5 Marvel Villains Who Have Kept Getting Stronger Since They Debuted

Marvel Comics villains are some of the best out there. Over the years, the House of Ideas has created the coolest antagonists that you could ever imagine, bad guys who challenge the heroes in a variety of ways. The Marvel Universe has changed a lot over the decades and the villains have changed with it, becoming more and more potent as the years have gone on, often surpassing the heroes’. Change is one of the weirdest things in comics, because characters can only change so much; it’s a business of nostalgia and fans want to see characters they recognize. However, one place where fans welcome change is to power levels.

Most villains in comics in general have grown in power over the years, but some of them have grown much more than the others. They’ve become titans, the evilest people you can imagine with powers that make them ever greater threats than before. These five Marvel villains have kept getting stronger since they debuted, showing that there’s ceiling to the power of evil.

5) Nimrod

Honestly, I probably could have just put “Sentinels” as this entry and it would work just as well, but Nimrod is just too cool not to focus on. Nimrod first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #191 and was immediately a major threat to the X-Men. It was the ultimate Sentinel, sent from the future to destroy mutantkind in the past. It was armed with every kind of anti-mutant tech you could imagine and could adapt to mutant attacks, allowing it to learn from every battle it was in. The original Nimrod eventually became Bastion, with several others showing up from the future in the intervening years. It wasn’t until the X-Men’s blockbuster Krakoa Era that we’d finally get a Nimrod built in the present day.

This new Nimrod was easily the most powerful one. It was able to nullify the power of every mutant out there, and was powerful enough to fight Magneto and not have to worry about being destroyed. He trounced the X-Men every time he showed up, killing an entire team of them at the third Hellfire Gala (he was able to beat Juggernaut into unconsciousness). It finally took the combined powers of Storm and Magneto to defeat it, and even then it was a close thing. Every Nimrod has gotten more powerful, leading to this ultimate version.

4) Ultron

Ultron was created by Hank Pym, when the scientist was trying to create a robotic lab assistant. However, he created a living intelligence, one who immediately started to hate humans. Pym tried to get rid of him, but Ultron survived, creating new bodies for itself. His first major upgrade came with the Ultron-6 body, when he started to incorporate adamantium into his chassis. Since then, every Ultron has had it, a major defensive upgrade that has helped make him one of the most dangerous foes the Avengers face.

However, it wasn’t just his defenses that have gotten stronger. He’s gained new weapons, the ability to control technology, and has grown physically stronger, able to punch it out with the strongest villains out there. Nowadays, he usually shows up with an army of Ultron drones, his consciousness spread among those bodies, making him even more dangerous. As the Avengers have gotten stronger, so has he, always making sure to keep himself more powerful than the humans he hates.

3) Apocalypse

Apocalypse is one of the X-Men’s most popular villains and has been for 35 years. He was created to be the big bad of the original X-Factor, battling Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, and Angel along with his Horsemen of Apocalypse, transforming Angel into Archangel. Apocalypse was always powerful, but he was powered to X-Factor’s level. During this period, the O5 X-Men weren’t as powerful as they are now and neither was Apocalypse. He was a foe who challenged them to their utmost extent, though, and after his death at the hands of Cyclops in X-Factor #68 that would change.

When he first came back, he was weak because he didn’t get a full regeneration cycle and then spent another couple of years away (during which time “Age of Apocalypse” happened, so he was technically still around) getting back to full power. His return after “Onslaught” saw him more powerful than ever, leading into “The Twelve” and his ultimate millennial plan (as in the “new millennium” and not a plan that revolved around millennials). However, it wouldn’t be until the 21st century when he’d get his biggest upgrades. His armor, for example, was established to be the same stuff Celestials are made of and he’s able to run through Omega-level mutants like they’re nothing. He almost killed Thor with one punch. He’s vastly more powerful than he was back when he was fighting X-Factor and will probably keep growing in the days to come.

2) Doctor Doom

Doctor Doom has always been potent, but if we’re being honest he was nowhere near as powerful as he is now. Back then, it was before it established that he was a Sorcerer Supreme magic user (in fact, if you go back and read Doctor Strange/Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, which just got reprinted and you can probably find in your LCS, the book establishes that he uses machines to harness magic, something that has changed in the four decades since that book came out), it was before he started upgrading his armor, and it was before he established as one of the smartest people on Earth. All of that has changed.

Doom’s power and his stature in the Marvel Universe are linked; when Doom is important to the overall narrative of the universe, he’s at his highest power level. When he’s not and he’s just showing up as a villain for one story, he’s much more easily beaten but still extremely powerful. With Doom coming to the MCU, he’s been at his most powerful for years now and since he’s going to be taking over Mephisto’s Realm soon (Marvel spoiled “Hell’s Angel” in Captain America (Vol. 14) in Black Panther/Namor: Doomed #1, a book that came out several months before the story that will make him ruler of that infernal realm ends – it still hasn’t yet), he’s almost certainly going to get more powerful.

1) Thanos

Thanos is considered Marvel’s most potent villain by many, but it definitely wasn’t always that way. Once upon a time, the Mad Titan battled the first Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, two heroes with mid-level superpowers, and he had a problem with them. He was killed battling the Avengers when he tried to get his first Cosmic Cube, staying dead until Thanos Quest, where he whupped the Elders of the Universe, using his power and cunning to take the Infinity Gems. Infinity Gauntlet made him an A-list villain again and he’s gotten more powerful ever since.

When most people think of Thanos, they think of the Gauntlet, and they assume that’s why people think he’s so powerful, but he has never needed the Gauntlet (there’s a Hood Comics meme from years ago about why Thanos doesn’t need the Gauntlet that I found on Facebook back then that does a great job of showing why this is false; some of you definitely know what I’m talking about). Thanos is powerful enough to beat Thor with Warrior Madness (which tripled his strength) and the Power Gem. He’s battled the strongest Avengers to a standstill in Infinity and only won because his son turned him into a statue. “Thanos Wins” showed him killing the entire Earth superhero community without any amps. All of this shows that Thanos has continually grown stronger, becoming an ever greater threat to the universe.

What Marvel villains do you think have gotten stronger? Any who should be here that aren’t? Do you remember the Hood Comics meme I’m talking about and its ending? Sound off in the comments below.

5 Marvel Comics That Haven’t Been Adapted That Every MCU Fan Needs On Their Bookshelf