15 Worst MCU Villains (So Far)
3. Obadiah Stane - Iron Man
Iron Man is not only the origin story of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). It is also the origin story of the villain problem the MCU had during phases one and two of the series. Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), Tony Stark's traitorous business partner, is like all the worst MCU villains rolled into one.
When it comes to the worst MCU villains, you can generally expect a few key characteristics: they're incredibly boring, they don't have any menace or depth, they don't enhance the narrative or challenge the hero in a meaningful way, they waste a great actor... Stane's got all of that and then some.
This villain was already bad enough - especially considering that he was the biggest flaw in an otherwise excellent, heartfelt superhero film, not to mention an infuriating waste of poor Jeff Bridges - but the fact that he was a sign of things to come makes him even worse in retrospect.
As well as this, you'll see the twist about him being the bad guy coming from a mile off and like quite a few other MCU villains, he abruptly goes insane in the final act and ends up fighting the hero in a bigger version of their suit, which all felt shockingly lazy. The final battle is fairly disappointing too, so this villain just sucks from start to finish.