While the Avengers are preparing to do everything they can to stop Emperor Supreme Doctor Doom’s global takeover, a new iteration of an underrated band of Marvel’s most nefarious villains has assembled to destroy their heroic adversaries. However, this new lineup of villains is the most horrifying collection of monsters the team has ever seen. Each of the Masters of Evil has already lived up to the team’s sinister name.

In Avengers #25 (2025) - by Jed MacKay and Valerio Schiti - the Avengers rally to take on Doctor Doom, as the Emperor Supreme finally unveils his first moves toward global domination.

Marvel recently revealed the cover of this “giant-sized” issue, teasing the arrival of a new version of the Masters of Evil. Originally formed by Baron Zemo, the first Masters of Evil was a collection of the Avengers’ greatest nemeses. Over time, the team’s were replaced by noticeably less powerful criminals, leading to a fall to laughable obscurity. However, the newest Masters of Evil are more dangerous than they look.

Madcap

Debuted In: Captain America #307 (1985) by Mark Gruenwald, Paul Neary, Dennis Janke, Ken Feduniewicz, & Diana Albers

A man with no name, Madcap is an unhinged psychological wildcard who has even given Deadpool pause in the past. While going on a church retreat with his friends and family, the bus transporting Madcap and the churchgoers was blown up in an attempt to cover up the accidental release of a hyper-healing enzyme chemical. Everyone in the explosion died except Madcap, who was left unconscious in a pool of the experimental chemical. Madcap was riddled with survivor’s guilt and attempted to kill himself before learning that he could no longer be hurt.

Deciding his life had no meaning, Madcap lived on nothing but whims and madness. His unending psychosis manifested a power that allowed him to drive others around him to insanity. Years later, Madcap was left even more broken after receiving the Ghost Rider’s Penance Stare. Feeling pain for the first time in years, Madcap has been left craving another taste of the Penance Stare. Later, an encounter with Deadpool caused Madcap to be stuck in the Merc's mind.

He cares for nothing but what scraps of entertainment he can muster and has been left calloused by his ceaseless survivor’s guilt.

With nothing else to live for, his singular purpose in life became to bring Deadpool agony. Madcap did everything in his power to destroy Wade’s life and reputation, mindlessly putting countless people at risk. However, upon learning that Deadpool had destroyed his own life, Madcap left Wade behind, even more satisfied. Madcap may be a goofy-looking character, but he is horrifically unhinged. He cares for nothing but what scraps of entertainment he can muster from his immortal existence. Madcap's mind has been left with little to cling to except his own horrifically fantastical sense of wonder.

Dreadknight

Debuted In: Iron Man #101 (1997) by Bill Mantlo, George Tuska, Mike Esposito, Don Warfield, Gaspar Saladino, & Bruce Patterson

A scientific genius turned master of monstrosities, Bram Velsing was once one of the most powerful minds in Latveria. Velsing believed that he was wasting his mind by helping Doctor Doom’s highly technical plots to take over the world. As punishment for Bram’s blasphemy, Doom welded a metal mask to the rebellious scientist’s face to mock his comparison to Doom. Struck by panic, Velsing fled Latveria. He wandered for weeks until he was discovered by a family of genetic experiments called the Children and their leader, Victoria Frankenstein.

Victoria, alongside the original Frankenstein’s monster and the other creations, tended to Bram’s recovery. Soon, Victoria introduced Bram to the original villainous Black Knight’s long-lost winged horse. Consumed by his desire to seek revenge upon Doctor Doom, Bram used what resources he could find to forge a high-tech lance. Now calling himself Dreadknight, Bram stole the winged horse and brandished himself like a knight. Biding his time until he could siege Latveria, Dreadknight later aided the witch Morgan Le Fey in an assault against the spirit of the first Black Knight.

Years later, Dreadknight was finally given an opportunity to seize Latveria’s throne. Doctor Doom was believed to be dead, leaving the throne open to grab. In the ensuing civil war over Latveria's rulership, Dreadknight fought to become king. However, Spider-Man and Silver Sable launched an unlikely partnership to defeat Bram. While Dreadknight may have failed to usurp the Emperor Supreme, his mechanical genius will still certainly bolster the other scientific geniuses among the Masters of Evil.

Mister Hyde

Debuted In: Journey Into Mystery #99 (1975) by Stan Lee, Don Heck, & Artie Simek

Another brilliant mastermind, and veteran of the Masters of Evil, Dr. Calvin Zabo is a near-unparalleled physiologist specializing in hormonal research. A man without morals, Zabo believed that he could transform himself just as Robert Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll transforms himself into Mister Hyde. After successfully creating the “Hyde Formula,” Zabo unlocked a towering muscular physique that he too called Mr. Hyde. Since then, Mister Hyde has been a frequent villain-of-the-week for numerous Marvel heroes.

Hyde would continue to perform countless immoral experiments, using the poor and homeless as his subjects.

While he hasn’t proven to be a substantial threat on his own, his actions have helped two major Marvel heroes rise in power. Sometime after the creation of the Hyde Formula, Zabo fathered Daisy Johnson, who would later grow up to become one of SHIELD’s most important assets, Quake. Hyde would continue to perform countless immoral experiments, using the poor and homeless as his subjects. Hyde began to build a successful drug operation in Los Angeles where he and some of his pushers encountered Robbie Reye’s freshly birthed Ghost Rider. Hyde was defeated, launching Ghost Rider’s popularity in L.A.

Following his defeat, Hyde became a recurring patient at the Ravencroft Institute. His madness has devolved into one that craves extreme reaction from his victims. He once horrifically tortured the Black Knight and Jarvis, simply to get to the Avengers. Calvin Zabo, like Madcap, is incapable of seeing humanity as anything more than objects to satisfy his whims. People mean nothing to Calvin. Mister Hyde is a sociopathic lunatic, empowered by his selfish desires and unfettered by his abject immorality.

Exterminatrix

Debuted In: Marvel Boy #1 (2000) by Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones, Avalon Studios’ Matt Milla, Richard Starkings, & Wes Abbott

Before becoming a villain herself, Oubliette Midas’s adoptive father, “Doctor Midas,” was an alien technology and arms dealer with the cosmic power to turn anything into gold. Midas later adopted Oubliette as a young girl, torturing her for years. Oubliette was molded into an insatiable killer and master assassin. Despite his cruelty toward the girl, Midas surrounded Oubliette with luxuries to teach her what life is "worth" living for. While Doctor Midas took pleasure in torturing his adopted daughter, Oubliette developed a fascination with torture as well.

While scavenging for alien tech, Doctor Midas would capture and bring home extraterrestrial lifeforms for Oubliette to torture too. The girl grew up with a foul obsession with dissection and pain, as her mind was warped by her father’s mental, physical, and chemical torture. Oubliette soon began hiding her face because Doctor Midas had falsely convinced her that she was heavily disfigured. Piece by piece, Oubliette was stripped of her humanity, living only for the sickeningly profane approval of her father.

Despite her horrifically groomed views against humanity, Exterminatrix isn’t necessarily an all-bad person. After discovering that Doctor Midas wasn’t her biological father, Oubliette broke down in Sue Storm’s arms, lamenting that she only did what she did to appease her father. Yet, with her return among the Masters of Evil, those tears may have been more performative than honest. Exterminatrix s the ranks of this team’s growing number of genuine sociopathic criminals.

Mad Thinker

Debuted In: Fantastic Four #15 (1963) by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, Stan Goldberg, & Artie Simek

The Mad Thinker is a relative enigma. A renowned genius in the fields of robots, engineering, and probability analysis, little to nothing is actually known about the man behind the mind. His naturally gifted genius has been compared to a computer, as the Mad Thinker can calculate the probable odds of nearly anything within seconds. His methodical mind has carried him through a relatively lengthy career as a criminal. He has most notably crossed paths with the Fantastic Four on numerous occasions but often chooses to work with teams of like-minded scientific villains.

The Mad Thinker doesn’t seem to have any longstanding goals outside of general world domination. He is only as dangerous as he has time to plan and prepare, but in the ever-dynamic world of Marvel, the Mad Thinker has frequently fallen behind. However, his insatiable desire for power has been strangely directed toward an obsession with synthetic life. The villain is an unmatched computer scientist who first indulged in his obsession after experimenting with the original Human Torch. Subsequent interactions with characters like Ultron and Vision have further fueled his scientific ions.

These Masters of Evil are like a pack of wild dogs, hungry to satiate their obsessions without any other care.

While his ambitions may be relatively simple, his unwavering dedication to his research and methodical nature serve the Masters of Evil well. This version of the Masters is an eclectic group of self-serving maniacs, each of whom looks down on humanity like objects. These Masters of Evil are like a pack of wild dogs, hungry to satiate their obsessions without any other care. Unless Doctor Doom wants to ruin his reputation by commanding the criminals, the Mad Thinker will prove to be a valuable potential leader for the team.

Doctor Doom’s Masters of Evil Are Unhinged Animals

These Villains Don’t Have to Be Powerful to Be Unstoppable

Doctor Doom’s newest Masters of Evil is a disturbing blend of intellect, unstoppable drive, and clinical sociopathy. Unlike past iterations, this team isn’t defined by their quest for domination - it's by their unpredictable cruelty. Each member embodies a specific brand of horror, from Madcap’s nihilistic chaos to Exterminatrix’s torturous curiosity. While Doctor Doom is doing everything to convince the world to let him be its “savior,” it isn’t unlike Doom to puppet a team like the Masters of Evil from the shadows.

As Doom tightens his iron grip on the world, the Avengers will be forced to disperse their efforts when the Masters of Evil reap carnage upon their victims.

Avengers #25 releases April 23, 2025 from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics