Marvel Cinematic Universe: 10 MIA Villains Who Need To Return

Throughout the first ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's historic run, we've seen many villains come and go, many of whom never making it past a single film - or even television season - before being killed off. A select few, meanwhile, have returned for more than one outing to serve as thorns in our heroes' sides, like Loki, Wilson Fisk, Grant Ward, and Thanos.

There's also a number who have survived only to disappear after their initial introduction, either incarcerated or off roaming free somewhere, though deserving of returns either for the sake of closure or because of what their reemergence could mean from a narrative standpoint. They've been gone for years, sure, but they're not forgotten. As the surprising return of the Red Skull in Avengers: Infinity War and the long-awaited arrival of Graviton in the fifth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. proved in 2018, the franchise is clearly open to playing the long game with its evildoers.

As such, let's take a look back over the MCU's history at the villains whose absence has been felt and have earned another go-round in the franchise, with a few stipulations: They must be MIA since no later than 2016 - which means villains from 2017 and 2018 are sitting this list out purely due to recency - and they must, of course, still be alive.

Last Seen: Doctor Strange

Initially, this spot on the list was meant for Diamondback, the extremely divisive villain of Luke Cage's first season in 2016 who was last seen undergoing one of Dr. Burstein's experiments. As the Netflix corner of the MCU has pretty much imploded, its earlier villains are being excluded from this list, replaced instead by a character we met on the big screen the same year: Karl Mordo.

As ally-turned-enemy of Doctor Strange, Mordo is the most recent of the franchise villains on this list, last seen taking away the very magic that Jonathan Pangborn relied on to overcome his paralysis as part of his larger goal of stripping the unworthy - in his eyes - of their powers. Of course, Strange himself has continued appearing in the franchise, making an appearance in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War, but his own sequel is quite a ways off, likely not arriving until 2021 at the earliest.

Unfortunately, that means that we certainly won't be catching up with Mordo for a few more years, and with that sequel potentially revolving around the villainous Nightmare, it's possible that Mordo might not take up too much of the spotlight. Regardless, at this point, unlike the rest of the villains on this list, Mordo's return is less of an if and more of a when situation, fortunately, but that still doesn't make his MIA status any easier to swallow when fans are eager to see what his future holds.