Every MCU Villain Ranked From God-Awful To God-Tier

Where do I begin? Actually, let’s just not. I don’t even remember what he wants because he is the least memorable of the villains around. The film as a whole didn’t help, but I don’t ever want to see his face or great hair again.  

I mean, he’s not technically a villain but he masquerades as one for half a film. He’s only here because of the immense levels of disappointment we all felt when he was revealed to be Trevor Slattery. Thank you Shang-Chi, for helping to sort that out. He is pretty funny though.

The Abomination is a really fitting name for this villain and it nicely extends to the film. Tim Roth is predictably good, but Abomination is just there to give something for Hulk to hit. We recently saw him come back in Shang-Chi, but the damage has already been done.  

Walking around like an electrified Indiana Jones, Whiplash is pretty bad by MCU standards. It’s a shame really because he only really wanted something quite simple. Bird.

In the comics, he’s amazing—the film not so much. He’s just really forgettable, but he does look quite cool. Like an LSD trip. Ultimately, all you’ll remember from him is the way Dr Strange kept saying his name.

Mads Mikkelsen very nearly played Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, but luckily dodged a bullet. Unfortunately, he didn’t dodge this one because Kaecilius is another boring MCU villain. There just isn’t much about him and ultimately we don’t really care what happens to him. He is helped by some good fight scenes and his brilliant use of eye-makeup.  

The guy pulling the strings in Iron Man 3 was really underwhelming. His motivation is fairly solid, but he’s like a caricature of bad — and a poor one at that. Once he randomly started breathing fire, that’s when I started to think “What is going on here?”

Technically the secondary villain in this film but the most watchable. Watching Taskmaster mimic the fighting styles of Captain America, Bucky, and other Avengers was one of the best parts of the film. The identity reveal at the end wasn’t that shocking, but overall a decent villain.

The primary villain of the film, Dreykov kidnaps orphans, turning them into killing machines. Ray Winstone plays him well and in terms of villains, he’s sinister and darker than most, but he is ultimately unmemorable. I did like his accent, though.

Yellowjacket is basically Obadiah Stane reborn, it’s not a character that you’ll remember apart from that final fight scene, which is admittedly good. Corey Stoll does wonders with what he’s given but it’s kind of the epitome of forgettable — I didn’t even know his real name until moments ago. I bet you don’t either.

When I heard that Jude Law would be in the MCU, I was impressed. It’s good casting for the film and it largely works. The ‘’good guys who turn out to be bad guys’’ is an MCU favourite and I think it’s a fairly decent portrayal here. I also love the way Captain Marvel just straight up finishes him off. Poetic.

I can’t seem to fully decide whether I like this villain or not — is he even really a villain? He is by far one of the most powerful around in the MCU and TBH he’s pretty bland. We might see more of him later, but he just looks like the red-light district.

The fact that it’s Robert Redford on screen here massively helps his case. The film is also very good and Pierce plays his part in that. He’s more understated than other villains here but it works.  

The Grandmaster certainly isn’t forgettable and really manages to make use of his limited screen time. Jeff Goldblum is brilliant in this role and it’s a character I hope to see return in future MCU films.

He’s been a secondary villain in both Age of Ultron and Black Panther, but his actions have been vital to the events in recent films. He’s also strangely likable and really funny — I like him more than most of the characters in the MCU. Ultimately though, he hasn’t been the main bad guy, so he can’t really go much higher than this in the ranking.  

Nebula has flitted between villain and anti-hero throughout her time, but she was first introduced as a villain of sorts. She is integral to everything that goes on and arguably has one of the best arcs. I don’t personally like her that much — she’s like a moody teenager most of the time.

The comic book Ultron is amazing, MCU Ultron doesn’t really live up to that. Despite that, he’s still compelling. Ultron has some good one-liners and his warped motive serves the film well. I could have done without his monologues but you can definitely see the villains are starting to get better now.

Maybe a controversial position but I really think Justin Hammer was a very good character to introduce into the MCU. He was probably the only shining light in Iron Man 2 because Sam Rockwell played him perfectly. His on-screen chemistry with Tony Stark was also brilliant and I think he’s one of the most underrated villains.

When you’ve got someone like Kurt Russell playing your villain, you know it’s going to be good. I’m not overly fond of the film but Ego is easily one of the best we’ve had so far. He’s literally a planet. Called Ego.  

This human-looking Thanos was a perfectly good villain in a brilliant film. Jeff Bridges is irresistibly good at being bad and he is genuinely frightening in Iron Man. The mentor-turned villain trope returns and is probably executed in the cleanest way. The less said about the final fight scene and that suit, the better. Also, this scene now makes me laugh an abnormal amount.

He’s really the epitome of evil and he looks the part, too. The Red Skull is the perfect foil to Captain America because he is terrifying and utterly joyless. I don’t even want to look at his face, if I’m honest. He has since reappeared in Avengers: Infinity War, but he’s been a solid MCU villain.  

His screen-time is brief but his impact is massive. Zemo doesn’t have any powers or abilities but his motive is as strong as anyone else’s in the MCU. His plan actually works and is kinda well considered. In this film, the Avengers come off as the bad guys, and Zemo highlights this brilliantly. He’s also probably the only person who can beat Star-Lord in a dance-off.  

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Mysterio amazingly, managing to play both the good and bad guy equally well. He has good reason to hate Stark and even reveals Spider-Man’s identity. I partially hoped that Mysterio might end up being a hero, but knew he wouldn’t. J. Jonah Jameson would disagree though, because he’s the “greatest superhero of all time.”

I certainly didn’t think that the Vulture would have been one of my favourite villains, but Michael Keaton managed to change that. He just plays evil so well here and creates tension any time he is on screen. Plus he’s part of the best reveal in any MCU film.

The Winter Soldier is a really good villain. His backstory is solid and his connection to Steve Rogers makes us really invest in him more than usual. The fact that he killed Tony Stark’s parents is every kind of awkward. I just like that he has a vibranium arm. Christmas wish list sort of thing.  

She breaks Mjolnir, can conjure knives, has a pet wolf, and looks amazing doing everything. Hela even makes Loki look tame and she just oozes evil. Every second she’s on screen, she dominates and it’s a shame we won’t be seeing her again. That family is not normal.   

Killmonger is an ever rarer villain in the MCU. One that you find yourself agreeing with. I even started to wonder if I wanted the Black Panther to come back. His methods are villainous, but his message resonates with you. I’m sure many of you would consider putting him first.

Once we saw Thanos flatten the Hulk, we all knew that he was serious. He then wiped out half the universe with a snap of his fingers and then retired and made soup. What a lovely man.

Jokes aside, his motives don’t really hold up to scrutiny but he’s the villain we all expected him to be and more. It’s going to be hard to live up to him and I look forward to seeing what the MCU has in store for us. He’s certainly one of the best, but the best is…

Of course, it was always going to be Loki. He is everything we want in a villain and the only good thing in the Thor movies. He is charismatic, even when killing people we like, but most importantly we care about him. I think I actually like him more than most of the Avengers — and I bet you do, too.

Credit to Tom Hiddlestone for playing him with such passion and developing his character into what we see today. He’s compelling and by far the best the MCU has given us so far.