Top 5 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Villains
The Marvel Cinematic Universe or MCU for short, has had an amazing run. There was so much greatness right up until Avengers: Endgame. Then things got a bit off-track, to say the least. But no matter how or what was going on in the MCU, they always struggled with villains.
So this is my list of top 5 MCU villains. You can find all kinds of others in our LISTractions section. Get it, like distractions? Ok...
This article includes spoilers for the Loki series, and MCU movies.
#5: The Green Goblin
Willem Dafoe returned to the Spider-Man franchise for “No Way Home” in 2023. He played the same iconic “Green Goblin” from Tobey MaGuire’s “Spider-Man” in 2002. He didn’t get a lot of screen time, in the blockbuster movie that brought together 3 versions of Spider-Man.
But he sure made his time worthwhile. Dafoe played two characters in one, a confused scientist and the insanely evil Green Goblin. Was he actually a confused scientist or just setting it up to mess with everyone? I’m not even sure, he was so good, I’m still thinking about it.
Possibly the greatest Marvel movie villain ever. But for the MCU, he didn’t enough time to be lower on the lsit.
#4: Erik Killmonger
“Is this your King?!”, that line had me frozen. I thought I was watching another typical Marvel villain, who are usually weak or bland, or both. Then Erik Killmonger showed up, played by the awesome, Michael B. Jordan.
He was an incredibly interesting character, who wanted to help “his people”. Was he evil? Sure, but for him, the ends justified the means. The only reason he’s this high on the list, is time. Erik was close to a perfect villain, but he was one and done.
Plus, the movie was about “The Black Panther”. There were some big chunks where Killmonger wasn’t even there. I’m still hoping to see his MCU return, anything can happen with a multiverse.
#3: Loki
Tom Hiddleston’s Loki would have #1 or 2, if this were a few years ago. Then the “Loki” series happened and he changed. Becoming a hero, instead of the villain he was for so long and saving the entire universe. (We have a highlight video from the series on the page).
I enjoyed the show, but much preferred evil Loki. The trickster was very fun to watch, never knowing what he’d do or whose side he was on. If any, other than his own. Still an awesome villain, one we got to see in multiple films.
#2: Thanos
I mention below why Thanos isn’t #1, but there are other reasons. The biggest being that we only saw him in one movie. Even though, he had a strong presence in Phase One. I feel like we should have seen much more of him.
I’m talking Thanos-prime, or whatever you want to call it. The real Thanos who collected the stones, went head-to-head with Dr. Strange and other Avengers in amazing fight scenes. Including throwing a moon at Iron Man!
Not the one from the past who time traveled in “Endgame”. The versions were very different and I hated how The Avengers straight up lost to him, never getting a chance to….avenge. Unless you count using time travel to change the past and defeat another version of him, I don’t.
#1: The High Evolutionary
This may be surprising to many, but he tortured and killed animals. That’s super evil! Movies don’t normally do that, especially Marvel movies. It would be similar to killing children. Some things you just don’t see in these films. I thought it was incredibly ballsy and the actor Chukwudi Iwuji was brilliant.
I had never heard of the High Evolutionary before the MCU and he’s #1 for me. That’s how insanely good he was. The man had a (creepy, psycho) vision and cared about nothing else.
Thanos had a similar God-complex, but he also wanted to erase people without pain…just a snap. He “called it mercy”, he wasn’t torturing cute little animals like the evil af, High Evolutionary.
