In Marvel Comics, when World War II was raging, the United States sought to create a new breed of super soldier that could defeat the Axis Powers. Dubbed Operation: Rebirth, the experiments were overseen by Dr. Erskine, who developed the first Super Soldier Serum, which was given to Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. Unfortunately, a Nazi spy killed Dr. Erskine, and the secrets of the serum died with him. That didn’t stop people, both the United States and the Nazis, from trying to replicate the serum over the next several decades. This super-soldier arms race produced many deranged yet superpowered test subjects who became supervillains. Many of these villains who took the Super Soldier Serum have powers that surpass Captain America’s.
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Many of the test subjects who took the experimental serums followed in Captain America’s footsteps and became heroes like Union Jack and Black Widow. Unfortunately, whether they were already evil or corrupted by faulty versions of the serum, these villains gained enhanced abilities, making them even more dangerous.
10) Scourge
During the 1950s, after Captain America disappeared, the U.S. Government tried to replace America’s greatest heroes: William Burnside became Captain America, and Jack Monroe became Bucky. Burnside convinced Monroe to take an untested Super Soldier Serum, which increased their strength but drove them insane. In the modern day, Munroe attacked the real Captain America. Although Munroe had a brief time as the hero Nomad, he was eventually forced back into villainy. Placed under mind control by the villain Henry Gyrich, Munroe became Scourge and tried to kill the Thunderbolts. As Scourge, Munroe used a vast array of weapons, including guns and blades. Although Munroe was eventually freed from his brainwashing, he was killed soon after by Winter Soldier.
9) Johnny Nightmare
When the Punisher first met Jake Niman, they seemed to have a lot in common. Like the Punisher, Jake was a veteran whose family was killed by a gang, and he was seeking revenge. Although the Punisher initially helped Jake, he eventually uncovered the truth about the killings: Jake himself was the target hunted by the gang for war crimes he committed in Afghanistan under the alias Johnny Nightmare while empowered by a Super Soldier Serum. His family just got caught in the crossfire. The revelation made Jake reclaim his Johnny Nightmare identity and go on a murderous rampage. This maniacal villain was one of the physically toughest foes the Punisher ever faced because he could easily shrug off machine gun and rocket launcher attacks.
8) Protocide
Before Steve Rogers took the Super Soldier Serum, Clinton Mclntyre, aka Protocide, was one of the first test subjects to receive a prototype version of the formula. Although the serum made Protocide stronger and faster than Captain America, the serum also rendered him violently unstable and caused him to develop a severe heart defect. After being put in suspended animation for decades, Protocide was reawakened in the modern day by the terrorist group A.I.M. The villains manipulated Protocide into believing that Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. were enemies of the United States and trained him to be their enforcer. With a shield just as strong as Captain America’s, Protocide fought Captain America several times on equal footing, at first badly injuring him and later fighting to a standstill.
7) Grand Director
When Captain America was frozen in ice and presumed dead during the 1950s, the U.S. Government tried to have someone else take up the hero’s legacy. They chose William Burnside, who underwent plastic surgery to resemble Captain America, and also legally changed his name to Steve Rogers. Unfortunately, when he took an untested Super Soldier Serum, he went insane, and the government put him in suspended animation. After breaking free in the modern day, Burnside became a Neo-Nazi villain known as the Grand Director, who battles the unfrozen original Captain America. Although the Grand Director is shown to be faster and stronger than Captain America, he loses due in part to his fractured mind.
6) Taskmaster
Tony Masters, aka Taskmaster, is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who struck out on his own to become one of the deadliest mercenaries in Marvel Comics. He’s most well-known for his power to perfectly mimic anyone’s fighting style after seeing it only once. Taskmaster was born with this photogenic reflex ability, but during his time at S.H.I.E.L.D., he was able to drastically increase its potency by injecting himself with an experimental Nazi version of the Super Soldier Serum. Although the serum didn’t improve his strength, it significantly increased his reflexes and mimicry ability to the point that he could contend with some of Marvel’s best martial artists like Captain America, Daredevil, Elektra, Iron Fist, and Shang-Chi.
5) Bushmaster
The Hero for Hire Luke Cage gained his super strength and unbreakable skin after being used as a test subject in an illegal experiment to replicate the Super Soldier Serum. Although Luke Cage used his powers for good, the gang lord John Mclver, aka Bushmaster, did not. Initially powerless, Bushmaster forced the scientists who ran the experiment to turn him into a super soldier as well. The process worked, and Bushmaster became as powerful as Luke Cage, whose superhuman strength allows him to lift thousands of pounds and punch through steel walls. Bushmaster could also absorb energy to get stronger. Unfortunately for Bushmaster, the serum wasn’t safe, and he eventually died because it turned him into a metal statue.
4) Warrior Woman
A Nazi spy during World War II, Julia Koenig tracked down and hypnotized an American scientist who had knowledge of the Super Soldier Serum that gave Captain America his abilities. After attempting to replicate the serum, Julia took it and transformed into the fearsome Warrior Woman. Strong enough to lift 50 tons, Warrior Woman can easily toss around other super soldiers like U.S. Agent. With her incredible strength and deadly whip, the Nazi supervillain became a formidable enemy of the Invaders, fighting alongside another Nazi super soldier, Master Man.
3) Dr. Mindbubble
Where most versions of the Super Soldier Serum enhance a user’s physical abilities, in the case of Horace Littleton, aka Dr. Mindbubble, the serum granted him extraordinary mental powers. When S.H.I.E.L.D. hired Littleton to recreate the serum, the scientist decided to put a new spin on the formula by making a version based on LSD. After S.H.I.E.L.D. cut his funding, Littleton took the formula himself, ultimately becoming Dr. Mindbubble to get revenge. Through a special nozzle implanted in his head, this bizarre villain can create limitless, indestructible bubbles that capture people’s minds, trapping them in virtual realities where they live out their greatest fantasies. The only way for a person to escape before the bubbles kill them is to kill themselves in the virtual world.
2) Master Man
During World War II, the Nazi’s tried replicating the Super Soldier Serum several times, with Master Man being their most tremendous success. Like Captain America, Wilhelm Lohmer was a frail man who underwent the super soldier experiment that completely transformed his body. Lohmer gained super-strength and psionic levitation. Now called Master Man in his new incarnation, he became one of the most dangerous villains the Allies faced during World War II and a frequent foe of the Invaders. Master Man is strong enough to fight Namor and lift tanks, and can fly so fast that he snuffs out the Human Torch’s flames. Master Man stands as one of Captain America’s most powerful enemies.
1) The Void
In one instant, Bob Reynolds went from a meth-addict who broke into a lab in search of drugs to a god-like being who has the potential to save or destroy the universe. Mistaking an experimental version of the Super Soldier Serum for a drug, Bob ingested it and obtained super strength, super speed, flight, and molecular manipulation abilities. While Bob tends to use these powers as the heroic Sentry, the formula also gave birth to his dark half, the Void. This malevolent split-personality only exists to extinguish all life in the universe. Lacking Sentry’s morality, the Void uses its power to shroud cities in darkness, shatter the Hulk’s limbs with powerful tendrils, and make nightmarish monsters emerge from every shadow.
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