7 Marvel Villains That Became Deadly Threats in Alternate Universes

Marvel Comics has given readers some of the greatest villains in fiction. Villains in superhero comics are a delicate balancing act. The bad guys can’t ever actually win, or at least not win in the long run, and they can’t really kill too many heroes. Death is a revolving door in the Marvel Universe, but you can’t constantly have villains kill the heroes. This can make it hard to show just how dangerous they really are. However, for a long time now, the House of Ideas has done something rather interesting to show just how deadly their villains are: make them into world-killing monsters in alternate universes.

Marvel’s most dangerous villains have some hero deaths under their belts, but it’s rarely any that stick or take down the best heroes. However, in alternate universe stories, these same villains can reach their greatest potential, destroying the heroes who usually best them. These seven Marvel villains became deadly threats in alternate universes, showing just how dangerous they can be.

7) Ultron

Ultron is one of the Avengers’ greatest villains, and has done a lot of damage to the team over the years, but he rarely actually kills any heroes. However, in alternate universes, it’s a different story. The easiest example to point to is Age of Ultron (not related to the movie, by the way) where he’s able to take over the Earth in the future and slaughter most of humanity. No one can stand against him, and the heroes have to come up with a time travel plan to beat him. In Avengers: Twilight and The Last Avengers Story, Ultron is also responsible for numerous hero deaths, showing just how dangerous he can be outside the 616.

6) Absorbing Man

Earth X is a Marvel classic, opening up in a future where everyone has superpowers. In the years leading up to the story, we learn that the Avengers were killed in battle with an enemy that no one would expect: the Absorbing Man. Crusher Creel is extremely powerful, but he’s also kind of dumb, which has made him much easier to defeat because he doesn’t use his powers in smart ways. However, in this future, he ended up absorbing the super-computer brain of Ultron, allowing him to kill the team.

5) Mastermind

Mastermind is a B-list X-Men villain with the power to control minds. He’s never really killed anyone, and he’s rarely done anything memorable besides pushing Jean Grey to become the Dark Phoenix. However, in Wolverine: Revenge, he became the leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants, taking over the Eastern Hemisphere and using the last working reactor on Earth (after Magneto died and released an EMP that destroyed the technology of most of the planet) to cement their power. The villain team captured and killed Captain America and Bucky at his behest, and then he used his powers to become a ruthless dictator. He was responsible for countless deaths before Wolverine killed him.

4) Red Skull

Red Skull is a plenty deadly character in the 616 Marvel Universe, but alternate universe Red Skulls got that dog in them. In the classic Wolverine story “Old Man Logan”, he was able to lead the villains in battle against the heroes and won, his plan allowing them to slaughter the vast majority of the superheroes in the United States. In “Cap Lives”, he rules the Nazi Empire in the ’60s, the Nazis having won the war after Cap disappeared, responsible for insane amounts of death. Alternate universe Red Skull is just built different.

3) Kang the Conqueror

Kang the Conqueror has an amazing body count against the heroes of the Marvel Universe… in alternate universes. Kang has traveled the length and breadth of time and the multiverse, killing every superhero he comes across. He does it for practice, basically; he tries out new strategies against his these other universe versions of his foes, and he has a storehouse of mementos from his adventures across the multiverse. The 616 Kang is a beast in every universe but the prime 616 timeline, and many of the alternate universe versions of him we’ve seen are the same.

2) Apocalypse

Apocalypse is one of the most dangerous X-Men villains, an experienced and powerful mutant overlord. He’s basically the Thanos of the mutant corner of the Marvel Universe, and we’ve met numerous alternate reality versions of the character. In these universes, the villain has been able to kill loads of heroes, from the X-Men and beyond. The best example of this is the X-Men blockbuster “Age of Apocalypse”, where he took over the Americas and killed millions, both directly and indirectly. He’s the perfect dark lord of the mutants in alternate universes, and these versions of him are much more deadly than the one we’re used to, who is already pretty deadly.

1) Thanos

Thanos is generally considered to be Marvel’s most formidable villain, and he has a massive body count. However, most of his most important kills are usually undone, kind of nerfing his threat. In alternate universes, though, he’s much, much more deadly. The best example of that is “Thanos Wins”, a story that sees the Mad Titan brought to the future by King Thanos, a version of himself who has killed almost everyone in the universe, including the heroes of Earth (the only survivors were the Punisher, who became Ghost Rider and then got the Power Cosmic to become Cosmic Ghost Rider, and the Hulk). He’s much more formidable in alternate universes, fulfilling the promise of the villain.

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