It was at the end of Avengers: Endgame that viewers witnessed the death of Tony Stark and the quiet, time-traveling retirement of Steve Rogers. These events have now left the Avengers with a noticeable absence in leadership.

  • The first hints that showed changes coming in the Avengers’ leadership occurred in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings when Shang-Chi met Wong, Captain Marvel, and Hulk, and they talked about planning for possible emergencies. On top of that, one of the plots in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law sees Wong putting together some heavy-hitters for something big and bad that might be coming. With Kang arriving in the MCU as the next big bad, and two more Avengers movies arriving in Phase 6, a new leader is coming, but who leads this team remains to be seen.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is now well into Phase 4, and new heroes have risen to the forefront, familiar heroes have grown, and some have faded into the background. With everything that has occurred since Thanos was defeated, who has the best potential to rally Earth’s Mightiest Heroes if they are to be called upon again?

Hawkeye

When it comes to leadership in the MCU, no one has the skills necessary over his life to lead The Avengers than Clint Barton, Hawkeye. The problem here rests on whether he wants to lead The Avengers. Clint seems happy to be back at home with his wife and kids, and it took a lot to pull him into action when he met Kate in Hawkeye.

However, Hawkeye was a long-ranking member of S.H.I.E.L.D., and he learned under Nick Fury’s lead. He has anger issues and his hearing loss is a problem for acting as a superhero. However, for someone who could lead things behind the scenes, there might not be a better tactical leader currently on Earth right now in the MCU than Hawkeye.

Hulk

Hulk seems to have retired as far as his role in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law confirms. He was living on a beach, enjoying a private life, and was completely in control of his rage issues. However, there was also a moment in the series where Hulk raced off into space on a Sakaaran ship, removing him from Earth as a possible leader of The Avengers in the MCU.

Hulk won’t stay gone for long. The question is whether he returns and has the ability to take over as The Avengers leader, as Shang-Chi’s post-credit scene showed, or if he returns after a tragedy as World-Breaker Hulk and becomes a major threat to the entire MCU.

Wong

One of the best bets to take on the role of The Avengers leader as the battle with Kang closes in is Wong. While Doctor Strange seemed the best bet for a long time in the MCU, it turned out he lost his role as Sorcerer Supreme to Wong after the Blip, and now Wong has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Wong is who brought in Shang-Chi to introduce to Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner. He is the one who seems to be recruiting Abomination and is dealing with She-Hulk. Wong is putting the pieces together, and that alone makes him leadership material.

Ms. Marvel

Everyone assumes The Avengers means a team of major big-league heroes like Captain Marvel, Hulk, Thor, and more. However, there are some major hints in the MCU that The Avengers won’t be that at all, but could instead be a team of young, inspired heroes who want to help save people’s lives over even world-shattering battles. In that case, there isn’t a better leader than Ms. Marvel.

While Kamala Khan hasn’t got much experience yet, she will team with Captain Marvel in The Marvels and that should give her a crash course in what it means to be a hero. With young heroes like Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop, Iron Heart, Patriot, Joaquín Torres’ Falcon, and America Chavez either already in the MCU or coming soon, the Young Avengers led by Ms. Marvel could be huge.

She-Hulk

Hulk did everything he could to convince his cousin to become a superhero and join The Avengers. However, She-Hulk wanted nothing to do with that life and only wanted to go back to being an attorney. This didn’t work out very well, as she lost her job as a district attorney when she revealed she was She-Hulk. She now works for a firm representing superheroes.

However, what is a better leader of The Avengers than someone who knows the legal system? She-Hulk also asked if there was pay or benefits, and if anyone could set up a deal with the government for pay and benefits, it is an attorney like Jennifer Walters. That alone makes her qualified to lead The Avengers.

Star Lord

Everyone’s favorite Footloose fan, Star Lord has amassed a journey across the cosmos that started on Earth and has led him to Knowhere, Ego, Titan and everywhere in between. Quill’s time in the MCU has mostly been spent leading a galactic rag-tag group of misfits we know as the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Quill was certainly not leadership material when introduced to audiences. But paying close attention to his story arc, you can see that Star Lord has earned the loyalties of dozens of different races and species. Fighting alongside everyone from Ravagers to Groot to The Avengers, Quill has a case to be made. At least once he can get Thor to come around.

Sersi

Stepping to the forefront in Eternals, Sersi is a reliable support to Ajak and the team as a whole. When tragedy strikes the team, she is thrust into command and manages to save the universe by pulling out the best qualities of the remaining team members.

Given that Sersi has already once been chosen to command a group of heroes after its leader falls, she has natural experience with what The Avengers are facing. Her temperament would also be a departure from Tony Stark’s. Assuming she can return to Earth, Sersi also has the longest resume of experience on the planet in the MCU.

War Machine

He hasn’t been a leader yet, but let it not be ignored that James Rhodes has been a part of the MCU mythos since 2008’s Iron Man. Tony Stark’s right-hand man is a voice of reason, a means of support, and a decorated military officer in his own right.

Rhodey has an impressive Avengers combat resume: He is present in every major battle aside from The Battle of New York, he was paralyzed in Berlin and made enough progress in recovery to still be a part of the battle against Thanos in Wakanda. Last but not least, as a Blip survivor, he was a crucial member of the “time heist.”

Captain Marvel

Carol Danvers is the muse for Nick Fury’s brainchild of The Avengers Initiative. After reconciling lost memories and tapping into the potential of her tesseract-imbued powers, she shows off some of the most impressive strength the MCU has seen to date.

Captain Marvel certainly is in contention for strongest Avenger in the MCU, but currently her leadership qualities leaves some room for improvement. Perhaps the overwhelming advantage her powers provide does not warrant much teamwork, as she comes and go as she pleases. Danvers could likely get the job done, but with the heart she has for the entire cosmos, would she want to limit herself to one planet?

Shang-Chi

In the fall of 2021, audiences were introduced to their first MCU big screen martial artist in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The titular character went on a journey of abandoning his homeland only to return to face his father and reckon with the consequences of his tortured past. Ultimately, he inherits an ultimate power that he chooses to use to restore and protect a mystic kingdom, unlike his father, who was corrupted by the same power.

Although Shang-Chi is still young, his integrity in the face of temptation makes him a strong candidate as a leader. He also strikes a good balance between being battle tested but not battle hardened. And who wouldn’t want to see a post-shwarma, Avengers karaoke party?

The Leader of Wakanda

In 2018, the veil pulled back, and the MCU revealed the whole of Wakanda to viewers. Led at the time by T’Challa, Black Panther explored how, in his father’s words, hard it is “for a good man to be a king.” After debuting in Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa squared off against Killmonger in his own country’s civil war. He achieves peace within Wakanda and then begins to share their gifts with the rest of the world.

The sad reality is that, if the world still had the gift of Chadwick Boseman’s presence, he could likely be the best choice to lead the team. That being said, the plans for how Wakanda will be led are still currently shrouded in mystery. There are strong candidates already in the Wakandan mythos to lead the country, who could also be a strong leader within The Avengers (Shuri, M’Baku, etc), but this picture remains to be revealed.

Spider-Man

Peter Parker spent Phase Three exploring the story arc of apprentice to master. He studied under the tutelage Tony Stark beginning in Captain America: Civil War, and finished the phase on his own in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Most recently he managed his own team in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, working with his own friends, and variants of himself, no less.

Peter is one of a few characters who have been around the MCU long enough to have endured a great amount of growth. He is now a mature, self-sacrificing hero who can make the tough decisions of putting the good of others above his own, despite the personal torment it will cause him. He had an excellent mentor in Tony Stark to demonstrate this for him, and Peter is on his way to being worthy of leading a team like The Avengers.

Thor

Speaking of worthy, Thor has gone on one of the biggest journeys in this universe. From an arrogant warmonger to the grief-stricken revenge hunter, to content galactic drifter, Thor has covered as much ground emotionally as he has cosmically. He has collected friends and battle trophies all along the way as well.

Understandably, Thor has most recently appeared to have walked away from avenging after defeating Thanos, but it stands to reason that the current version of Thor we now have possesses the best spirit in which to lead. This Thor is the one who formed “The Revengers,” he is the one who has achieved contentment thanks to a time-travel pep talk from his mother, and no longer desires a throne. His approach could be just what this new phase needs.

Doctor Strange

Earth’s favorite sorcerer has been popping up all over the MCU since his own film and most recently Spider-Man: No Way Home. Doctor Strange packs a magical punch and has manipulated both time and space in his quests to keep the peace in the present time, as well as the growing threats from other worlds.

With the expanding threat of the oncoming multiverse, if The Avengers are called upon they will need a leader who is skilled enough to handle such a varied threat. Doctor Strange carries both the knowledge and experience with such abstract and unknown conflicts to be a strong candidate to lead. If there is an Avenger equipped to handle the physical threat of what is to come, Doctor Strange is near the top of the MCU list for The Avengers next leader.

Captain America (Sam Wilson)

Sam Wilson is given the shield by Steve Rogers at the end of Avengers: Endgame and takes some time to get used to the mantle until adopting the persona of Captain America by the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He journeys to accepting who he is to become, and is taking steps to learn how to lead in an increasingly gray world.

Sam doesn’t strike as an immediate leader at first because of his lack of superhuman abilities. However, his worthiness to lead comes from the same reasons that Steve gave him the shield in the first place. It is the same reason Steve was chosen for the super soldier program as well. It’s the man that Sam is inside that will serve leadership in The Avengers well, and keep them on the right path as a team. He can make the team better in the MCU, and together they would thrive in their next iteration.