It's not easy to find fault with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Marvel Studios certainly hasn't knocked it out of the park every time. One particularly noteworthy failing, especially in those early Phases, was the villains. Until the likes of Thanos and Zemo came along, most of them were terrible!
Some were worse than others, though, so we're now counting down the MCU's most disappointing baddies. Seven are lost causes, but we have singled out three who could be redeemed.
From the Iron Man franchise to movies like Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Homecoming, we think you'll be surprised by some of the names here, and we apologise in advance for bringing up some bad memories (let's face it, a lot of these characters are probably considered favourites by many fans).
To take a look through this feature, click on that "Next" button below to see who we've listed...
10. Aldrich Killian
Aldrich Killian had the potential to be a great villain, especially as he was the perfect example of Tony Stark's past coming back to haunt him. Unfortunately, giving him superpowers in the final meant that he became a one-note baddie, while A.I.M ended up vanishing as quickly as it appeared.
Marvel Studios could have had Killian escape or wind up behind bars, but after putting Extremis into the world, the stage would have nicely been set for A.I.M. to head down an even more sinister route.
None of that happened, and we still haven't recovered from that goofy "I am The Mandarin!" line (this is the main reason Killian is here instead of Trevor). Iron Man 3 is actually a pretty great movie, but Marvel Studios really dropped the ball on this character, Maya Hansen, and "Mandarin."
9. The Black Order
With so much story to fit into Avengers: Infinity War, it was inevitable that not every character would get the screentime they deserve. Earth's Mightiest Heroes also needed someone to fight while Thanos was tracking down the Infinity Stones, and that was where the Black Order ended up coming in.
Unfortunately, they really were just glorified extras. With little to no personality, they failed to shine, with only Ebony Maw getting anything noteworthy to do. Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight's relationship was barely alluded to, and poor Cull Obsidian became little more than a monstrous goon.
The fact they were all killed off with such little fanfare didn't really help matters, and while it's not like the Black Order has a storied comic book history, they deserved better than this.
8. Shocker
Shocker is far from an A-List villain in Spider-Man's world, but Marvel Studios and Jon Watts could have handled him a little better than they did in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Making him one of Vulture's goons was a smart move, as was having his gear be repurposed Chitauri tech. Leaked promo art seemingly confirmed that a costume was considered, and we'd have liked to see one - especially as it might have given the underused Bokeem Woodbine a little more to play with. Either way, he didn't get the role in this reboot that Herman Schultz deserved.
A more exciting fight scene could have better weakened Peter Parker for his fight against Adrian Toomes, and while we hope Shocker returns, it feels like the moment may have passed.
7. Whiplash
Easily one of the worst villains Marvel Studios has ever put on the big screen, Whiplash disappointed on a number of levels. Mickey Rourke has claimed that most of his performance ended up on the cutting room floor (he even spent time in a prison, apparently), but what we saw was so terrible, we can only be eternally grateful that we weren't forced to suffer through more of it.
While those whips presented a unique challenge for Iron Man in the sequel, it was especially disappointing to see him don an armoured suit of his own for a familiar final battle. This felt lazy, and while it was cool to see Tony fighting side-by-side with War Machine, we don't really have anything good to say about Whiplash.
Perhaps the franchise peaked with Iron Monger, because it was all downhill from there, and Iron Man's greatest foes were arguably Ultron and Thanos in the Avengers franchise.
6. Malekith
Thor: The Dark World was a disappointing movie on a number of levels but had Malekith not been so poorly conceived, this sequel could have been saved from being considered one of the worst MCU entries. Christopher Eccleston was a total miscast, and his mission was as generic as they come.
At the time this sequel was developed, Jason Aaron had yet to reinvent Malekith in the comic books. Despite that, there was plenty of source material to pick from, but what we ended up with was an underwhelming fantasy villain that proved Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor perhaps wasn't the best choice to try and combine that world with the one Thor inhabits.
We'd like to think Malekith could be redeemed, but he's dead, so it would be hard to make happen now. Even Eccleston has admitted that he hated shooting this villainous role for Marvel Studios.
5. Kaecilius
Bringing Mads Mikkelsen into the MCU was a smart casting decision, especially as the actor was coming off his incredible turn in the Hannibal TV series. Unfortunately, Doctor Strange didn't make the best use of him, while choosing Kaecilius as the big bad here...well, that still baffles us, to be honest.
The Sorcerer Supreme has an amazing rogues gallery, but Kaecilius is far from the most interesting. This reimagining didn't do him many favours, and he felt like little more than a means to an end to get Strange where he needed to be. As a result, we're not too gutted Scott Derrickson isn't returning for In the Multiverse of Madness as he may not have the best handle on villains.
Marvel Studios isn't blameless, however, and both Mikkelsen and this movie deserved better. Of course, Kaecilius wasn't the only villain Doctor Strange ended up dropping the ball on in 2016...
4. Supreme Intelligence
There was nothing inherently awful about the way Annette Bening was used as the Supreme Intelligence in Captain Marvel, and our biggest gripe is probably the lack of comic book accuracy.
Marvel Studios could have done something really bold with the villain by following what we've seen in the comic books, but by making the Supreme Intelligence a glorified A.I., it/she failed to stand out from the crowd. Then again, the same could be said for the entire Kree Empire, with Ronin the Accuser similarly disappointing (very little was done to actually flesh out his background).
We'll likely see more of the Supreme Intelligence down the line, and we know Marvel Studios did shoot a comic accurate version of the villain. However, the excitement surrounding that return has been dampened, and it will be that little bit harder to now take this MCU baddie seriously as a threat.
Now, about those villains who could one day be redeemed...
3. Ghost
Ant-Man and The Wasp disappointed in a few different respects, but it was always going to be hard following a movie as epic as Avengers: Infinity War. Regardless, the Quantum Realm wasn't really explored any further than in the first movie, while Janet Van Dyne somehow ended up feeling like an afterthought in a sequel that was primarily focused on saving the original Wasp's life!
Worse than that, though, was the way Ghost was handled. Casting Hannah John-Kamen was a fantastic idea, and the actress did the best she could with the material she was saddled with.
Despite her unique powers, Ghost didn't leave much of a lasting impact following her MCU debut, and her story ended in a way that basically just saw us told to forget about her. We can only hope her fate is addressed in some way when Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania rolls around, but it might be better at this stage to move her to a different franchise...how about the Thunderbolts?
2. Dormammu
Dormammu is perhaps Doctor Strange's most iconic villain, but he ended up being...a floating head? This was only slightly better than Galactus the cloud (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) and Parallax the fart (Green Lantern), but one which doesn't seem to annoy fans as much as it probably should.
Their final "battle" was certainly unique and inventive, but we'd have been much happier seeing Dormammu take on a physical form than being a giant special effect that only looked kind of cool.
Thankfully, there's no real reason he couldn't one day escape the Dark Dimension to take revenge on Strange. When that happens, he could look a little closer to what we've seen in the comics because that would be vastly more satisfying (more screentime should better flesh out his motivations too as there's so much more to Dormammu than world domination).
1. Yellowjacket
There were lots of cool moments in that battle between Ant-Man and Yellowjacket, many of which we're guessing came from Edgar Wright's original plan for this movie (that sense of inventiveness was somewhat lacking from the sequel). Regardless, Darren Cross was the definition of forgettable.
He was just another typical comic book movie baddie who died when all was said and done, but there are ways Marvel Studios can "resurrect" Yellowjacket...well, the moniker, not Cross!
Mitchell Carson escaped with those Pym Particles and was privy to Cross Industries' Yellowjacket plans, so it's not exactly a stretch to believe he might have created his own version. Looking at the source material, Rita DeMara might be a solid choice of villain to take on Ant-Man, The Wasp, and Stature...