15 Best Movie Villains Of The Decade

3. Thanos - Avengers: Infinity Saga (2012-2019)

Think about this: without actually arriving or setting out on the first really active steps towards his agenda for years, Thanos managed to define a good part of the MCU. Even when he wasn't on screen for more than a few minutes and even when stories weren't directly about him, we all knew that everything was pointing in just one direction this whole time and the fact that he managed to even slightly live up to the hype was impressive enough.

For him to be a revelation in Infinity War and then another version of him to do similarly in Endgame is just incredible.

The writing helped, of course, because Josh Brolin's magnanimous monster was a master manipulator who managed to convince even those watching their heroes die that it was the right thing to do. But he also arrived with aplomb too, taking the scalps of Loki and Heimdall, breaking Thor, beating up Hulk and generally proving himself an irresistible force.

He might have been defeated in the end, but it says a lot that it took so much to do it (and hinged on a ridiculous accident like the rat) and he single-handedly reformed the MCU in the palms of his giant mitts.