8 Marvel And DC Comics Supervillains Who Deserve A Second Chance In The MCU And DCU

The next few years look set to be very exciting for both the MCU and DCU, and while we're bound to meet plenty of new characters, there are some villains from the past we think deserve a second chance...

By JoshWilding - Jul 14, 2023 02:07 PM EST

Filed Under: Marvel Studios

While things have definitely improved in recent years, it's still commonplace for superhero movie villains to be anything but the highlight (here's lookin' at you, Cheetah and Kro).

While the likes of Thanos, Loki, and Kang the Conqueror are hard to fault, there are many baddies who have been handled appallingly over the years. Regardless of whether we're talking about the actors chosen to play them or the way their personalities and even appearances were handled, the villains listed here are in desperate need of a second chance.

In this feature, you'll find the 8 comic book movie villains who deserve to be brought back to the big (or small) screen in some capacity in the near future...even if we hated how they were portrayed the first time around. For some, that's closer to becoming a reality than others, but a few are still stuck in limbo.

To take a look at who we think should be a priority, click on the "Next" button down below!

8. Galactus

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was a long time ago, but man, it still hurts to think about the fact Fox and director Tim Story basically turned Galactus into a cloud of space dust.

Yes, we're talking about a character who isn't exactly easy to portray in a live-action setting, but it could be done, and the World Eater deserves to be more than just a silhouette in a cloud.

A Fantastic Four reboot is, of course, on the way from Marvel Studios and we've already heard rumblings about the MCU's Galactus being played by Antonio Banderas. He may be a villain Kevin Feige is looking to turn into a Thanos-level big bad, but we need to see him done justice on screen ASAP.

7. Emma Frost

January Jones was singled out by many critics and fans as being the worst part of X-Men: First Class, and while that was definitely way too harsh, her portrayal of Emma Frost didn't exactly do the character justice. A big part of that, however, boils down to a lack of comic accuracy.

Yes, her powers looked cool (in 2011, at least), but she neither had the English accent nor attitude and swagger of her counterpart in the source material.

There are many ways Emma could be portrayed in the MCU when the X-Men are rebooted; we think it would be pretty cool to have her start off as a member of the Hellfire Club, though, later finding redemption among her fellow mutants (and becoming Cyclops' lover...much to Jean Grey's horror).

6. Bane

Bane made his big screen debut in Batman and Robin and was rebooted by Christopher Nolan in The Dark Knight Rises. That led to one of the best fight scenes we've seen in a comic book movie, but Bane was fully grounded in reality, and not what many fans hoped to see from the iconic villain.

Unfortunately, this is a character who is unlikely to fit into Matt Reeves' vision for the Caped Crusader.

With James Gunn now calling the shots with DC Studios' DCU, we see no reason why Bane wouldn't take centre stage in The Brave and the Bold. Failing that, he's definitely the sort of villain who could show up elsewhere in this shared world after previously clashing with the Caped Crusader.

5. Doctor Doom

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Arguably one of the greatest Marvel villains of all time, it's heartbreaking to think that Fox has dropped the ball on Victor Von Doom on three separate occasions.

Failing to touch on the psychological ramifications of his scarred visage and hatred for Reed Richards, that studio's movies made him a weird electrically powered half-man/half-machine hybrid. To add insult to injury, they even failed to delve into the fact he rules over his own nation, Latveria.

Is it too soon to bring Doom back? Some will argue that's the case, but providing we get a faithful take on the villain, many won't even associate a new iteration with those previous efforts. If nothing else, he should absolutely be teased in Matt Shakman's reboot.

4. Bullseye

Bullseye was part of Daredevil's third and final season, and Wilson Bethel did a decent job with the material he had to work with. Unfortunately, like nearly everything else in the series, his story was stretched out for way too long, and it appears he wasn't going to actually suit up until a fourth season.

Well, that's not happening, so the Netflix series marks Bullseye's second disappointing live-action appearance (the first came in the movie which saw Colin Farrell take on the role).

We'd be open to Bethel reprising the role, and with Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock about to take centre stage in Daredevil: Born Again, the time is right to make that happen. After all, who better to push 'ol Hornhead to his limits than one of his most formidable and detestable foes?

3. Malekith

Christopher Eccleston delivered an underwhelming take on Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, and while he clearly didn't like the material he was given to work with, there were better casting choices.

Of course, at that time, Jason Aaron hadn't yet rebooted the villain, and Marvel Studios now has a much better, far more well-rounded character to work with. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see him square off with either God of Thunder in Thor: Love and Thunder, but we'd him to still return down the line.

It might be hard to explain, and the Multiverse might need to be involved, but Malekith needs another chance. He'd make a great foe for the Mighty Thor if she shows up again, and a "War of the Realms" event...well, that could be every bit as exciting and awesome as what we've seen in the Avengers movies.

2. Scarecrow

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The Dark Knight Trilogy was incredible, but Christopher Nolan's grounded approach to Batman's world meant a few characters weren't handled the way some fans would have liked.

Scarecrow is a perfect example of that, and after quickly being dispatched by a stun gun, it's fair to say there are better ways to handle Dr. Jonathan Crane on screen (though we did enjoy that brief cameo in The Dark Knight Rises).

Gotham and Titan's versions underwhelmed, but for an example of how great a comic-accurate version would be on screen, look no further than the Arkham video games. A portrayal like that would make Scarecrow a truly epic baddie and he's another solid pick for The Brave and the Bold's big bad.

1. Ultron

Pretty much every other villain listed here has made the cut because the way they were originally portrayed was so terrible, but that's not really the case with Ultron, in all fairness.

Honestly, we want to see more of James Spader's interpretation of the classic Avengers baddie, albeit minus the wisecracks and underwhelming plan to destroy humanity. What If...? put the spotlight on a terrifying Variant, of course, but that only made us even more eager for Ultron to appear in a live-action setting.

Our hope is that Ultron could become a cosmic villain, taking on a similar role to the one he did in the Annihilation comic book series. That gives him a fresh lick of paint and might help make up for how disappointed some fans were with how this sinister android was portrayed the first time around.

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29 Comments

Scarilian - 7/14/2023, 3:00 PM

At this stage, will superheroes even be a viable film property in 2025?

Th3Batman - 7/14/2023, 3:24 PM

@Scarilian - Batman and Spider-man will be, everything else will likely not.

Scarilian - 7/15/2023, 7:55 AM

@Th3Batman -
Yeah, that seems about right.

TheVisionary25 - 7/14/2023, 3:05 PM

Vanessa Kirby as MCU Emma Frost

Also , I liked Ultron and the wisecracks I feel made sense given he was atleast partly based on Tony’s brainwaves in the version…

However I wouldn’t mind him back with Spader in the role again (Ross Marquand did decent in What If but it just wasn’t the sane imo).

TheBlueMorpho - 7/14/2023, 3:07 PM

I'll said it before and I'll say it again, I wish they didn't kill Crossbones and he was on the Thunderbolts team.

TheWalkingCuban - 7/14/2023, 3:08 PM

Played by Ryan Reynolds and Dave Dasmaltchian, keep it going!

99OPTIMISTPRIME - 7/14/2023, 3:10 PM

Fun Fact: Apparently Emma Frost isn't actually British.🤯

"After absorbing Astrid's memories and knowledge, Emma took a bit of the young woman's psyche and kept it. This is why her native Boston accent was replaced by a British one. It's not unlike Rogue taking Captain Marvel's powers completely when she absorbed Carol Danvers' abilities".

Forthas - 7/14/2023, 3:12 PM

All of these calls for super heroes to be fantastical because "many" fans want that is the fastest ticket to bankruptcy.

NONE of DC’s most “grounded” films (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel, Joker and The Batman) have ever lost money for the studio. Half of them made a billion dollars for the studio and five of the six have brought the studio critical acclaim. the data does not lie. There record for fantastical films have nowhere near that record of success.

HulkisHoly - 7/14/2023, 4:11 PM

@Forthas -

Was Avengers, Infinity War, or Endgame grounded?

Didn’t all three of those films make more money than all the films you mentioned?

Forthas - 7/14/2023, 6:19 PM

@HulkisHoly - Sure...but that is not the point. I am not saying that no fantastical film can make money or that it is not well made. However, the box office for films in the Marvel franchise are not consistent. For every Avengers, there is an Ant-Man, for every Infinity War there is a Black Widow and for every Endgame there is an Incredible Hulk. Those films lost money or struggled to break even for the studio. ALSO in terms of profitability, Joker was more profitable than Avengers. The problem with high fantasy is that it costs a lot of money to deliver the fantasy elements of the film and in the case of the Avengers films to bring numerous high profile characters to life in one film. The more they lean into the fantasy, the LESS likely the films will reach a billion dollars. There is a reason why NONE of the Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy films have ever crossed the billion dollar threshold the tow most fantastical of the Marvel franchises. If you take a look at franchises historically you see the same pattern.

BURTON'S BATMAN - Tim Burton approached the Batman franchise more seriously than previous iterations (specifically the campy version from the 1960”s.) While I would not call his films grounded, they were more mature and realistic than later versions helmed by Joel Schumacher. When he took over the audience quickly soured on the higher fantasy elements.

DONNER’S SUPERMAN - Again, the original took the subject matter the most seriously where people looked like they reflected the real world. As subsequent Supeman films became less tethered to reality the quality and the box office began to decline

STAR WARS- The more serious take on the space saga is represented in the first trilogy. As it became more cartoonish and ridiculous (the Prequel Trilogy) the Star Wars franchise became the topic of derision.

So the point is that if a studio wants to make films with both good quality that will make a profit, it is better if the lean toward the grounded approach for films.

URCOMMENTSUCKS - 7/14/2023, 3:46 PM

90 percent of the MCU villains should be redone.

Also, Malekith, really? Of all the villains MCU [frick]ed up, this one needs rebooting the most? And also, anyone who's read Thor comics before 2012 (clearly not the MCU fans or its directors) know that Malekith was always a great character, and Aaron's run didn't do shit to improve upon the character. The MCU [frick]ed him for the same reasons they [frick]ed up everything else with Thor after Branagh left the franchise.

FireandBlood - 7/14/2023, 3:50 PM

Lex Luthor! An OG that’s constantly getting [frick]ed over dirty in these movies and deserves a proper adaptation. Here’s hoping Gunn finally gets your boy right

RolandD - 7/14/2023, 6:28 PM

@PlusUltra - Both Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey can play evil very well but in all their appearances, Lex Luthor was played way to campy.

Baf - 7/14/2023, 3:51 PM

Picking on Nolan here a bit?
Marvel:
Crossbones
Red Skull
Whiplash
Ghost
Shocker
Gorr the God Butcher
Kang
Namor
DC:
Aries
Parallax
Steppenwolf
Lex Luthor
Cheetah
Maxwell Lord
Mr. Freeze
All horrible and deserving of a second chance.

MrKayDeeBee - 7/14/2023, 4:15 PM

@Baf -You missed Taskmaster, lol

Baf - 7/14/2023, 4:18 PM

@MrKayDeeBee - Taskmaster!
The only ones on this article:
Doom
Galactus
Maybe Malekith

TheVisionary25 - 7/14/2023, 4:19 PM

@MrKayDeeBee - I feel like Taskmaster was fine and can be improved upon as we move forward , same with Shocker and others that are still alive.

Unless your issue is they didn’t do the Tony Masters version then fair enough I guess

Baf - 7/14/2023, 4:19 PM

@MrKayDeeBee - Doomsday!

URCOMMENTSUCKS - 7/14/2023, 4:41 PM

@Baf - Justin Hammer and The Mandarin are missing. I don't give a shit what they did in Shang-Chi; that ain't the Mandarin. And Hammer was [frick]ed up in iM2 and won't be improved, since now his foil is dead and Hammer will most likely be turned into yet another villain-turned-useful-ally crap. Those two are Iron Man's biggest enemies. The Mandarin for obvious reasons and Hammer for being instrumental in exposing Stark's alcoholism.

Baf - 7/15/2023, 12:22 PM

@URCOMMENTSUCKS - The Mandarin was so badly used I actually forgot he even existed

HulkisHoly - 7/14/2023, 4:19 PM

Bane would be awesome to see in Gunn’s DCU…as long as it’s not Batista.

Personally I think he’d make a perfect Blofeld/ Moriarty to span across multiple films working in the shadows.

dragon316 - 7/14/2023, 4:43 PM

Like to see bane and galactus get another chance

DarthAlgar - 7/14/2023, 5:23 PM

Don't get me wrong, I love Tom Hardy's Bane something fierce, but all I want is a comic accurate Bane.

grif - 7/14/2023, 6:28 PM

bane has been in the movies twice and in live action tv at least once i think.

Repian - 7/14/2023, 9:54 PM

emeraldtaurus - 7/15/2023, 6:16 AM

@Repian - Mark Strong as Sinestro was the one and only good thing bout that awful GL movie.. pity they couldn't keep him for the reboot.

JobinJ - 7/14/2023, 10:14 PM

Name doesn’t need a second chance. Because he was amazing in the DKR

Lokiwasright - 7/15/2023, 6:27 AM

How about Loki?
😅😀😄🤣😂☺️

I kid

If I had to pick one it would be skrulls. I haven't seen the show but I figure that they were butchered.
Though Captain Marvel forewarned me of the change.

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