MCU Villain Ranking- Pre Infinity War

by Harold Stokes

Marvel has been said to have a “villain problem” and I strongly disagree with this statement. I believe their has been wonderful devious villains throughout the MCU especially on Netflix. But this list is going to only cover Villains from the 18 MCU movies prior to Infinity War.

by Harold Stokes

18. The Abomination / General Ross (The Incredible Hulk)

The Abomination was the MCU's typical villain that mirrored the heroes strengths but he is evil. This is a very common theme in the MCU and all of comics yet it is only a problem when the villain has zero depth. Like the Abomination, he was just a man grasping at power, why? We never found out. While General Ross is not evil, he did pose as an adversary to Edward Norton's Hulk.

by Harold Stokes

17. Malekith (Thor: Dark World)

Malekith was an ancient Dark Elf trying to use the reality Stone to turn the universe back to darkness.. and that's pretty much it we do not find anything to come to understand about him he is simply a villain with nothing below the surface.

by Harold Stokes

16. Anton Vanko / Justin Hammer (Iron Man 2)

Actor Mickey Rourke apparently was of the understanding that they were going to flesh out his character Anton Vanko (Whiplash) more in the film but sadly we never saw that. Meanwhile Sam Rockwell's performance of Justin Hammer was amazing yet the character lacked the substance to really grasp audiences.

by Harold Stokes

15. Darren Kross (Ant-Man)

Darren Kross successfully stole Pym Tech out from Hank Pym's control and was a genius in his own right who helped develop the Yellow Jacket serum and armor. This Character is a perfect example of a villain that could've served the MCU better by surviving the end of the movie instead of being killed off.

by Harold Stokes

14. Ronan The Accuser (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1)

Ronan was a menacing villain too strong and powerful for our heroes to take on by themselves, and actually had a purpose unlike some villains on this list. He hated the Nova people for both religious reason and for the long on going war between their races.

by Harold Stokes

13. Frost Giants / Loki ( Thor)

Laufey the leader of the Frost Giants have been the beaten whimpering dog of the Asgardians since Odin defeated them thousands of years ago, until Loki gives them a chance to strike their vengeance on Odin but are tricked in a scheme by Loki in a plea to please his father. Loki is basically everyone's enemy in this. This is the introduction of fan favorite Loki, but this is before Tom Hiddleston really brings his character to the lime light.

by Harold Stokes

12. Aldrich Killian / The Mandarin (Iron Man 3)

This controversial villain is actually very well done with Aldrich Killian leading a revenge plot against tony Stark after being tricked by him over a decade before. He is a genius who learns from this seeming betryal and twists it into a purpose in life. The controversy arose from fans expecting the actual comic book villain and leader of the Ten Rings terrorist group the Mandarin to show up, but sadly it was a ruse down by director Shane Black , with the Mandarin just used as a facade covering for Killian.

by Harold Stokes

11. Ego the Living Planet (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

We find out that Kurt Russell's Ego is actually Peter Quill's long lost father, and that peter is half celestial. This homecoming of sorts is revealed actually to be a plot by Ego to spread and take over the galaxy using their combined powers. This was a “fake out” actually enjoyed by fans unlike the Mandarin in Iron Man 3.

by Harold Stokes

10. Kaecilius / Dormammu (Doctor Strange)

Kaecilius is a powerful sorcerer who you seem to almost connect with during his plight with Doctor Strange when he reveals why he is working for Dormammu, he truly believes that time is the enemy of all and we can be saved by joining Dormammu in the dark dimension. While some villains are killed off too early Kaecilius seemed to have been perfectly killed off from the MCU with the conclusion of his story being sucked into the Dark Dimension. While Dormammu is set up as an unstoppable force that even the mighty Doctor Strange is no match for, Strange is able to out wit him not beat him to save the Earth from the Dark dimension.

by Harold Stokes

9. Ultron (Avengers: Age of Ultron)

Ultron was the accidental baby of Bruce Banner and tony Stark while trying to create an AI capable of defending the Earth from alien threats. They succeeded but Ultron immediately decides the best way for “peace in our time” is to kill off the human race. Ultron may be thought of your typical Skynet or Terminator robot villain but he is so much more with actually having a personality and is seemingly unstoppable with his connection to the internet.

by Harold Stokes

8. Red Skull (Captain America: The first Avenger)

Red Skull is the perfect example of an incredible villain (I mean come on he was the more evil version of NAZIS!) that was killed off too soon. Now there have been theories that when he grabs the tesseract (Space Stone) and is “killed” he is actually just teleported somewhere into space (possibly to Thanos) and could return in a future MCU film.

by Harold Stokes

7.Obadiah Stane (Iron Man)

Jeff Bridges brings to life Obadiah Stane in the most believable way, he earns our trust early in the film only to be revealed to be the true villain pulling the strings. Now most villains who are secretly controlling things are deemed wimpy and once they are found out they are immediately in handcuffs without much of a fight. Not Obadiah, he started the theme of villains being the evil twin of MCU heroes when he creates his own suit The Iron Monger.

by Harold Stokes

6. Hela (Thor: Ragnarok)

Hela The Goddess of Death being the eldest child of Odin rightfully returns to claim the throne after Odin's death releases her from Hel. She is more powerful than anyone Thor has faced before and immediately destroys Mjilnor and cast out Loki and Thor before they can return from Asgard. All of the armies of Asgard were no match for her, even Thor could not defeat her. She came across as a more rounded villain in Cate Blanchett's wonderful performance.

by Harold Stokes

5. Alexander Pierce / Hydra / The Winter Soldier (Captain America: the Winter Soldier)

Alexander Pierce (along with help of another Captain america thought dead Arnim Zola) has lead Hydra and taken over SHIELD. This is a huge accomplishment that dwarfs most other MCU villains alone, but also took out Nick Fury, and controlled the worlds most deadly assassin The Winter Soldier.

by Harold Stokes

4. Loki (The Avengers)

Tom Hiddleston Shone through in this amazing film. In the first time super heroes have come together for a single film and he still was the fan favorite character coming out of the film because of his immaculate performance.

by Harold Stokes

3. Vulture (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

Michael Keaton's amazing performance as the Vulture, turned a jokey character that no one should fear into a fearsome man on a mission to steal to make enough money for his family to live comfortably.

by Harold Stokes

2. Killmonger (Black Panther)

Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger dove into race relations and questioned all of African Americans history through the terrible sins of slavery and what the response to the sins of our fathers should be.

by Harold Stokes

1. Zemo (Captain America: Civil War)

I have Zemo on the top of the list because he is one of the few villains in all of comic book movies whose plan is actually successful, he breaks up the avengers. The heroes of earth have never been weaker and more separated. Half the Avengers are on the run from the law and the other half are completely disheveled.

“TONY STARK BUILT THIS IN A CAVE…WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!“- Obadiah Stane