Every MCU Villain Plot Ranked From Worst To Best
15. Revenge Against The Starks - Ivan Vanko (Iron Man 2)
After the incredible success of Iron Man, the sequel two years later couldn't live up to the expectation set. In terms of villains, the movie was a mixed bag, with Mickey Rourke's Ivan Vanko juxtaposed against Sam Rockwell's brilliant Justin Hammer.
Many of the MCU's villains, and of Tony Stark in particular, either have some connection to the hero through family, stretching back to the past, or end up battling against them with the same technology. Ivan Vanko falls under all three. Resentful of the Stark family ever since Howard had his father deported after they worked together on the arc reactor, Ivan built his own and came back to haunt Tony as Whiplash.
Hammer on the other hand, is simply jealous of Tony, and willing to do anything to get Hammer Industries ahead of Stark. The two teamed up to take down Iron Man, but were simply no match.
Before the end of the movie, Vanko takes to a bigger version of the Iron Man suit in a similar fashion to Stane from the first movie. There was potential in this villainous story line, but in the end it came off as generic, too similar to the first Iron Man movie, and even a little bit boring.