. He’s an unsure of himself hero willing to put his life on the line whenever it mattered and stood up for his morals. That is America’s ass.

Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk

David Tennant as Purple Man

Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones

Charlie Cox as Daredevil

Jon Bernthal as Punisher

Yes, I truly believe that all the best performances in the MCU have been from the Netflix shows, partially because they had runtime but also because those characters all went through some serious shit. Not that a character needs to suffer to be a good one, but it's an effective way of showing what a combination of acting and writing can do.

In the movies Angela Bassett and Tony Leung are my standouts but Chris Evans, RDJ, and Elizabeth Olsen have given my favorite performances over multiple movies (and WandaVision for Elizabeth) Sam Rockwell also deserves a standout for being the main reason Iron Man 2 is fun for me