Every Major MCU Villain Ranked Worst To Best

5. Ego - Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2

Marvel has a real thing for Daddy Issues in the MCU and you can't get much more of a walking, talking Daddy Issue than Kurt Russell's Ego, who fills the vacuum of Peter Quill's mysterious background with a swash-buckling charm that makes way for something far more nefarious in the end.

We all knew that he was going to be bad, since absent fathers are a bit of an established thing in the MCU too, and we all knew who Star-Lord's REAL daddy was, but the power in Russell's performance and the characterisation mean that it loses nothing in the twist.

Russell's twinkle-eyed, cocky spirit completely sells the idea of him being the "angel" Meredith Quill called him - because that's the kind of way unknowing victims talk about their abusers - and there's a lot to be said for the decision to make him the sort of 1980s-infused nostlagic father figure Peter was always going to lap up.

Sure, his transformation into his "true" form is a little silly, but James Gunn's commitment to the theatrical and to excess in Vol 2 means it's a surprisingly effective change.