The Most Anticipated MCU Reveals

Over the course of the MCU's long history, we've seen plenty of big reveals, from the Red Skull peeling back his human visage to Captain Marvel showing up to save Tony Stark in "Avengers: Endgame." But some reveals transcend a simple first appearance and are greatly anticipated by fans and audiences who may suspect a big new character is on their way. Some reveals are movie titles or sequel news, too, as several announcements in Kevin Feige's 2014 Phase 3 presentation proved after fans had already predicted a few of them.

This anticipation usually prompts loads of speculation and endless theorizing about where and when a new hero or villain might pop up and what their presence might mean for the MCU. As the cinematic universe has grown, it seems fans have gotten better and better at guessing what's coming, to the point of Marvel having to hide their actors on set or force them to outright lie in interviews.

In the aftermath of several highly anticipated appearances, we thought we'd take a look back at some of the most anticipated MCU reveals. 

The Monday after the release of the first "Iron Man" film, Marvel Studios immediately greenlit sequels, spinoffs, and the blockbuster team-up, "The Avengers." Unfortunately, a writer's strike would delay most of them, making 2010's "Iron Man 2" the lone release from the studio after its first two films in 2008. But that wasn't a bad thing in the end, as it left audiences eagerly awaiting teases for the big team-up in "Avengers," and they got just that in "Iron Man 2" when it was announced that Scarlett Johansson would join the cast as Natasha Romanoff.

One of the most beloved women Avengers from the Marvel Comics, Black Widow was a former villain — a Russian super-spy turned hero — and fans knew her arrival in "Iron Man 2" meant she'd likely be joining the super-team when they finally got together. But what role would she play in the "Iron Man" sandbox? A former flame of Tony Stark's? A villainous partner to Mickey Rourke's Russian baddie Whiplash? All options were on the table, and nobody knew what to expect until the first trailers hit, revealing Johansson as the fierce, butt-kicking S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent. 

In "Captain America: The First Avenger," diehard fans weren't shocked when Bucky fell to his apparent death in a moment late in the film. Those in the know nodded in approval, knowing that the character's demise was a key part of the Captain America mythos. But they also knew where it might lead: to the return of the sidekick as a brainwashed Russian agent, the Winter Soldier. Whether that would happen sooner or later was anyone's guess, but when the sequel's title was announced, they all knew the answer.

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" saw the return of fan-favorite Bucky and spotlights his transition into the Winter Soldier villain, just as he did in the comics. In that continuity, the Winter Soldier fought Captain America in one of the more celebrated runs of the "Captain America" comics of the last 20 years before he was broken of his brainwashing. Once freed from his mind control, Bucky would fight alongside Captain America and eventually wield the shield himself when Captain America was killed. When "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" was announced, similar anticipation picked up among the fandom, as many wondered if the MCU version of the Winter Soldier might become the next Captain America as he had in the comics.

Before the MCU, fans were forced to accept lackluster efforts from studios bringing superheroes to the big screen. Such was the case with 2003's "Daredevil" starring Ben Affleck. But in 2013, Marvel and Netflix agreed to a deal that would see the streaming giant develop a series for Daredevil that would reboot the character for the MCU. Fans were eager to see this new vision of the Man without Fear and how he might look in his all-red suit in a showdown with Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin.

Leading up to the series' 2015 debut, however, Marvel was careful not to spoil the ending, and with Matt Murdock donning a homemade outfit for the first 12 episodes, the company — along with Netflix — kept Daredevil's final suit close to its chest. Early set photos and officially released stills only showed Murdock in street clothes or Daredevil in his early homemade black suit. When the series dropped on April 10, 2015, fans had to wait through almost the entire series before getting a glimpse of his superhero costume in the climax of the final episode. Of course, impatient viewers could just skip right to the end if they wanted to, as all 13 episodes were released at the same time.

It's pretty amazing to realize, but the reveal that prompted some of the wildest speculations, rumor mill spinning, and clue searching in an upcoming Marvel movie wasn't a storyline or character but a title. Never has the name of a film been so hotly debated and discussed like the name of the fourth "Avengers" film. Fans looked for cryptic clues in Instagram posts from the film's directing duo, and the Russo's themselves dropped careful hints that had fans viewing and re-viewing the previous movie for something — anything — that might tell them the name of the then-upcoming mega-blockbuster. Because of the secretive nature of the film's title, many assumed the title itself might spoil the movie, leading to even more fan theories about who the villain might be and what new character might make their debut.

In the end, when the first trailer to the film was released in December of 2018, months ahead of the film's release, the trailer ended with the title revealed. When the name "Avengers: Endgame" popped up, fans reacted the same way they reacted to the first look at Black Panther or Spider-Man — with dropped jaws and "wows" abound.

Another original Avenger who was conspicuously absent from "Avengers: Infinity War" was Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye. It felt like the character was once again getting the short stick, and many fans wondered if the producers had it out for Clint Barton. But Marvel made it clear that wasn't the case. Notably, Joe and Anthony Russo said he would not only appear in the sequel, "Avengers: Endgame," but he would also play a critical role, and his absence from the first film would be explained.

Anticipation was high for Clint's appearance in the sequel, with fans turning his absence from "Infinity War" into a running gag. Over a year before the movie's release, rumors began circulating that he might appear not just as Hawkeye but also as Ronin, a violent vigilante hero from the comics that Barton had once suited up as. The talk excited fans, sending them into speculation mode and considering what may have prompted his identity switch from superhero archer to deadly swordsman. They'd get their first glimpse of the ninja persona in the first trailer for "Endgame" and learn more about his time as Ronin in his own Disney+ series.

As the first season of "Loki" began airing, nobody was quite sure who the villain would be — if any — beyond the variant of Loki himself, who was on the run from the Time Variance Authority. But fans had their suspicions that someone else behind the curtain was a bigger threat than Sylvie. All signs pointed to Kang the Conqueror, a character rumored to be making an appearance in upcoming Marvel films and whose vague image had been spotted in early episodes. As the series progressed, fans were anxious to see if their theories would prove correct or if they were once again barking up the wrong tree.

With the last few episodes, however, it became obvious to most that Kang was on his way, and actor Jonathan Majors — already cast as Kang for "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" — would play the character late in the series. Entering the final episode, as Loki and Sylvie entered the abode of "He Who Remains," fans were on the edge of their seat waiting for the time-traveling Marvel supervillain to make his long-awaited first appearance.

Not since the debut of the MCU's Spider-Man has the reveal of a character been as eagerly anticipated. When the "Hawkeye" series was announced to include the character of Echo, many wondered if her origin — having been raised by Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) in the comics — might remain intact. As the debut of the series got closer, rumors of Vincent D'Onofrio's return as Kingpin began to circulate. The rumored appearance in the series had reached a fever pitch following a potential tease in the third episode, where a character known only as "Uncle" was heard chuckling — and sounded an awful lot like D'Onofrio in a reprisal of his role as Fisk from the "Daredevil" Netflix series years before.

Of course, when Kevin Fiege himself announced that Charlie Cox — the actor who starred opposite D'Onofrio in the Netflix series — would indeed return at some point in the future, fans believed Kingpin's return in the final episodes of "Hawkeye" became an absolute certainty. In the series' fifth episode, those beliefs became reality when we finally got a brief glimpse of the Kingpin of Crime, once again played by Vincent D'Onofrio. But whether this is the same character or a different variant still remains to be seen.