Characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: A–L

Ajak Ajak (portrayed by Salma Hayek) is the wise and spiritual leader of the Eternals, who possesses healing abilities and functions as the "bridge" between the Eternals and the Celestial Arishem. Based on this dynamic, Ajak is aware that the Emergence will occur, and she decides to try to stop it in the present day based on her growing love for humanity. However, fellow Eternal Ikaris sees this as betrayal and leads her to be killed by the Deviants, with Sersi becoming the new bridge to Arishem. Hayek was originally hesitant when she was offered the role, assuming she would only have a role as a supporting character of "grandmother". Ajak's comic-book counterpart is male, and Hayek stated that making the change to female allowed her to lean into the character's femininity as a "mother figure" to the rest of the Eternals. Algrim / Kurse Algrim (portrayed by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), also known as Kurse, is a Dark Elf, and Malekith's lieutenant. He is one of the few Dark Elves who survived the catastrophe that almost wiped out their race. He possesses enhanced strength and durability due to having been augmented by the Kurse Stone, enabling him to survive blows from Mjolnir, although Loki kills him with a black hole grenade. the character has appeared in one project: the film Thor: The Dark World (2013). John Allerdyce / Pyro John Allerdyce (portrayed by Aaron Stanford), also known as Pyro, is a pyrokinetic mutant in the Void who works for Cassandra Nova. the character has appeared in one project: the film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). Stanford reprises his role from the 20th Century Fox films X2 (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Ammit Ammit (motion-captured by Sofia Danu, voiced by Saba Mubarak) is an imprisoned Egyptian goddess that resembles a humanoid version of her classical depiction whom Arthur Harrow plans to release. Ammit is known as "The Devourer of the Dead" and plans to cast her preemptive judgement on all of humanity. She is successfully released by Harrow and grants him as her avatar. They begin her plan, but are stopped by the combined efforts of Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Layla El-Faouly, and Khonshu. Ammit is then trapped inside Harrow's body to permanently kill them both. Marc refuses and is released from his servitude, but Khonshu has Jake Lockley carry out the assassination. She is based on the Egyptian deity of the same name. the character has appeared in one project: the Disney+ series Moon Knight (2022). Ancient One The Ancient One (portrayed by Tilda Swinton) is the former Sorcerer Supreme and mentor of Stephen Strange who is killed by Kaecilius. An earlier version of the Ancient One is met by a time traveling Bruce Banner at the New York Sanctum while looking for the Time Stone. In the comics, the character is a Tibetan man, while the film version is an androgynous Celtic. Swinton's casting was widely criticized as whitewashing. Director Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill wanted to avoid adapting the character as portrayed in the comics, as they felt it was perpetuating Asian Fu Manchu stereotypes from the time period, while also aggravating the Tibetan sovereignty debate. Derrickson initially wanted to change the character to an Asian woman, but he felt that this would either invoke the Dragon Lady stereotype or Asian fetishism, depending on the age of the actress. He also wanted to avoid the stereotype of a "Western character coming to Asia to learn about being Asian," so he ultimately decided to cast a non-Asian actor in the role. Swinton was cast because Derrickson felt that she could play the "domineering, secretive, ethereal, enigmatic, [and] mystical" side of the character. Swinton also chose to portray the character as androgynous, though using female pronouns. Derrickson said he was pleased with the diversity of the film's cast, in terms of both gender and ethnicity, but acknowledged that "Asians have been whitewashed and stereotyped in American cinema for over a century and people should be mad or nothing will change. What I did was the lesser of two evils, but it is still an evil." the character has appeared in two projects: the films Doctor Strange (2016) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Alternate universe variants of the Ancient One appeared in two projects: the film Avengers: Endgame; and the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021–2024). the character has appeared in one project: the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). Arishem Arishem (voiced by David Kaye) is a Celestial who created the Deviants, and later the Eternals once the Deviants rebelled against their programming. He communicates with only one member of a given group of ten Eternals: on Earth, this is Ajak, and later Sersi after Ajak's death. After the Emergence is stopped, Arishem takes Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo away for judgement, vowing to spare Earth only if their memories show that humanity is worth sparing. the character has appeared in one project: the film Eternals. Asha Asha (voiced by Erica Luttrell) is an enthusiastic Wakandan citizen who interns at Oscorp in an alternate universe. She later leaves Oscorp to join Harry Osborn's Worldwide Engineering Brigade (W.E.B.). the character has appeared in one project: the Disney+ animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025–present). Attuma Attuma (portrayed by Alex Livinalli) is a warrior from the underwater kingdom of Talokan and a close ally of its king, Namor. Hector Ayala / White Tiger Hector Ayala (portrayed by Kamar de los Reyes), also known as White Tiger, is a vigilante operating in New York City whose powers come from the mystical Amulet of Power. He is accused of assaulting and killing an undercover cop named Shanahan and is represented by Matt Murdock as his lawyer. With new testimony and police records detailing Hector's exploits, Murdock and McDuffie convince the jury to find him innocent on all charges. While on patrol as the White Tiger, Hector is murdered by Cole North. the character has appeared in one project: the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again (2025–present). Ayesha Ayesha (portrayed by Elizabeth Debicki) is the high priestess of the golden-skinned Sovereign race, one of the races created by the High Evolutionary. She hires the Guardians of the Galaxy to protect Anulax Batteries from an Abilisk, but sends her Omnicraft fleet to execute them soon after as a result of Rocket stealing several of the batteries with the intention to later sell them. When the fleet is destroyed during the battle on Ego, Ayesha decides to create Adam to hunt down the Guardians. In 2026, she is forced to awaken Adam prematurely while forced by the High Evolutionary to assist him in tracking down Rocket. She is killed when Counter-Earth is destroyed. the character has appeared in two projects: the films Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). An alternate universe variant of Ayesha appeared in one project: the Disney+ animated series What If...?. Ayo Ayo (portrayed by Florence Kasumba) is the second-in-command of the Dora Milaje in Wakanda. She is promoted to being the general of the Dora Milaje after Okoye is removed. She is also shown to be in a romantic relationship with Aneka. the character has appeared in five projects: the films Captain America: Civil War (2016) (cameo), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; and the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). == B ==