Top 20 Exact Moments that RUINED the MCU

#20: Yelena’s Wonky CGI

“Black Widow” (2021)

Marvel has gotten plenty of flack in recent years for its at-times poor CGI, and one of its worst offenders has to be this moment with Yelena. Moments before successfully destroying a helicarrier turbine, she stands tall ready to risk her life. Except it’s pretty painfully obvious that the environment she’s in isn’t real and that she’s just in front of a green screen. Needless to say it kind of kills the tension. Plus, the explosion after the turbine blows up doesn't look too great either. Look at those flames and you can tell something’s off. This was hardly a nail in the coffin for the MCU but it did prove that Marvel’s vfx skills were a shadow of their former self.

#19: Steve Kissing Sharon

“Captain America: Civil War” (2016)

Relationships can be tricky, especially if you’re Steve Rogers. On the surface there doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong with Captain America sharing a romantic kiss with Sharon Carter. However, once you realize that she’s the great-niece of Steve’s old World War Two love Peggy Carter, it makes this dynamic a little problematic. And this kiss is even weirder now since in “Endgame” Captain America went back in time and rewrote history to grow old with Peggy. Yeah, this is probably the definition of messy. While some weren’t bothered by the Steve and Sharon romance, it was still overall a divisive decision from the MCU. Ultimately it’s probably best that Captain America not romantically pursue too many members of the Carter family.

#18: Smart Hulk’s Debut

“Avengers: Endgame” (2019)

The Incredible Hulk was once a monster of unstoppable rage. So what happened? Well somewhere along the way the MCU decided to try something different by making Hulk smart. It arguably didn’t pay off. The second we saw him just hanging out in a diner and chatting like it was nothing we knew something was seriously wrong. By making Hulk essentially just Bruce Banner all of the time it made the character boring. What makes things worse is that ever since “Endgame” he’s been drafted to the sidelines and arguably hasn’t done anything of value. Sorry, but Smart-Hulk was a pretty dumb decision. Hopefully the Hulk can bounce back, otherwise he might fade into irrelevancy.

#17: Jane Absorbing the Aether

“Thor: The Dark World” (2013)

When Jane gets a powerup in the form of the magical substance called the aether, it poses quite a few problems for her. The most obvious is that it’s slowly killing her, but it also has the side effect of dampening her as a character. By becoming infected with the aether it turns Jane into a living macguffin for the bad guys to hunt. Instead of being her own person she’s now a damsel in distress. Being relegated to a tired trope like this is hardly a satisfying outcome to say the least. On the bright side, Jane eventually became her own hero as the Mighty Thor. But that doesn’t change the fact that her role in “The Dark World” was ultimately pretty lackluster.

#16: Phastos Claiming Responsibility for the Atomic Bomb

“The Eternals” (2021)

Chloé Zao’s interpretation of the Eternals was a creative misfire. One of the reasons for the poor reception definitely has to be connected to Phastos. This particular Eternal is revealed to have helped humanity develop into technological titans. However, Phastos is later tormented by his actions due to the destruction that was caused by the atomic bomb. In fact, he basically considers himself solely responsible for the carnage that followed. Shifting all the blame from a real-life figure like Oppenheimer onto a fictional character is already strange. But what makes it worse is the MCU basically saying one of their few LGBT heroes caused the deaths of millions. Yeah, maybe the MCU should have thought that through…

#15: Darcy Lewis Having a Kid With Howard the Duck

“What If…?” (2021-24)

Remember how we said earlier that relationships can be tricky? Well occasionally some relationships can feel like a crime against humanity. Sorry, but that’s really all we can think of in regards to this particular situation. In an episode of “What If…?”, Darcy Lewis not only falls in love with Howard the Duck but also has a baby with him. Yep, you heard that right. Calling this relationship bizarre isn’t enough to paint a picture about how strange this thing is. It raises a whole bunch of questions that quite frankly we’re too afraid to ask. Is this really a ship that any MCU fan can honestly say they’re rooting for? Seriously, what the duck was in the water that these writers were drinking?

#14: Sympathizing the Wrong Crowd

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (2021)

Oftentimes movies and tv shows like to make villains redeemable. While it’s important to give the bad guys understandable motives it’s also important to reaffirm that they’re not good people. At the tailend of “Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, Sam Wilson tried to suggest that the Flagsmashers were simply misunderstood. Considering that they were basically a terrorist group during the whole show it’s a little hard to buy what Cap’s selling. The whole scene just came across as clunky and heavy-handed. Are we really supposed to feel bad for Karli and the rest of the Flagsmashers after all of the deaths they caused? Their actions are inexcusable. This all goes to show how sympathetic villains require time and dedication, not a bunch of sloppy shortcuts.

#13: How Nick Fury Actually Lost His Eye

“Captain Marvel” (2019)

There are a lot of cool ways that Nick Fury could’ve lost his eye in the MCU, unfortunately the actual way it happened wasn’t one of them. In “Captain Marvel” we see an alien cat named Goose scratch Nick Fury in the eye, which would lead to him getting his iconic eyepatch. It’s a bit of a letdown to have a cat be the reason that Fury lost his eye. Especially since before this the MCU made it seem like he lost it in some grand spectacular way. It’s another frustrating example of Marvel leaning into unnecessary gags while undoing the impact of plot points because of it. Our word of advice for the MCU? Less forced comedy!

#12: Kang’s Defeat

“Any-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023)

Way before Jonathan Majors wound up in controversy the writing was on the wall for Kang the Conqueror either way. That’s because during the climactic showdown of “Quantumania” between him and Ant-Man, Kang fell victim to the biggest threat of all…Ant-Man and the Wasp. Look, even if you never liked Kang the Conqueror you can’t deny that the character was done dirty here. The fact that Marvel also has yet to recast him means that our last impression of him is an incredibly sour one. This was meant to be one of the MCU’s next big bads but instead he went out like a jobber. And even if Kang does return, this humiliating defeat will never be forgotten.

#11: Taskmaster’s Identity

“Black Widow” (2021)

Taskmaster has never been Marvel’s main character or anything, but he’s had his fans. So when Taskmaster finally debuted in the MCU and it wasn’t Anthony Masters, it ruffled lots of feathers. Beyond the identity change, the new character just didn’t have anything going for her. She wasn’t witty or exciting like Taskmaster was in the comics. Instead Antonia was just a generic mean-looking villain. And the real kicker is that even if you were willing to give this new version of Taskmaster a chance, the MCU clearly wasn’t. The next appearance Taskmaster made was in “Thunderbolts*” where she was killed off without a care in the world. If you’re going to switch a character up, at least commit to seeing that new version through!

#10: Ross & Valentina’s Entire Subplot

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022)

With tragedy looming over the production, Ryan Coogler delivered a worthy follow-up to his Oscar-winning game-changer. That is, whenever the focus was kept on Wakanda. The film comes to a screeching halt whenever it cuts to Everett K. Ross and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who used to be married, by the way. What do they have to do with the conflict between Shuri and Namor? Nothing crucial, and from the second their subplot surfaces, the film’s momentum slows down. We like Martin Freeman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in these roles, but this should’ve been designated to a Disney+ series or post-credits scene. As a subplot in the highly anticipated “Black Panther” sequel, it enables one of Marvel’s worst habits: shoehorning in previews for future projects.

#9: Superhero Names

“The Marvels” (2023)

Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan have code names, although Monica Rambeau is comfortable just being Monica Rambeau. This doesn’t sit well with Kamala, who insists on workshopping potential aliases. “The Marvels” isn’t the first superhero movie to do this joke, and that’s precisely the problem. It feels like every superhero movie nowadays has an awkward scene where a main character brainstorms names. This might’ve been a little funny at first, but it’s become one of the genre’s most redundant tropes. “The Marvels” arguably drove it into the ground, as Kamala tries to make Professor Marvel happen. It’s not going to happen! This running gag reflects the film’s larger problem: It has nothing new to offer, which may be why this was a rare Marvel bomb.

#8: The Ice Cream Song

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022)

“Multiverse of Madness” is a solid addition to Phase 4 as long as you don’t think too hard about the plot. That said, why is Wanda drawn to this particular reality? There are infinite others she could slip into, preferably one with Vision. Yet, she solely focuses on this one. Why? Because Billy and Tommy sing her a cringey song about ice cream! Yeah, let’s talk about that. We sense the filmmakers were going for innocence, but how many kids sing when they want ice cream? It comes across as disingenuous and pandering. What’s worse, the song is a lyrical trainwreck and the kid actors - despite trying their best to sell it - just seem embarrassed. This is when Wanda should’ve started looking for another reality.

#7: Ralph Bohner

“WandaVision” (2021)

“WandaVision” remains one of the MCU’s best post-“Endgame” projects. On the heels of arguably its most buzz-worthy moment, though, the series pulled an unfortunate boner. Episode 5 ends with the bombshell that Wanda recast Pietro with Evan Peters, suggesting that the X-Men have finally arrived in the MCU. The finale trolled us big time, revealing that this isn’t Quicksilver from another universe. He’s just a random neighbor that Wanda cast as her brother to keep up the ruse. To add insult to injury, they named the character Ralph Bohner, emphasizing just how useless this subplot was. We wouldn’t be so upset if Peters’ debut hadn’t built up such promise. The twist stopped the hype train dead in its tracks.

#6: Pip the Troll

“Eternals” (2021)

The plot wasn’t especially engaging and we still can’t remember most of the characters’ names, but at least “Eternals” had some lovely visuals. Then we got to the post-credit scene. We feel like Marvel thought Harry Styles’ Starfox would be the key takeaway. Audiences were far more distracted by his abominable CGI companion, Pip the Troll. It’s always great hearing Patton Oswalt’s voice. Ironically, though, it probably would’ve been funnier and less costly if Oswalt showed up wearing pointy ears. Alas, Marvel went the digital route, reportedly not giving the effects team much time to perfect Pip’s appearance. Marvel rushing overworked VFX artists? Ya don’t say! While Pip might’ve been the mascot for Marvel’s CGI woes for a period, the worst had yet to come.

#5: Rhodey Is a Skrull“Secret Invasion” (2023)

Between Maria Hill’s unceremonious death and the A.I. scandal surrounding the opening titles, “Secret Invasion” left numerous viewers saying, “You know, we don’t have to watch everything MCU-related.” Even if you gave up after one episode, it was hard to escape the online backlash concerning Rhodey. In episode 4, we learn that a Skrull named Raava has been posing as him. The real Rhodey is rescued in the finale, but exactly how long has he been incapacitated? Director Ali Selim suggested it might’ve been around his accident in “Civil War,” meaning the Rhodey from “Infinity War” onward may’ve been a Skrull. Time will only tell if that’s the case, but this twist left many fans worried that Rhodey’s character arc was ruined.

#4: The Mandarin Twist“Iron Man 3” (2013)

Before Phase 4, fans would defend the MCU with a vengeance whenever somebody criticized it. Even the most apologetic diehards took issue with the Mandarin reveal, however. Ben Kingsley establishes a menacing presence as Tony Stark’s archenemy, only to later be exposed as an actor named Trevor Slattery. Instead, we’re stuck with Guy Pearce as another villain whose name we can’t remember. Don’t tell us in the comments! At the time, this was easily the MCU’s most infamous moment. “Shang-Chi” made up for it almost a decade later, introducing the real Mandarin and even bringing back Kingsley in a humorous callback. While this softened the blow, it’s disappointing that we’ll never get to see Iron Man go up against the true Mandarin in this continuity.

#3: Megan Thee Stallion“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” (2022)

Few MCU projects have divided people like “She-Hulk.” Where some think it’s a fun meta-commentary, the haters say it’s an insult to the MCU, pointing to the Megan Thee Stallion meme as exhibit A. Fans have argued that there’s a double standard, claiming that if Deadpool twerked with the rapper, there wouldn’t be such discourse. To an extent, we agree, but there’s a key difference: consistency. Even when emotionally invested, Deadpool never takes anything that seriously. Jennifer Walters wants to be taken seriously as a lawyer, but she occasionally acts like a college freshman. So, when you have her twerking with the “Body” singer, it can feel unbalanced. Regardless, Tatiana Maslany said shooting the scene was the “greatest day [and moment] of [her] life.”

#2: Axl’s Head

“Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022)

With “Thor: Ragnarok,” the MCU and director Taika Waititi were at their apex. When they intersected again, both were going through creative rough patches. If you thought “Thor: Love and Thunder” would be the shot in the arm Marvel and Waititi needed, we refer you to the screaming goats. If that’s not enough to make our point, lo and behold this lackluster effect. For a film that otherwise has some astounding visuals, this looks like something out of “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The effects aside, the interplay between Thor and Astrid - we mean ​​Axl - just isn’t funny. The filmmakers seemingly thought otherwise, as the bit goes on forever. We appreciate that Marvel has a sense of humor, but not every scene needs to force banter.

#1: M.O.D.O.K.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023)

For a film about Ant-Man and the Wasp, “Quantumania” focused more on teasing Kang and his variants. We all know how that turned out! While Jonathan Majors’ controversy didn’t help, Kang isn’t the biggest problem in “Quantumania.” That would be M.O.D.O.K. Okay, let’s be fair. This character’s design in the comics is already pretty silly. Translating it to a photorealistic environment was always going to be a challenge. That said, his stretched-out face isn’t just laughably bad for a multi-million-dollar film. The character is downright unpleasant to look at, making us wish he kept his mask on. Even if he had anything funny to say, we’re too busy wondering how an MCU movie has less appealing effects than “Sharkboy and Lavagirl.”

Are there any MCU-ruining moments we forgot? Share all of the horror stories down in the comments!