Agents Of SHIELD: 10 Best Villains

Back when The Avengers released in 2012, it came as a pleasant surprise to see actor Powers Boothe turn up as one of the shadowy members of the World Security Council, though when that entity reappeared - sans Boothe - in The Winter Soldier, it seemed that his time in the MCU was but a brief, throwaway role.

And then season three of S.H.I.E.L.D. hit, bringing with it the return of the character, an actual name for him, a solid reason for his absence in The Winter Soldier via his allegiance to HYDRA, and a whole ton of character history. Powerful and manipulative, yet low-key cowardly, Malick helped feed Ward's anger in his own quest to bring Hive to Earth, only to lose his daughter as a result as the sins of his past came home to roost.

Though he ultimately realized his mistakes in dedicating his life to a cause outside of his control - a bit too late, that is - he earned some points back in the end for giving Coulson the information needed to lay waste to HYDRA once and for all, but paid the ultimate price for his choices when a Hive-minded Daisy came calling to finish him off.