10 Best Performances In MCU Phase Four Movies (So Far)
While the majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Phase Four” line-up has been dropped on Disney+ in the form of multi-part streaming shows, Marvel is still pumping out plenty of event-driven feature-length content for the big screen. Some Phase Four movies (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home) have been received more warmly by critics than others (Black Widow, Eternals).
But all of them have been praised for their performances. From Simu Liu’s star-making turn as Shang-Chi to Andrew Garfield’s redemptive performance as a multiversal Peter Parker, Phase Four’s movies are filled with great performances.
10 Awkwafina As Katy In Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
It was refreshing for an MCU movie’s female lead to be a platonic friend of the hero’s as opposed to pushing the same tired romantic subplot over and over again. In Shang-Chi, Awkwafina shares palpable chemistry with Simu Liu as a pair of lifelong ride-or-die besties.
Katy fills the familiar comic relief role as the normal person pointing out the craziness of all the comic book stuff, like ancient water maps and sentient forests. This would feel repetitive (and derivative of other Marvel movies) if it wasn’t for Awkwafina’s uniquely deadpan line deliveries.
9 Marisa Tomei As Aunt May In Spider-Man: No Way Home
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marisa Tomei brings the same goofy, lighthearted, comedic quality to May that she established in her previous MCU appearances. She asks Doctor Octopus if he wants saltwater or freshwater, then dryly reacts when he’s unimpressed by the bit. But Tomei also gets the chance to show off her full dramatic range for the first time in a Marvel movie. May gets a heartbreaking death scene during the film’s second act. There isn’t a dry eye in the audience during Tomei’s final scene as Aunt May.
After being struck by the Goblin’s glider, as she dies in Peter’s arms, May assures him that trying to cure the villains was the right thing to do (even though one of them just killed her). She introduces Uncle Ben’s timeless wisdom to the MCU: “With great power, there must also come great responsibility.” May’s do-good-no-matter-what ethos inspires the rest of Peter’s journey in the movie.
8 Kumail Nanjiani As Kingo In Eternals
One of the only characters in Eternals who isn’t a total drag and actually feels like a Marvel hero is Kingo, played hysterically by Kumail Nanjiani. Kingo is the opposite of all the other Eternals. Instead of laying low, he’s been living generation to generation as a supposed family of Bollywood stars.
While the other Eternals go for nuance, Kingo is hilariously vain and egocentric. He gives his valet a video camera to document his latest superhero adventure to sell as a reality show, which becomes a great recurring gag throughout the movie.
7 David Harbour As Red Guardian In Black Widow
David Harbour joined the MCU in Black Widow with his turn as the super-soldier who raised Natasha Romanoff, Alexei Shostakov, better known as the Red Guardian – the Soviet Union’s answer to Captain America.
Harbour does a typically terrific job with the dry one-liners as the Royal Tenenbaum of Avenger dads. He was nothing but terrible and dysfunctional throughout Nat and Yelena’s whole childhood and instantly expects forgiveness without any real redemption when he reconnects with them as adults.
6 Simu Liu As Shang-Chi In Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
Simu Liu gives a quintessential Marvel hero performance as the titular martial arts master in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Liu brings a pitch-perfect blend of heart, humor, and pathos to the character, along with a healthy dose of movie-star charisma.
Liu nails the comedic timing of dry quips and drunken karaoke, but also brings real depth to Shang-Chi’s admission that he carried out a hit on his father’s orders and he’ll always have to live with that mistake. In the MCU’s future, Liu will make a fantastic addition to the larger Avengers roster.
5 Willem Dafoe As The Green Goblin In Spider-Man: No Way Home
Jon Watts mercifully shattered the Green Goblin’s wildly controversial Power Rangers mask from the Raimi trilogy within minutes of his multiversal arrival in No Way Home. Willem Dafoe’s uniquely expressive face is much more effective at striking fear into the Spider-Men (and the audience) than a goofy, bug-eyed helmet.
There are many great performances by returning supervillains in No Way Home – Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock achieves true redemption and Jamie Foxx finally gets to shine as Electro – but Dafoe steals the show as an authentically creepy take on Spidey’s arch-nemesis.
4 Gemma Chan As Sersi In Eternals
Gemma Chan’s turn as Sersi was one of the few universally acclaimed aspects of Eternals. Critics were divided on just about everything in this meandering Marvel epic, but they all agreed that Chan gave a wonderfully nuanced and engaging performance as empathetic Eternal Sersi.
Chan managed to overshadow nine other protagonists in the film’s overstuffed ensemble to anchor the movie with a likable, relatable, easy-to-root-for central hero.
3 Florence Pugh As Yelena Belova In Black Widow
After a stellar introduction in Black Widow, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova is primed to take her adoptive sister Natasha’s place in the Avengers line-up. Yelena was similarly raised by Red Guardian and trained in the Red Room program – and she’s even more ruthless than Nat herself (and hysterically short with people).
Pugh reprised her role as Yelena to fantastic effect in the Hawkeye series on Disney+. Yelena made a great comedic scene partner for Kate Bishop and took a huge emotional leap in her character arc as she reconciled with Clint Barton and recognized her late sister as a hero who willingly made the ultimate sacrifice.
2 Tony Leung As Wenwu In Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
Wenwu avoids the MCU cliché of the “bad dad” with one of the franchise’s most complex and emotionally charged villain performances to date, courtesy of screen legend Tony Leung. Touted as “the real Mandarin,” Wenwu was an ancient terrorist leader, then turned good when he met his wife, then reverted to a cold-hearted killer when she passed away. In Shang-Chi, he’s convinced that she’s trying to contact him from beyond the grave, asking him to free her.
He won’t listen to reason – that the voices he hears are interdimensional soul-suckers looking for a way out – and that becomes his downfall. This isn’t a one-note bad guy like Malekith or Kaecilius, speaking in soundbites and enacting a vaguely diabolical plan. Leung brings real depth and humanity to the character. He plays Wenwu as a tragic figure as opposed to a mustache-twirling villain.
1 Andrew Garfield As Spider-Man (Peter-Three) In Spider-Man: No Way Home
Among other things, No Way Home acts as the third Spider-Man movie that Andrew Garfield never got. Garfield gave such a great performance in the movie that some fans are calling for Sony to actually give him that third Spider-Man movie after all. Two key scenes highlight the effects of the trauma from the haunting finale of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and provide some much-needed redemption for this rendition of Peter Parker.
In the rooftop sequence, Garfield nails a tearful monologue about the dark turn he took after failing to save Gwen Stacy from falling to her death. He got rageful, stopped pulling his punches, and fell into a depressive spiral that he hopes to save Tom Holland’s Spidey from facing. After saving MJ in the final battle, he can finally forgive himself. Garfield similarly nails the look of being unburdened and finally being able to see the light.