Does Marvel have a problem with their villains?

[Flint Marko]

Ah, great to hear. I might give it a chance once I have time to get invested in a TV-series.

It's a big investment, there are 44 episodes and I just finished watching the second season. It's long, and there are moments where it drags before hitting it's stride, but overall it's worth watching if you want a backdoor into the marvel universe. There are some really great ideas and great moments in there.

 

[The_Manhunter]

Your post reeks of DC fanboyism. Bane being a far more memorable villain? Eh. He was alright, and the movie was alright but he'll always live in the shadow of Joker. And Zod is far from being a well developed villain. He is basically a forgettable, interchangeable maniac that didn't even get that good of a performance from a great actor like Shannon. DC has just as much a problem imo. Besides Joker, what other memorable villain have they served up?

Bane and Zod were both great and memorable. Totally disagree with you there.

 

[Boom]

Don't know about Zod, but I've seen/heard Bane mentioned enough times in pop culture references and merchandise to think he's had some impact on the general populus.

With the exception of Loki, I haven't seen as much for any of the other Marvel villains.

 

[The_Manhunter]

Don't know about Zod, but I've seen/heard Bane mentioned enough times in pop culture references and merchandise to think he's had some impact on the general populus.

With the exception of Loki, I haven't seen as much for any of the other Marvel villains.

For the record, here are who I generally consider to be the most memorable CBM villains. I am not too biased one way or the other t:

In no order off the top of my head:

- The Joker (The Dark Knight)
- Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
- Zod (Man of Steel)
- Loki
- Ultron
- Magneto
- Two-Face (The Dark Knight)
- Ra's al Ghul (Batman Begins)
- Thanos

 

[Oscorp]

For the record, here are who I generally consider to be the most memorable CBM villains. I am not too biased one way or the other t:

In no order off the top of my head:

- The Joker (The Dark Knight)
- Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
- Zod (Man of Steel)
- Loki
- Ultron
- Magneto
- Two-Face (The Dark Knight)
- Ra's al Ghul (Batman Begins)
- Thanos

I'd say Zod from Superman II is a much more iconic and memorable CBM villain than Zod from Man of Steel (who's not bad by any means, but not that great either if you ask me).

I'd also not call Ra's al Ghul a memorable CBM villain. He's a good villain, but not in any way iconic if you ask me. And Thanos hasn't really done anything yet, it remains to be seen about him. Instead, I'd add Doc Ock and Green Goblin to the list in place of those two.

 

[NotSoLongAgo]

I'd say Zod from Superman II is a much more iconic and memorable CBM villain than Zod from Man of Steel (who's not bad by any means, but not that great either if you ask me).

I'd also not call Ra's al Ghul a memorable CBM villain. He's a good villain, but not in any way iconic if you ask me. And Thanos hasn't really done anything yet, it remains to be seen about him. Instead, I'd add Doc Ock and Green Goblin to the list in place of those two.

Yeah I agree.

Id say:

1. Joker (Heath Ledger)
2. Loki
3. Magneto
4. Doc Ock
5. Bane (Hardy, of course)
6. Green Goblin
7. Two-Face (Eckhart)
8. Joker (Nicholson)
9. Ultron
10. Wilson Fisk

With an honorable mention for Hydra and Pfeiffer's Catwoman.

 

[SuperT]

I'd put both Hydra and Catwoman on that list before I'd put Ultron.

 

[The_Manhunter]

I'd say Zod from Superman II is a much more iconic and memorable CBM villain than Zod from Man of Steel (who's not bad by any means, but not that great either if you ask me).

I'd also not call Ra's al Ghul a memorable CBM villain. He's a good villain, but not in any way iconic if you ask me. And Thanos hasn't really done anything yet, it remains to be seen about him. Instead, I'd add Doc Ock and Green Goblin to the list in place of those two.

This was all my opinion though, not who I thought is generally considered to be iconic. My apologies if I worded it incorrectly.

I know it is probably too early to include Thanos, but the little we have seen of him has made a huge impact on me. I haven't seen Spider-Man 2 so I don't know about Doc Ock, and I thought Green Goblin was OK but a bit cliche.

 

[kedrell]

Well Yellowjacket started slow but ended strong and I very much liked him as a villain so another feather in Marvel's villain cap on that one.

 

[Hypestyle]

There needs to be an all-villain movie in the MCU. They can't successfully destroy the world, but they can pull off a heist against some other bad guys. This is how the Thunderbolts angle can be created eventually.

 

[NotSoLongAgo]

There needs to be an all-villain movie in the MCU. They can't successfully destroy the world, but they can pull off a heist against some other bad guys. This is how the Thunderbolts angle can be created eventually.

Thunderbolts vs the Sinister Six

 

[DACrowe]

How is Marvel's situation any more dire than Fox's? In seven X-men or X-men related films, we've had only ONE memorable villain. With the exception of Magneto, all the rest of the X-men's rogues that have appeared on film have truly been nothing more than afterthoughts. This is so frustrating because the X-men have arguably one of the best rogues gallery in comics. Only now are they beginning to show more ambition when it comes to villainy and that ironically, is a result of the success of the MCU. At least Marvel has attempted to expand beyond Loki, with varying degrees of success more or less.

It's too early to tell what type of success WB will have going forward with it's newly shared universe and Sony's new rebooted Spiderman franchise didn't get one villain right, so much so, that they had to reboot the "reboot" and ask for Marvel's help.

I would argue that Rebeca Romjin's Mystique was more memorable than any villain in the MCU not named Loki. And she had about five lines of dialogue in three movies. And while Jennifer Lawrence is more anti-hero than villain, if that counts...

I also liked Brian Cox as Stryker and Kevin Bacon as Shaw better than most of the MCU villains. Not very flashy, but at least while watching the movie, they created real menace. I do not think anyone was seething with repulsion or suspense at Yellow Jacket or Ultron this summer.

 

[DACrowe]

Don't know about Zod, but I've seen/heard Bane mentioned enough times in pop culture references and merchandise to think he's had some impact on the general populus.

With the exception of Loki, I haven't seen as much for any of the other Marvel villains.

People still love quoting Bane, and I see people dress up as him for Halloween. He's quoted in other movies and shows. I don't know. Has anyone so many years later seen Red Skull, Whiplash, Iron Monger, Maleketh, or Mandarin Halloween costumes or pop culture immersion?

Sure, Bane will never be as big as Joker. But Joker is generally considered the best comic book villain ever. My question is why Marvel doesn't have anyone as good as Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face or Anne Hathaway's Catwoman, or Michael Fassbender's Magneto, and so on.

And yes, Bane is up there too. Consider where Bane was in pop culture before TDKR. Now look at even the immediate effect it had on him in the Arkham games (a gorilla in the first two, the main villain by the third). I would love to see Ultron have had that kind of impact.

 

[jmc]

If they do all of these characters justice, then yes, the villain complaints should go away.
What's funny is that Marvel has seemingly been very respondent to criticism in the past. They've learned from their mistakes in certain areas, but it seems that their approach to villains is one thing they don't care to change any time soon. Their formula is working, so why bother?

I just don't know how anyone from the studio could honestly say they've done the best the could in this aspect of their films, or even be all that proud of the record. All of these successful characters they've brought to the screen and yet Loki is the only villain of real note. They're in the best possible position to reinvent the characters they have access to and yet they're not taking advantage of that.

 

[Mike Murdock]

I also liked Brian Cox as Stryker and Kevin Bacon as Shaw better than most of the MCU villains. Not very flashy, but at least while watching the movie, they created real menace. I do not think anyone was seething with repulsion or suspense at Yellow Jacket or Ultron this summer.

Well, I wasn't seething with repulsion from Sebastian Shaw either. I liked his powers, but I was disappointed with the execution of the Hellfire Club overall. It was a real wasted opportunity.

 

[Greens]

There is no denying that Bane had more of an impact on pop culture than any MCU villain MAYBE besides Loki. That's just a fact.

 

[starscream22]

There is no denying that Bane had more of an impact on pop culture than any MCU villain MAYBE besides Loki. That's just a fact.

No it's not....

H3ll, I couldn't even understand half of what he was saying with that stupid looking mask on...

Claiming the weakest villain in the Nolan-verse was the better than just about all of the MCU villains isn't fact simply because you liked him.

Good luck with proving that to anyone else.

 

[Greens]

Claiming the weakest villain in the Nolan-verse was the better than just about all of the MCU villains isn't fact simply because you liked him.

I didn't comment on the quality of the character AT ALL. I'm just noting the character's impact. Who in the MCU was quoted, imitated and meme-fied more than Bane?

 

[starscream22]

I didn't comment on the quality of the character AT ALL. I'm just noting the character's impact. Who in the MCU was quoted, imitated and meme-fied more than Bane?

LOL, you're the one quoting "facts", so that's for you to prove.

Rises was the weakest link in that trilogy so was the impact you speak of good or bad?

Either way I haven't heard that name in months. I'd give it to Nolan's Scarecrow before I would Bane.

 

[Boom]

And where are your facts, exactly?

 

[kedrell]

I didn't comment on the quality of the character AT ALL. I'm just noting the character's impact. Who in the MCU was quoted, imitated and meme-fied more than Bane?

As I understand it, Bane was popular to make videos of due to the ease of altering or imitating his voice in such a way as it wouldn't be obvious that it was a dubbing. Best example of this would be Auralnauts's Bane rapping freestyle videos. That doesn't mean Bane is popular because everyone thought he was a cool, threatening villain. He's easy to make fun of, more so than others. I'm not sure that's the type of notoriety studios want for their villains.

Faux-Mandarin was also a joke but that was the point of his character. He was supposed to be a joke. Bane ended up as a joke because, well he just sucks.

 

[Greens]

Either way I haven't heard that name in months. I'd give it to Nolan's Scarecrow before I would Bane.

Yeah, okay. You clearly don't understand what I'm saying.

 

[SuperT]

Either way I haven't heard that name in months. I'd give it to Nolan's Scarecrow before I would Bane.

AoU just came out in May and I don't particularly hear people still talking about or gushing over Ultron. What's your point?

I do agree with him that Bane had a far bigger impact on the pop culture landscape than Ultron, easily.

 

[Boom]

I'd say both of BB's villains are non-factors, when all is said and done.

They were good, but nothing that permeated through pop culture to any significant extent.

 

[Greens]

I'd say both of BB's villains are non-factors, when all is said and done.

They were good, but nothing that permeated through pop culture to any significant extent.

Agreed. Neeson's Ra's was awesome, but he doesn't bring much in terms of theatricality so he doesn't register as much as Joker or Bane.