Top Five Women: Marvel Films

One reason I love the MCU is its female characters.  Yes, as we’ve already established, there aren’t very many of them, but this is a genre where, sadly, quality female characters can be hard to come by.  And now, with the tremendous ladies of Black Panther and the Wasp making her official superhero debut, picking a Top Five means choosing between a number of pretty excellent characters.  What better way to celebrate the release of new photos from Captain Marvel?  (I’m saving the TV shows for another day, since, as we’ve also discussed, there are a lot more options there.)

Natasha Romanov

The one, the only.  Her fighting skills are off the charts, I enjoy the dark glimpses we’ve gotten of her backstory, and she holds her own in the big leagues with no confirmed powers.  A smart, lethal, adept force to be reckoned with.

Hope van Dyne

The Wasp!  Hope is both an accomplished professional and a highly-skilled badass hero.  She can be brittle, but she comes by it honestly.  She positively shines in the field, with an elegant miniaturized fighting style unlike that of any other MCU hero.  So, so glad she has her own suit and the chance to tear it up. 

Valkyrie

Gotta love Valkyrie.  A former hero and warrior who lost herself a long time ago after a devastating loss, she’s been wandering ever since.  She has hard edges and uses walls of indifference to guard herself, but the hero in her is only lost, not gone, and when it really counts, she’s able to find it again.

Shuri

The MCU has lots of “smartest person in the room” types, but Shuri is one of my favorites.  I love her relish for discovery and invention, the way she’s always tinkering to make things better.  And hey, T’Challa may be a king and a superhero, but Shuri knows how to tease him like only a little sister can (while she builds the tech that keeps him safe!)

Okoye

Since 2008, there have been 20 Marvel films, and two of my Top Five female characters come from the same movies:  Black Panther.  Okoye, general of the Dora Milaje, is as commanding and principled as she is badass, deeply devoted to her country.  Like a number of the women on this list, she doesn’t need powers to be powerful, and her pride in Wakanda radiates off the screen.