The 10 Most Evil Versions of Iconic Marvel Heroes

Marvel Comics has created some of the most iconic superheroes ever. Instead of making their characters perfect heroic exemplars, they went in another direction with them. Their heroes were more human, having to deal with problems that were more like the ones that the readers had. This made them more interesting characters and has also opened the door to them going in darker directions. Many of the most popular Marvel characters of all time have had their turns to evil. Sometimes, this happens in the mainline universe, giving readers stories where they have to watch their favorites battle their friends and other times these heel turns take place in alternate universes, but both of them lets us see legend in new lights.

Not every Marvel superhero heel turn turns out very well; some characters just don’t really work as bad guys no matter how much tragedy you heap on them to break their morals. However, some of these falls to the dark side have been iconic and have become favorites of fans. These are the ten most iconic evil versions of Marvel heroes, showing that they’re just as great evil as they are good.

10) Dark Phoenix Cyclops

Avengers vs. X-Men set the two teams at each other’s throats, with the return of the Phoenix Force to Earth making their delicate relationship explode. Cyclops wanted to use it to reignite the mutant race and would end up getting a fifth of its power when Iron Man tried to use the Phoenixbuster armor against it. He eventually ended up with the full power of the Phoenix and became Dark Phoenix Cyclops after killing Xavier. He had an epic battle with the combined Avengers and X-Men and the aftermath of their conflict changed the status quo of the two groups for years to come.

9) Malice

Invisible Woman is an amazing hero. She was the biggest victim of Stan Lee’s misogyny and it took years for the hero to reach her full potential, with writer/artist John Byrne building up her character and powers. Of course, her being a powerful woman in the Marvel Universe meant that she would get her chance to have a story where her powers made her evil and Malice was born. Sue Richards has a lot of reasons to be angry with her teammates after years of being treated like their den mother and it was entertaining to see her get to cut loose. She’s amazingly powerful, so losing her morality makes her even more dangerous. Giving Marvel women BDSM costumes is an old trope and Malice is one of the best examples.

8) Onslaught

“Onslaught” was the biggest story of 1996 and it revolved around an icon becoming evil. The villain was introduced after “Age of Apocalypse”, a shadowy manipulator testing the X-Men and their villains. Readers got the shock of their lives in X-Men (Vol. 2) #54, with Xavier revealed as the all-powerful villain. It would be revealed in Wolverine (Vol. 2) #104 that when Professor X mindwiped Magneto, a portion of his evil took root in Charles’ mind. This birthed Onslaught, combining the worst parts of both men. Onslaught has changed a lot since then – he’s become a psychic parasite that can exist outside of Xavier’s body – and hasn’t had an important story in years, but he played a massive role in ’90s Marvel.

7) The Maestro

The Hulk has always been something of a villain, his boundless rage and desire to be left alone sometimes leading him to fighting the superheroes of the Marvel Universe. However, The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect introduced us to an actual evil version of the Jade Giant. The Maestro ended up taking up the world after a nuclear war, the radiation making him more powerful than ever and allowing him to destroy every superhero and supervillain on the planet. He’s become the most iconic evil version of the Hulk, combining the intellect of Banner with the rage and power of the Green Goliath, making him one of the most dangerous villains ever.

6) The Magus

Adam Warlock was the focus of mid ’70s cosmic Marvel, with writer/artist Jim Starlin creating iconic stories starring the perfect man. Readers were soon introduced to the Magus, a dark version of Warlock from the future. The Magus started a cult, the Church of Universal Truth, and used them to take over the universe. Warlock had to defeat an older, more powerful version of himself and succeeded, saving the universe from his monstrous alternate. The Magus would return after Infinity Gauntlet, brought back to life when Adam jettisoned everything good and evil from himself in order to become a better god and hatching new plans for dominance. He’s returned numerous times over the years (Infinity War is amazing), a villainous cosmic Marvel icon.

5) Dark Phoenix

“The Dark Phoenix Saga” is a masterpiece and it created one of the most iconic characters in X-Men history: the Dark Phoenix. Jean Grey was given the power of the Phoenix Force after trying to sacrifice herself to save the team, becoming one of the most powerful beings in the universe. After Mastermind mind-controlled her, she became the Dark Phoenix, a grave new threat to all existence. Her mutant friends did everything they could to save her, but couldn’t stop her from destroying an entire star system. She ended up sacrificing herself, becoming a boogeyman in Jean’s life since she returned to life, everyone scared that she’ll become the monster she once was.

4) Colossus of Earth-6160

Colossus is one of the greatest X-Men ever, becoming an icon as a part of the team. The Russian man of steel is the team’s muscle, yet he’s always had the soul of a poet. He’s a man who is happiest with a farm, a canvas, and some paint, but the last few years have seen several evil versions of the hero show up in alternate universes, including Earth-6160. Along with his sister Magik and brother Mikhail, he conquered Europe and Asia for the Maker and would become the leader of the Eurasian Republic. He controlled the mutants of his nation, creating powerful weapons from them, and slaughtering the opposition. He would ultimately lose, but he was a monster on a whole other level.

3) The Maker

The Maker was the Reed Richards of Earth-1610. He started out as a hero, but took hit after hit, including the Thing and Invisible Woman getting together. His mind broke after all of the defeats and he became the Maker, the greatest villain of his world. He was able to survive the destruction of his Earth and has been bedeviling the heroes of Earth-616 ever since. Most recently, he was able to tailor an alternate Earth to his specifications, creating a new Ultimate Universe on Earth-6160. He’s a monster, taking everything good about Reed Richards and twisting it.

2) “Age of Apocalypse” Weapon X

“Age of Apocalypse” was instantly iconic and Marvel showed a lot of restraint not returning to the universe immediately. The tenth anniversary of the story ended with Weapon X and Jean Grey taking over as the leaders of the X-Men on their world and readers would learn their destiny in “The Dark Angel Saga”. Weapon X decided to use Apocalypse’s Death Seed to gain more powerful, but ended up becoming the same kind of monster as En Sabah Nur. The X-Men battled against them, their war falling back into the genetic wars that almost destroyed it before. It took a clone of Scarlet Witch no more mutant-ing the AoA Earth to finally defeat him.

1) Hydra Captain America

Captain America is the Sentinel of Liberty, having been fighting the forces of evil since World War II. He is the most respected hero in the world and is often looked at as the leader of the superhero community. No one ever expected him to become a villain, but all of that changed when Kobik, the sentient Cosmic Cube, made him young again. The Red Skull had programmed her to change Cap’s past so that he was always a member of Hyrda, raised by the organization, making him everything he hated. In the present, this led to him taking command of SHIELD, fooling the world into allowing him to take over. He was defeated but survived the final conflict and has since been able to escape confinement, doing his best to make fascism the law of the land.

Who’s your favorite Marvel hero turned villain? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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