7 Marvel Villains Who Should Actually Be Heroes

Marvel Comics didn’t create the superhero, but they did institute a lot of famous firsts. There’s one trope that the House of Ideas revolutionized: the villainous redemption. Three of the most popular superheroes ever – Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Black Widow – all started out as villains, the first of many villains to switch sides. Some of the publisher’s most popular bad guys have even had their own redemption stories. Some of them, like Magneto, get to stay heroic for long periods of time. Others, like Doctor Doom, get shorter ones. Then there are the characters who debuted as an antagonists but would actually do much better as heroes.

We’ve seen numerous characters start out as antagonists and then change sides, becoming more and more popular. Some bad guys are just more fun as good guys, and would make more sense that way. These seven Marvel villains should be heroes, as their characters would make more sense fighting on the side of angels.

7) Abomination

The Hulk faces some formidable foes and one of the most dangerous has always been the Abomination. Emil Blonsky was a spy working at Gamma Base and eventually was exposed to gamma, become the Abomination and battling the Jade Giant. Unlike the Hulk, he doesn’t get stronger as the gets angrier, but he’s still monumentally powerful. He also keeps his intellect, making him less of a rage monster and more of just a superpowered person. The Abomination hasn’t been important in years, and a change of sides could work out well for him. Emil is no longer a spy and mostly just doesn’t like the Hulk. SHIELD could hire him and it would fit him perfectly.

6) Destiny

Destiny is best known as Mystique’s precognitive wife, the two of them working together to make sure that mutants survive the racism of humans. At one point, her pragmatism made her villainous; she never cared who died as long as the good future happened. Nowadays, there’s nothing villainous about the character whatsoever. Destiny is basically a hero, since she wants mutants to survive and bigots to die. Superhero comics have changed a lot; we’ve reached a point where one of the most important X-Men villains of the ’80s would make way more sense as a hero than as the bad guy she started as.

5) Batroc the Leaper

Captain America has had exciting adventures for decades, having faced off against the worst villains imaginable. Most of his enemies are evil fascists and bigots, but some of them are just mercenaries trying to make a living in a world of superpowered people, taking jobs from anyone who will pay. Batroc the Leaper used his mastery of the French martial art savate to work as a merc and ended up fighting Cap many times. However, he’s not really evil; he’s just doing the job. He’s always been funny and interesting and making him a hero would be so simple. Batroc is an amazing character and a hero turn could make him the kind of star he should be.

4) Doctor Octopus

Spider-Man’s villains hate him with a passion, with Doctor Octopus having learned to hate the Wall-Crawler more than anyone but Green Goblin. However, Otto Octavious also got to know Peter Parker the best, spending some time inside his head as the Superior Spider-Man. This story became the most popular Doc Ock story, taking the character in new directions and giving readers a new kind of Spider-Man. Sure, he wasn’t exactly all that much of an altruist, but he was able to make the whole thing work. Ock found his greatest success as a good guy, and that’s reason enough for him to go back to being a hero.

3) Moonstone

Moonstone was once a D-list Avengers villain, mostly known for her time with the Masters of Evil. Her alliance with Baron Zemo led to her being roped into his next big scheme after the Avengers and Fantastic Four disappeared in “Onslaught”. She was one of the first members of the Thunderbolts, and she led the team againt Zemo when he decided to try to take over the world, helping the returned Avengers beat him. She became one of the best members of the team. However, when Civil War changed the Thunderbolts to Marvel’s Suicide Squad, she went back to being a villain instead of the hero she had become. Since then, she’s been back to being more villainous, but the change has never made any sense. She had become a great hero and it’s long past time she went back to that conception of the character.

2) Apocalypse

Apocalypse is thought of as one of the X-Men’s greatest villains, but recent years have seen major changes made to him. In the Krakoa Era, it was revealed that he actually loved mutantkind and wanted to make them stronger. In fact, we even learned that his survival of the fittest ethos were somewhat altruistic; he was charged by wife Genesis to create an army that could defeat the demonic hordes of Amenth. En Sabah Nur is hardcore and it would be interesting to see him change sides. He would be perfect as Earth’s Celestial protector, battling to make sure the strong can get strong enough to survive.

1) Taskmaster

Taskmaster is one of the most beloved B-list villains in the Marvel Universe. The man with photographic reflexes, allowing him to copy any movement he’s seen, is a mercenary; he doesn’t believe in evil or want to take over the world. He just wants to fight people and make money doing it. He’s become more popular than ever in the present day, his quippy sense of human, awesome costume, and exciting stories making him a favorite of readers. It’s long past time someone in SHIELD hired him, allowing him to grow into an actual superhero.

What Marvel villains do you think should be villains? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

10 Best Marvel Stories No One Talks About