Wikipedia:WikiProject Film/Marvel Cinematic Universe task force#Character articles

{{Short description|Sub-project of WikiProject Film and WikiProject Television}}

{{Shortcut|WP:MCU|WP:MARVELCINEMATICUNIVERSE}}

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe task force is a collaboration between WikiProject Film and WikiProject Television to maintain and improve coverage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Wikipedia.

Scope

= General =

= Films =

= Television series =

= Television specials =

= Short films =

= Digital series =

= Comic books =

= Cast and characters =

= Features =

= Music =

= Live attractions =

= Templates =

{{Main|Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe templates}}

  • {{tl|Marvel Cinematic Universe}}
  • {{tl|Marvel Cinematic Universe drafts}}
  • {{tl|Marvel Cinematic Universe Phases}}
  • {{tl|Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline}}
  • {{tl|MCU cast indicator}}
  • {{tl|MCU Wiki}}

= Categories =

{{Category tree two|Marvel Cinematic Universe|Marvel Cinematic Universe drafts|mode=pages}}

Participants

{{/Participants}}

Explanatory supplements

{{Supplement|interprets=Wikipedia:Manual of Style guidelines}}

All film and television-related articles follow the guidelines established at both MOS:FILM and MOS:TV. There are further guidance for certain aspects of articles created through local consensus as discussed in the following sections.

= Cast lists =

== Film casts ==

{{shortcut|WP:MCUFILMCAST}}

The following steps are utilized when creating the cast lists on Marvel Cinematic Universe film articles, as presented by WP:FILMCAST:{{efn|See discussions here and here.}}

  1. As casting announcements begin, actors indicated to be (or possibly be) in starring roles are added to the cast section, infobox, and lead as the news is released. The order should generally be based on when actors are revealed, but sequels may use the cast order on past films as a guide. Any additional news regarding supporting roles or actors in unspecified roles are added to a paragraph below the bulleted list in the cast section and are excluded from the infobox and lead.
  2. Once any official billings or press releases by Marvel Studios are released, such as a billing block seen at the bottom of a poster or the end of a trailer, cast members are reordered per that billing. An example of a billing block can be seen [https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/24/opinion/sunday/ben-schott-movies-billing-blocks.html here]. Note that this order should come from Marvel directly, as some news outlets that report on the film may create an arbitrary ordering in their article(s).
  3. Repeat step 1 if additional castings are revealed after an official billing or press release, and then reorder when a new press release/billing is released per step 2.
  4. Once a film is released, the lists in the cast section, infobox, and lead should be reordered a final time based on the main titles at the end or beginning of the film. Ignore any grouped actor names (usually for supporting cast members placed just before or after {{tq|with}} and {{tq|and}} credits). Note that main titles are not the same thing as the end crawl.

As always, each film is its own unique case and these steps are meant to be followed as a general overview of the process. In some instances, additional local consensus may need to be formed such as with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame due to their exceptionally long cast lists.

== TV casts ==

{{shortcut|WP:MCUTVCAST}}

Marvel Television series generally follow the guidance as defined by WP:TVCAST for cast definition and order. For both Marvel Television and Marvel Studios series, "recurring" characters are usually defined as either 3 or 4 appearances.

Marvel Studios are approaching their Disney+ series as if they are feature films (see {{slink|List of Marvel Cinematic Universe television series|Series approach}} and [https://variety.com/2021/tv/features/marvel-disney-plus-series-showrunners-1234970797/ this source]) in several ways, including how they credit actors for each episode. Unlike conventional television series, the series do not clearly differentiate series regulars, guest stars (regular or "special"), and co-stars. Instead, each episode has one cast list during the credits as well as a main on-end title sequence that gives billing to the series' main actors. To represent this, the series cast sections use a hybrid approach of WP:TVCAST and WP:FILMCAST. Any actor who appears in the main on-end billing is listed in the section's main bulleted list, infobox, and lead as if they were part of a film poster's "billing block" per WP:FILMCAST, and they are listed in order of first onscreen credit per WP:TVCAST. Additional actors are noted in prose below the main bulleted list as is done in the MCU film articles, with recurring and guest actors included per WP:TVCAST. To create a cast section before the premiere of a series, the methods defined above for the films should be used.{{efn|See discussions here, here, and here.}}

= Resources =

{{Shortcut|WP:MCURS|WP:MCUBUDGETS}}

A list of reliable resources can be found at Wikipedia:WikiProject Film/Resources and {{slink|Wikipedia:WikiProject Film/Comic book films task force|Resources}}, which can be used across the various MCU films and television series. Additional television-specific references can be found at WP:TV/RS.

== Notes on sources ==

=== Unreliable ===

The following are not reliable sources. Be wary of reliable sources that report on information obtained from an unreliable one. As of 2025, all Valnet-owned publications, including Screen Rant, Game Rant, Comic Book Resources, Collider, Polygon, MovieWeb, and TheGamer, are deemed to be of questionable reliability and should be replaced with more reputable sources where appropriate. See WP:RS/VALNET and WP:VALNET for more.

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
scope="col" | Name

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Website

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Source usage

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes

scope="row" | ComicBookMovie.com

| [http://www.comicbookmovie.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "comicbookmovie.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

| See WP:RS/CBM for more

scope="row" | Geekosity

| [https://geekositymag.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "geekositymag.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | HN Entertainment

| [https://web.archive.org/web/20220130080458/https://hnentertainment.co/ website archive]

| {{Search link|insource: "hnentertainment.co" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

| Defunct; formerly Hybrid Network Media and now Entertainment Annotated or Annotated Media

scope="row" | Heroic Hollywood

| [http://heroichollywood.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "heroichollywood.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | The Illuminerdi

| [https://www.theilluminerdi.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "theilluminerdi.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | Inside the Magic

| [https://insidethemagic.net/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "insidethemagic.net" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | LRM Online

| [https://lrmonline.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "insidethemagic.net" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

| Formerly Latino Review

scope="row" | Manabyte

| [https://manabyte.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "manabyte.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

| Formerly MCU Cosmic

scope="row" | r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers

| [https://www.reddit.com/r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | MCU Exchange

| [http://mcuexchange.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "mcuexchange.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | Midgard Times

| [https://moviesr.net/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "moviesr.net" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | Murphy's Multiverse

| [https://www.murphysmultiverse.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "murphysmultiverse.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | One Take News

| [https://onetakenews.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "onetakenews.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

| Except for exclusive interviews

scope="row" | That Hashtag Show

| [https://thathashtagshow.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "thathashtagshow.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | The Cosmic Circus

| [https://thecosmiccircus.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "thecosmiccircus.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | The Direct

| [https://thedirect.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "thedirect.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

| Except for exclusive interviews and Disney+'s timeline order{{efn|See discussion here regarding the timeline order.}}

scope="row" | The DisInsider

| [https://thedisinsider.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "thedisinsider.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | The GWW

| [https://thegww.com/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "thegww.com" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

scope="row" | John Rocha

| [https://twitter.com/TheRochaSays/ Twitter], [https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnRochaSays/videos YouTube]

|

|

scope="row" | The Ronin

| [https://theronin.org/ website]

| {{Search link|insource: "theronin.org" insource:"MCU"|Search}}

|

=== Reliable ===

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
scope="col" | Name

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Website

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes

scope="row" | Forbes.com

| [https://www.forbes.com/ website]

| Reports on the budgets of MCU films from contributors [https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinereid/ Caroline Reid] and [https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/ Christian Sylt] can be used as they are subject-matter experts and cite official documents.{{efn|See discussions at WT:FILM here and on MCU talk pages here, here, here, and here.}}

scope="row" | Production Weekly

| [https://www.productionweekly.com/ website] {{subscription required}}

| Mostly reliable for filming times, locations, and working titles (the lattermost was originally publicly available; most recent listings are behind a paywall and some archived listings can be accessed via PDF downloads). Be weary of listings for some cast and crew members, and production companies.{{efn|See discussions here, here, here, here, here, and here.}}

scope="row" | Jeff Sneider and The InSneider

| [https://x.com/TheInSneider X], [https://www.theinsneider.com/ website] {{subscription required}}

| Can be used for exclusive reports as he is a subject-matter expert, with attribution required.{{efn|See discussion here.}}

scope="row" | The Hot Mic

| [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWhZZEYoeaYDnefV6OuvQBaMudPxARbPa YouTube playlist]

| Reports from Sneider in the videos can be used.{{efn|See discussions here and here.}}

= Character articles =

{{shortcut|WP:MCUCHARACTERS}}

{{see also|WP:NFILMCHAR}}

There is local consensus that an MCU character only warrants its own article if one or more of the following criteria is met:{{efn|See discussions here, here, and here.}}

  • The character has made at least {{strong|four non-cameo appearances}} in films and/or television series
  • The character has appeared in a film or television series in a {{strong|titular or lead role}}
  • The character is an {{strong|original MCU character}} not adapted from the comics (see category), as long as notability can be proven for them

The criteria for appearances is to provide a clearly delineated standard for justifying these articles as separate from their comics counterparts. There is no deadline that needs to be met for such articles. Such articles should be incubated in draftspace until they meet this criteria and satisfy WP:GNG, including being discussed in reliable sources beyond a trivial mention. Focus on real world details such as the casting, characterization and reception of the character. Once a draft for a character seems ready for mainspace, a discussion should be held on either the draft's talkpage, the taskforce talkpage, or at Talk:Characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to establish consensus on the readiness of the draft, upon which the draft will be moved to mainspace by a page mover. Submitting the draft to AfC is neither necessary nor advisable, as AfC reviewers may not be aware of this task force's local consensus.

= Tagging and assessment =

Any articles that are within the scope of this project should be tagged with the relevant project banners of WikiProject Film ({{tl|WikiProject Film}}) or WikiProject Television ({{tl|WikiProject Television}}). You may also find {{tl|WikiProject banner shell}} useful. To each of these banners, you should add {{para|mcu|yes}} as this will automatically put the page in the appropriate categories, such as :Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe task force articles.

== Nominating articles for Good Article status ==

{{shortcut|WP:MCUGA}}

As a rule of thumb, feature films can be considered for Good Article nomination {{strong|six months}} after their initial release. When there was an MCU films Good Topic, part of the retention requirements to keep the topic at its status was that new films would need to be nominated by one month after their physical home media release.{{efn|See discussions here and here.}} Before the COVID-19 pandemic, this one month after the physical home media release equated to about six months after the U.S. theatrical release date. While there are currently no longer any featured or good topics for MCU content, and a film's release to home media is happening sooner, the six-month time frame is still a good guidance to consider.

This time frame could also apply to any Disney+ limited series and subsequent episode articles for such series. For ongoing series, the "main" article (i.e. Loki) should wait until at least the creation of a second season article to consider nominating, given that the "main" article will likely go through restructuring and splitting of content to season-specific articles. Seasons and episodes of ongoing series (i.e. Loki season 1 and its episodes) can likely also follow the six months guidance.

= General article formatting and layout =

{{shortcut|WP:MCUVAR|WP:MCUSTYLEVAR}}

Articles covered by the task force all generally follow similar formatting, structure, and layout, as allowed by the relevant Manual of Styles. This is done with the hope of building all articles towards Good Topic status and following its criteria recommendations that articles within these Good Topics are similar in structure.

In addition to what has been expanded upon in the other sections here, some of the established format and style decisions include:

  • Article lead content and order
  • Section names and order
  • Using list-defined references, with references generally organized by article sections
  • Archiving all sources to prevent WP:LINKROT
  • For phase or overview articles listing projects, having these sections feature three paragraphs: the first with the project's premise; the second with relevant production (initial work/announcement, hiring of writer(s), director(s), and prominent cast, and filming dates and location) and release information; and the third discussing its place in the MCU and any crossover cameo appearances or concepts related to the wider universe.

Many of these format and style decisions have formed over many years, including before the creation of this task force in 2021, without specific talk page discussions and have thus become consensus through normal editing (WP:IMPLICITCONSENSUS). While multiple acceptable styles may be provided by the MoS, per MOS:VAR {{tq|it is generally considered inappropriate for a Wikipedia editor to change from one style to another unless there is some substantial reason for the change.}}

= Miscellaneous =

{{shortcut|WP:MCUVARIANTS}}

  • Use last names when referring to characters, except when to differentiate them with other characters of the same last name or if the character in question is rarely referred to by their last name.{{efn|See discussions here, here, and here.}} Asgardian characters should be referred to by their first names.{{efn|See discussion here.}}
  • On articles about films or television series, the {{para|based_on}} parameter of the infobox should only list characters and creators present in the project's end credits. Additionally, if only {{tq|Based on the Marvel Comics}} is used, the opening sentence of the lead paragraph should state {{tqq|based on Marvel Comics featuring the {{LinkBlue|character of the same name}}}}, linking to the comics character's article.{{efn|See discussions here, here, and here.}}
  • {{Anchor|VARIANTS}} For articles unrelated to the Loki series and Quantumania, use {{tqq|alternate version}} instead of {{tqq|variant}} to describe alternate versions of characters, as that is in-universe jargon that currently only applies to Loki.{{efn|See discussions here, here, and here.}}
  • Short descriptions for films and television series should be formatted as follows to comply with WP:SD40: {{tq|[YYYY] Marvel Studios film}} for films, {{tq|[YEAR]–[YEAR] Marvel Studios television series}} for ongoing television series, and {{tq|[YEAR] Marvel Studios television miniseries}} for television miniseries.{{efn|See discussion here.}} If a year is already included in the article's title, such as Iron Man (2008 film), the year can be excluded from the short description. Television seasons and episodes have their short descriptions generated automatically by the television season and episode infoboxes.

To-do items

= Prep for Featured List nomination =

= Prep for Good Topic nomination =

{{For|Good Topic status|Wikipedia:WikiProject Film/Marvel Cinematic Universe task force/Good Topic status}}

= Prep for Good Article nomination =

  • Expand and copyedit Loki season 1 and its episode articles to prep for Good Article nomination
  • Expand and copyedit Eternals to prep for Good Article nomination

= Other =

=Articles that need cleanup and fixes=

{{WikiProject cleanup listing|Marvel Cinematic Universe}}

  • {{clc|Marvel Cinematic Universe articles that need a response section}}
  • [https://petscan.wmcloud.org/?show_disambiguation_pages=both&interface_language=en&templates_any=&categories=Marvel+Cinematic+Universe+task+force+articles%0D%0APages+with+broken+anchors&cb_labels_yes_l=1&links_to_no=&wikidata_item=no&cb_labels_any_l=1&namespace_conversion=keep&common_wiki_other=&wikidata_label_language=&page_image=any&common_wiki=auto&templates_yes=&manual_list=&minlinks=&min_sitelink_count=&before=&links_to_any=&outlinks_no=&language=en&ns%5B1%5D=1&output_limit=&edits%5Banons%5D=both&search_query=&pagepile=&search_wiki=&referrer_name=&project=wikipedia&sitelinks_yes=&labels_yes=&outlinks_any=&ores_prob_to=&search_max_results=500&negcats=&subpage_filter=either&wpiu=any&cb_labels_no_l=1&sparql=&edits%5Bbots%5D=both&langs_labels_yes=&doit= Marvel Cinematic Universe pages with broken anchors]
  • Links that aren't using MCU redirects:
  • {{Search link|insource:/Characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe/}}
  • {{Search link|insource:/Features of the Marvel Cinematic Universe\#/}}
  • {{Search link|insource:/Species of the Marvel Cinematic Universe\#/}}

{{clear}}

Assessment

{{see also|Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Marvel Cinematic Universe articles by quality log}}

{{Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Marvel Cinematic Universe articles by quality statistics}}

Did you know?

{{Category count only|Marvel Cinematic Universe Did you know articles}} MCU articles have Wikipedia:Did you know entries. They are listed here.

Recognized content

{{/Recognized content}}

New articles

{{User:AlexNewArtBot/MCUSearchResult}}

Announcements

{{/Article alerts}}

Notes

{{Notelist}}

See also

{{Sister project links|display=Marvel Cinematic Universe|d=Q642878|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|q=n|wikt=no|s=no|species=no|c=Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe}}

{{Marvel Cinematic Universe}}

Category:WikiProject Film task forces