Every Major MCU Couple, Ranked

I love Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). I love the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). But Natasha and Bruce did not work together. It felt like Joss Whedon (who came up with this pairing for “Avengers: Age of Ultron”) had run out of ideas of things to do with Natasha, besides give her a man to comfort and console, so he came up with this relationship. It’s best to forget this ever happened.

Gemma Chan (Sersi) and Richard Madden (Ikaris) are both very good-looking. Their characters have the MCU’s only on-camera sex scene. But in “Eternals,” there is no spark between them.

Rachel McAdams’s role as Christine in the first “Doctor Strange” movie gave her very little to do. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” tries its best to make us invested in this relationship – or, at least, how sad Stephen (Benedict Cumberbatch) is that it didn’t work out between them. Through the course of the movie, we find out that not only could they not make things work in their universe, but they also couldn’t make it work in literally any other universe. Christine seems much better off for having not ended up with this guy.

This one is just kind of gross. The MCU spends a lot of time setting up Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) as Steve’s one true love. Sharon (Emily VanCamp) is Peggy’s niece. Not even diving into the time-travelling ending “Avengers: Endgame” bestowed on Steve (Chris Evans), this is weird. The pair never really had chemistry, and this plot always felt a little perfunctory.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” hit us with the shocking reveal that Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) had a whole family waiting for him on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Until the “Hawkeye” Disney+ series, that was really all we got of them. Laura (Linda Cardellini) and the kids were more of a plot device to make Clint likable.

The “Hawkeye” series did try to invest this relationship with a little more oomph, but Clint and Laura weren’t even in the same state for most of the show. Eventually, we learned Laura used to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and maybe there’s a compelling backstory somewhere in there, but I don’t see it. So far, Laura has just been a waste of Cardellini’s talents.

Scott (Paul Rudd) and Hope (Evangeline Lilly) are fine. They don’t excite me, but they don’t make me roll my eyes either. Their superhero aliases – Ant-Man and the Wasp – do flow together nicely, so that’s a point in their favour.

Since Natalie Portman will be in “Thor: Love and Thunder” as Jane, I fully reserve the right to boost this pair higher when it comes out. But for now, Jane and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) are just boring. Two very good-looking people who don’t feel particularly special together. We’ll have to wait and see.

I think Mark Spector (Oscar Isaac) and Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy) would rank higher on this list if literally anyone but Isaac played Marc. That’s not a dig at Isaac; it’s the opposite. Isaac has so much romantic and sexual potential, and “Moon Knight” does basically nothing with it. Assuming we get more Marc and Layla content in the future (which it seems like we will), maybe this relationship can really bloom.

Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau, who fortuitously cast himself in this role when he directed “Iron Man”) have a relationship that started out as a joke at Peter’s expense. But it’s fun, and it works. If you’re going to have a young, hot Aunt May, she should have a fun love life, and she does.

Here’s the rare relationship that got worse over time instead of better. Steve (Chris Evans) and Peggy (Hayley Atwell) work together during World War II. Their flirting is a highlight of “Captain America: The First Avenger.” But their romance is doomed – Steve gets stuck in ice, popping out in the 2010s and missing most of Peggy’s life.

On ABC’s “Agent Carter,” Marvel explored what Peggy’s life was like after the war and after she moved on from Steve. She carried grief with her but still lived a full life, even falling in love with Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj). Oh, but the MCU wouldn’t let her rest in peace.

Marvel decided the most important relationship in Steve’s life was with Peggy. This didn’t make sense, when his lifelong best friend Bucky Barnes was right there, literally propelling the plot of both Captain America sequels. And at the end of “Avengers: Endgame,” when Steve should have finally gotten to spend some time with his friend, Marvel yeeted him back in time to Peggy. This bizarre narrative choice hangs over Disney+’s “Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” and it makes you wish they’d just killed Steve off.

Both Peggy and Steve both deserved better.

T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) are wonderful together. They feel like a duo who’ve been through a lot, and they leave you wanting more. Unfortunately, we’ll never see where this relationship could have grown.

Is this a “major” relationship? Technically no, but I so loved the very brief moments we see Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Sarah (Adepero Oduye) flirt together. I’m ranking it here in hopes we’ll see more of them in the future.

If you’re out on this couple, I do not blame you. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) are technically the same person in different universes. It’s not a healthy relationship, really: it’s the height of narcissism. But for Loki, that works.

Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) and Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) were our very first MCU couple, which gives them a running start. As a person who was once obsessed with the first “Iron Man” movie, I can’t forget how much I enjoyed their relationship in the character’s solo films. Over time, Pepper took a backseat and was popped out for sporadic cameos in other MCU movies, but the core of this relationship always made sense to me.

Yes, Peter (Chris Pratt) is a bit of a jerk sometimes and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) probably deserves a hot, perfect genius instead. But I loved the way their romance developed in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. Post-“Endgame,” they’re set up for one of the best romance tropes: “You used to love me but forgot.” I can’t wait to see where that goes.

Neither of these are main characters, but I’d be remiss not to mention the stunning chemistry Okoye (Danai Gurira) and W’Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya) brought to “Black Panther.” The movie’s end didn’t clear up how their relationship was doing after W’Kabi’s treason, so here’s hoping the sequel will bring them back to us.

This is the underdog story of this list. When we met Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) in “Age of Ultron,” she was saddled with a ridiculous accent. Vision (Paul Bettany) was an obnoxious robot guy. When we checked in on them in “Civil War,” they were flirty friends. In “Infinity War,” their relationship was supposed to be a major plot point, but it didn’t really hit because we’d barely seen them on screen.

And then “WandaVision.” Wanda turns her grief at losing Vision into a creative, messy, painful force, building a whole life for them and causing incredible damage. You were invested in them. It felt like a magic trick.

The one thing that keeps them from the number one spot is Vision’s bizarre absence from “Multiverse of Madness.” He doesn’t even get a mention. It’s an odd choice when Wanda’s grief is still such a big character motivation.

Tom Holland and Zendaya had enormous shoes to fill. Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are probably the most famous couple in all of superhero-dom (and I mean, no offense to Clark Kent and Lois Lane).

But they pull it off. They’re fun. They’re adorable. They have a genuine connection that pops off the screen. The end of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is devastating because of them – and I’m sure their relationship will animate the inevitable sequels. Peter and MJ forever.