2019 has been another gargantuan year for the MCU, with Marvel Studios releasing three $1billion movies within just mere months of each other. The rollercoaster started with Brie Larson’s first outing as Captain Marvel back in March, before Avengers: Endgame released in theatres early in May. Endgame went on to become the biggest box office hit of all time and was followed by the fun Spider-Man: Far From Home to wrap up Phase Three.

All three films have seen characters change from when we saw them at the end of 2018 when Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp all released. We now take a look at 10 who have undergone transformations over the past eight months and explain how that’s happened.

Changed: Captain America

On the basis of things, Captain America is still very much the same. He’s honorable, helping the survivors of Infinity War to try and ‘move on’ from Thanos’ earth-shattering killing spree. He’s eager to muck in, being at the forefront of the operation when Ant-Man informs him there’s a way to undo the deaths of billions and bring people back. And he’s gutsy, too, being prepared to take on Thanos’ entire army just as it looks as if the Mad Titan is primed to reign supreme again.

But he underwent two big changes in Avengers: Endgame. The first is that we discover he’s even more powerful than we first thought due to the fact he can wield Mjolnir. And at the very end of the movie, he’s aged. Due to the use of time travel and his mission of returning the Infinity Stones, America’s favorite hero is now significantly older than we knew him as. And with Sam Wilson now set to don Steve Rogers’ famous shield, there’s a new Cap in town…

Changed: Thor

Prior to the release of Avengers: Endgame, people were speculating as to how the gang could actually lose a second time around. It’s a common consensus that, had Thor been able to create Stormbreaker sooner, then he would have been able to stop Thanos from snapping half of the entire universe during the high-octane fight on the fields of Wakanda. With Captain Marvel also in the picture, what chance did the Mad Titan have?

Well in order to avoid the movie being predictable, the Russo Brothers decided to capitalize on Thor’s guilt at failing to stop him by allowing the character to sabotage himself. The God of Thunder kills 2018 Thanos at the beginning of the movie but, in the five-year time jump, allows himself to fall apart, drink excessively and eating too much. Even by the end of the blockbuster, he’s still carrying the extra pounds - and it remains to be seen as to whether he’ll look that way when Thor 4: Love and Thunder releases in 2021.

Changed: Hulk

Before Endgame came along, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner was having issues with his alter ego, the Hulk. In Thor: Ragnarok, released in 2017, we learn that he’s spent the last two years since Age of Ultron trapped as the green, mean, fighting machine. But after being on the receiving end of a battering from Thanos during the early moments of Infinity War, Banner is stuck as his human self with his second persona flatly refusing to come out.

In Avengers: Endgame, though, he finds a solution. Using gamma radiation he is able to blend his two personalities together to become one. This means that, while Banner maintains the physical prowess and green aesthetics as the Hulk, he’s able to keep his mind in-tact. This makes him all the more powerful with Bruce being the one who performs the first snap to bring all the dead back to life.

Didn’t Change: Tony Stark

This isn’t a criticism at all. We love Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark and it’s still rather gut-wrenching to know that, as things stand, there’s no Iron Man left the world out there. We see a slightly different side to his character when he becomes a father to Morgan Stark during Avengers: Endgame, even daring to settle down with Pepper Potts and live in an isolated cabin away from the rest of the world. But, that aside, Stark is Stark.

He’s frighteningly intelligent, being the one who discovers how to make time travel possible, despite its complications. He then displays remarkable daring to sneak into Stark Tower during 2012 New York - and even more so when he travels even further back in time to steal the cosmic cube from his father, Howard Stark. Furthermore, his courage is again evident for all to see when he leads the fight against Thanos at the blockbuster’s end, performing the ultimate sacrifice in order to eliminate the enemy once and for all.

Changed: Hawkeye

Fans were outraged when there was no Hawkeye in Infinity War, with Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton instead spending the movie off-screen under house arrest due to his association with Captain America during Infinity War. However, Renner’s return is certainly worth the wait in Endgame, with his character cutting a far broodier and darker personality than when we’d last seen him three years before.

Hawkeye, after his family is destroyed by Thanos, goes back the name of Ronin and spends much of his time chasing down people who he believes should have been killed in the snap instead. He’s so bloodthirsty that even close friend, Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) is hesitant of approaching him and convincing him to give it all up. Not only that, but we see Clint show his emotions in a way we had never done before, adding all the more significance to Endgame’s place in the grand timeline.

Changed: Black Widow

Speaking of Natasha Romanoff, she’s another character who underwent a significant change in that movie. Black Widow has been changing all the time, whether it be her appearances or her love interests (it seemed to go from Tony Stark to Captain America to finally Bruce Banner). But, in Avengers: Endgame, we see a completely fresh side to her character: one of a leader.

With Tony refusing to get involved in the Earth’s antics any more, it’s left to Natasha to spearhead the Avengers - those that are left that is. During an early scene, we see her spearheading a conference call also involving Captain Marvel, Okoye, Rocket Racoon, and James Rhodes. She, like Hawkeye, also shows her emotions in a way we’ve never seen before, abandoning her hardline persona and instead breaking down when Steve Rogers comes to visit her.

Didn’t Change: Peter Parker

Peter Parker was one of just a handful of characters to appear in more than one MCU movie this year. And it’s safe to say that, despite being snapped and being on the receiving end of some almighty punches from Thanos on Titan during the events of Avengers: Infinity War, everybody’s friendly neighbor-hood Spider-Man manages to stay the exact same.

Sure, his suits change rather significantly, donning three of the things during Spider-Man: Far From Home. But as Peter, he’s just as awkward and inept, struggling to balance his desire for a normal life with love interest MJ and his superhero responsibilities. He shows his usual bravery, too, when he takes the Stark gauntlet during the final fight in Endgame, managing to cling to it despite coming under siege from Thanos’ army. That definitely the Spidey we all know and love!

Changed: Nick Fury

So far, we’ve seen Samuel L Jackson appear in a huge 11 Marvel movies. That includes the first two Iron Man’s, the first two Captain America’s, four Avengers movies, Captain Marvel, Thor 2 and Spider-Man: Far From Home. However, thanks to the post-credits scene of Far From Home, we’re now doubting as to whether he’s really been Nick Fury the whole time.

We’ve always seen Jackson as Fury but it was revealed at the ending of the most recent MCU blockbuster that Talos the Skrull had been posing as him to the rest of the world. This means that we’re unsure how long this has been going on for. We know the duo met in Captain Marvel - and it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Talos has been masquerading for him ever since. Literally, everything we thought we knew about the Avengers founder and former S.H.I.E.L.D leader has changed. And we still can’t get our head around it…

Changed: Nebula

Prior to Endgame, Nebula was a character as tough as nails, a fierce warrior who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. We witness her fighting hard alongside Tony Stark, Peter Parker and the Guardians of the Galaxy in Infinity War when they come within seconds of getting the gauntlet off Thanos’ big purple hands. In Endgame, though, she changes significantly.

For once, she dares to show emotion. She’s a key ally for the Avengers, particularly when her and War Machine take the soul stone from Peter Quill in 2014. We see how much she’s changed when she interacts with the past version of herself, imploring her not to choose Thanos. She doesn’t and dies. 2023 Nebula, however, lives on.

Didn’t Change: Rocket Racoon

We love Rocket Racoon. You’d think seeing half of his friends eliminated, including surrogate son Groot, would be enough to reel in his abrasive, combative and mocking behavior. But nope, Bradley Cooper’s character seems unmoved by the events and seems to have little or no tolerance for some of the characters around him - just like when he first met the Guardians.

Rocket continually picks on Ant-Man, even ruffling his hair at one point when he expresses excitement at going into space. He irritates Tony Stark at times and is extremely intolerant of Thor when they travel back in 2014 to the same day his mother dies. He’s certainly one character we wouldn’t want around us if the snap was to happen in real life and he survives…