Some of the best villains from Marvel movies still haven’t yet made their first appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself. Every good superhero movie needs a powerful and terrifying supervillain to oppose the protagonist, and some of the best antagonists in history have appeared in Marvel’s movies over the years. While the MCU proper has included fantastic supervillains like Thanos, the Red Skull, Loki, Ultron, the Scarlet Witch, Killmonger, and many more, these iconic villains still haven’t shown up alongside the MCU’s heroes.
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It was only fairly recently that Marvel Studios gained the movie rights to some of Marvel Comics’ most iconic characters, heroes and villains alike. Before, other studios, including 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, New Line Cinema, and more got the chance to develop their own Marvel movies, and many of these debuted some of Marvel’s best villains in live-action. The likes of X-Men movies, Spider-Man movies, Ghost Rider, and Blade have included these formidable foes, and we’d love to see them appear in the MCU proper.
7) Deacon Frost
Stephen Dorff brought Deacon Frost to life in Blade in 1998, starring as the movie’s main antagonist opposite Wesley Snipes’ Eric Brooks. Frost is the leader of a faction of young non-natural-born vampires who tries to incite a war between vampires and humans and awaken the “blood god,” La Magra. Dorff delivers a charismatic and captivating performance as Frost, with a charming personality and flair for creepy theatricality that makes him even scarier. With Mahershala Ali set to bring Blade to the MCU soon, it would be great to see him go up against a more comic-accurate Deacon Frost.
6) Blackheart
Many consider Wes Bentley’s Blackheart from Ghost Rider in 2007 to be a weak villain, but we’d still love to see him make his MCU debut. Given the fact that Sacha Baron Cohen recently debuted as the MCU’s Mephisto, Peter Fonda’s iteration of the demonic villain couldn’t be included here, but his son still posed a huge threat, as he wanted to unleash Hell on Earth. The visual effects of his demonic features are enough to strike fear into the more squeamish viewers, but could, of course, be handled a lot better by Marvel Studios.
5) Harry Osborn’s Green Goblin
The gradual evolution of James Franco’s Harry Osborn from Peter Parker’s best friend, to his romantic rival, to his staunch adversary in Spider-Man 3 makes him one of the best movie villains – even though his performance as the second Green Goblin didn’t receive wide acclaim. His action sequences, however, along with his compelling inner turmoil, sympathetic motivations, and connection to Spider-Man cement him as a memorable foe. Harry Osborn hasn’t made his live-action MCU debut just yet, but it would be great to see Tom Holland’s Peter Parker gain this ally – and eventually enemy – in the upcoming Spider-Man movies.
4) Cletus Kasady’s Carnage
Woody Harrelson’s performance as Cletus Kasady, the host of the Carnage Symbiote, made Venom: Let There Be Carnage a more enjoyable watch than the other projects in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Carnage’s unbridled rage and evil made him a fantastic villain, and one of the disappointing franchise’s best. The personal connection between Venom and Carnage made the latter even more complex and interesting. It would be great to see this explored in the MCU. Venom is set to debut in the animated Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season 2, while it’s possible the Symbiote could appear in the live-action MCU very soon.
3) Bolivar Trask
After this sinister villain got a false start in X-Men: The Last Stand, the more popular X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014 introduced a more twisted, sadistic, and influential version of Bolivar Trask. Played fantastically by Peter Dinklage, Trask was the creator of the Sentinels in the 1970s, robots that would subjugate humans and mutants alike in the future. Trask’s fascination and hatred towards the idea of mutants makes him one of Marvel’s most interesting villains, and it’s this kind of human antagonist that we need to see oppose mutantkind in the MCU’s upcoming X-Men reboot.
2) Knull
Knull made basically no impact on the SSU in Venom: The Last Dance, as he wasn’t released from his prison on Klyntar, despite this being teased throughout the movie. Even so, Knull is one of Marvel’s most powerful and dangerous supervillains, so he should move to the MCU, perhaps still portrayed by Andy Serkis – who deserves a more-substantial role. Knull is a crucial antagonist in Venom and Spider-Man’s stories, and has made his mark on Marvel Comics even only seven years since his debut, so Marvel has the perfect opportunity to make him one of the MCU’s most evil threats.
1) Erik Lehnsherr’s Magneto
Erik Lehnsherr’s Magneto is far and away the most impressive, powerful, and memorable Marvel movie supervillain not yet in the MCU. Ian McKellen delivered a stellar performance as the Master of Magnetism in Fox’s original X-Men trilogy, and Michael Fassbender continued his legacy beautifully – contributing to some of the X-Men franchise’s most well-acted and heart-wrenching moments. McKellen will be joining the MCU as Magneto in Avengers: Doomsday, perhaps marking the conclusion of his incredible journey. Magneto is one of the X-Men’s best villains, and we can’t wait to see him take his place in the MCU proper.
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