Summary
- The MCU's success relies on memorable villains who challenge and force the heroes to grow.
- Not every villain in the MCU works out, but overall, they have done a great job balancing threats.
- The power level and effectiveness of MCU villains can vary, with some being more menacing or impressive than others.
The success of the MCU relies as much on memorable villains as it does on the heroes, and the franchise has delivered a wide range of antagonists, from the surprisingly mundane to the nearly unstoppable. From early MCU heroes like Iron Man and Thor to newer additions like Shang-Chi and the Eternals, heroes need an exciting, original villain to challenge them and force them to grow. While not every villain works out, the MCU has done a great job overall of learning how to balance one-off threats and multi-movie forces of evil.
Villains take many forms across the MCU's ongoing timeline, from their otherworldly and cosmic abilities to the intelligence and strategic minds that allow them to execute their plans. From the lackluster to the truly threatening, the MCU always has interesting villains, but only one can be the most powerful.
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38 Todd Phelps' Biggest Achievement Is Retconned Moments After It Happens
Appears In She-Hulk: Attorney At Law Season 1
- Release Date
- August 17, 2022
- Seasons
- 1
With the more comedic approach of She-Hulk, it is not too surprising that the show fails to deliver a truly menacing villain. In fact, for much of the series, Todd Phelps comes off as just a gross, entitled rich boy. The She-Hulk finale doesn't do enough to change that.
She-Hulk and every other movie and TV show on this list are available to stream on Disney+.
It is not until the finale that Todd is revealed to be the head of the Intelligencia, a group of internet trolls who hack Jennifer Walters' personal phone. While this is a despicable act, the fact that Todd is simply arrested off-screen shows how little power he actually had. Theres a glimpse of Todd becoming a more powerful Hulk-ified enemy, but Jennifer Walters ret-cons it away.
37 Sadie Deever Isn't Particularly Effective
Appears In Ms. Marvel Season 1
It is telling that there is some trouble identifying the main villain in Ms. Marvel, but Sadie Deever is the antagonist for most of the first season. She is an agent working with Damage Control who seeks to bring down Ms. Marvel. While the organization seems to be getting more powerful, it's yet to really succeed in a show of force.
Her reckless and underhanded tactics make her easy to dislike, and her motivations are never really clear. Deever ultimately seems incompetent at her job and gets the anti-climactic end of simply being fired over the phone. Damage Control may continue to grow, but for now, Deever won't be part of the organization if that happens.
36 Ivan Vanko Comes Off Strong But Ultimately Fails To Impress
Appears In Iron Man 2
- Release Date
- May 7, 2010
- Director
- Jon Favreau
Iron Man 2 is generally considered the weakest entry in the franchise, and that's largely in part due to Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash, being an ultimately underwhelming nemesis. Vanko feels like a bit of a retread after he uses arc reactor tech to build a partial suit (and, in collaboration with Hammer, drones), which was already done by Stane in the first Iron Man movie. While Vanko seems menacing when he catches Stark off-guard in Monaco, Tony and Rhodey ultimately dispatch the villain relatively quickly in the film's climax.
35 Obadiah Stane Is Scary Even Before Getting His Power Armor
Appears In Iron Man
As the first villain in the MCU, Obadiah Stane makes his mark, even if he pales in comparison to some who follow him. Even before donning the massive Iron Monger suit, Stane is a powerful figure in the business world and effectively wields that influence to further his wants. Of course, he gets physically powerful with his super suit as well, but Stane deserves credit for being intimidating even as an unpowered human.
34 Darren Cross Is More Menacing As Yellowjacket Than M.O.D.O.K.
Appears In Ant-Man & Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania
Darren Cross is another corporate villain who is much more effective as a threat when wearing a tailored suit than he is when wearing a super suit. Cross proves that he is just as intelligent as Hank Pym, recreating the formula for Pym Particles. As such, he not only threatens Pym and others physically, but Cross threatens to damage Hank's legacy by militarizing their research.
Years later, Cross becomes the only MCU villain so far to don two different supervillain names. Areveals that Cross survived the end of Ant-Man, after which he was pulled into the Quantum Realm. Deformed, Kang armed him and he became M.O.D.O.K. While scary in theory, M.O.D.O.K. never really comes across as overly threatening or effective and goes out with a bit of a whimper.
33 Ghost Hasn't Explored The Full Potential Of Her Abilities
Appears In Ant-Man And The Wasp & Is Set To Appear In Thunderbolts
Ghost, aka Ava Starr, is a bit of an odd villain in the MCU as she has impressive powers but wants nothing to do with them. Her ability to phase through matter makes her very tricky to fight and allows her to be quite deadly as she can simply reach through a foe and stop their heart. However, Ghost's full potential isn't really realized because her abilities leave her in constant pain. With Ghost set to appear in the cast of Thunderbolts, it's possible she'll have honed her abilities in the years since her last appearance.
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32 Adrian Toomes/The Vulture Is Scarier Than He Is Powerful
Appears In Spider-Man: Homecoming & Morbius
One of Spider-Man's oldest villains, Vulture gets a very different approach in Spider-Man: Homecoming. He is something of a blue-collar bad guy who steals and sells high-tech weaponry to the highest bidder. As a criminal, he is fairly capable, especially with his intimidating flying suit. However, he is also just an ordinary guy underneath those wings. He is also quite reluctant to actually kill anyone. However, his relatively grounded nature is a big part of why he's so effectively terrifying.
While Spider-Man: Homecoming is Toomes' only appearance in the MCU, Sony's Morbius has a post-credits scene revealing that the villain has been transported to the Sony Spider-Man Universe. It's hitherto unclear how or if Vulture will be used moving forward.
31 Wilson Fisk/Kingpin Seems To Have An Inconsistent Power Level
Appears In Daredevil Season 1-3, Hawkeye Season 1, Echo Season 1, & Is Set To Appear in Daredevil: Born Again
Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin is a normal human without special abilities, but he wields incredible criminal influence, making him more powerful than most people. The extend to which Wilson Fisk's web of control spreads is unknown, but he controls much of New Yorks organized crime, has his foot in various legitimate businesses, and is currently set to pursue a political career in the events of Daredevil: Born Again.
However, Fisk's physical power has been inconsistent. Throughout much of Daredevil and Echo, he's able to be injured by strong strikes from other humans, but he also takes arrows and explosives to the chest in Hawkeye without batting an eye. His miraculous recovery from being shot point-blank in the face complicates things even more, leaving it unclear just how powerful Wilson Fisk really is.
While Vincent D'Onofrio and Charlie Cox played Kingpin and Daredevil in Daredevil seasons 1-3, which originally aired on Netflix, it's unclear if the show is wholly canon or if the MCU is simply choosing to keep the broad strokes in tact.
30 John Walker Is As Strong As Captain America But Lets His Emotions Get In The Way
Appears In The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Season 1 & Is Set To Appear In Thunderbolts
- Release Date
- March 19, 2021
While there are some who would argue that John Walker is not the true main villain of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the way he tarnishes his title certainly makes him a strong contender. Walker received a modern version of the Super Soldier Serum, the same substance that gave Steve Rogers his increased strength. Moreover, even before taking the super-soldier serum, Walker is an exceptional soldier. However, his rage seems to cloud his mind at times, making him more vulnerable and less impressive than the original Captain America.
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29 Yon-Rogg Is Strong But One-Dimensional
Appears In Captain Marvel
- Release Date
- March 6, 2019
As a Kree warrior, Yon-Rogg really should have been a more impressive villain, but just about any villain will look bad going up against Captain Marvel. He has the strength and fighting skills one would expect from a Kree, but he is no match at all for Carol Danvers. However, Yon-Rogg is more impressive when considering the mind games he played with Carol. Seeing her potential as a weapon, he convinced Carol for years that she was a member of the Kree.
