MCU Phase 2 was met with criticisms due to underdeveloped villains. Characters such as Aldrich Killian, Ultron, and Malekith did not even reach their antagonist level potential. In turn, they are both deemed as weak opponents. Some examples of well-rounded rivals include Loki and The Winter Soldier.
By the introduction of Phase 3, Marvel’s President Kevin Feige took these pointers to heart and stepped up his villain creation game. He gave us the most iconic ones which are now considered classic Marvel antagonists. Here are our top picks for the best MCU villains of Phase 3:
Vulture
Adrian Toomes aka The Vulture is the best father figure for Peter Parker as compared with Tony Stark. Both of them are on the same social status and Toomes is more of a family man than Stark. Of course, this is before Morgan Stark comes in.
Despite so, the Vulture makes it more believable that he is a villain with a clear purpose. He sells alien weapons to provide for his family. There is so much conflict between them knowing that he is also the father of Parker’s ex-girlfriend.
Mysterio
Among the characters of MCU, Quentin Beck, or Mysterio, has the most interesting villain story. The twist really got us believing he was a good guy underneath all that nice demeanor. It turns out that he is just another embittered ex-Stark employee who wants to get his revenge.
When he finally revealed his true intentions and became a full-blown villain, Mysterio exhibits his grand illusion tricks which Spider-Man took as a tough challenge. Good thing, Spidey’s got his Spider-Sense or the “Peter Tingle” as what we call it.
Killmonger
Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, did a tremendous job at delivering Black Panther’s main antagonist. He has a personal connection to T’Challa being his cousin. This relationship brought a more intricate conflict between the two when Killmonger came back to claim the throne.
He did not just want to seize the throne for his personal gain but he had questionable reasons. He wanted to avenge the colonization of his people and only by this, he can gain Wakanda’s resources to overthrow the government.
Hela
The daughter of Odin turns out to be more sadistic and aggressive than her brothers. Cate Blanchett’s performance as Hela absolutely stole the spotlight. She made this character her own and gave it a reputation as one of Marvel’s (even Disney) most vicious villains.
Her introductory scene in the film already showed her great prowess by catching Mjolnir in one hand and crushing it like a grain of salt. No one could do something like that in the entire history of MCU.
Thanos
What makes Thanos the most fearsome villain of all than the fact that he could literally wipe out half of humanity in just a snap? It’s way scarier than all of these villains combined.
Josh Brolin portrayed Thanos as a narrow-minded villain who believes that he is the hope of the universe. When an antagonist thinks like that, it’s over for all of us.
