The Most Valuable Member of Marvel’s The Avengers Is Definitely Not Who Fans Think It Is

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced fans to quite a few characters over the years. While heroes like Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Captain America (Chris Evans) immediately come to mind when people think about the MCU, the most valuable member of the Avengers is not who most fans think it is. Here’s a look at which character is the most valuable in Marvel’s lineup.

This is the most valuable member of Marvel’s Avengers

The most valuable hero in the MCU is Hawkeye. Renner first portrayed the character in the 2011 film Thor and went on to become one of the original members of the Avengers. Over the past decade, Renner has appeared in five Marvel movies, including the Infinity War Saga.

Hawkeye has not gotten his own stand-alone movie in the MCU, but the character is set to star in his own television show on Disney+ titled Hawkeye. The series is expected to pick up following the events in Avengers: Endgame.

Based on his involvement in the MCU over the years, Hawkeye has clearly played an important role in the success of Marvel. He is not the most popular character in the studio’s lineup, but he is one of the few remaining original Avengers left.

Although Hawkeye isn’t as popular as heroes like Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, a new study argues that he is the most valuable member of the MCU – and it all has to do with box office returns. 

Why Hawkeye considered the most valuable of Marvel’s Avengers

According to Screen Rant, the Film Franchise Showdown looked at all of the movies in the MCU and measured the most valuable character based on box office returns, reviews, and award nominations.

The results of the study clearly indicated that Hawkeye is the MCU’s most valuable hero. The study came up with an ROI score for each character, and Hawkeye came out on top with a 5.3 ROI per movie.

This is slightly ahead of Thor, who had a rating of 5.06, Captain America, who came in at 4.9, and Iron Man, who held steady at 4.8. Two other characters in the top five included Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

While some fans might disagree with the study, the findings make sense. Hawkeye has never appeared in his own solo movie but has taken part in some of the most popular films in the MCU. This includes Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.

A few of those movies shattered records at the box office, which definitely helps boost Hawkeye’s ROI. Stand-alone projects, meanwhile, usually earn less in theaters. Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World, for example, both underperformed at the box office.

But is Hawkeye really the most valuable character in the MCU?

Although it is hard to argue against the numbers, there is no doubt that the study is skewed to favor characters like Hawkeye. As previously noted, Renner has not been involved in a solo film, something that has hurt just about every hero in the MCU.

Captain America’s trilogy, for example, is among the most popular in the MCU. Yet the lackluster performance of Captain America: The First Avenger really hurts his overall ROI rating. If Hawkeye had a solo film, there is a good chance his rating would be much lower.

It also helps that Hawkeye has only appeared in the studio’s major crossovers, most of which have done far better than the solo projects. It should also be noted that Hawkeye has not been a main character in any of these movies, though he has played an important side role.

Regardless of how fans may feel about the study, it will be interesting to see what Marvel does with Hawkeye in the new series.

Marvel has not announced when Hawkeye will premiere on Disney+ but it is expected to hit the streaming service sometime in 2022.