Marvel shows off its deep bench of characters in 'Falcon' and 'WandaVision'

Marvel Comics was built on titles with a 60-year history, like Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Hulk. But some of the characters recently getting attention and lighting up social media have names like Sharon Carter, Jimmy Woo and the Dora Milaje.

When "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "Thor" hit theaters a decade ago, the contours of Marvel's plans for a cinematic universe -- building toward the "Avengers" -- took shape. Yet even for those weaned on the comics, the latest phase of Marvel's expansion has been notably defined by the depth of its bench, and the remarkable mileage extracted from less-familiar characters. The marquee heroes used to launch Marvel onto streaming service Disney+ have been Wanda and the Vision, and the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Those two projects, however, have been enriched by deftly incorporating peripheral players, eliciting enthusiastic responses from fans.