2025 has seen the release of three MCU movies (Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps) and one from the DCU (Superman).
Overall, it's been a great year—outside of Sam Wilson's first solo outing—even if they've all struggled at the box office in this new era of so-called superhero fatigue. Along the way, we've met many new characters and been reunited with several familiar faces.
Unfortunately, not all of them have worked. Whether it's questionable story arcs, poor designs, or the fact that they didn't add much to the stories being told, these characters were, in our opinion, the worst ones seen in this year's Marvel Studios and DC Studios movies.
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6. The Falcon
We first met Joaquin Torres in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but the character didn't leave much of a lasting impact. So, when he returned in Captain America: Brave New World as the new Falcon, it's hardly a surprise that it elicited more shrugs from fans than excitement.
Aged up from his comic book counterpart and robbed of his bird-inspired superpowers, the MCU's Joaquin is a generic soldier in a flight suit.
The Falcon being shot down in combat and hospitalised (meaning he couldn't lend a helping hand against Red Hulk) felt fitting, considering he was such a useless character. Honestly, nothing we saw here made us excited for his return in Avengers: Doomsday.
5. Baby Joey
This CG monstrosity served a purpose in terms of explaining why Metamorpho helps Superman, and Baby Joey does exist in the comic books. Still, the design for the DCU's version of the character is horrible, and truly the stuff nightmares are made of.
Not helping matters was an extended action sequence, which saw the Man of Steel attempting to protect the baby from harm. That featured some great visuals, but in a movie that was already jam-packed with ideas, Baby Joey might have been one too many.
Ultimately, it's the design we can't look beyond because it's another example of horrible Warner Bros.-produced VFX (which we're concerned will continue to plague this franchise).
4. Sidewinder
When the news broke that Captain America: Brave New World had added The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito as a mystery villain, fans were understandably thrilled. After all, who better to play a baddie than the Breaking Bad icon?
The rumours were more exciting than the reality in this instance, though Sidewinder still had heaps of potential. Alas, this generic mercenary (who led the equally bland "Serpents") was a let-down, and not a villain we're eager to revisit, despite rumours of a small screen appearance.
Esposito, sadly, just wasn't that convincing in the role and the Serpents were too poorly defined to ever feel like a real threat to Captain America and the wider MCU. What a disappointment.
3. Ghost
While Taskmaster was somewhat deserving of a place here, her screentime was so limited, it barely seems worth mentioning the character we first met in Black Widow.
As for Ghost, the Ant-Man and The Wasp villain felt like a wholly superfluous addition to Thunderbolts*. Her powers weren't utilised in a particularly thrilling manner, and she didn't add much to the team dynamic. Now, she's a New Avenger, and we couldn't be any less excited.
Thunderbolts* is a contender for the year's best superhero movie, but Ava Starr contributes very little (and wouldn't be missed, even if she'd gone the way of Taskmaster). Perhaps Ghost can be redeemed down the line. We'll see.
2. Mole Man
The Fantastic Four: First Steps delivered a take on Marvel's First Family that finally did right by the heroes. However, there was one element of the movie that felt like an undeniable weak link: Mole Man.
The scene in the Baxter Building was admittedly very funny, but Paul Walter Hauser was really hamming it up here (perhaps explaining why other scenes featuring the character were left on the cutting room floor).
It wasn't just Mole Man who was the problem. When we finally paid a visit to Subterranea, it was just a cave, and the Moloids were people in mining gear. There also wasn't a single monster in sight, a baffling decision, to say the least.
1. Ultraman
Sorry, but as villains go, Ultraman was underwhelming and seemingly only in Superman to give the Man of Tomorrow someone to punch. Revealed as a Superman clone, Ultraman also failed to lend himself to any memorable fight scenes.
Design-wise, he similarly failed to impress (we also can't help but wonder why Supes never used his X-ray vision to see who or what was under the mask). Had he been unmasked as Bizarro or Parasite, that would've been pretty cool, but Ultraman was as generic as Sidewinder.
Fortunately, Lex Luthor more than made up for that, but The Engineer very nearly ended up on this list, too. Moving forward, James Gunn would benefit from choosing his villains a little more wisely.