36. Malekith The Accursed
In Thor: The Dark World, Malekith is a dull, one note villain played by Christopher Eccleston was has admitted he hated every minute of making this film (going as far to claiming Marvel lied to him about the character), and it really shows.
35. Laufey
He barely even registered in Thor (I forgot he was even in it until I rewatched it for the first time recently) and was quickly betrayed and killed by Loki and that was that.
34. Baron von Strucker
In the comics, this is a villain that could have been the main villain in a Captain America movie, but his role in the MCU was reduced to a post-credit scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier before quickly being killed off at the beginning of Avengers: Age Of Ultron. What a waste.
33. Extremis
Just going to lump Savin (aka Coldblood) and Brandt together here. They were basically just uninteresting lackeys for Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3, having both been infected with the Extremis virus.
32. Alexander Pierce
The thought of Robert Redford portraying a villain in the MCU is a generally cool thought, and an unexpected choice, but Alexander Pierce ended up being a bland corporate bigwig that was the most boring part of a film that I consider to be one of the most flavourless entries of the MCU.
31. The Tinkerer
I knew nothing about The Tinkerer’s appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this old school Spidey villain pop up as a part of The Vultures gang, tinkering away, making weapons from the Chitauri technology for The Vulture and Shocker.
He was more of a minor character really, but it good to see him none the less.
30. Kaecillius
Kaecillius was a strange choice of main villain for Doctor Strange, considering he has barely appears in the comics, but here we are. They wanted to save some of Doctor Strange’s bigger foes for later sequels, using a lesser known villain to concetrate on Strange’s origins instead.
29. Abomination
I like Tim Roth a lot and his Emile Blonsky was fun to watch, but as soon as he turned into Abomination, the film just became an ugly CGI mess. The MCU has come a long way in CG since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. The final scene of the film between Tony Stark and General Ross was meant to set up the Abomination to join the Avengers, which would have been an odd choice.
28. Whiplash
A mediocre villain for a very mediocre movie. I wasn’t a huge fan of Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2, although the scene in which he demands Justin Hammer retrieve his bird was amusing.
27. Destroyer
It was definitely cool to see Destroyer in Thor, but ultimately it is just a giant, enhanced, suit of armour so I couldn’t place it much higher.
26. Iron Monger
Iron Monger was the first ever villain in the MCU, but was also the first in a trend of villains who ended up just being bigger, badder versions of the heroes (see: Abomination, Whiplash, Yellowjacket, Kaecillius).
25. Aldrich Killian
At the beginning of Iron Man 3 we are introduced to Aldrich Killian, an eccentric, misunderstood genius and the character seemingly has huge potential, but all of that is lost when Killian is reintroduced as someone with all the confidence in the world and as a result, ends up being a lot less interesting. Also, having him be revealed as the “real” Mandarin (although later retconned) didn’t help matters in the slightest.
24. Korath The Persuer
Aside from his memorable first encounter with Star-Lord at the beginning of Guardians Of The Galaxy, Korath has been quite a forgettable villain, although we did get to see some of his back story in the recent Captain Marvel.
23. Ronan The Accuser
Korath’s boss, Ronan is slightly more interesting, but not by much. Yet another villain who’s only there to give our heroes a reason to have something to fight, whilst the more interesting stories are happening elsewhere.
22. Skurge
Not everyone was a fan of Skurge from Thor: Ragnarok, but I actually didn’t mind him. A lot of people have called out Karl Urban for his terrible English accent, but I thought it was actually pretty funny.
21. Arnim Zola
First appearing as Hydra’s lead scientist working for the Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, Zola returned in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, having uploaded his consciousness to a computer. We very nearly got him in his comic book form, which would have been awesome, but had to settle with this instead.
20. Ulysses Klaue
I can’t help but think we were a bit short changed Andy Serkis’ big screen portrayal of Klaw. First being introduced in Avengers: Age Of Ultron, I was looking forward to seeing what Marvel would do with him in Black Panther, until he was killed off halfway through and it all seemed like a massive waste of time.
19. Shocker
Marvel surprised us by having the Shocker in Spider-Man: Homecoming, despite not being in any promotional material, but then they killed him off early in the film. Oh. But then a second Shocker took on the mantle, and was actually given a decent sub-plot.
18. Taserface
Poor old Taserface. All he wanted was to look cool in front of his friends in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 but was subjected to endless ridicule from Rocket before meeting a grizzly end onboard the Eclector.
17. The Black Order
The Children of Thanos were basically end of level bosses before Thanos’ final boss, but Ebony Maw at least was given more to do than just be a standard grunt, and I loved the look on his face as he floats, having been killed by Iron Man in space. The Black Order returned briefly in Avengers: Endgame, but there was so much going on that you’d be forgiven for forgetting.
16. Yellowjacket
Despite being yet another villain who is basically wearing the same costume as the hero, but with different colours, there’s no denying he didn’t look pretty bad ass and the end fight with Ant-Man is one of the most fun end battles yet.
15. Hela
Thor: Ragnarok is one of the best (if not the best) films in the MCU but unfortunately, despite Cate Blanchett clearly enjoying herself, Hela is one of the more forgettable aspects of the film.
14. The Red Skull
Captain America: The First Avenger isn’t exactly the strongest film in the MCU, and Hugo Weaving apparently hated playing Captain America’s most famous villain so much that it took 7 years for the character to appear again, this time played by The Walking Dead’s Ross Marquand. Hopefully now the character can take his rightful place as one of the main villains in the MCU.
13. Sonny Birch
Sonny Birch was about the closest thing Ant-Man and the Wasp had to a villain, and Walton Goggins did his best to make the character entertaining as hell. I can’t remember exactly why he wanted the miniaturised building in the film’s hugely enjoyable final chase, but I had fun regardless.
12. The Winter Soldier
Bucky Barnes has become a mainstay in the MCU and has become one of the most important characters, with Sebastian Stan set to reprise the role in a new series based on Bucky and the Falcon. But his time as a villain came in possibly the most overrated MCU movie to date, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I struggled to really care about the character until Infinity War.
11. Ghost
You can barely even call Ghost a villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp, but she was at odds with our heroes for the most part of the film and therefore has earned her place on this list. Of all the so-called villains in the MCU, Ghost is probably the most sympathetic once you realise what her actual intentions are.
10. Dormammu
I wasn’t aware Dormammu was going to make an appearance in Doctor Strange, so it was a nice surprise when Doctor Strange took the fight to him during the film’s climax. It’s a fairly short battle (although apparently the actual time spent in the time loop was long enough for Strange to master his powers), but it’s awesome.
9. The Mandarin (Trevor Slattery)
Although he turned out not to be a villain at all, eventually being revealed as a coke-addicted actor by the name of Trevor Slattery, Slattery’s Mandarin still caused Iron Man and War Machine more than enough trouble to warrant a place on this list. A lot of people hated Iron Man 3‘s shocking reveal, but I absolutely loved it. Hopefully we’ll get to see him again, although that seems unlikely.
8. Justin Hammer
For all of the faults of Iron Man 2, Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer was not one of them. He’s an actor who is always a joy to watch, no matter what the quality of the film and his appearance in Iron Man 2 is the sole reason to revisit one of the weaker entries in the MCU.
7. Ultron
Before Age Of Ultron was released, I was very curious as to how Ultron would come across on screen, with my knowledge of the character limited to just Captain America and the Avengers on the Sega Mega Drive and the Secret Wars graphic novel. He never came across as a particularly interesting character, basically a walking Dalek, but James Spader changed all that by making him genuinely funny and even somewhat relatable in one of the most underrated MCU movies to date. Plus, those paying close enough attention to Spider-Man: Homecoming will know that he is actually still out there somewhere
6. Ego The Living Planet
Kurt Russell is awesome and immediately makes Peter Quill’s father, Ego, likeable in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but it soon transpires that he is utterly bat-shit crazy and perhaps not the ideal father Star-Lord was looking for. He was another one-and-done villain, but an immensely enjoyable one at that.
5. Zemo
Despite boasting no powers or fighting skills of his own (and being very different from his comic book counterpart) the MCU’s version of Baron Zemo has been one of the Avenger’s most formidable opponents to date, splitting the team up in 2015 which took up until 2019 (9 years in the franchise’s storyline) to fully fix. Hopefully he’ll reappear at some point, if only so we can see him finally don his purple mask from the comics.
4. Killmonger
There’s no denying that Michael B. Jordan is fantastic as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther, but I can’t help but feel that the character’s arc was completely rushed. His story would have been more effective had it been told over multiple films but in the end his presence feels like a mere blip in the MCU’s overall story.
3. The Vulture
Michael Keaton seemed to disappear from Hollywood’s A-List for a long time after starring in such duds as White Noise and Jack Frost. Thankfully the likes of The Other Guys and Birdman brought him back to our screens which eventually resulted with him portraying one of the best villains in the MCU to date, The Vulture. Adrian Toomes was never one of my favourite villains in the comics, but Keaton’s natural charm made this movie version something else entirely, with Michael Giacchino providing him with one of the most badass themes in the entire MCU to date. He’s still around as well, so expect to see him in one of the upcoming Spider-Man movies, possibly even leading a big screen version of the Sinister Six.
2. Loki
Tom Hiddleston’s big screen portrayal of Loki is so beloved that we’re now getting an entire series based on the character; the first time a villain will get his own show. Is he even a villain anymore? He joined The Revengers alongside Thor, Hulk and Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok, and no doubt would have fought alongside the Avengers had he not run into Thanos first. But even then, he would have had a sneakier motive, which is what makes him so much fun to watch.
1. Thanos
Who else was it going to be? He wiped out half of all life in a single snap. Josh Brolin plays it much differently from the comics, but is all the better for it. His whole point in the comics is that he is in love with the physical embodiment of Death, something that just wouldn’t have translated well to the big screen at all. Instead we got one of the most well intentioned, but dangerous villains of all time.
Now that Avengers: Endgame is out, and with Mysterio set to appear in the upcoming Phase 4 finale, Spider-Man: Far From Home, which other villains would you like to see in the MCU?
It would seem like we’re getting a villainous Baron Mordo in the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel after his post-credit sequence in the first film. Also, Disney now have the rights to the likes of Galactus, Kang The Conquerer, Doctor Doom and Magneto. The Infinity Saga may be over, but there’s plenty of mileage left yet in the MCU. Personally I’d like to see Magneto left alone for a while as the X-Men films haven’t even finished yet but to finally see a faithful adaptation of Doctor Doom in the MCU would be truly epic, as would Kang or Galactus. Plus we have the likes of Green Goblin (probably still too soon after Amazing Spider-Man 2) Doctor Octopus, Apocalypse (too soon after X-Men: Apocalypse), Mephisto, Annihilus and Mister Sinister to name but a few.
Let me know how wrong my list was in the comments and let me know who you’d like to see next.
NERDFACE 