Who's the Best MCU Villain?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But I feel that the two versions are different enough with different enough motivations to be separate characters.

One might even call them variants.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

There was whats his name from Iron Man 2 Justin Hammer but his tech... yes hardly anywhere near the same level

Damn, I forgot Justin Hammer too. I actually quite liked him and would be happy to see him return.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Hela has been the most compelling evil villain thus far

Kilmonger was also a great antagonist, and justified in his vendetta. I do hope he comes back somehow

I also liked Winter Soldier while he was a villain and Grand Master because Jeff Goldblum got to play himself.

Vulture was also a great reimagining of a hookie character which Keaton gave some menace

Surturs also memorable

I voted for much the same people.

I wasn't sure whether or not to include Surtur (obviously I didn't in the end) because he strikes me as more a force of nature that Thor (well, Loki) unleashed. But I'll add him to the list with Kaecillius and Justin Hammer.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I should probably tell y'all my own votes.

Loki (Thor), Ego, Vulture, Killmonger, and Grand Master.

I wanted to include Hel and Zemo but there was only 5 choices allowed. I like (comics) Red Skull, but I feel the MCU version didn't get enough screen time to really develop as a character.

Oh BTW, I deliberately left WandaVision, Falcon and Winter Soldier, and Loki off the list. I've only seen WandaVision so far and it's fresh enough I wanted to avoid spoilers.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

One might even call them variants.

I assume this is a reference to the TV series Loki. But don't tell me! I mean, okay, I know enough just from general scuttlebutt and genre knowledge to guess this sort of thing is going to happen. But please, I demand rigorously defined areas of doubt and uncertainty.

 

[cmad1977]

Killmonger.

 

[RangerWickett]

Ditto. But which Loki? I honestly think there's a difference between Loki from original Thor and Loki in Avengers. In Thor he gets character development. In Avengers he's just a generic bad guy doing bad guy things for the evulz. Yes I realise that, within the diegesis, it's the same character. But I feel that the two versions are different enough with different enough motivations to be separate characters.

Avengers Loki doesn't just punch people, though. He infiltrates the good guys, learns their weaknesses, and tries to tear them apart. We get some good monologuing with Cap, some quality trickery with Black Widow, and even banter with Tony.

No character growth, sure, but he made an impact on the heroes. That was significant, and isn't that one purpose of a villain?

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Avengers Loki doesn't just punch people, though. He infiltrates the good guys, learns their weaknesses, and tries to tear them apart. We get some good monologuing with Cap, some quality trickery with Black Widow, and even banter with Tony.

No character growth, sure, but he made an impact on the heroes. That was significant, and isn't that one purpose of a villain?

Hmmm. All good points.

Dogdammit, now I have to reconsider my opinions. This is not what I come to the internet for.

 

[Stalker0]

If I define the villain based on how "effective" they were, aka how much did they actually shift the MCU. My votes would be:

Thanos: While half of life ultimately returns, the amount of catastrophic devastation across the entire universe simply cannot be overstated. Thanos changed the entire game. Further, his mere existence haunted Tony Stark for years, and ultimately his acts led to the deaths of three avengers (Tony, Nat, Vision).... a feat no other villain has replicated to date. I mean other villains had their moments, but in "defeat" no one else "won" like Thanos did.

Hela: While somewhat indirectly, ultimately her actions lead to the destruction of Asgard....for good. I still would go with Thanos, but in terms of long impacts Hela is still up there.


In terms of the villains "coolness" or style, I would do with:

Zemo: The most mortal of all villains. He had no big tech, no magic powers, just as he quoted "Experience and Patience". And yet with these tools assassinated the King of the most advanced nation on earth (Wakanda), split the Avengers apart (which may have ultimately weakened their response to Thanos), and has lived to tell the tale. Also what makes Zemo interesting..... he's not exactly wrong. The avengers (Tony and Banner specifically) effectively destroyed his country and killed his family with their mad experiments.... and faced almost 0 consequences in terms of incarceration. Zemo's desire for revenge is understandably justified, even if his actions are not. I also think Zemo got to add a bit of swagger in FWS which made him even cooler. Even then he is reminding the Avengers of their lapses (the scene were he scolds Bucky and Sam for never visiting the country their team ruined is a powerful one).

Killmonger: For many similar reasons to Zemo, Killmonger has strong justification for his actions....and frankly he is right in a lot of ways. Further, Killmonger is one of the few villains who seems to truly be doing "evil" for at least reasonably justified reasons....as he wants to liberate thousands of people across the world.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

After I watch Falcon and Winter Soldier I suspect Zemo is going to replace Ego in my vote tally.