The best parts of any superhero movie are usually the fight scenes. This is when good triumphs over evil or, if the filmmakers want to shake things up a bit, evil kicks good’s ass. However, things are a little bit more complicated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the characters have a habit of switching sides and motivations fairly frequently.
This often makes for excellent drama and higher stakes as it throws the audience for a loop and asks them to expect the unexpected. When this is done well, it’s fantastic. However, there have been occasions within the MCU where some rivalries just make no sense whatsoever.
Best - The Winter Soldier And The Falcon
Audiences only really got to see these two characters interact properly with each other in Captain America: Civil War, as before then, Bucky ‘died’ in the past during World War II, and then reappeared in the present but was being brainwashed by HYDRA.
The first time Sam and Bucky officially met, they didn’t get off to a great start. Sam didn’t really like Bucky because he was a killer and had tried to kill Sam and Steve multiple times. Bucky didn’t like Sam because… actually we don’t know. Maybe he was jealous. Although their little rivalry didn’t last long, it was very entertaining to watch.
Worst - Peter Parker And Flash Thompson
In the comics, the rivalry between Peter Parker and Flash Thompson is almost legendary. The other Spider-Man film franchises released before the Sony/Disney deal even made sure to make Flash as big a douche as possible to reflect Peter’s diminishing high school popularity (while simultaneously sneaking some outdated cliches in there as well).
However, the most recent Spider-Man film series taking part in the MCU has almost skipped out on this rivalry altogether. In fairness, it was never really part of the main plot but it has reduced Flash’s character to something altogether rather pointless.
Best - Quicksilver And Hawkeye
Although this rivalry only lasted for one movie, it was kind of cute and adorable to watch. It was also pretty funny. They first encountered each other during the Avengers’ raid on the HYDRA base in order to retrieve Loki’s sceptre. The sceptre had been used to give Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch their newfound abilities.
Quicksilver used his speed to run rings around Hawkeye which resulted in the latter being blasted by a lazer cannon. Their tit-for-tat rivalry continued throughout Age Of Ultron until Quicksilver selflessly sacrificed his life to save Hawkeye from a hail of bullets.
Worst - Captain America And The Winter Soldier
Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were best friends back in the 1940s during the Second World War. In fact, they were practically inseparable. Unfortunately, Bucky joined the war effort and Steve was left behind because he was too skinny, or something along those lines. Thanks to the super soldier serum though, Steve was able to do his bit.
During the war, Bucky was seemingly killed on a mission, devastating Steve. However, Bucky returned in 2014 as the Winter Soldier, brainwashed by HYDRA. This set him on a collision course with his former friend but it was never really a rivalry as Bucky wasn’t acting of his own volition.
Best - Nebula And Gamora
The MCU really knows how to portray sibling rivalries at their finest, and one such example is the tension between the two adopted sisters, Nebula and Gamora. Though not related, or even the same species, Nebula and Gamora grew up together under the abusive eye of the Mad Titan, Thanos himself.
Thanos being crazy, he constantly pitted the two sisters against each other, rewarding the victor and punishing the loser. This was where all Nebula’s hatred for Gamora stemmed from and it was fascinating to watch the sisters try to move past their rivalry. They were so close, until Gamora was killed by Thanos’s hand.
Worst - Iron Man And Ultron
Poor Tony. All he ever wanted was to save the world and to prevent his friends from dying horrible deaths at the hand of Thanos. Unfortunately, in trying to do so, he created Ultron, a genocidal, insane, murderous computer program. Naturally, the rest of the Avengers weren’t exactly thrilled with this development, none more so than Ultron himself.
Ultron resented Tony for bringing him into a world so full of suffering. He saw his basic function was ’to save the world’ and interpreted this as wiping out humanity so that the world could begin anew. This rivalry was rather one-sided and to be honest, Ultron’s motivations were a little confusing.
Best - Captain America And Iron Man
Every amazing rivalry lets audiences understand and relate to both sides of the conflict, to the point where they’re unsure of where their allegiances lie. The seeds for the rivalry between Steve and Tony were sewn right at the moment when they first met, when neither were sure that they could trust the other.
The seeds started to blossom during Age Of Ultron when Tony created the titular character without consulting any of the team. The rivalry then blew up completely during Civil War thanks to the Sokovia Accords. This split up the Avengers completely, resulting in them losing spectacularly to Thanos in Infinity War.
Worst - Justin Hammer And Tony Stark
This was another fairly one-sided rivalry involving Stark but to be fair, Hammer was, and always will be, utterly pathetic. When Tony outed himself to the world as the superhero Iron Man, it was inevitable that the government would want to obtain his assets and that other inventors would go wild trying to best Tony’s suits of armor.
Hammer was one of those such inventors but unfortunately for everyone involved, he really wasn’t very good at, well, anything really. He became somewhat of a joke throughout Iron Man 2, even having to resort to asking Whiplash for help, and we all know how successful that particular enterprise was…
Best - Thor And Loki
We said that the MCU knew how to do sibling rivalries and none are better than the rivalry between Thor and Loki. Admittedly, it’s thanks in part to Tom Hiddleston’s charming portrayal of Loki as he’s the ultimate villain everyone loves to hate. However, credit must be given to Chris Hemsworth and the chemistry he shares with his co-star.
Their relationship has been incredibly antagonistic at times but we always got a feeling that Loki was never completely irredeemable. We were constantly rooting for Thor to finally get through to his boneheaded brother and then, when he finally did, Loki got killed by Thanos whilst trying to prevent him from acquiring an Infinity Stone.
Worst - Black Widow And Hawkeye
Considering that these two characters are supposed to be the best of friends, they sure do spend a lot of their time facing off against one another. In Avengers Assemble, audiences didn’t get to see much of their firm friendship. Instead, thanks to Loki’s mind control, Hawkeye spent the majority of the film as a secondary antagonist.
Natasha managed to subdue him but they started fighting all over again in Civil War, thanks to the rift between Tony and Steve. Thankfully this fight was more lighthearted than others. Their final battle came in Endgame, where they fought to save the other’s life. It wasn’t much of a rivalry but they still fought more than most and no one really knew why they were fighting.
