Ranking All The MCU Villains From Worst To Best

[jolldan]

Its good to be bad as they say so I thought lets see who's the best of the bad.

Ok so firstly ill mostly only be taking the villains that I think matter in terms so if they are the main villain or have a major part to play if I ranked literally every villain side or not this is gonna be a ridiculously long list. So I won't be including the likes of Zola. However some films I feel might warrant for example CAWS where both Redford & Stan standout as quality villains.


Really Bad
29nd. Malekith
28st. Sonny Burch
27th. Ayesha
26th. Kaecilius
25th. Yon-Rogg

Bad
24th. Aldrich Killian
23rd. Ghost
22th. Justin Hammer
21th. Kurse
20th. Whiplash

Average
19rd. Dormammu
18nd. Abomination
17st.Yellowjacket
16th. Ego

Very Good
15th. Zemo
14th. Alexander Pierce
13th. Nebula
12th. Ulysses Claw
11th. Obadiah Stane
10th. Red Skull
9th. Ultron
8th. Ronan

Best
7th. Hela
6th. Killmonger
5th. Mysterio
4th. Vulture
3rd. Winter Soldier
2nd. Loki
1st. Thanos

 

[Batmannerism]

Okay. I might go for a top 10.

1. Hela. Manages to be cool and slinky but also incredibly menacing and badass. Cate Blanchett is a world class actress and she brought her A game to what could have been a forgettable role. Hela dominates every scene she's in.

2. Thanos: While I enjoyed his creative use of the Infinity stones I loved how freaking deadly he was in close quarters with Tony, Steve and Thor during their Endgame fight. He's a lot more complex than your average monomaniacal obsessed villain and more interesting. A worthy uber- for for the MCU's grandest saga.

At this stage I would like to mention that both Loki and Bucky while great as villains also spend nearly as much time as good guys or at least allies of hero characters.
As such I cannot really include them in my villain list.

3. Zemo : because he's just a guy with a goal. During Civil War we see him doing a bunch of mundane stuff like practicing his Russian, ordering breakfast and waiting in lines at airports - all of which reinforces that unlike the Avengers he's an ordinary person ( no super powers or gadgets, just planning). The depth of his commitment to his plan is pretty scary - that he planned to kill himself once his goal had been achieved.

4. Vulture: we can understand why he does what he does and he's pretty badass for an old guy with wings.

5. Alexander Pierce: because he's the kind of bad guy that exists in the real world.

6. Klaue: He enjoys being bad, and was great fun in BP, stole every scene he was in.

7. Ego: because he's Kurt Russell and has awesome 80s hair.

8. Obidiah Stane: again a bad guy who could very plausibly exist in the real world.

9.Kilmonger. Honestly, I didn't get the rave about him, he's tough and nasty and I feel a bit sorry for him, but otherwise nothing extraordinary.

10. Ultron. Really feel that Marvel dropped the ball here. Ultron is one of the Avengers' worst enemies and a serious threat. The movie version fell very far short of that. Not a bad performance from Spader but Ultron was nowhere near menacing enough.

 

[Charzhin0]

Thanos and Red Skull are the 2 that really embody everything about a good villain. Imposing, sinister, evil and present a viable challenge to the hero both physically and intellectually.

 

[LeagueOfBats]

Thanos
Kilmonger
Mysterio
Vulture
Loki
Alexander Pierce
Aldrich Killian
Zemo
Ego
Hela
Red Skull
Iron Monger
Ultron
Yellowjacket
Kaecillius
Ronan
Abomination
Ghost
Yon-Rogg
Whiplash
Malekith

 

[TheGuy]

My top 5:
1. Hela
2. Loki
3. Thanos
4. Killmonger
5. Vulture

The rest are average.

 

[Appfanincaaland]

My favorite 10 villians and antagonists
1 - Loki (in Thor)
2 - Thanos (in A:IW)
3 - Tony Stark (in CA:CW)
4 - Vulture
5 - Mysterio
6 - Zemo
7 - Loki (in Avengers)
8 - Alexander Pierce
9 - Red Skull
10 - 6 way tie -- the characters are just OK but are made better because of the casting: Justin Hammer, Ego, Ultron, Grandmaster, Obadiah Stain, Ulysses Klaue

Most overrated: Eric Killmonger
Most sympathetic: Ava Starr "Ghost"

 

[Boom]

1. Thanos
2. Killmonger
3. Hela
4. Vulture
5. Zemo

 

[Bayne]

My Top 10:
1. Zemo - Incredibly human, incredibly well written and acted. I can still remember the moment when I realized why he kept calling that voicemail. Just a wonderful character.
2. Thanos - The most epic villain in comic book movie history. And so far the only truly successful adaptation of a massive individual threat that requires an entire team of heroes to take him down (even away from his army).
3. Killmonger - Probably the most real villain in the mcu, with not so much a terrifying presence as a person as a terrifying performance of everything that's wrong with humanity in real life and how it all sometimes comes to be without anyone even trying to do bad things.
4. Vulture - Probably the most likable and relatable villain in the MCU. I'll be hugely disappointed if we never see him again.
5. Ego - Incredible performance by Russell and an incredible relationship between Russell and Pratt.
6. Alexander Pierce - Incredible surprise, well acted and top notch.
7. Loki - The original great MCU villain, but he still holds up.
8. Klaue - Just plain incredible fun.
9. Mysterio - Just saw this yesterday and he was really well done. The first big mirror sequence is one of the best power sequences in comic movie history.
10. Ultron - I couldn't disagree more with the so-called 'lack of menace', he was funny *and* scary, and the final scene between Ultron and Vision in the woods is still one of my favorite scenes in the MCU.

My 10 Worst:

10. Whiplash - Yeah he's weird and lame, but I at least had some fun with this one.
9. Obadiah Stane - Jeff Bridges gonna bridges. Not much else here.
8. Abomination - Generic.
7. Ayesha - Got a mild laugh once.
6. Kaecilius - Meh.
5. Justin Hammer - Mostly just annoying.
4. Kurse - Looked cool, I guess. Nothing more.
3. Malekith - who? Oh, that guy.
2. Sonny Burch - Get this jackass out of my face.
1. Aldrich Killian - Basically Whiplash, Stane and Hammer rolled into a single character and somehow more boring and irritating than all of them combined.

Honorable mentions: I think Winter Soldier and Nebula are incredible villains in certain movies, but I just can't compare them to this list because they're just not villainous enough. I also really enjoyed Hugo Weaving's Red Skull, but he just missed out the top 10.

 

[jolldan]

My favorite 10 villians and antagonists
1 - Loki (in Thor)
2 - Thanos (in A:IW)
3 - Tony Stark (in CA:CW)
4 - Vulture
5 - Mysterio
6 - Zemo
7 - Loki (in Avengers)
8 - Alexander Pierce
9 - Red Skull
10 - 6 way tie -- the characters are just OK but are made better because of the casting: Justin Hammer, Ego, Ultron, Grandmaster, Obadiah Stain, Ulysses Klaue

Most overrated: Eric Killmonger
Most sympathetic: Ava Starr "Ghost"

Not sure if you have already seen it but go watch the honest trailer for Ant-Man & The Wasp lol they basically make the same point how throughout the whole movie the heroes are basically just beating up a woman in chronic pain

 

[Stormborn]

My top 10:

1. Loki
2. Killmonger
3. Thanos (the original Thanos, not the time travelling replacement)
4. Zemo
5. Hela
6. Klaue
7. Ego
8. Nebula
9. Obadiah Stane
10. Alexander Pierce

 

[BoredGuy]

'Nother tough one

Bottom 5:
-Malekith
-Kurse
-Whiplash
-Kaecilius
-Yon-Rogg
Pretty much all of these characters were underdeveloped and a waste of their actors' considerable talents

Top 5:
-Thanos -A perfectly executed "big bad"
-Loki -the MCU wouldn't be what it is today without him, tho I'm now torn about considering him a pure villain
-Hela -Just so much scenery-chewing fun, a perfect "Bad for the sh*ts-and-gigs" type character
-Zemo -Great mastermind villain with some good depth and motivation, all he's missing is the ski mask
-Klaue -You don't get a much more charming and funny villain than Serkis gave us

 

[Joefixit]

When villains come from a very real place that makes them more interesting and also formidable. Joker is the best arch nemesis for Batman not because he can beat him physically, but because he puts him to the test mentally and emotionally. That being said my list of best marvel villains is as follows:

Kilmonger- IMO the best villain marvel has put on film. His viewpoint is very realistic and goes against the fabric of society. He’s a reverse racist and a screwed up ideology of what society is supposed to be.. I have never seen a villain so realistic on film, he’s in the category with Nicholson and Ledgers jokers.

Zemo- He knew he couldn’t defeat them so he sought to tear them apart!! His efforts had lasting consequences... One could argue that had the avengers been of one accord when Thanos attacked they would have fared better, but alas they didn’t because of Zemo!

Obadiah Stane - Closest friends make for some of the best adversaries

Scarlett Witch - What she did to the avengers in age of ultron set the stage for the split that would happen in civil war and really showed how fragile the relationship between Cap and Stark was during that film. I also think she may be the most powerful avenger moving forward.. what she did to Thanos.. wow. I would really like to see her go back to being a vilan and going against captain marvel.. that would be an epic confrontation.

Thanos- I really think he benefitted from the work of some of those listed above and also that the build up for him was so great. Of course I speak with sour grapes being a hulk fan, but I really think a United avengers could have beat him in one film. The fact that they were seperated helped him tremendously and also that was just bad writing allowing him to defeat hulk so easily.

That being said, he did snap half of all life away and also handled the big 3 rather easily in endgame, so that gets him a spot in my top 5.

 

[BoredGuy]

Killmonger was great too, just a shame he was let down by a lame final battle, imo

 

[Finarfiniel]

1. Hela - The Goddess of Death and Sass. Deliciously hammy, sexy, menacing evil fun and easily the villain the MCU most needs to bring back pronto. Also, played by the real life goddess Cate Blanchett who is clearly having a ball.
2. Loki - I maintain he's a villain overall, the guy attempted to commit genocide! Still a great character though.
3. Klaue - Such an underrated villain and character, Andy Serkis is awesome and so entertaining.
4. Thanos - Josh Brolin gives a fantastic performance but I still feel the character is slightly overrated because his motives are dumb and paper thin, give me comic Thanos over MCU Thanos any day.
5. Alexander Pierce - Another underrated villain, Robert Redford's stellar performance is what wins me over the most.

I'm too lazy to list the rest, but Malekith is definitely the worst.

 

[Docker2.0]

We only get one vote?! What kind of poll is this?! Anyway this are my top 3:
1) Thanos. He's the goat right now, hands down.
2) Loki. The ultimate schemer.
3) Killmonger. So underrated but yet relatable.
4) Ultron. He grows on you doesn't he?
5) Ronan. Underrated AF.
I know I said three but F*** math.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Cream of the Crop:
1. Hela
2. Killmonger
3. Thanos
4. Loki
5. Red Skull
6. Mysterio
7. Obadiah Stane
8. Winter Soldier
9. Klaw
10. Ultron

Memorable:

11. Nebula
12. Ronan
13. Abomination
14. Vulture
15. Arnim Zola
16. Alexander Pierce
17. Dormammu
18. Ayesha
19. Justin Hammer
20. Ghost

Good, but mostly a plot device:

21. Ego
22. Kaecilius
23. Whiplash
24. Kurse
25. Malekith
26. Yellowjacket
27. Baron Von Strucker
28. Yon-Rogg
29. Aldrich Killian
30. Sonny Burch

Inexplicably and inexcusably bad:

Not Mandarin
Sokovia Joe aka "Zemo"

 

[Spider-Fan]

Doing top/bottom 5 only.

Top 5 (Best to Worst)

Thanos
Loki
Killmonger
Hela
Mysterio / Vulture

Yes, that is 6. But I could not decide on number 5, so I cheated. Deal with it!

Bottom 5 (Worst to Less Bad)

Ivan Vanko - Started out fine, then disappears from the movie and has zero threat level
Malekith - True definition of a nothing burger
Aldrich Killian - He's just kind of a more boring Obediah Stane
Kaecilius - Similar problems as Malekith, only done better
Yellowjacket - Way too one dimenstionally evil to an almost hilarious extent, how did anyone trust this guy ever?

 

[TheGuy]

For a villain that existed before the Universe, Malekith sure as hell is powerful.

 

[metaphysician]

In no particular order, top 5:
Thanos
Loki
Alexander Pierce
Helmut Zemo
Hela

Bottom 5:
Abomination
Malekith
General/Secretary Ross
Ivan Vanko
Yonn-Rogg

 

[The Overlord]

Thanos and Red Skull are the 2 that really embody everything about a good villain. Imposing, sinister, evil and present a viable challenge to the hero both physically and intellectually.

Man, people keep on saying Red Skull is a great villain in the MCU and I don't get it.

Red Skull in the comics represents fascism, racism, and hatred, MCU Red Skull is a generic bad guy who wants power? Why does he want power? What would he do with it? What's his ideology? You know the answer to these questions with comic book Red Skull, with Red Skull I do not think there is a good answer. MCU Red Skull's character begins and ends with the words ''power mad''. that's just kinda dull.

Look I understand that comic book Red Skull may not fit the lighter MCU tone and that Red Skull was kinda cool as ghost thing in the Avengers movie, but he is not really a villain in the Avengers movie and they could have made MCU Red Skull a little more like his comic book counterpart in terms of motives, instead of being a generic bad guy.

For a villain that existed before the Universe, Malekith sure as hell is powerful.

Yeah, but he lacks personality, that is why he sucks. The most powerful villain ever will seem dull if they have no personality. He is way more scary in the comics. You could replace Malekith with a cosmic natural disaster and loss nothing in that film.

 

[Bayne]

Man, people keep on saying Red Skull is a great villain in the MCU and I don't get it.

Red Skull in the comics represents fascism, racism, and hatred, MCU Red Skull is a generic bad guy who wants power? Why does he want power? What would he do with it? What's his ideology? You know the answer to these questions with comic book Red Skull, with Red Skull I do not think there is a good answer. MCU Red Skull's character begins and ends with the words ''power mad''. that's just kinda dull.

Look I understand that comic book Red Skull may not fit the lighter MCU tone and that Red Skull was kinda cool as ghost thing in the Avengers movie, but he is not really a villain in the Avengers movie and they could have made MCU Red Skull a little more like his comic book counterpart in terms of motives, instead of being a generic bad guy.



Yeah, but he lacks personality, that is why he sucks. The most powerful villain ever will seem dull if they have no personality. He is way more scary in the comics. You could replace Malekith with a cosmic natural disaster and loss nothing in that film.

He may not've had the most depth in his script, but Hugo Weaving's performance is just plain fun. I still have to laugh every time he's disappointed that his supergun misfires and then his smug satisfaction after he fixes it and it kills properly.

 

[Charzhin0]

Man, people keep on saying Red Skull is a great villain in the MCU and I don't get it.

Red Skull in the comics represents fascism, racism, and hatred, MCU Red Skull is a generic bad guy who wants power? Why does he want power? What would he do with it? What's his ideology? You know the answer to these questions with comic book Red Skull, with Red Skull I do not think there is a good answer. MCU Red Skull's character begins and ends with the words ''power mad''. that's just kinda dull.

Look I understand that comic book Red Skull may not fit the lighter MCU tone and that Red Skull was kinda cool as ghost thing in the Avengers movie, but he is not really a villain in the Avengers movie and they could have made MCU Red Skull a little more like his comic book counterpart in terms of motives, instead of being a generic bad guy.

Yeah, but he lacks personality, that is why he sucks. The most powerful villain ever will seem dull if they have no personality. He is way more scary in the comics. You could replace Malekith with a cosmic natural disaster and loss nothing in that film.

Red Skulls motives may be derivative of usual bad guy antics, but his personality and selfishness stand out to me. He reminds me a lot of Kevin Bacons performance as Shaw in First Class which I also admire. Both are basically using the Nazis for their own personal agenda and both have a simple yet chilling mission.

'' I don't want to hurt you, Erik. I never did. I want to help you. This is our time. Our age. We are the future of the human race. You and me, son. This world could be ours.'' - Sebastian Shaw

''You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!'' - Red Skull

Motivations are pretty concise and simplicty for me beats complexity. Thanos' motivation for example is very questionable from a logical perspective.

 

[The Overlord]

He may not've had the most depth in his script, but Hugo Weaving's performance is just plain fun. I still have to laugh every time he's disappointed that his supergun misfires and then his smug satisfaction after he fixes it and it kills properly.

It's a good performance, but it's in the service of a dull character, the performance Heck Weaving did not come back to play der Skull again, so clearly he did not see the character as interesting.

Red Skulls motives may be derivative of usual bad guy antics, but his personality and selfishness stand out to me. He reminds me a lot of Kevin Bacons performance as Shaw in First Class which I also admire. Both are basically using the Nazis for their own personal agenda and both have a simple yet chilling mission.

'' I don't want to hurt you, Erik. I never did. I want to help you. This is our time. Our age. We are the future of the human race. You and me, son. This world could be ours.'' - Sebastian Shaw

''You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!'' - Red Skull

Motivations are pretty concise and simplicty for me beats complexity. Thanos' motivation for example is very questionable from a logical perspective.

But here's the thing Shaw has over the Skull, that one moment of personal cruelty that makes me hate the character, when we see Shaw is a position of power at a Nazi death camp and he kills Magneto's mom to unlock his powers.

Red Skull never got a moment like that, give him a really cruel personal moment and he would have worked better as a hateful villain if he did and Red Skull killing his men for failing him does not count, that's pretty generic evil villain stuff.

I am not saying Skull had to be super complex, but he could have been less generic. To me, Red Skull seems about as generic as MCU Ronan is.

 

[Charzhin0]

Red Skull never got a moment like that, give him a really cruel personal moment and he would have worked better as a hateful villain if he did and Red Skull killing his men for failing him does not count, that's pretty generic evil villain stuff.

I am not saying Skull had to be super complex, but he could have been less generic. To me, Red Skull seems about as generic as MCU Ronan is.

I agree with needing that personal moment of evil. Perhaps if Red Skull had killed Dr Erksine himself, rather than have a nameless Hydra agent do it, then we would feel the same hatred towards Red Skull as we did with Shaw because Steve Rogers and Erskine became good friends.

 

[Batmannerism]

I agree with needing that personal moment of evil. Perhaps if Red Skull had killed Dr Erksine himself, rather than have a nameless Hydra agent do it, then we would feel the same hatred towards Red Skull as we did with Shaw because Steve Rogers and Erskine became good friends.

To comment in on the Red Skull debate, I found him pretty underwhelming.
As far as him being generic, well he's already an archetypal bad guy, simply by being a high ranking Nazi. That ticks all the villain boxes right away.

Anyway 2 things occur to me:

1) the prosthetics/mask were not great. His appearance simply wasn't scary, just kind of cartoonish. What might have made more sense would be to have him wear a mask, consistent with the Hydra symbol.
But even if they went with him just being disfigured, they could have done a much better job.

2) Hugo Weaving was an inspired choice. He is a massively talented actor who can make minor roles very memorable ( e.g. Elrond). He was compelling, sympathetic and menacing in V for Vendetta and we never even see his face. Agent Smith, from the Matrix, is a terrific villain who oozes menace- again a result of Weaving ' s performance

So, why wasn't the Skull as successful ? Clearly Weaving has the acting chops and experience to put in a world class villain performance. However, the Skulls dialogue and role in the story are pretty pedestrian. Plan a) make a super weapon and take over the world, plan b) blow stuff up.

The character was not well written or characterized - and really doesn't have a lot of presence within the film. In that way he's very similar to Malekith, Ronan and Kaecilius a forgettable bad guy with generic motives and little personality - he's evil because his plan is evil...

Anyway, I blame the writers for not giving Weaving more to do ( Ledger doesn't have all that much screen time in TDK and we know nothing about him, but his Joker is a villain that sets the standard even a decade later). Sure, they had to let Cap own the film but there had to be a better way to write his nemesis.

I note that Skull still has no votes in the poll. Unsurprising.