Yahoo News Marvel's villains ranked: Thanos, Ultron, Loki and more
You can't have a superhero without a supervillain (because otherwise what's the point?) though we reckon Marvel sometimes has a bit of a problem with its bad guys (and they are almost all guys, which is a whole other issue). But which absolutely killed it at being a killing machine and which were so bad they were just... bad?
We've ranked all the major villains in the MCU from Iron Man right up to Captain America: Civil War based on their appearances so far.
Welcome to the rogues gallery...
28. Malekith (Thor: The Dark World)
Christopher Eccleston is a great actor. Yet Malekith could literally have been anyone, so faceless was the malicious dark elf. His beef was that he was older than the universe and wanted to destroy it with the Aether, but Thor's granddad wasn't having any of it and defeated him. Eons later came back and tried to do much of the same until he was crushed by his ship.
27. The Chitauri (The Avengers)
There was a lot of speculation about the evil alien race that the Avengers would fight on their first outing. The Skrulls? The Badoon? Instead, we were fobbed off with these generic CG aliens who ran around Manhattan like the characterless animated swarm that they were. A nuke in the face was the least they deserved.
26. Yellowjacket (Ant-Man)
We love Corey Stoll, so it was a real shame that he couldn't escape the curse of the terrible Marvel bad guys. Darren Cross comes across as a whining teenager with daddy issues, although he does get bonus points for the Thomas the Tank Engine scene.
25. Wolfgang von Strucker (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
He made a brief appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but when he showed up in the second Avengers film it was basically as a placeholder for Ultron. That we had to look up what happened to him is a testament to how forgettable he was. Also, fascism is so last century. Get with the times, Strucker.
24. The Destroyer (Thor)
It says a lot about Marvel's record that an empty suit of magical armour isn't the worst villain they've offered up. Still not great, though.
Related: Avengers: Infinity War parts 1 & 2 cast, release dates and everything you need to know
23. Ronan the Accuser (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Angry Kree warlord Ronan the Accuser looked kind of cool, at least, but his generic revenge storyline was, well, utterly generic. And once again, if we hadn't read the credits we wouldn't have had the faintest clue that Pushing Daisies' Lee Pace was hiding under that running eyeliner.
22. Red Skull (Captain America: The First Avenger)
The Red Skull is a Nazi general with a skull for a face, for God's sake. How do you make him boring and forgettable? And we'll never know why he labelled all his missiles with their destinations in English. He truly was as insane as they said.
21. Whiplash (Iron Man 2)
Mickey Rourke and his Russian accent come out as the typical middle-of-the-road villain. Forgettable but inoffensive – he did get that decent action scene on the race track but not really a whole lot else.
20. Justin Hammer (Iron Man 2)
The greatest strength of the Iron Man films is the utter charm of Robert Downey Jr, so it's no surprise that his villains struggle to measure up. All three main foes have been industrialist/scientist types, and Sam Rockwell's just happens to have been the most forgettable.
Related: Marvel has a villain problem and here's how to fix it
19. Aldrich Killian (Iron Man 3)
The same goes for Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian, who is sore at Tony Stark because he bailed on their rooftop date in the '90s. But his fire breath was awesome, at least.
18. The Mandarin (Iron Man 3)
We didn't hate the Mandarin twist as much as a lot of other people, apparently, and his threatening terrorist videos were initially quite terrifying. But Ben Kingsley's post-revelation bungling idiot routine got very tired very quickly.
17. Abomination (The Incredible Hulk)
The villain of that forgotten early MCU film, Tim Roth's troubled super soldier-gone-wrong was perfectly serviceable, and didn't really deserve being turned into a generic CG turd in the final act.
16. Kaecilius (Doctor Strange)
The marvellous Mads Mikkelsen did everything he could with Doctor Strange's sorcerer baddie who's using dark magic to attempt to overthrow The Ancient One - though that wasn't a great deal. Good look though.
15. Obadiah Stane (Iron Man)
In some ways, Obadiah Stane and his War Monger alter ego set the standard for okayish villains in the first MCU film, but he has the benefit of being played by Jeff Bridges in his prime, making him one of the best matches for Downey Jr so far.
Related: How Captain America: Civil War sets up Marvel's Phase 3, from Spider-Man to Black Panther
14. Alexander Pierce (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Robert Redford wasn't really an active antagonist in the second Captain America movie, but he executes his surprise betrayal with finesse, and its aftermath has been one of the most interesting things to happen to the MCU to date.
13. Hela (Thor: Ragnarok)
Cate Blanchett as Thor's estranged psychopathic sister certainly looked cool, and her face-off against Thor was fun, but multiple Oscar winner Blanchett wasn't given a heap to do, and her motivation wasn't exactly sound. Nice to see another female being evil though.
12. Ego The Living Planet (Guardians of the Galaxy 2)
A B- backstory ('I want to absorb the universe for reasons') was elevated by the undeniable charms of the legendary Kurt Russell, whose charismatic performance as Star-Lord's long-lost dad pulled off the rare trick of making Ego a likeable villain – at least until you find out his evil plans.
11. Nebula (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Despite not getting an awful lot to do in the movie, Nebula bucked the villain trend by actually having an intriguing motivation in her messed-up relationship with her sister Gamora and their adopted daddy Thanos. It was a shame that Karen Gillan's performance was so serious and dry in a movie whose strength was its humour.
On the plus side, she does get some pretty badass fight scenes. And she's the only female character on this list. Sort it out, Marvel.
10. Crossbones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War)
Brock Rumlow's transformation from SHIELD backup to evil HYDRA lieutenant is perfectly serviceable. What Crossbones lacks in complex character development, he makes up for by taking part in some of the MCU's best action. Still, he's probably very dead whatever Frank Grillo has to say on the matter.
9. Thanos (Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War)
Josh Brolin's Mad Titan is completely buried in CG, but perhaps surprisingly, he deals with this with aplomb. Though he looks like a big purple cucumber, Brolin's Thanos manages pathos and gravitas.
Related: Who is Thanos? Marvel's ultravillain explained
8. Armin Zola (Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Toby Jones's Nazi sidekick was fine in the first Captain America film, but he really came into his own as the mischievous artificial intelligence trapped into a giant retro computer in The Winter Soldier. It's like Project Paperclip meets science fiction insanity – and he manages to cause a lot of trouble for a face on a dusty old screen.
7. General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War)
William Hurt is perfectly serviceable as the ostensibly good general who causes mayhem thanks to his single-minded pursuit of the Hulk, but he really shines in Civil War as he manages to do what no-one else was able to and tear the Avengers apart without even having to throw a punch. He's a character we love to hate.
6. The Vulture (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
Michael Keaton is fab in most things and his blue-collar worker driven out of business Toombs is credible and compelling. You actually like this guy, and his decision not to reveal Spidey's identity at the end only speaks to his good (criminal) character.
5. The Winter Soldier (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Ok, so he isn't 100% a bad guy, but that's what makes Bucky's Soviet assassin alter ego one of Marvel's best villains. There's something real and emotional at stake when he faces off against Steve Rogers, and his backstory of torture and brainwashing over decades is genuinely heartbreaking.
Oh, and he kicks ass.
4. Ultron (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
There's no denying that he was squandered on what was ultimately a fairly forgettable movie, but James Spader brought a menacing charm to Iron Man's evil robot son that has rarely been matched in the MCU. Long after we've forgotten the whole flying-a-city-into-the-air plot, we'll still remember that Ultron was fantastic.
3. Zemo (Captain America: Civil War)
An MCU baddie that completely broke the mould. Not an evil genius, not a power hungry megalomanic, he had no super suit and no special powers. He wasn't especially strong, nor prodigiously intelligent. He's not especially tooled up and he isn't interested in money, power or world domination. Zemo is a broken man with nothing left to lose after his wife and child were killed in Sokovia.
It just goes to show that, done right, villains don't need elaborate fight scenes and crazy doomsday weapons. Just a devastating motivation and a clever plan will do it.
2. Loki (Thor, Avengers, Thor: The Dark World)
Thor's adopted brother has popped up in three MCU movies already and we're praying he'll be back for the final showdown.
Magnificent with a put-down ("You mewling quim"), he looks good in a hat and is the master of misdirection. We love Loki because we get him. Because for him, it's personal. He's motivated by jealousy, rejection, years of feeling inferior – of course he's power-hungry but he's angry too. And Tom Hiddleston is perfect: intelligent, handsome and educated but caustic as hell.
1. Erik Killmonger (Black Panther)
Michael B Jordan's damaged idealist blew people's socks off when Black Panther hit our screens. Part of the beauty of Panther is that in many ways Killmonger is the hero and T'Challa a weak leader. His arc plays out beautifully, his ending is heartbreaking and Jordan's performance is pitch perfect.
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