When it comes to the MCU, Marvel has made a lot of progress regarding female empowerment and representation; but which characters are most empowering and why do they have such an impact?

From the first ever Marvel female superhero, Susan “Sue” Storm-Richards, to the most well known, Natasha “Black Widow” Romanova, it’s tremendously hard to rank their effectiveness in portraying feminism as well as popularity, especially since Marvel keeps adding new characters as the phases progress. However, a few characters always seem to stay on top. Carol Danvers, otherwise known as Captain Marvel, is an increasingly controversial character due to her rebellious and snarky nature. Some less feminist fans often argue that Tony Stark, Iron Man, is an overall character, but the parallels between the two are uncanny. They’re both stubborn, sarcastic, somewhat brash, and playful. When Stark demonstrates this nature, it’s fun, but when Danvers does, it’s unnatural and rude. Carol Danvers is one of the most empowering female characters Marvel has made because she blatantly goes against traditional feminine roles in society. I’d argue that they’re both dynamic and human characters who unabashedly deserve a spotlight.

A lesser known character, Maria Hill, is the second-in-command to Nick Fury, the mind behind it all. She is loyal, fearless, logical, intelligent, and extremely deserving of as much praise as any other character. If it weren’t for her, it’s unlikely that the Avengers would’ve ever been formed. In any MCU movie she’s in, it is easily shown how she has a mind of her own and is not afraid of what anyone thinks of her.

Recently, one of the most popular Marvel characters, Wanda Maximoff, AKA the Scarlet Witch, is facing a similar controversy Captain Marvel is facing. In the movie Multiverse of Madness, Wanda plays the villain and outwardly questions a double standard between her and Doctor Strange, one of the leading characters in the movie. She says, “You break the rules and you become a hero. I do it and I become the enemy. That doesn’t seem fair.” In her show WandaVision, Wanda explores her trauma from losing her parents, brother, and husband by accidentally enslaving a small town in New Jersey. Yes, she did a bad thing, but she realized and set it right, which meant giving up her perfect life. Not many of us could say we’d do the same thing. In Multiverse of Madness, Wanda tries to take the power of a teenage superhero, America Chavez, so she can travel to another timeline and be with her children. Can you really blame her? She lost her entire family and when she brought them back, she had to give it up for the good of the many. What Wanda did was entirely human and entirely understandable, which is what makes her such an impactful superhero for the feminist act.

At the end of the day, what makes these characters the most powerful for feminism is their humanity.