We all have a favorite Avenger. Some are Team Captain America. Others are Team Iron Man. Heck, next summer, Marvel’s actually asking us to choose sides based on our own personal allegiances when Civil War breaks out on screen.
But are there Avengers that you truly hate? BrandWatch thinks so. The company conducted a recent study of conversations held on Twitter pertaining to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its various characters. They spent one month tracking the names of characters who have appeared in previous Marvel movies, or will appear in a future Marvel movie. They collected 896,000 mentions from a "focus group" of 188,120 people – to give you an idea where this data comes from. And they have determined that Spider-Man is the most talked about hero, with Nick Fury ending up in last place.
The company went one step further, though. Using what they call Sentiment Analysis, they looked at the content of the Tweets to determine if heroes were liked or loathed. For example, the data showed that not a lot of people Tweeted about Quicksilver from The Avengers: Age of Ultron. But those who DID Tweet about him said nice things! You didn’t see that coming?
That isn’t the case for the following five Avengers. BrandWatch said these five, in descending order, were the Avengers characters who were talked about negatively on Twitter. They are the 5 most hated Avengers, according to social media:
5. The Incredible Hulk
The survey doesn’t get into specifics as to why certain heroes ranked high on the Hate Meter, so we are left to speculate. Part of the problem with The Hulk is that there hasn’t been one consistent actor playing him from film to film, with Eric Bana passing the torch to Ed Norton and, finally, to Mark Ruffalo. Also, it has been years since we’ve had a solo Hulk film, so these could be hurting the big green monster’s Q rating.
4. Iron Man
Are audiences finally growing tired of Tony Stark’s self-aggrandizing shtick? It’s possible, seeing as how the billionaire playboy philanthropist has been the root of all problems facing The Avengers for years. (Um, Ultron?) This might be why the MCU is moving Tony to the sidelines in Phase Three, avoiding a solo Iron Man movie – for now – and positioning Stark as more of a mentor to heroes like Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)… from what we have been hearing.
3. Nick Fury
This one stings a little. If not for Nick Fury making a midnight visit to Tony Stark in the end credits of Iron Man, we might not even have an Avengers Initiative, let along a massive MCU to speak of. Yes, Nick has been marginalized in recent movies, but have we already forgotten what a badass he was in Captain America: The Winter Soldier? That was just last year, people! Give Fury the respect he deserves!
2. Hawkeye
Yeah, the ace archer always has been low man on the totem pole in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even with Joss Whedon’s efforts to beef up his backstory in Age of Ultron, revealing a wife, kids and a secret hideaway. For whatever reason, Jeremy Renner’s take on the character hasn’t caught on the way Chris Evans’ Cap or, even, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor took off. My solution? Drop Hawkeye in his proper purple duds and let him launch a West Coast Avengers spinoff franchise! Until then, he’s the second-most-hated Avenger, according to Twitter. And finally…
1. Black Widow
Poor Natasha. Despite being a complete ass kicker in multiple Marvel movies dating all the way back to the dreadful Iron Man 2, this character continues to be mired in controversy, whether it be a lack of proper toy representation or landing the top spot on this unlikeable list. Is it Scarlett Johansson? Or just the role that Widow has been asked to play in the MCU? BrandWatch blames Twitter for being both male-dominated and vitriolic in nature, and that likely explains a lot of it. It also might explain why Marvel hasn’t pulled the trigger on a solo Widow movie… for now.
Is Black Widow really the worst?
This poll is no longer available.
