5 Greatest Marvel Villainesses, Ranked

Much like with Marvel’s heroines, they also have some of the best villainesses in comics. Whether they’re super spies, mutants with varying degrees of power, or Asgardian gods, Marvel has it all when it comes to their wicked women. While it seems like Marvel has been changing up their approach to its nefarious female characters in recent years, making them more dynamic and three dimensional characters that are sometimes even sympathetic, there are plenty that are still flat-out rotten to their very cores and always ready to give Marvel’s heroes and heroines a run for their money.

From literal evil twins to actual gods and more, here are the five greatest villainesses in Marvel.

5) Typhoid Mary

Mary Walker is the mutant assassin known as Typhoid Mary with her first appearance as a Daredevil adversary depending on which of her personalities took over. That’s right, the character has dissociative identity disorder. When the Typhoid Mary persona takes over she is on the hunt and has a thirst for adventures usually ending in battles with any hero who crosses her path. Adding small mutant abilities like telepathy, telekinesis, and the ability to spark small fires to the mix makes her a deadly threat.

What makes Mary compelling is her fractured psyche that changes frequently with her different identities. Typhoid Mary appears to be the most outgoing yet dangerous of her four personas and that brings her to this list. Acting as the leader of sorts of the personas, Typhoid Mary uses her mutant abilities to help her as an assassin under the employment of Kingpin. While she does harbor a crush on Daredevil which can complicate things, it doesn’t mean she isn’t entertaining while she’s after him.

4) Cassandra Nova

The twin that Charles Xavier stopped from being a threat in their mother’s womb is none other than the dangerous Cassandra Nova. Manifesting herself into reality with her psionic abilities, Cassandra stops at nothing to eradicate mutants and cause pain for the X-Men. As shown in the beginning of New X-Men by Grant Morrison, she causes a group of sentinels to attack and destroy the mutant paradise Genosha all because she wanted to distract her brother and take over his body.

Cassandra may be a newer threat to the X-Men relatively speaking but that hasn’t stopped her from becoming a regular and serious threat, including events from the Krakoa era of the X-Men and the current series by Jed McKay. As a dark reflection to her brother, it’s easy to see why Cassandra took off as a villain character the way she did. Her biggest feat recently was as the villain in the Deadpool & Wolverine movie with a great reception to the casual audience. With her cult status already paying off, Cassandra Nova is bound for a lot more stories in the future.

3) Hela

The Asgardian God of Death, aka Hela, takes the third spot on the list. Hela is the daughter of Loki and often teams up with her father to cause trouble for Thor or pretty much anyone else who happens to get her attention. Most commonly a Thor enemy, Hela has tangled with mutants on more than a handful of occasions, including the New Mutants and X-Factor. With the ability to claim the souls of the gods and armed frequently with the Necrosword, she makes for a fierce combatant.

Hela is a similar case to Cassandra Nova with a massive boost from the MCU but it doesn’t mean that it’s not deserved. Usually when Hela appears, the stakes become significantly higher for the heroes. Whether she’s causing a war with a team of heroes or trying to turn them into her lackeys in some fashion, Hela earns her spot on the list. Nobody is safe from Hela’s wrath for long; if she views you as a potential threat it’s game over.

2) Madame Masque

The ruthless daughter of Count Nefaria and decked out in a golden mask and a pistol, Madame Masque takes our ironic silver medal. Born Whitney Frost, Madame Masque started as an Iron Man villain and from there became everyone’s problem. Eventually joining the ranks of the Maggia, Marvel’s version of the Mafia, Madame Masque proved herself to be a vicious killer and leader. With an unhealthy dose of paranoia causing her to be rather secretive, Madame Masque would rise up the ranks and become the Queenpin on the west coast.

Without any powers of her own, Madame Masque has caused quite the stir for Marvel’s best. After being crossed by Kate Bishop in Hawkeye, Masque made it her goal to hunt down Kate Bishop and kill her. Later relocating back to New York, her cunning nature even led her to take down other Maggia bosses for her own gain. Even getting tangled up with the new Venom Madame Masque has made herself a fan favorite villain often pops up in unexpected places. Whether it’s for Iron Man, Hawkeye, or Spider-Man, Masque is more than willing to get her hands dirty for her own power and our entertainment.

1) Mystique

The most notable mutant on our list is also one of the most iconic members of The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and thus, our top-ranked villainness. Mystique is a shape shifting assassin for the Brotherhood which gives her a wild advantage when she’s tasked with hunting down a subject to take them out. Never being able to trust anyone, Mystique makes it her goal to kill anyone in her way and become lost in the crowd after the deed is done. Being capable to lead teams such as the Brotherhood and their government counterpart Freedom Force, landed her out top spot.

While she may be a tried and true villain for almost anyone she faces off against, Mystique is also a complex character who has a soft spot for her kids, Nightcrawler and Rogue. Raising them in secret from her powers so she could still do her nefarious attacks, Mystique has captured the hearts of many over the years. With a laundry list of targets all over the Marvel universe, Mystique is a constant threat and fans love her for it. Never being able to guess who she’s working for is what has helped her endure for so long and we suspect she’ll be tops for a long time to come.

Those are our choices for the top five Marvel villainesses, do you agree or disagree with out picks? Let us know in the comments down below.