Ever since the publisher’s debut in 1961, Marvel Comics has built one of the most intricate and interesting superhero universes of all time. Marvel has created some of the most beloved heroes and most fearsome villains in the comic book industry, and their continued expansion into the cinematic sphere, namely through theMarvel Cinematic Universe,has helped bring several of these fan-favorite characters to life. However, with each new film release, there have been a number of surprising omissions, with several popular characters still relegated to the pages of the comics.
Some of the most surprising omissions have involved Marvel’s rogues gallery. The publisher is responsible for some of the best villains in the medium, but a more recent push to include more obscure characters has meant that fewer iconic villains have leapt off the comic book page. This list focuses on 20 of those villainous powerhouses, covering characters across the supernatural, cosmic, and street-level realms. While not all of these villains are set to be the next Kang or Thanos, each has the potential to rock the foundations of the MCU, pushing the heroes to their absolute limit with their immense power.
21The Hood
Parker Robbins grew up surrounded by crime. His father was a close associate with the Kingpin, and after his death and his mother’s hospitalization, Parker had to turn to petty theft to make ends meet. On one job, he was attacked by a Nisanti demon in a warehouse, forcing him to kill the creature.
Stealing its cloak and boots, Parker discovered that they had mystical enchantments attached to them. Taking the name"the Hood,“Parker rose through the criminal underworld, using his newfound knowledge of magic and other mysterious artifacts to form his own criminal empire, recruiting several other villains to stand against the New Avengers.
The Hood Deserves His Shot at the Heroes of the MCU
The Hood is likely the least well-known name on this list, as he has gone criminally underused. Despite this, he is a perfect candidate for the MCU. He is a brilliant mix of street-level and supernatural storytelling, blending gangland criminality with mystical supervillainy. He even once became a cosmic-level threat when he gained access to the Infinity Gauntlet, making him the most powerful gang boss in the Marvel multiverse. Even without the Gauntlet or access to the immensely powerful Norn Stones, though, Parker still leads one of the biggest gangs of superpowered criminals in the universe, making him an incredibly potent threat to any super team.
Debuting in 1978,Arcadeis one of the most mysterious villains in the Marvel Universe. His real name is unknown, as is his background. All anyone truly knows about the crazed villain is his love and obsession for games, adding a theme park spin to supervillainy. Building various “Murderworlds,” depraved funhouses filled with deadly traps, Arcade lures in heroes to play his twisted games. Most often, they break free with no real effort. Inspired by a YA novel, though, Arcade decided to shift his attention to the younger generation of heroes, building a new Murderworld where he could watch his young captives battle to the death.
Arcade Has Only Recently Become One of Marvel’s Deadliest Foes
Calling Arcade one of the most powerful villains in the Marvel Universe feels like a joke. With that said, there are two major factors that earn Arcade a spot here. The first is Murderworld, which could easily translate into one of the MCU’s deadliest narrative set pieces (maybe with some notable allusions to parent company Disney’s famed theme parks).
The second is his role inAvengers Arena,where technology has essentially given him god-like abilities while within Murderworld. This may simply bemy appeal for Marvel to bringAvengers Arenato the big or small screen, but Arcade still has plenty of potential as the next MCU villain.
The Marvel Universe has put its own spin on world mythologyfrom the very beginning, with Thor and Hercules introducing readers to Norse and Greek mythology respectively. However, for every hero in mythology, there is a matching villain, andAresis one of the deadliest mythology-based supervillains in the game.
Ares felt like an outcast among the Olympians due to modern views of war, especially resenting Hercules for his continued popularity among mortals. After attempting to overthrow Olympus, Ares was exiled to Earth where he attempted to use his lust for battle and immense strength to take destroy his half-brother and his allies, the Avengers.
Ares Could Provide the MCU a Thrilling New Perspective on Mythology
Ares plays a unique role in the Marvel Universe, balancing his time as a villain with a brief foray into antiheroism. During theDark Reignevent, he even served as the Thor counterpart on Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers.Thor: Love and Thunderhelped introduce the full scale of the godly realms, meaning that the door is flung open for this Greek deity to make his big screen debut. Of course, this would require a far more serious tone than the one presented inLove and Thunder,but with the right director behind the character, Ares could be one of the most interesting villains-turned-antiheroes in the MCU.
18Morgan Le Fay
Created by Stan Lee in 1955 for Marvel’s predecessor, Atlas Comics, before making her Marvel debut in 1978,Morgan Le Fayis one of Marvel’s strongest spell casters. Hailing from the sixth century, Morgan is high priestess of the Darkhold, a powerful book of magic connected to the dark deity Chthon. After the book is stolen from her, Morgan makes several trips into the future to attempt to reacquire it, facing off against modern heroes in savage magical combat. Most recently, she has even managed to conquer her half brother Arthur’s kingdom, which had been transported to the realm known as Otherworld by Merlyn.
Morgan Le Fay Would Provide a New Mystical Threat to the Avengers
Technically speaking, Morgan Le Fay has already made her live-action debut, playing the main villain ofThe Runaways’second season. However, given the uncertain place of the Hulu original series in the MCU, it is safe to say that Morgan Le Fay still needs her MCU debut.
She is one of the most powerful mages in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and her connection to Black Knight and Captain Britain (and by extension, the X-Man Psylocke) makes her a necessary addition to the future of the MCU. There is so much potential in this master of magic, and her ties to British folklore help set her apart from other villains in the franchise.
17Hyperion and the Squadron Sinister
TheSquadron Sinisteroriginally appeared inThe Avengersin 1969 as champions of the Grandmaster in his battle against Kang the Conqueror and the Avengers. Modeled after the Squadron Supreme of Earth-712, a powerful team of heroes, these false champions included Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum, Nighthawk, and the Whizzer, parallels to Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, and the Flash.
As time passed, Nighthawk became a recurring hero, battling his former villainous allies alongside the Defenders. While Hyperion and the rest have also transitioned to heroes in recent years, universal events likeSecret Warshave seen them return to their villainous roots.
The Squadron Sinister Could Give Us the Marvel/DC Fight We’ve All Been Waiting For
Given that we will likely never seea true cinematic Marvel/DC crossover, fans will just have to settle for the Squadron Sinister. They are intended as the perfect analogue to DC’s Justice League, and their initial role as villains is a brilliant examination of the two companies' battle for supremacy.
What gives them even more potential is their eventual role as heroes, with the Squadron Supreme working alongside the Avengers on a number of occasions. In more recent years, the Squadron played a major role inHeroes Reborn, where reality was altered to make them the world’s only superhero team, which could act as a brilliant inspiration for an MCU event.
16Fin Fang Foom
Fin Fang Foomisn’t a dragon, despite all appearances. He is a member of an alien species from Kakaranathara who arrived in ancient China and inspired their depictions of dragons. While his fellows would go on to take human forms and influence Chinese politics for centuries, Fin Fang Foom, their navigator, was placed in a catatonic state deep inside a tomb. Upon awakening in the modern day, the Makluan beast begins an epic rampage across China, drawing the attention of the world’s heroes, and while he has attempted to reform over the years, Fin Fang Foom is still regarded as one of Marvel’s most terrifying villains.
Fin Fang Foom Could Be a New Breed of Villain for the MCU
To put it simply, Marvel’s classic monsters need better representation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While many have slowly fallen out of fashion in modern comics, they are still some of the most beloved characters in the franchise, so enough with the humanoid villains! Give us Marvel kaiju!
Yes, the budget for a film starring Fin Fang Foom could be astronomical, but so is the budget for every MCU film. The time has come for writers and directors to dig into the long history of this vast universe and bring forth some of the more unique villains in its repertoire to give viewers a new type of story in this universe.
15The Inheritors
Throughout the multiverse, totems exist as representations of powerful supernatural aspects. Among these, the Spider-Totems are some of the most powerful due to their connection to the Web of Life and Destiny, but that power has only drawn the attention ofthe Inheritors.
This family of multiversal vampires has conquered Earth-001, and using the Web, they have begun a campaign across the dimensions to consume the life force of Spider-Totems. In theSpider-Versecrossover event, Peter Parker of Earth-616 is forced to gather an army of spiders from across the multiverse to confront the Inheritors and stop the destruction of the Web.
The Inheritors Have the Opportunity to Be the Next Multiversal Threat
Given the massive popularity of the animatedSpider-Versefilms and Peter Parker’s key role in introducing MCU viewers to the multiverse, it’s a surprise that Morlun nor the other Inheritors have made their cinematic debut. True, a live-actionSpider-Versemovie might not work, given the vast number of moving parts at play, but that doesn’t mean that the Inheritors can’t play a key role in the future of the MCU.
After all, with the films and series exploring new corners of the multiverse, we need a new breed of villain, a multiversal threat to outclass all the villains that came before. The Inheritors could provide just that.
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have recently been introduced to Adam Warlock, one of Marvel’s strongest cosmic heroes. Many likely don’t know about Warlock’s evil half,Magus.Three versions of the villain exist, with two representing possible futures for the powerful hero. However, the third was born due to the Infinity Gauntlet.
to use the gauntlet impartially, Warlock attempts to rid himself of the good and evil inside his soul, but this results in him splitting into two corporeal forms. Warlock was forced to gather the Infinity Watch in order to defeat his evil twin and stop him from using the Gauntlet to destroy the universe.
Magus' Debut Could Be Just Around the Corner
Marvel likes its split-personality heroes, with Sentry being another example of a hero with a far darker half. It provides some unique narrative opportunities, giving writers the chance to explore the dichotomy of these characters while also pitting literal equals against each other. The battles between Magus and Warlock tend to be universe-shattering, leading to some epic visuals.
While the Infinity Gauntlet is largely out of play in the MCU, Warlock’s presence does provide the opportunity to bring Magus into the universe. Who knows? Maybe the next big bad isn’t Doctor Doom or Kang. Maybe Magus is simply biding his time in the shadows, waiting to strike.
Mangogrepresents rage. He is created by the gathered hatred and fury of a destroyed alien species, invaders of Asgard decimated by Odin’s power. Locked beneath Asgard, Mangog was first freed inThor #154in 1968, and with his devastating power, he rampaged through Asgard in an effort to draw the Odinsword from its scabbard, an act which would destroy the universe.
Though the magic allowing Mangog to exist has been dispelled on a number of occasions, the beast has returned time and time again with the same goal in mind, most recently facing off against Jane Foster’s version of Thor in her final battle.
The MCU Needs a Mindless Beast Like Mangog
Mangog needs to be in the MCU. Is there anything deep to his character? Not at all. He’s a rampaging monster solely bent on destruction. However, the MCU has plenty of well-rounded villains, characters with interesting backstories and relatable motives. Sometimes, we just need a being of pure evil to threaten the heroes.
Mangog could easily be that, and given his role in the end of Jane Foster’s saga as Thor, he has proven himself to be capable of epic brutality. Thor has largely been forgotten after the release ofLove and Thunder.Now is the perfect time to bring him back with this vicious villain.
Related:15 R-Rated Marvel Comics That the MCU Should Adapt
Living in the year 3007 AD,Michael Korvacis a traitor to humanity. After the Badoon successfully invaded Earth, Korvac joined their side, but after a mistake at work, he is punished, bonded to a powerful supercomputer. Now a cyborg, the Grandmaster plucks him from his time and uses him to battle the Defenders.
Using a portion of the Elder’s power, Korvac travels through time. Stealing the Power Cosmic from Galactus, Korvac develops god-like abilities, restoring his original human form and seeking to transform Earth into a utopia by any means necessary, forcing the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy to join forces to hunt him down.
Korvac’s Absence from the MCU is Still a Mystery
It’s legitimately surprising that Marvel has yet to adapt theKorvac Sagafor the MCU. It is one of the company’s first major crossovers, bringing together the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers. Given its importance to the company, you’d think Korvac would have at least seen a mention somewhere in the MCU, even as a reference for eagle-eyed fans.
While Kang is the next big threat for the franchise, the time has come to bring this incredible villain to life. He wouldn’t need to have some grand, overarching villain arc. Just one or two films focused intently on this cosmic entity’s campaign against the universe, showing off epic scope of his incredible power.
