7 Ways Marvel Has Learned From Its Mistakes

Marvel are still lacking in excellent villains by all means, but the studio has perfected the 'back-seat villain' - a menace that acts as an antagonist with little screen time. Most of the earlier villains were simply someone else with the hero's powers, such as Abomination and Obadiah Stane. These characters didn't really challenge the hero's morals, they were simply the 'bad' versions of the protagonist. This was a very weak and ultimately boring approach to what used to be the show stealer.

Recent Marvel villains such as Killmonger challenge the hero's philosophy, and in the case of Killmonger to the extent that T'Challa is persuaded to share his technology with the world. Not only does this provide a more intriguing story, but it was nice to see some contemporary themes such as isolationism being explored.

Thanos is an interesting villain because whilst on the surface his aim seems straightforward, 'balancing' the universe by killing half of it, he actually challenges most of the heroes on a deep thematic level. Paternity seems to be the recurring theme across the MCU, with most of the heroes being orphans, whilst some of the older Avengers consider fatherhood and responsibility.

Thanos also wants to be seen as fatherly, adopting the orphaned Gamora. Thanos is the perfect villain to almost every Marvel hero because he seeks to undo the maturity and growth seen in each Avenger, and essentially make them children again. HIS children.