Top 5 – MCU Villains
This week, the Marvel’s 19th film, Avengers: Infinity War, comes out. The film brings all of our favorite heroes together to fight Thanos from taking over the universe. I’m ecstatic to finally see Thanos in action as the biggest, baddest villain the MCU has ever seen. Before Thanos, however, the MCU has had a number of villains who have attempted to thwart our heroes. They all haven’t been great, but these five have. My picks for the best MCU villains.
5 – THE WINTER SOLDIER from CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (The Russo Brothers, 2014)
If anyone can go toe-to-toe with Captain America, they deserve to be on the list. Besides being a physical force and intimidating as hell, with his metal arm and froze stare, the Winter Soldier adds a layer of depth being Captain America’s former best friend, Bucky Barnes. This adds a moral dilemma for the Cap, which adds for some great drama, especially when they go one-on-one. His motivations aren’t the best (he’s just brain washed) and the movie focuses more on the HYRDRA’s take over of S.H.I.E.L.D in the third act than the battle between Captain America and the Winter Soldier, which was the battle I enjoyed seeing the most.
4 – DARREN CROSS/YELLOWJACKET in ANT-MAN (Peyton Reed, 2015)
Ant-Man was a refreshing movie in the MCU, as it remained contained to it’s own world and also felt more like a caper flick than an actual super-hero movie. Darren Cross might not come off as your typical comic book villain, but he worked perfectly in this one. As a disgruntled businessman who wants to steal the company of his mentor for not showing him his shrinking technology, Cross has the motivations of that villainous Wall Street guy. He wants to take the technology and militarize it and you believe he can do it. He also plays as a great physical foil to Ant-Man, as the two battle it out in a shrinking-growing match that ends on a Thomas the Tank Engine track.
3 – ERIK KILLMONGER from BLACK PANTHER (Ryan Coogler, 2017)
Here’s the thing; Killmonger deserves his own movie, not be half of a villain team. He is a character that is so complex and richly written with a terrific back story, and one the represents a character that is so attuned to the current climate that he needed to be given his chance on stage and allow us to dive into him, especially with Michael B. Jordan playing him masterfully. The problem is he’s only in half of the movie and felt rushed. He should have been either the central villain or the villain in the second film and been able to own the movie. Killmonger is such a great villain and would have probably landed at number one had he been handled correctly.
2 – ADRIAN TOOMES/VULTURE from SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
What’s great about Toomes is that he’s bigger than just Spider-Man. Toomes’ motivation for being a villain is stemmed from not Spider-Man, but from the Avengers. He was a blue collar construction man trying to clean up New York before taken off the job by Tony Stark. He ends up selling weapons on the black market to make a living and using what he found in New York to his advantage. But what makes Toome’s even better is that he isn’t just a villain to Spider-Man, but also a villain to Peter Parker. When Parker realizes Toomes is his prom dates father, it adds a new level of drama and really takes the whole, “high school kid meeting the intimidating parents for the first time” trope to a whole other level. Keaton crushes this performance and elevates Toomes to make Spider-Man: Homecoming to one of the MCU’s best.
1 – LOKI from THOR & THE AVENGERS (Kenneth Branagh, 2011 & Joss Whedon, 2012)
When you think of MCU villains, you think of Loki. Not only because he has been the main villain in two MCU movies, but it is Loki isn’t just a villain. This is arguably the most fleshed out character in the MCU. The adopted brother of Thor who walks around with a chip on his shoulder, as the love their father, Odin, showed Thor made Loki resentful towards his family. Even when Loki is trying to take over Earth and backstabbing his brother, which happens all the time, we still love him. We feel for him not matter what he does, as he is evokes a pathos that is nowhere else in the MCU. He’s a slick, devious, tragic charmer who has slithered his way into our hearts.
Who are you favorite MCU villains? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.