MCU: Best Infinity Saga Character Arcs Ranked

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for a lot of things. Super-powered swashbuckling, galactic geography, and earth-shattering showdowns have all kept the masses of Marvel fandom satisfied over the years, but one of the main ingredients that's made the MCU so successful is the fact that its occupants have such incredibly complex, interwoven character arcs. Many of the faces that fans have come to know and love have appeared numerous times over the course of multiple films. This ability to have characters show up more than once in multiple settings, and throughout various storylines, has fueled dynamic, powerful stories.

With that in mind, we've rounded up the best character arcs from the Infinity Saga. These are the cream of the crop when it comes to character-focused storylines that take place within the first three phases of the MCU. This naturally means several interesting characters (like Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and Falcon) didn't make the cut — the best parts of their stories are likely still ahead of them.

In the meantime, here are the best Infinity Saga character arcs ranked from worst to first.

Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch, and the heroic android known as Vision are MCU lovebirds who were attached at the hip after Avengers: Age of Ultron, and their journey is undoubtedly one of the more dramatic in the Infinity Saga. Wanda comes from war-torn Sokovia, where she and her brother were given superpowers due to HYDRA experiments. In Age of Ultron, she both loses her brother and ditches Ultron to become an Avenger. During this time, Vision also comes into existence.

Wanda and Vision are set up as long-term members of the team from there. They're divided during Captain America: Civil War, but by Avengers: Infinity War, it's clear that the pair have managed to keep their growing romance alive and well. At this point, their parallel stories, which were already compelling enough, veer into tragedy. By the end of the film, Wanda is forced to destroy the Infinity Stone in Vision's forehead only to watch Thanos rewind time, undo their sacrifice, and rip it out himself. In Endgame, Wanda manages to nearly defeat Thanos in a moment of pure rage — which led Marvel chief Kevin Feige to dub her the strongest hero in the MCU, by the way. Their story is epic — and epically sad. Fortunately, the pair have a brightly warped future ahead of them in the form of Phase 4's WandaVision.

While most of the characters in the MCU go through a significant amount of character development and inner awakening, only one personality literally grows into a new version of themselves. We're talking about Groot, of course. The arboreal Guardian of the Galaxy starts off as little more than Rocket's nearly non-verbal sidekick. However, over the course of the first Guardians film, Groot puts down roots with his new family — to the point where he literally sacrifices himself for their survival.

Resilient as any MCU hero, Groot manages to survive the Battle of Xandar — sort of — though only as a tender sapling. By the film's end-credit scene, though, he's already grown into a Bonzai-sized shrub that loves to get its groove on. In the second Guardians film, that twig is seen in the toddler stage, and by Infinity War he's a video game-obsessed teenager that gives Thor a handle for Stormbreaker before he's snapped into dust by Thanos. Hulk's reverse snap brings him back in Endgame, at which point he helps topple the Mad Titan once and for all. His MCU journey has been fabulously transformative (literally) thus far, and it'll be interesting to see where his path leads now that the Infinity Saga has ended.

It's no surprise that Natasha Romanoff would end up on this list. However, she doesn't rank as high as she might have due to one glaring fact: the largest part of her story — her first standalone film, Black Widow — isn't reaching audiences until well after the conclusion of the Infinity Saga. Sure, the story may largely be set between the events of Civil War and Infinity War, but it doesn't change the fact that Black Widow's first solo adventure falls outside of Phase Three, and thus the Infinity Saga itself.

With that said, Nat still manages to tell an impressive story during her first eight MCU appearances. The super-spy infiltrates Hammer Industries headquarters in Iron Man 2 before she moves into her ongoing role with the Avengers by helping them assemble for the first time to stop Loki. She's also an integral part of the events of Winter Soldier, Age of Ultron, and Civil War. During the third and fourth Avengers films, Black Widow takes center stage as she steps up to the plate to fight for her new family, not to mention the entire universe. Her eventual sacrifice in Endgame ends up playing a pivotal part in thwarting Thanos' ambitions, leaving her with a complete and deeply meaningful arc, especially for a character who took this long to get her own movie.

The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise spends a decent amount of time tracing Star-Lord's backstory. While the second film focuses on his celestial father, Ego, there's another paternal candidate to consider. Present in both of the first two Guardians films, the exiled Ravager captain Yondu Udonta starts his MCU career as a bit of a rough-and-tumble villain. He's marked as the guy who raised Star-Lord in a less-than-savory manner and spends a decent amount of the first movie trying to hunt down his adopted slave of a "son" and punish him.

However, over the course of the Guardians narrative, Yondu gradually changes his tune — or more likely reveals his true colors — showing a marked affinity for Peter Quill in the process. By Guardians of the Galaxy 2, the villain-turned-hero captures the hearts of fans through a mixture of badass behavior (including recapturing his entire ship from mutineers with his Yaka Arrow) and mushy fatherly stuff (i.e. helping the Guardians defeat Ego and then sacrificing himself to save Star-Lord.) While shorter than others seen during the Infinity Saga, there's no doubt that Yondu's arc is one heck of a ride.

Nebula has had an interesting time in the MCU. The conflicted character has played both antagonist and villain as she's flipped and flopped her way across various franchises. Gamora's vengeful sister spends most of her time in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films playing the yin to Gamora's yang. Eventually, though, she manages to break away from her unhealthy devotion to her tortuous adoptive father, Thanos, and ends up trying to hunt down and assassinate him.

During Infinity War and Endgame, a reformed Nebula attempts to help the Avengers stop Thanos and then undo his Infinity Stone-fueled act of galactic genocide. All of this is enough to get Nebula a decent spot on the all-time arcs list. However, once you layer in the pitiably antagonistic 2014 version of Nebula in Endgame — and the fact that current Nebula ends up killing her other self to save the day — her complex, heart-breaking character arc becomes one of the most compelling of them all.

During Thor, Loki is little more than a mischievous brother to the God of Thunder. Much like his mythical Norwegian counterpart, he isn't quite a hero or a villain, though he generally falls on the antagonistic side of the scales. However, as Loki continues to make appearances throughout the Infinity Saga, he slowly begins to morph into something no one really expected: a bona fide hero.

After wielding the Mind Stone in Avengers, Loki proceeds to play a critical part in stopping Malekith, helps unleash Ragnarok, and finally stands up to Thanos himself, losing his life in the process. After that, his arc gets a little complicated since, by the end of Endgame, we meet another version of the God of Mischief, who steals the Tesseract and heads off to start his story arc anew. Nevertheless, whatever lies in store for him in Phase 4, it doesn't change the fact that his zero-to-hero Infinity Saga arc is gosh darn spectacular.

There are few characters who have had a more tortuous time in the MCU than Thor Odinson. The Asgardian's story starts out when he's a musclebound princeling without a care in the world. Over the course of several films, he loses his family, his homeworld, his eye, his hammer, and his way. By the time he gets to Endgame, Thor's narrative has been turbulent, to say the least. Ironically, his time spent fighting Loki and Ultron as an Avenger stands out as some of his happiest MCU moments.

Nevertheless, the God of Thunder mostly maintains an upbeat attitude throughout his adventures, always managing to rise to the occasion and help wherever he's needed. While his days in the MCU appear far from over, it doesn't change the fact that, during the Infinity Saga alone, he goes through a character arc that's packed with sorrow, loss, pain, suffering, action, excitement, and tons of thunderous fun.