EDITORIAL: Nova's Top Five: Non-Cosmic Marvel Villains

EDITORIAL: Nova's Top Five: Non-Cosmic Marvel Villains

Hey gang, Nova here, and given that Carnage and Hobgoblin have just been announced to be receiving their own miniserieses...es? I figured I'd write a little piece on my top five favourite Marvel villains that reside in this mortal realm. Hit the jump to check it out!

Editorial Opinion
By NovaCorpsFan - Jul 03, 2014 06:07 PM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Comics

TOP FIVE MARVEL VILLAINS


I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that villains are one of the main reasons anybody reads super hero comic books. In some cases, a villain might actually be the catalyst that sets the super hero in motion. I find myself drawn more to villains and actually own a shirt that says, "You Say Villain Like It's A Bad Thing" written on it. Over the years, I've come to like some villains more than others but there are five of these villains that I will always hold in incredibly high regard. So, without further ado, humble reader, allow me to excort you onwards to the list of villains that have a special place in my heart.
 

5: Molecule Man


I can almost hear the resounding "What the [frick]?" as you've seen that. Yes, I would put a villain as obscure as Molecule Man in my top five. "Why?", you may ask. Putting it simply, it's because he's genuinely one of the most powerful and dangerous people in the known universe, and he doesn't give a shit. He has such a level of control over his incredible power to manipulate any matter and most of this control stems from the fear he holds regarding his powers. He knows he's a universal threat and he managed to keep enough of a lid on it that he hasn't yet destroyed the universe. Plus, he fought the Beyonder in Secret Wars II (how many of you just found out that existed?) and he held his ground. I respect him in a lot of ways, I guess.
 
 

4: Bullseye


 
How can anyone not like Bullseye? He's got a brilliantly depicted charm to him despite his murderous tendencies and also, he's one of the most badass motherphuckers ever. Some of my admiration comes from the game Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I spent God knows how long trying to beat Bullseye on Hard difficulty but hey, I was only nine and rarely played vidjyah games. On top of that, despite being severely disappointed by Shadowland, I found Bullseye's heart restarting moment to be one of the coolest things I'd ever seen him do within the panels of a comic book, aside from murdering Elektra. I also loved him as a Thunderbolt, they should do that again, I loved that team so much.
 

3: Jack O' Lantern


 
Jack O' Lantern is just absolutely out of his mind and has a really unique and brilliant way of killing people that I've always loved about him. As far as I'm concerned, he's severely underrated and deserves more than the odd gang member appearance now and then. If given the right arc with which to progress, I could see Jack being one helluva popular villain. In case you didn't know, he kills people by hollowing out their heads and putting a candle in there. Ain't that just the coolest thing you ever heard in your life? If you ever see him in something, read it because he's awesome;y mental and more people should know about him.
 

2: Doctor Doom


 
What's a top villains list without Doctor Doom? Honestly, if I didn't love deranged psychopathic villains so much, Doom would definitely be my number one guy here. He's just that classic embodiment of the villain that we all know and love. Heck, I'd class him as Marvel's first truly major league villain! He's set in his ways and when he gets involved with something in the Marvel universe, you just know shit's about to go down and it's gonna come down hard. I have a Marvel Annual (2006) which features the wedding of the FF and that was my first real introduction to the Doom of the comics and all he did was stand in front of a lightning bolt and look menacing. But it was enough to permanently instill him as one of my favourite villains of all time.
 

1: Carnage


 
Anyone who's spoken to me enough knows how much I absolutely love Carnage. My reasons are too bountiful to give them all in brief, so I'll just touch on the top ones. Carnage is just the definition of being evil because it's fun and that's what makes him such a chillingly and horrifyingly brilliant character. He's mad, but that's what makes him interesting. I'd go as far as to say he's the most mentally unstable character in the Marvel Universe (Sentry excluded). I write, and there's nothing I enjoy more than writing psychopathic characters because there are literally no real limits to their immorality and it can be a great experience as a writer to see how far you're willing to push your own imagination and even your own morals. Carnage would be my dream character to write and I hope someday I can do it and get paid afterwards.,, Man, that sounded really shallow, didn't it?

Note worthy mentions would have to go to Crossbones, Magneto, Kingpin, Mysterio and Ultron as I just find them all to be such appealing characters for several different reason I'm not gonna bother to divulge. But there you have it, folks! My top five favourite Marvel villains. And I doubt any of them will ever be done justice on film. Oh, who else would love to own this shirt? I certainly would...

 

Who are your favourite Marvel villains? Be sure to let me know in the comments section below and hit that red glove if you enjoyed the read to any great extent. Till next time chums!
 
 
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Abary
Abary - 7/3/2014, 6:59 PM
Wait, you have favorite NON Cosmic villains? You totally rocked my world.
Abary
Abary - 7/3/2014, 7:00 PM
On a slightly more serious note... nice article Nova. My top five list wouldn't even be slightly similar to this though. The addition of Jack O'Lantern and Molecule Man are very original. I also like Jack O'Lantern and think he is underrated, but in the top five? Wow. Well, I guess when you add all the other cosmic villain in, it appears that neither he nor Molecule Man are too high. Thumbs up.
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 7/3/2014, 7:06 PM
Haha, pretty much, Abary. The only ones who don't move out are Doom and Carnage. Even then, they only go back one place.
batz11
batz11 - 7/3/2014, 7:14 PM
Good choices...
WinterSoldier33
WinterSoldier33 - 7/3/2014, 7:29 PM
In no order


-green goblin
-magneto
-Dr doom
-carnage
-apocalypse
Starkasm
Starkasm - 7/3/2014, 7:33 PM
Carnage
Red Skull
Ezekiel Stane
Winter Soldier (to me, it counts)
Doom or venom
DeusExSponge
DeusExSponge - 7/3/2014, 7:47 PM
You dare insult Pink Pearl by omitting here from this list?! You will pay dearly for that insult Nova!!!
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 7/3/2014, 7:52 PM
DeusEx

I didn't mean to, I swear!
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 7/3/2014, 9:28 PM
Great list. Surprised that your a fan of non cosmic villains.

Disappointed that Dr Doom won't be a part of the MCU, which kind of makes me sad.

Thumbs up, though.
MileHighRonin
MileHighRonin - 7/3/2014, 11:18 PM
Its a decent list, more your favorites than a top list. No offense, its a great article and great read. Molecule Man is very underrated, even by me. Jack would be great for a live action moon knight villian.

1 Magneto
2 Doom
3 Ultron
4 Bastion/MasterMold/Sentinels
5 Norman Osbourne

Now that I think about it, props for even narrowing it down to 5.

I AM GROOT!!!
MileHighRonin
MileHighRonin - 7/4/2014, 12:36 AM
Not to be a Richard, but isn't Carnage technically a cosmic villian? Being the symbiot is alien.

I AM GROOT!!!
TheDuck
TheDuck - 7/4/2014, 4:51 AM
isn't Carnage from space??
So wouldn't that be cosmic?
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 7/4/2014, 5:30 AM
MileHighRonin

Yeah, these are my personal favourites. Isn't that the same as a top list, or did I not get that memo? I didn't set out to name THE definitive top five, just the villains that are in my top five favourite villains. Cheers for reading anyway and nice choices of your own there.


And everyone, I'd class a cosmic villain as someone who is featured mainly in space. Thanks for the comments, reads and thumbs! (That should be the name of the CBM band!)
EdgyOutsider
EdgyOutsider - 7/4/2014, 7:32 AM
My list in order

1: The Lizard 2: Doctor Doom 3: Magneto 4: Ultron 5: Crossbones

If I could've added cosmic then it would've been my top five favorite comic villains ever. Doctor Doom may not be my all time favorite but I think he's the greatest villain in all of comics.
jrp6048
jrp6048 - 7/4/2014, 8:50 AM
Great list and I love the addition of Jack O Latern
MercwithMouth
MercwithMouth - 7/4/2014, 9:18 AM
Nice list Nova, thumbs up.

My 5:

1. Venom
2. Doc Ock
3. Kingpin
4. Kraven
5. Carnage

Love Spider-Man villains, best in the business.
SpideyQuad
SpideyQuad - 7/4/2014, 9:53 AM
Fav Marvel villain? It's certainly NOT a symbiont.
MileHighRonin
MileHighRonin - 7/4/2014, 11:56 AM
@nova didn't mean to disrespect, it truly is a great article, my wife read it and also enjoyed it. I ASSumed it was top 5 ever, not top five favorites. With that in mind my new list would be.

1 Magneto
2 Loki
3 Apocalypse
4 Doom
5 Onslaught

Not sure if Loki can count. Again great article, I look forward to the next one

I AM GROOT!!!
Mercwitham0uth
Mercwitham0uth - 7/4/2014, 12:07 PM
Got these signed at Fan Expo by awesome artist Clayton Crain:



And these signed by Mark Bagley:



Nivekian
Nivekian - 7/4/2014, 12:57 PM
Props for having Molecule Man on there, everyone else..., not so much.
113
113 - 7/4/2014, 1:46 PM
Kudos for thinking outside the box with the list with unexpected choices.
Namor
Namor - 7/4/2014, 1:51 PM
Awesome thread. I wish a thread like this would get 10pages.lol


My top 5 in order...

1). Kingpin(Vincent Donofrio!!)

2). Doc Ock (God I love Otto! I have old school bust of Doc Ock that I treasure)

3). Omega Red(scares the shit outta me and always has.)

4). Juggernaut(Jeez, most of my friends and I loved and love Jugs)

5). Mr.Hyde (I love the Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde story and Hyde from Marvel is super scary and super strong and ferocious). Underrated if you ask me. I hope he shows up in DareDevil series. In my eyes he fits best there.


Underrated award goes to Mysterio. Everyone loves Mysterio.
marvel72
marvel72 - 7/4/2014, 3:19 PM
1st dr.doom
2nd apocalypse
3rd mr.sinister
4th ultron
5th kang the conqueror
Namor
Namor - 7/4/2014, 3:28 PM
Handful of underrated Villians I like(all thought Mr.Hyde might fall on this list as well, to each there own).


Calypso- Shes scary as hell. A voodoo priestess who specializes in mind control and resscurection? Shes a nut job as well. Be cool to see her sneak in a spidey film now that I think of it, albeit, I don't know how?

Tiger Shark- Are you kidding me? This would hands down be one of the most frieghtning encounter you could have in my eyes. Down right ruthless to boot.

Pyro- I know he got some play in X2 and 3, but he wasen't done nearly right. He can be super dangerous and scary when done right. He was great when with the Brotherhood

The Leader- Hes got super villian status but not many low level fans know about the leader. Can't wait to see a Hulk film against Leader. I think he can be great in Whedons hands. I'd love for Whedon to do a Hulk film with Leader as the main villian.

Chameleon- To me very freaky how he has no true face. He always haunted me when I was a kid. Has a kidnappery feel to em..

There ya have it. My underrated villian list.
LaserKing
LaserKing - 7/4/2014, 3:34 PM
Very interesting list Nova....
I really like many but here it goes for this moment
Sandman
Mysterio
Winter soldier
Doom
Venom
mctrinket
mctrinket - 7/4/2014, 3:57 PM
What are the odds that the one guy in the world who actually thinks a lame villain like Carnage is awesome would write and article about it?
staypuffed
staypuffed - 7/4/2014, 5:06 PM
Interesting list, Nova. Not choices I would make but hey, that's the point of an opinion! Nice job, nonetheless.

My list:
1. Magneto
2. Green Goblin
3. Ultron
4. Dr. Doom
5. Venom

Magneto's probably my all-time favourite Marvel villain, honestly.
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 7/4/2014, 8:16 PM
mctrinket

You think he's lame, I think he's the best thing since sliced bread. I love psychopathic villains and Carnage is essentially the embodiment of a truly deranged, psychotic and completely mental villain.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 7/4/2014, 10:08 PM
That Alex Ross pic at the top of your article - I've been trying to figure out who the pointy-eared guy is at the top right corner. I don't think he's a Skrull, and he doesn't have hair so he's not Sabretooth. The baldness makes me think he might be Abomination, but he doesn't look meaty enough. Anyone?

@Nova
I like your articles, don't get me wrong, I really do. They're some of the best ones on here, some of the greatest structured material on this site. But this list of yours... I'm scratching my head. And yes, I did shampoo my hair today.

I get what you say about the psychopaths - I had a thing a while back for some of the characters who just embrace their psychotic behavior. Myself, I prefer the more demure villains, like Mr. Sinister - who Resident Evil's Albert Wesker is loosely based off of. I prefer the ones who have fallen so far from where they started, which was on a broken path that took over their morality as time progressed. Not so much sympathetic as the more complicated.

Game of Thrones.... [Spoilers]
Jamie Lannister, for example, is known as the 'Kingslayer' for killing Aerys Targaryen while serving as his personal bodyguard, to prevent him from ordering mass genocide. He has an incestuous relationship with his twin sister, the Queen after Aerys, a secret he tried to keep by pushing a ten/seven (tv/book) year-old boy to his supposed death. He fathered the monstrous Joffrey, who the entire kingdom (and step-father, the king) believed to be heir to the iron throne. He is a master swordsman with a venomous wit, and only acquires some humility after having his sword hand cut off in captivity. Once he cleans up from that experience, he's a changed man, and we very nearly forget that he's murdered his own admiring cousin in cold blood to mount an escape attempt, or pushed Bran to his (near) death.

These characters have to be well written to gain my affection.
My list would go...
5. Doctor Doom
4. Norman Osborn
3. Loki
2. Magneto
1. Mr Sinister
CPBuff22
CPBuff22 - 7/4/2014, 10:16 PM
MY Top Five non cosmic Marvel villains

1. Norman Osborn
2. Bullseye
3. Venom
4. Molecule Man
5. Winter Soldier*

*Winter Soldier would have been rated higher had his villain run been longer

(Note: Deadpool would be on the list if I considered him a Villain)

Top Five Marvel Cosmic Villains

1. Thanos
2. Ultron
3. Annihilus
4. Vulcan
5. The Beyonder

(Note: The reason Ultron wasn't on the earth list is because my favorite story with him is in Annihilation Conquest. The reason Magnus isn't on the list is because he is part of Adam Warlock and even though he is a very bad man, I don't feel he could be anything outside of an Adam Warlock story.)


lawndart
lawndart - 7/4/2014, 10:53 PM
Oh hell, I'll bite.
Non-cosmic (in no order):
1. Loki
2. Ultron
3. Doom/Kang
4. Mandarin
5. Zemo

I figure the 5 non-cosmic have had significant impacts within the MU i.e. Zemo created the Masters of Evil. Why no Mags or Apocalypse? Cause muties suck.

Cosmic:
1. Thanos
2. Korvac
3. Skrull Emperor/Supreme Intelligence (I rate a tie considering both are responsible for millions of deaths)
4. Annihilus
5. Aunt May
I'm going by body count here and overall impact.
MarkV
MarkV - 7/4/2014, 11:49 PM
Not a carnage fan but a nice eclectic mix of villains.

Hats off!
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