8 Smartest Decisions In Marvel Villain History

5. Norman Osborn Assembles The Avengers - Dark Avengers

Norman Osborn
Marvel Comics

Like Venom, Norman Osborn is most famously known to fans as one of Spider-Man's greatest villains. However, recent years have seen the character expand his horizons past the friendly neighbourhood web-slinger, to the point where he's even gone toe-to-toe with Earth's Mightiest Heroes themselves, the Avengers.

It was actually during this point in time where Osborn concocted what has to be his most successful scheme yet. Utilising the paranoia brought on by the superhero Civil War, the Skrull Secret Invasion and Tony Stark's own conflicted position at S.H.I.E.L.D., Osborn managed to utilise his own political standing to outmuscle the former Avenger and replace him at S.H.I.E.L.D., which he renamed H.A.M.M.E.R. for added effect.

While the head of his new defence organisation, Osborn fashions his own team of Avengers, recruited from the various rogues galleries of the Marvel universe. He leads them as the Iron Patriot, a monument to American jingoism that depicts a cruel distortion of Tony Stark's legacy. Joining his ranks are Daken, the self-proclaimed 'Dark Wolverine'; Mac Gargan's Venom as Spider-Man; and Bullseye, who takes on the role of a new Hawkeye.

Osborn's own Dark Reign would last for several years, until it eventually came undone during a botched invasion of Asgard. Still, as far as villainous reigns of terror go, Normie's was definitely one of the most successful in Marvel history.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.