Marvel Just Made an Immensely Powerful Avengers-Level Villain MCU Canon

The MCU has officially introduced one of the most powerful villains of all time. Not all villains are equal in terms of threat; Kingpin may be a dangerous crime boss (and an even more terrifying mayor), but he’s far from a global threat. On the other hand, there are villains so powerful it takes team-ups to beat them. That’s the reason the Avengers were formed in the comics; that on days like no other, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will come together against a common foe.

The MCU hasn’t really introduced all that many Avengers-level villains, largely because the team-up movies have been so infrequent. Loki, Ultron, and Thanos are all worthy contenders; other notable Avengers-level enemies who’ve been beaten elsewhere include the likes of Kang the Conqueror and Galactus. The latter was only seen in the Fantastic Four’s timeline, where he was defeated by the heroes of that Earth. It seems he isn’t the only Avengers-level enemy beaten by the FF, too…

The Fantastic Four Have Also Faced the Super-Adaptoid

Marvel Comics has published an official prologue to Fantastic Four: First Steps, called The Fantastic Four: First Foes. Written by Dan Slott and Ryan North, and featuring art by Mark Buckingham and Phil Noto, it reveals more about the FF’s origin story. It seems Professor Rene Rodin was Reed Richards’ mentor in the MCU, an arrogant genius who believed himself the secret behind Reed’s brilliance. Rodin was on hand at mission control on the fateful day the Fantastic Four were created, and believed his calculations allowed the Fantastic Four to get back to Earth in one piece after the cosmic storm.

Rodin became the Mad Thinker, a Fantastic Four villain mentioned in First Steps. It seems his first strike against the Fantastic Four involved taking control of the entire city’s technology, forcing the FF to retreat to the less technologically-advanced Yancey Street. There, he sent an android known as the Super-Adaptoid against them. An established threat in the comics, the Super-Adaptoid is the ultimate Avengers-level villain in that it has the ability to duplicate any super-powers it encounters. The Super-Adaptoid has taken on entire teams of Avengers and X-Men at once, and it was just as dangerous against the Fantastic Four.

The Super-Adaptoid seen in Fantastic Four: First Foes is a little different. It doesn’t duplicate powers; rather, it contains sophisticated threat-identification technology to counter them. It’s built to be stronger than the Thing, uses sonic attacks to penetrate the Invisible Woman’s powerful force fields, and has fire suppressors to neutralize the Human Torch. Naturally, as dangerous as the Super-Adaptoid may be, it’s quickly defeated by the Fantastic Four; it may be able to counter their powers, but not Reed Richards’ mind, which is actually so much greater than the Mad Thinker’s.

Most viewers assume that Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will eventually combine the mainstream MCU with the Fantastic Four’s timeline. If that is indeed the case, then it likely means the Super-Adaptoid will soon be part of the same shared universe – a villain that will become ever more dangerous in the context of a world packed with heroes. It will be thrilling to see if it ever makes its way into live-action.

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