15 Worst MCU Villains (So Far)
The worst of the worst...
There are few criticisms of any film franchise that are less justified than the 'MCU villain problem'. Like, seriously, this accusation that is often levelled against the MCU simply isn't true.
After all, the franchise contains several of the greatest superhero movie villains of all time, including Thanos, Loki and Erik Killmonger. Furthermore, many of the MCU's other villains - Alexander Pierce, Zemo, Ego, the Vulture, Mysterio, the Mandarin (the Tony Leung version) and the multitude of villains who appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home - are awesome and many of the weaker antagonists are OK at worst, so it's really time for this criticism to stop being used.
At the same time though, while this criticism is now outdated it is understandable as to where it came from, since some of the MCU films do have particularly awful villains - especially the earlier films.
And given how important the villain is in any superhero film and considering how many amazing superhero movie villains have been seen over the years, these villains being so awful was jarring as all hell.
So, who are the worst MCU villains to date?
15. Hela - Thor: Ragnarok
Kicking off the list is the main antagonist of Thor: Ragnarok, the heavily over-praised third solo film for Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Regardless of its comedic verve, Thor: Ragnarok was let down by its total lack of stakes, pathos and narrative heft, and Hela (Cate Blanchett) is very much emblematic of this problem.
Hela, who is Thor and Loki's sister, is supposed to be a ruthless, intimidating conqueror and the biggest threat Thor has ever faced but honestly? She's just silly. Hela never feels like a threat at all and is just hammy without being intimidating.
In fairness, maybe her being a more light-hearted character was the point and she can be pretty fun, mainly thanks to Blanchett's rock-solid performance in the role. So, as a comedic presence, Hela is perfectly fine. Unfortunately, as a villain she, much like Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in one of the film's funniest scenes, falls flat on her face.