Marvel Cinematic Universe: 10 Best Villains Of 2018 So Far

It's hard to believe that the year isn't even half over yet considering how much has already happened over the past few months within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

From the one-two punch that was Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War to the further adventures of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to the return of Jessica Jones to the wrap-up of the first season of Runaways, there's been little shortage of MCU content to entertain fans.

Across it all, a number of villains surfaced to challenge the heroes we've come to know, some forever changing their lives, others impacting the MCU as a whole in ways that will be felt for years to come. Their goals have ranged in scale from wiping out half the universe to just having fun watching the world burn, and even though there are still plenty more villains left to debut throughout the year ahead, the ones we've met so far have already made marks worth acknowledging.

With the fifth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. having drawn to a close last week, the MCU is now on a bit of a break until Luke Cage returns and Cloak & Dagger make their highly-anticipated debut next month, ushering in the next wave of content for the year.

Before we start looking ahead to all of it, though, let's take this mini-hiatus as a chance to take a spoiler-filled look back at what we've got so far in order to spotlight the 10 best villains of the year so far...

Appeared in: Runaways - Season 1

The big conflict at the center of Runaways' first season was the idea that the teens at the heart of the show had to decide what to do about their parents - and what to do with their own lives, for that matter - following the revelation that their parents, a group that calls themselves Pride, ritualistically sacrifice innocent lives.

And wisely, rather than posit the kids/parents dynamic as a clear-cut good versus evil struggle, we got to see both perspectives, the kids struggling with horrible truths, the parents pressured and, essentially, trapped because of deals they'd made with the devil.

That devil, of course, was Jonah, who spent the early part of the season as a crusty, barely-alive body until he was finally rejuvenated. And by the end of the season, we saw just how heavily he has impacted the lives of everyone, from being Karolina's real father to being the murderer of Amy Minoru to his mere influence giving rise to events like Victor Stein's psychotic break or Leslie's murder of Alice and Gene Hernandez.

We still don't know who or what Jonah truly is, nor what his ultimate plans are, but the ruthlessness underneath his charming veneer on display by season's end and his willingness to kill the Runaways in front of their own parents opened the Pride members' eyes to the monster they've served all along and proved him to be an incredibly dangerous threat for the teens headed into season two.