Ranking Every Major MCU Villain From Worst To Best

8. Red Skull/Johann Schmidt (Captain America: The First Avenger)

Red Skull
Marvel Studios

Most Marvel villains have a shred of decency hidden deep within that makes them respectable - or at least identifiable. The Red Skull, a high-ranking Nazi officer, is the exception to that rule. In the comics, Johann Schmidt was a henchman of Hitler's who wore a blood red mask to make himself even more terrifying.

Captain America: The First Avenger kept the details largely the same, though this time, Schmidt's "human" face was the mask and his, well, red skull is the real deal. Schmidt subjected himself to a faulty version of the super soldier process, accounting for his facial features and his belief in himself as an ubermensch. Hugo "Agent Smith" Weaving was strong in the role, capturing the hatred and megalomania that define the Red Skull.

While the character's portrayal wasn't as nuanced the Red Skull who subtly tried to take over America in Ed Brubaker's Captain America run, the Tesseract-obsessed villain made a great foil for Steve Rogers in his first outing.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013