The heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have always been praised for how well they have been written and handled, but they would be far less interesting without compelling villains to challenge them. Despite not getting as much screentime as the heroes, each second a villain is on screen is time used to better develop them and the protagonist in a meaningful way.
Some villains get more time in the spotlight than others and how well that time is utilized is up for debate, so here are the 10 villains with the most screentime in the Infinity Saga, according to IMDb.
Red Skull/Johann Schmidt - 15:30
Red Skull was one of the first villains to ever debut in the MCU and served as a suitable antagonist for Captain America's first solo outing. Many thought they saw the last of him when he disappeared at the end of Avengers: Endgame as the guardian of the soul stone. Considering he has multiple film appearances, it is interesting to see him so low on the list below villains who have only one made one.
Justin Hammer - 16:30
Hammer was first introduced in Agents of SHIELD. Since he is one of the few villains Marvel hasn't killed off and was instead sent to prison by the end of the film, there is always a chance that we could see him show back in the future of the MCU.
Ego - 17:00
Despite being teased and alluded to in the team's first film, we wouldn't meet Peter Quill's Celestial father until Eternals movie, it would not be a shock if he were to appear or be referenced in one of the many scenes confirmed to take place in the far past.
Ultron - 17:00
As soon as the first trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron dropped, it only confirmed how perfectly cast James Spader was in the role of Ultron. While some were underwhelmed with the film itself, Spader's performance was far from a letdown, a performance that was praised by both the audience and his fellow actors.
Ultron, after Thanos and Zemo, is easily the villain that came the closest to achieving their goal as he was moments away from destroying all life on Earth before being stopped by the Avengers.
Vulture - 19:00
Spider-Man: Homecoming had a lot to accomplish - it had to show that Marvel could not only accurately handle Peter and Spider-Man, but his villains as well. Luckily for the fans, they were able to deliver with Micahel Keaton's Vulture. As MCU Peter's first villain, he was a perfect blend of sympathetic and cunning, and the personal connection he had to Peter as the father of his girlfriend made the scene where neither were in costume even more interesting to watch.
Killmonger - 20:45
Killmonger and his story left a strong impression on the audience which is an impressive feat since the character was on screen for less than a half-hour. While methods may have been extreme, his message about Wakanda refusing to help those that weren't natives was a valid one. It was clearly one that you can tell impacted T'Challa enough to go against tradition and change how the country dealt with the rest of the world. It resulted in what might be the only time in the MCU where the hero has truly considered the antagonists' point of view and altered things for the better because of it.
Mysterio (Quentin Beck) - 21:15
It is interesting that even though he is one of the MCU's newest heroes, both of Spider-Man's main villains are on the list. Quentin Beck, if that is his real name, was a great follow up villain to Vulture and built upon the elements from the first film in a way that flowed wonderfully while allowing this character to feel fresh and unique.
Despite, his "death" at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home many believe that we haven't seen the last of the character and that he will get more screentime in one of the MCU's phases.
Obidiah Stane - 22:00
Stane holds a very special place as being the MCU's first villain. In a strange way, fans partially have him to thank for giving us an Iron Man and kicking off the MCU. To this day, Stane remains one of the MCU's most well-crafted villains and it is in large part due to the amount of time given to fleshing out the character and his motivations, making the, often extreme, lengths he went to in order to destroy Tony completely believable.
Thanos - 44:30
Despite only appearing fully in two movies, with a minor role in Avengers: Infinity War, he does not disappoint. Each of the seconds The Mad Titan spends onscreen only serves to establish him as a more threatening and terrifying character. From the very moment, he appeared on the Asgardian ship, he commands the audience's attention, making it feel very much like his movie, even more so than an Avengers film.
Loki - 1:14:30
Given the overwhelming popularity of the character, it's not surprising that Loki has appeared the most out of all the villains in the MCU. Ever since his first appearance in the first Thor movie and his follow up role as the villain of The Avengers, the character has amassed a large number of fans. So far Loki has appeared in a total of 6 MCU movies and is set to be getting his own series on Disney+ starring the version of him that escaped from the 2012 timeline using the tesseract in Avengers: Endgame giving us even more of the God of Mischief.
