10 Greatest MCU Villains With No Powers
3. Zemo
Despite leading a special overt ops unit in the Sokovian military forces, there was nothing physically intimidating or special about Zemo. He knew as much however, and devised a plan that required little more than his brains to put in motion.
He knew he couldn’t overpower the Avengers, that he couldn’t throw them around like Loki or Ultron did before him, so he forced them to destroy themselves from within.
Holding a grudge against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for seemingly not caring about the bodies they left behind in Sokovia, Zemo simply sowed the seeds of the Avengers’ downfall and watched the team implode. There aren’t many villains smarter or more calculated than him.
One thing that has always separated Thanos from the rest of the MCU villain pack is that he actually won, but so did Zemo. His job was to break the Avengers and break they did. Steve Rogers and Tony Stark didn’t speak again until years later after they lost to Thanos, and the team was never the same again. Even now, Kevin Feige has reported that there is currently no Avengers team in the MCU, and you can trace this back to Zemo's success.