It's been almost fifteen years since Iron Man first debuted in 2008 and during that time the Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced some great characters to audiences around the world. Characters like Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America have grown to become some of the most popular cinematic characters of the 21st century. As the MCU continues to expand with new Disney+ series like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever set to close in 2022 for the MCU, more and more characters are being introduced.
Although the MCU is famed for its cast of colorful and engaging characters, they have had some bland and one-dimensional characters as well. While many of these characters made no impression on audiences, some of them are loved by MCU fans for their awesome design alone.
Malekith
Doctor Who alumnus Christopher Eccleston, Malekith the Dark Elf isn't given much time in the movie to breathe or develop as a villain.
Even though Malekith is not one of the MCU's better villains, many fans do love the look of Malekith. Redditor RaynSideways notes how they "... really liked Malekith's design especially when he started absorbing the Aether. He grew to be ungodly huge and his skin blackened and charred; he looked like Sauron without armor."
Surtur
One of the characters that fans were eager to see in Thor: Ragnarok was the fire demon Surtur, the mythical demon destined to bring about the collapse of Asgard. When Ragnarok finally debuted, many fans were disappointed that Surtur's role in the movie was largely mechanical, fulfilling the Ragnarok prophecy and defeating Hela at the film's conclusion.
Although his role in the movie was criticized, many fans were very impressed by Surtur's devil-esque character design, complete with large hulking horns and crimson red eyes. Redditor Ccbm2208 notes that Surtur was "...a treat to see but from a story telling perspective he was pretty much a generic big bad". Despite his sole role as a device of the plot, his character design has made him a favorite among the MCU following.
Death Dealer
One of the most visually interesting characters in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is Xu Wenwu's loyal follower known as Death Dealer. With his visually stunning traditional Chinese opera-style mask, Death Dealer has a unique character design but is underdeveloped in the movie.
Numerous Redditors, like Pastymoonburn, highlighted that Death Dealer's "design was awesome", but he was underused in the movie. Shang Chi features several different villainous characters, but it makes sense that the movie would focus on Wenwu and his relationship with Shang Chi as the focal point of the action.
Ghost
Appearing in another example of an underdeveloped and weak MCU villain. Although she may have disappointed many fans, her captivating character design has made her a favorite among plenty of Redditors.
Redditor Shagger94 notes that, while she may not be the MCU's strongest villain, "Her suit design was cool as hell". Whether the character has a future in the MCU, possibly in the Thunderbolts movie, remains to be seen at this point.
Yellowjacket
One of the primary criticisms of Marvel movies, particularly the debut movie in each character's solo series, is that the hero ends up fighting an identical version of themselves, albeit, an evil one. This is true in movies like Ant-Man is no exception in this case. In the film's climactic battle, Scott Lang ends up fighting Darren Cross' Yellowjacket, a villain with almost the same powerset as his own.
Although Yellowjacket is not renowned as one of the MCU's most complex or sympathetic villains, his sleek mechanized design has given him fans among the MCU's faithful. Redditors, such as baccus83, spoke of Yellowjacket's "Amazing costume design" as their reason for iring the character.
Gorr the God Butcher
The most recent MCU villain to date, Thor: Love and Thunder features Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher, whose mission to rid the galaxy of all gods puts his character on a collision course with Thor. Early reactions to Love and Thunder hyped Gorr's character, comparing him to some of the best MCU villains. However, when the film finally opened to regular audiences, reaction to Gorr, and the movie more generally, was decidedly more mixed.
While many Redditors didn't care much for Gorr as a villain, they did note that the character's monk-esque roles paired with muted grey coloring, and gold eyes, created an interesting villain. As HermitFox91 says, "I didn't care for the character at all, but thought the design was cool."
Taskmaster
Taskmaster was always a fan favorite character that MCU fans were eagerly anticipating. Although the trailers for Black Widow had fans excited about the character's MCU debut, when the movie came out, many were left extremely disappointed.
Numerous Redditors, while dismayed at the way the movie handled the characters, were nonetheless impressed with how the character looked. MoobooMagoo, among many others, spoke of their iration for "...Taskmaster's design", but not much else.
Ronan
Guardians of the Galaxy is easily one of the best standalone MCU movies. What James Gunn accomplished by introducing a completely unknown team of D-list superheroes, and turning them into some of the most well-known and loved MCU characters is incredible. However, while Guardians of the Galaxy does a great job of introducing and giving depth to its central team of heroes, the same cannot be said for its primary antagonist Ronan.
Looking back on Guardians of the Galaxy now, it's hard to Ronan's motivations or anything else noteworthy about his character. Despite being one of the MCU's most disappointing villains, Redditors, like ZekeLeap, thought that Ronan looked pretty "badass".
Crossbones
Appearing in two Captain America movies, plus a cameo in Civil War, the character had a new badass look. He wouldn't stick around for long though, detonating a suicide vest after being captured during the film's opening scenes.
While the character didn't receive much in the way of development, his design was something that many Redditors, like Elfhoe, loved: "I really liked cross-bones. Shame to see him go so quickly". It's unlikely that Rumlow has any future in the MCU now, but with the possibilities of the multiverse opened, he could always reappear.
Arishem
Eternals officially ed Marvel's first "rotten" movie on Rotten Tomatoes despite its colorful cast of characters and epic level of storytelling. Eternals, like Guardians of the Galaxy, attempt to introduce a diverse and large cast of heroes to the MCU, with varying degrees of success. One of the most visually stunning characters created for the movie is the god-like Arishem.
The MCU has been criticized a lot recently for the quality of its visual effects, and its treatment of visual effects artists, but almost everyone on Reddit agreed with depressly2 that the "...vfx was really stunning" bringing Arishem to life.
