When Iron Man first hit theaters in 2008, nobody imagined it would pave the way for an era of superhero movies. The MCU is one of the most successful franchises ever, still weaving its tapestry into the cultural zeitgeist of the world.
With over over forty Marvel movies, TV shows, and specials, this cinematic universe has quite an impressive number of villains; from those who caused destruction that affected the very fabric of the over-arcing storyline to those who were, at most, a minor inconvenience. These true villains never swayed from their evil doings during their appearance on screen.
12 Kingpin
Kingpin, played by Vincent D’Onofrio, was introduced as Wilson Fisk in the Daredevil series. Kingpin outmaneuvered the FBI and Daredevil at the same time he was eliminating his criminal competition. His latest appearance is in the Hawkeye series. It reveals that Kingpin survived the Snap and went about rebuilding his criminal empire when released from prison.
This villain focuses on running and expanding his enterprise, as well as eliminating his enemies. His expert manipulation skills, brute strength, and shrewd strategies make him a formidable opponent. Though he hasn’t made as much of an impact as other villains as of now, he has appeared in two series already and has the chance to come back.
11 Gorr The God Butcher
Gorr, played by Christian Bale, appeared in Thor: Love and Thunder as the antagonist. Driven by grief from his daughter’s death and anger at the God Rapu’s cold indifference, Gorr is chosen by All-Black the Necrosword. He vows to destroy all gods, convinced that none of them deserve to be worshiped.
Using the Shadow Realm to travel through the universe, he unleashes Shadow Monsters along the way. He leaves all the cities that were protected by the Gods he kills vulnerable to attacks and/or invasion. Though Gorr is powerful enough to trap Thor, Mighty Thor, and Brunnhilde, he owes his powers to the Necrosword.
10 Agatha Harkness
Agatha Harkness, played by Kathryn Hahn, is introduced as the nosy neighbor Agnes in the Wandavision series. Toward the end of the show, she reveals her real name and the fact that she’s a witch who has been around since before the Salem witch trials. Agatha found and used magic from the Darkhold, which corrupted her.
Agatha shows her tremendous magical powers when she attempts to take Wanda’s own abilities, out of envy of her natural talent and fear of Wanda being the formidable Scarlet Witch. She holds her own against one of the most powerful beings in the MCU, and this performance tops plenty of others. However, Agatha only appears in one show and concentrates her attack on one character, leaving audience members wanting more.
9 Aida
Aida (Artificial Intelligence Digital Assistant), played by Mallory Jansen, appears in the Agents of Shield series. She’s first introduced as AI before she’s given a synthetic body, which is later updated. Aida becomes corrupted by the Darkhold and becomes a sentient being intent on giving herself a “human” body.
She puts on the mantle of Madame HYDRA before becoming Ophelia and targets SHIELD after her love was scorned. With AI level intellect and Inhuman powers at her disposal, Aida would’ve caused severe destruction if she hadn’t been stopped.
8 Killmonger
Erik Stevens (later known as Erik Killmonger), played by Michael B. Jordan, made his appearance in Black Panther. He dedicated his life to overthrowing his cousin T’Challa, so he could fulfill his murdered father’s plan in an act of revenge. His father, N’Jobu, wanted to use Wakanda’s vibranium to take control of the world and end the oppression of people.
Through intense training to become a Navy SEAL, he developed a wide variety of advanced skills, such as using different weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and marksmanship. Once he ingested the Heart-Shaped Herb in order to step into the Black Panther role, he became an even more formidable opponent. If he hadn’t been successfully stopped in Wakanda, his destructive reach would’ve been felt outside the one film.
7 Carnage
Carnage, played by Woody Harrelson, was in the movie Venom: Let There Be Carnage. He’s a symbiote offspring of Venom who bonded with the serial killer Cletus Kasady. His hatred for Venom fueled his attempts at destroying Venom and Eddie.
Carnage has a wide variety of incredible powers that were seen throughout the film. Perhaps if he’d bonded with a superhuman being or had a bigger nefarious plan, we would’ve seen this particular villain have more of an impact elsewhere in the MCU.
6 Dreykov
Dreykov, played by Ray Winstone, came onto the screen in Black Widow. He oversaw the Red Room, where young girls were trained to become the most dangerous spies in the world. Dreykov is directly responsible for entering Natasha Romanoff and her sister Yelena Belova into the program, where they became Black Widows.
Dreykov isn’t the most dangerous villain, but his use of pheromone manipulation and mind control over the Black Widows and Red Room staff made him difficult and dangerous to vanquish. Had he played a more impactful role not just in history but the overall story, Dreykov would almost be a Red Skull level threat.
5 Ego
Ego, played by Kurt Russell, made his appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. He’s revealed to be Peter Quill’s father, a living planet (with a humanoid avatar) that travels to different planets leaving “seeds” behind. These seeds then help him bring about the eradication of all life on that planet and produce extensions of himself.
As a Celestial being, Ego has enormous powers and abilities that made him a universe-ending threat. Since his only offspring that had any Celestial DNA was also able to thwart his plan and destroy him, however, Ego doesn’t quite measure up to other powerful villains.
4 Hela
Hela, played by Cate Blanchett, surprised audiences watching Thor: Ragnarök when it became apparent that she’s Odin’s true firstborn. Hela was the princess and executioner of Asgard before being banished to Hel by Odin. Upon his death, Hela was released, and she set about taking over the rule of Asgard.
Hela’s strength and powers proved too much, and only Sutur being unleashed stopped Hela (while destroying Asgard). Hela decimated Asgard’s army, leaving Asgardians vastly unprotected. The casualties created impacted the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War.
3 Ultron
Ultron, voiced by James Spader, was the main antagonist of Avengers: Age of Ultron. He was created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner to help protect Earth from attacks, as the Avengers did in New York. However, the A.I. became sentient and Ultron was born, updating his “bodies” throughout the film.
Ultron fought against the Avengers more than once, and bested them every time. He recruited the Maximoffs to help him, created his own robot army, and developed a device intended to wipe out humanity which almost succeeded. Ultron’s devastating impact reached beyond his one film appearance and laid the groundwork for other problems the Avengers faced.
2 Red Skull
Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving and Ross Marquand, appears in several MCU movies. Johann Schmidt rose high in the military he served, eventually creating his own malevolent force: HYDRA. Taking Erskine’s unstable Super Soldier Serum gave him powers while painfully disfiguring him, earning him his Red Skull name.
Believing himself and HYDRA superior, he searched for the Darkhold and the Tesseract in order to take over the world. Though the Tesseract opened a wormhole to make him the guardian of the Soul Stone, HYDRA continued to pose major threats for many years after.
1 Thanos
Thanos, played by Josh Brolin, came out of the shadows to become the ultimate villain in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Determined to bring the Infinity Stones together in order to wipe out half of all life in the universe, Thanos easily overcame any obstacle in his path.
His Titan physiology alone gave him incredible attributes, allowing him to overpower some of the strongest Avengers without much trouble. Combined with the power of the Infinity Stones and the vast army at his disposal, he was practically unstoppable. The devastation caused by his Snap was felt universally and vastly altered the MCU. No other villain has shaken the MCU foundations nearly much as Thanos.