The MCU has created a long list of villains to throw at their heroes over the last two and a half decades. Unlike the DCU, they have no qualms about killing their villains, giving them plenty of opportunities to include lesser-known villains like Emil Blonsky and Alexander Pierce alongside the more well-known ones. However, not all villains are created equal.
Despite strong performances and intriguing plots, many villains were overshadowed by more well-known characters such as Loki, Thanos, and Baron Zemo. Such characters were frequently used as props for larger dramas or to allow the main villain to make a grand entrance. Other villains simply received a bad rap as a result of the films in which they appeared and were not given enough credit as a result.
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Top 10 Underrated MCU Villains
1. Alexander Pierce
Robert Redford did an outstanding job as this minor Marvel character on the big screen. Alexander Pierce, the mastermind behind the plot in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is an efficient ruthless leader. He puts on such a convincing front that one wonders if he truly believes the peace jargon he preaches.
Despite this, he is frequently overlooked in the aftermath of the drama involving Steve Rogers and his long-lost friend, Bucky Barnes. The majority of viewers are more familiar with his subordinate, Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones. Alexander Pierce is more than just a mouthpiece, and he deserves more credit.
2. Obadiah Stane
Obadiah Stane first appears as a friend and father figure to Tony Stark. He assists him in keeping the business afloat and cleans up after his numerous messes. However, near the end, he is revealed to be the mastermind behind Tony’s assassination attempt, and he proceeds to murder Tony himself.
Stane was the first villain of the MCU as we know it today. He was the one who transformed Tony Stark into Iron Man and sparked the formation of the Avengers. Nonetheless, he’s been buried so deeply beneath the villains who came after him that the MCU has forgotten about him. He doesn’t appear in any flashbacks, and Tony never appears to be struggling with his betrayal.
3. Aldrich Killian
Aldrich Killian may have been the person who knocked Tony Stark the hardest. Tony was already hanging by a thread when Killian arrived, and Killian snipped that thread mercilessly.
He’s also more developed than previous Iron Man villains. He possessed both a strong personality and a background, whereas his predecessors possessed only one of the two. He’s a cold-blooded killer with a thin veneer of calm, but he’s sympathetic enough that Tony received a lot of flak from fans after watching the film. Iron Man 3 isn’t thought to be as good as the previous films. It does, however, deserve credit for creating one of the franchise’s best villains.
4. Ulysses Klaue
Ulysses Klaue demonstrates that a good villain does not require a complicated backstory or even a lot of screen time. They simply need the right actor for the part. Andy Serkis was the actor who played Klaue.
Klaue is a villain who does not require drama or formality. He’s just having fun. He is aware that his irreverent and overly familiar behavior makes people uncomfortable, and he enjoys it that way. He can also read people and sees right through the Romanoff twins’ facade. He had great potential as a villain, but he was only a minor character in two films before being killed off.
5. Justin Hammer
Justin Hammer is the type of difficult character to play. One, his entire purpose is to serve as a disposable ally for the main villain. Two, his only significant character trait is that he is a complete idiot. He embarrasses himself without even trying. He’s insecure, awkward socially, and frequently bites off more than he can chew. Including him in the film at all could have been pointless.
Despite this, even when he’s being swatted, Hammer is entertaining to watch. This is due in part to Sam Rockwell’s excellent performance and the strong implication that Hammer is finally getting his due. He’s the type of villain that audiences love to laugh at, and he’s worth watching for that alone.
6. Kaecilius
In terms of villains, Kaecilius does little more than murder someone and provide epic fight scenes. One could argue that he is primarily a set-up for the big showdown between Doctor Strange and Dormammu.
However, Mads Mikkelsen’s portrayal of Kaecilius keeps him from being overshadowed by the other villains. He possesses the bearing and dignity of an old warrior. Doctor Strange’s cold logic and sarcasm break the spell cast by his voice. He uses philosophy to justify his point of view, but it’s clearly a ruse to hide his grief and heartbreak. Whether in a minor or major role, Mikkelsen always makes an impression on the audience.
7. Sonny Burch
Sonny Burch’s role in Ant-Man and the Wasp is essentially incidental. He’s a low-level black market dealer looking to steal Ant-Man technology. While his attempts cause the heroes all sorts of problems, he is merely an annoyance in comparison to the main villain.
He does, however, have some of the film’s funniest moments. Burch and his gang are fantastic at making audiences laugh, from the wild fights to the truth serum scene. He’s even funnier because he tries to play it straight. Regardless of the film’s flaws, audiences are never left wondering why Burch is in it.
8. Ultron
Ultron, as the sequel’s titular character, bears a lot of the blame for the film not being as good as the first. It’s odd because Ultron is one of the more colorful villains in the franchise.
To begin with, despite being a robot, he is extremely emotional and expressive. Everything about him, from his movements to his voice to his volatile temper, makes him seem so human. Second, he murders and maims people while acting casually and jokingly. He severs a man’s arm and speaks as if he just pushed his younger brother. Avengers: Age of Ultron may be one of the franchise’s weaker films, but it’s not because of Ultron.
9. Emil Blonsky
If Thaddeus Ross represents corrupt governmental authority, Emil Blonsky represents the consequences. Blonsky is established as a callous character early on, and when Ross asks him to take the super soldier serum, he is strangely eager to participate. Perhaps he simply enjoys being better at his job, or he may have more sinister motives. In either case, it backfires spectacularly.
Blonsky is best known as the giant monster that the Hulk must battle, but he’s also a fantastic villain in human form. His actor portrays him with nuance and humanity, and he’s almost likable, unlike Ross.
10. Thaddeus Ross
Thaddeus Ross is a villain who first appears in The Incredible Hulk and appears briefly in Captain America: Civil War. One could argue that he is the main antagonist because he is directly responsible for the Abomination and all the destruction and chaos. Despite eventually joining forces with Bruce Banner to defeat the Abomination, he never learns his lesson and remains hostile to the Avengers.
Because of The Incredible Hulk‘s lack of popularity, Thaddeus Ross isn’t well-known outside of his role in the Civil War. It is, without a doubt, one of the franchise’s weakest films, and it is not well-received by fans. Nonetheless, Ross is a great unconventional villain who everyone loves to despise.
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