10 Best MCU Villains, Ranked (And Vulture Is #4)

With 36 movies and 11 Disney+ shows, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a lot of villains. So many, in fact, that it’s somewhat difficult to narrow the list down to 10. But some do stand above others, and those are the ones that follow. However, if they’ve become heroes in subsequent projects since their debut as a villain, they were left off. That means no Ghost from Ant-Man and the Wasp (though she was and remains one of the MCU’s most underrated villains) or the Winter Soldier in his brainwashed form. That also means no Loki, who was an iconic villain in 2012’s The Avengers but has since changed his self-serving ways. But if this were a ranking of even villains who haven’t remained as such, Loki would rank number one.

And if you’re expecting to see Kang the Conqueror from Loki‘s first season and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, he’s not here. Maybe in another universe where Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was actually made. Just missing the cut were Justin Hammer from Iron Man 2, Red Skull from Captain America: The First Avenger, and Alexander Pierce from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Without further ado, here are the top MCU villains.

10) Iron Monger

On one hand, Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger kicked off an unfortunate trend when it comes to MCU villainy. Specifically, the antagonist is just the evil variation of the protagonist. For instance, in the universe’s sophomore film, The Incredible Hulk, as well as in Ant-Man, and Black Panther (to an extent). But the first time out the gate it worked, thanks in no small part to the strength of Bridges’ performance.

It’s amazing how well Iron Man works as a whole, considering it was shot without a finished script. This includes Bridges’ role within the film. You believe his contempt for Tony Stark; he feels wronged, slighted. In reality, the company was always going to go to Tony. As well it should, not because of nepotism or birthright, but rather because, unlike Stane, Stark has original ideas. Stane just wheels and deals under the table and steals inventive concepts from actual geniuses.

9) Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was a presence in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where she was shown to be as unethical as Obadiah Stane, to an increasing degree. But she didn’t reach the level of full-on villain until Thunderbolts*. Prior to that, she was just shady.

In Thunderbolts* Val’s willing to not only lie, cheat, and cover up dirty deeds, she’s willing to have people killed – oftentimes to, well, cover things up. Louis-Dreyfus is ranged enough as a performer to make de Fontaine endearingly snarky, and by the same token, ranged enough to make her seem utterly unpredictable. She’s the best fully human villain (who never suits up) thus far, even over Justin Hammer, Senator Stern, and Alexander Pierce.

8) Kingpin

In the opening, we mentioned how Netflix villains were excluded, hence no Kilgrave. But Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin has since appeared in both Hawkeye, Echo, and Daredevil: Born Again. Even in Hawkeye, with such limited screentime, he was a formidable presence.

D’Onofrio was and remains a perfect choice for the character, and that’s only become clearer as Kingpin’s story and backstory has been expanded. The actor does a great job displaying the man’s ambition but, even more importantly, he does a great job convincing the audience the crime lord has as much pain inside him as he does rage.

7) Hela

After the incredibly lame Dark Elves in Thor: The Dark World, the God of Thunder film franchise really needed a great villain for film three. And, in Cate Blanchett’s Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, it got one.

On one hand, it would be really easy to chalk up the success of Hela to Blanchett’s immense talent. But Christian Bale, a comparably talented performer, was enlisted for the following film, and even though he was the best part of it, he wasn’t enough to save it. And, admittedly, his storyline in that film was actually pretty touching. But Hela is just flat-out more fun, and Blanchett has fun with it.

6) Agatha Harkness

Is there an argument to be made that Agatha Harkness was a reformed woman in Agatha All Along? Sure, but she still wasn’t quite what one would call a protagonist. She just wasn’t the one being toyed with that time. There were quite a few moments when she showed the same colors she showed towards the end of WandaVision.

The first Marvel Disney+ series is still the best one, and it’s likely to remain as such. WandaVision is one of the most uniformly excellent projects to come from the MCU, big screen or small. This includes the whole-episode emulations of television past as well as the big reveal that Westview is being controlled by Wanda Maximoff. And, of course, there’s the reveal that the strange occurrences in Westview have been originating from Agatha, all along.

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5) Ego, The Living Planet

One’s favorite installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy Trilogy is less certain than pretty much any other MCU trilogy. But, without a doubt, Ego is the best villain of the three. As great as many people find the first film to be, there was a pretty unanimous consensus that Ronan the Accuser was dull.

Kurt Russell’s Ego is anything but. Like another entry on this list, he’s a father figure, and not a particularly good one. It’s just, in this case, the protagonist is led to believe he’s a good one, only to find out the reality is the opposite in a devastating reveal. The other example is a blatantly poor father who ends up having a soul after all.

4) Vulture

Anyone can understand a protective parent, even if they’re not a parent themself. That’s exactly what Vulture is in Spider-Man: Homecoming. And were it not for Doc Ock and Green Goblin, he’d be the best villain in a Spider-Man movie, period.

The moment Peter Parker realizes his date’s father, Adrian Toomes, is the Vulture is great, but so too is the moment Toomes realizes Parker is Spider-Man. Toomes even gives Parker an out: he can just go into prom and forget about everything he knows when it comes to Toomes’ illegal business activities, but the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man knows that’s not what heroes do. Vulture is compelling because he doesn’t really want to hurt anyone, but sometimes feels he has to. He’s been messed over by the government and, to an extent, by Tony Stark. He’s just trying to provide for his family.

3) Xu Wenwu

A complex motivation can be compelling, but so too can a simplistic one. In the case of Xu Wenwu AKA the (real) Mandarin from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, that simplistic motivation is also quite complex. Namely, love.

Or, more specifically, love that has become grief and false hope. Wenwu was never a particularly great father to Shang-Chi, showing him how to commit acts of violence when he should have been teaching him compassion. But compassion isn’t the name of Wenwu’s game; it never was. He’s a conqueror, and a driven one at that. But once he is led to believe he can possibly reunite with his deceased wife, that vast ambition is redirected. By the end of the film, Wenwu learns what is important, but up until his final moments, he is one of the most interesting villains in comic book movie history.

2) Killmonger

Admittedly, Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is pretty great. And, if this list were longer, he’d be there. But as far as the Black Panther franchise goes, there’s just no beating the original’s Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan).

Writer/director Ryan Coogler is an absolute master of crafting villains whose motivations are understandable, even if their actions are not (see Sinners for another example), and Killmonger is no exception. Unlike Obadiah Stane, who just feels as though he’s been cheated out of a throne, Killmonger actually was. His way of ruling, brief as that rule is, may be eerily similar to a dictatorship, but the reasons for his anger are justifiable. Sure, once the film becomes two men in Black Panther suits fighting next to futuristic trains, it becomes a little bland, but as a character, Killmonger is fantastic.

1) Thanos

It’s doubtful the MCU will ever have a villain more iconic than Thanos. For one, the franchise spent multiple phases slowly building up his presence before unleashing him in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Doctor Doom will give him a run for his overarching antagonist money, but it’s still a tall order.

It remains to be seen how Avengers: Doomsday will handle Doom, but the big question is whether he will be as complex a character as Thanos. We watch this guy kill the villain of the first MCU team-up movie in the first few minutes and later throw his daughter off a cliff to complete his mission. Not to mention, the mission itself is the instantaneous elimination of half of all life in the universe. Thanos feels his actions are wholly altruistic. Of course, it’s really just genocide, but he doesn’t see it that way. That’s a powerful character, in more ways than one.

MCU movies are streaming on Disney+.