10 Worst Marvel Cinematic Universe Villains Ranked

From world-changing snaps to jaw-dropping debuts, the Marvel Cinematic Universe delivers magical moments. The storylines aside, none of it would matter without the characters — the heroes and rogues — but woof, the worst MCU villains don't do the franchise any favors. In fact, they only add credence to accusations from the likes of Martin Scorsese that superhero movies aren't real cinema. Like a skunk in a perfume store, these antagonists stink up the joint and bring down the value of everything else around them.

Sure, not every swing results in a home run, but these villains are the worst of the worst. Think of Tim Blake Nelson's Samuel Sterns from "Captain America: Brave New World" — he doesn't come across as the scary Leader from "The Incredible Hulk" comics, but more like Ivan Ooze's long-lasting cousin from "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie." Similarly, what a waste of Christian Bale's talent it was to use him as Gorr the God Butcher in "Thor: Love and Thunder." More Scooby-Doo than Scooby-Boo, Gorr never comes across as one of the God of Thunder's fiercest and scariest foes in the movie, as every thought of him evokes the opening verse of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine."

With that said, let's take a look at the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe villains and why they're so bad at being evil. This ranking takes into consideration how much they disappointed in their respective films or shows and why they should be snapped away from existence.

After the Mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin), the MCU required a new big bad to become the overarching threat of multiple movies and shows. Step forth, Kang the Conqueror, as played by Jonathan Majors. This time- and space-traveling being possesses the ability to tinker with and destroy the multiverse while also placing his own variants in the different Earths. It's easy to see how he could use this power to force the Avengers to face evil versions of themselves from across the multiverse.

Now, the controversy surrounding Jonathan Majors' personal life saw the Marvel Cinematic Universe move forward without him — and seemingly Kang too. The franchise veered in a different direction, cutting short plans that would have seen Kang as front and center of the "Avengers" films. So, fans never got to experience the full scope of what the villain is capable of and if he truly was as big of a menace as Thanos.

That being said, what exactly did Kang the Conqueror conquer in the MCU in his short time on screen? Nothing, really, as his most notable scene is a beatdown from arguably the worst Avenger after Hawkeye, Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." If Scott Lang is capable of defeating this guy in a fistfight, then there's no need to send in the major guns to deal with him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He has a lot of variants to face. Big whoop. Chances are that if they fight like the main Kang, even Happy Hogan could take down three of them.

In Marvel Comics, Tony Masters uses the alias of Taskmaster, oscillating between hero and villain depending on the nature of the storyline. Much like the character's depiction in the MCU, Taskmaster possesses the ability to mimic an opponent's fighting style to give any fighter a hard time. The character has also developed into a laugh-a-minute personality, often being able to go toe-to-toe with Deadpool in the humor department.

Ironically, like Deadpool, Taskmaster's first outing into the live-action world proves to be just as misguided. Remember how the Merc with a Mouth had his mouth stitched up in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"? Well, that's essentially what happens to Taskmaster in "Black Widow." In the film, Olga Kurylenko plays Antonia Dreykov, a silent brainwashed assassin for the Red Room who uses the secret identity of Taskmaster.

Now, the gender swapping of the character, or even the tweaked backstory, isn't the main problem here. It's the fact that this Taskmaster remains devoid of any charisma that makes the character such a hit in the comics. Instead of having an all-personality rogue who frustrates heroes with their taunting and motormouth, Taskmaster turns into one of the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe villains and a stereotypical brainwashed baddie. Also, hasn't the MCU already done this angle with Bucky Barnes and the whole Winter Soldier arc? It's almost as if its brain trust was running out of steam in terms of how to make the antagonists more compelling and picked a recycled idea out of a hat.

In the opening scene of "Thor: Love and Thunder," Christian Bale's Gorr pleads with the gods to help him and his daughter, Love. Tragically, Love dies. To make matters worse, the god Rapu mocks Gorr, so the heartbroken and enraged father picks up the god-slaying Necrosword, strikes down Rapu, and embarks on a quest to destroy all the gods. On paper, Gorr the God Butcher has it all — a tragic backstory, personal purpose, and frightening aesthetic (though he should have worn a thong like he does in the comics).

Sadly, Gorr finds himself in the wrong movie at the wrong time. If this had been Kenneth Branagh's "Thor," Gorr could have cemented his position as an all-time great MCU villain; instead, this is Taika Waititi's chuckle-fest, and the jokes dilute his impact. While Gorr's dark nature is meant to juxtapose the fluffy tone of "Thor: Love and Thunder," the comedy-first film chooses leg slaps over neck snaps, turning Gorr into a Disney baddie where he's all bluster, no thunder (pardon the pun).

What's even worse is how the MCU misuses an actor of Bale's caliber. Here's the man who starred as Batman in arguably the greatest superhero trilogy of all time, and Marvel Studios managed to convince him to join another franchise. That's a huge coup! Rather than take advantage of the opportunity, the MCU turns him into an Uncle Fester-looking child snatcher who only needed the power of a hug to free his hate-filled heart.

Sabretooth is the Joker to Wolverine's Batman. They have been locked, loaded, and slashing each other's throats forever. Funnily enough, in the films, their biggest showdown happened in the much-maligned "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," where they're portrayed as brothers. It wasn't the first time they clashed on screen, though, as Tyler Mane's Victor Creed crossed paths — albeit briefly — with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in 2000's "X-Men."

Well, "Deadpool & Wolverine" promised the final battle — the rumble in the multiversal jungle — between Jackman's Wolvie and Mane's Sabretooth. Heck, even the Merc with the Mouth hypes up the encounter to be the event of the year. Then, it's over in less than a minute, as the adversaries race toward each other, and Wolverine's claws slice off Sabretooth's head.

In pro wrestling terms, Sabretooth would be referred to as the MCU's jobber — someone who gets squashed in short order to elevate the hero. It's a dirty, rotten shame, especially when you consider the deep and storied history between the characters in Marvel Comics. Instead, Sabretooth is used as a punchline for an unfunny joke here. The MCU could have taken a number of useless villains from the Fox-verse, such as Jessica Chastain's Vuk from "Dark Phoenix" or the fart cloud version of Galactus from "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," and thrown them in for this bit, but no, the powers that be needed to kick Sabretooth one more time while he was already at rock bottom.

Look, let's get this out of the way right now: "Thor: The Dark World" is easily one of the worst MCU films of all time. It shouldn't have been, though — after all, the fate of the very world was at stake! Yet, the story never clicks into anything more than a sloppy pedestrian gear, and even Christopher Eccleston struggles to put any oomph into the villainous Dark Elf Malekith. Maybe it's because his motivation is a paint-by-the-numbers approach of every other superhero film from the era where the antagonist searches for a world-destroying MacGuffin, which is *checks notes* inside Jane Foster here. The only thing missing to make this character even more predictable was a mustache for Malekith to twirl.

It's disappointing when you consider Eccleston's pedigree as a performer, especially after his outstanding turn as the 9th Doctor in "Doctor Who." The actor doesn't look back on his time in the MCU with any type of fondness or appreciation, either. In an interview with The Guardian in 2018, Eccleston discussed how much he despised working on franchises like "G.I. Joe" and the MCU. When talking about the experience of filming "Thor: The Dark World" in particular, he equated it to "a gun in your mouth."

In the comics, Malekith the Accursed establishes himself as a major obstacle to the God of Thunder. In the films, however, he goes down as one of the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe villains in a movie that's equally a stinker.

In "Deadpool & Wolverine," Cassandra Nova serves as the primary villain, though Matthew Macfadyen's Mr. Paradox plays a pivotal part as the secondary antagonist. Paradox is the Time Variance Authority agent who has his eyes set on accelerating the end of the Fox-verse and waving adios to Deadpool's former Earth.

Now, while Paradox portrays a humorous riff on a boot-licking corporate underling trying to move up the ranks and impress his superiors, he fails to fully commit to the backstabbing nature of typical bureaucrats. It's almost too easy to stop his plan and get him to back down. There was never a Plan B if this one didn't work out for him, which is somewhat out of character for corporate stooges who are masters of the dark art of deception and surviving political warfare.

Considering how Macfadyen previously played the weaselly suck-up Tom Wambsgans on "Succession," it's surprising how "Deadpool & Wolverine" didn't pull more from that character for its depiction of Paradox. Tom had little to no power on the HBO series, but he maneuvered his way around the political minefield like a pro to get what he wanted in the end. In comparison, Paradox has a singular plan — and if that doesn't work, he's back to licking stamps and liking his boss' LinkedIn status update tomorrow.

The first "Iron Man" film sees Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) scrambling for control of Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) technology to weaponize and sell to the highest bidder. "Iron Man 2" develops in a similar manner, as Stark's rival, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), competes to get his hands on the same technology to turn into weapons. Yet, while Stane suits up in his own exo-armor to fight Iron Man, Hammer uses Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) as his muscle and "tech support" instead. Ultimately, Whiplash takes full control of the operations and uses Hammer's resources to attempt to enact his revenge on Stark.

Rockwell admitted to Gizmodo that the original plan was for Hammer to be the sole villain of "Iron Man 2," but it was decided that Whiplash should be added into the mix as well. Inevitably, this hurts Rockwell's character as he plays second fiddle to the more powerful — and smarter — character. It also has the unintended consequence of turning Hammer into a poor man's version of Stane. There's never a sense that he's ever going to get one over Stark, and he's more of a nuisance than a credible antagonist at any point.

It also stings because of the fact that Rockwell was in the running to play Stark in the first "Iron Man." Now, while Downey has more than proven he was the right choice to play the character, couldn't the MCU have found another big character for the ever-excellent Rockwell to portray instead of the insignificant Justin Hammer?

Tim Blake Nelson's Dr. Samuel Sterns made his debut in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk." While fans didn't get to see him develop into the next evolution of Brainy Smurf on screen, the wheels were set in motion for the character's next appearance in the MCU. Return he did in "Captain America: Brave New World" with a convoluted plan, where his head is now mutated, and he poisons Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) with gamma radiation pills to turn him into the Red Hulk.

Sterns, aka the Leader, has always been on the cartoonish side of Marvel Comics, especially with his mega-sized head and creepy facial hair that ensures he isn't allowed within 50 feet of a school. That said, he's almost always portrayed as one of the Hulk's main foes, so what's he doing stirring up nonsense with Sam Wilson's (Anthony Mackie) Captain America? More importantly, his story arc in "Brave New World" isn't exactly clever, either. If he's smarter than the average bear, could he not have escaped Ross' imprisonment years earlier? It would have made more sense, but he chooses to poison Ross and turn him into a hulking brute who may or may not squash him if he's angry enough. Good plan, Einstein.

Then, there's the look of Sterns' character in "Brave New World." While it's understandable that the filmmakers wanted to avoid the aesthetic from the comics, they end up turning him into what can only be described as a "Power Rangers" villain. It's morphin' time, I guess.

Jon Bass' Todd Phelps, aka HulkKing, turns out to be the big bad of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law." The billionaire techo bro runs a website known as Intelligencia that he uses to spread misinformation about Jen Walters (Tatiana Maslany) in a harebrained scheme to acquire She-Hulk's blood. Essentially, he behaves like any ordinary troll on X. His plan works, though, as he injects Jen's blood and turns into his own version of the Hulk.

It all means nothing in the end, as the "She-Hulk" ending breaks the fourth wall and sees Jen speak to the MCU's K.E.V.I.N. to render the events of the entire series irrelevant — including Phelps' scheme. Of course, there's nothing that Phelps could do about this questionable storytelling choice, but let's not take away from the fact that he's nothing more than the Marvel version of Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor. He's awkward, insufferable, and just a painful gnat who acts like they discovered the last Coca-Cola in the desert. He's a meaningless baddie who takes up valuable time out of a viewer's life, such that they could have washed their hair or watched paint dry. In a case of reality being weirder than fiction, there are a number of real-life tech bros who turn out to be even more evil than the pathetic Phelps, so at least he isn't the worst in that regard.

Corey Stoll's Darren Cross, aka Yellowjacket, wasn't one of the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe villains. Not at all. In fact, he proves to be a worthy adversary to Scott Lang in "Ant-Man." Unfortunately, Marvel Studios couldn't leave well enough alone and tweaked Cross' character after he landed in the Quantum Realm.

In "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Cross is reintroduced as M.O.D.O.K. — a cybernetic-enhanced individual with a head that's bigger than the rest of the body. Forget about the fact that this changes the whole origin story of the character from the comics — since Marvel Comics' M.O.D.O.K. is George Tarleton — and look at the abomination on screen. To call the CGI bad is being far too kind, as M.O.D.O.K. comes across looking like a merger of a California Raisin and a character from Genesis' "Land of Confusion" music video. This, my friends, is the moment in which the MCU jumped the shark — not only in design but also in goofiness that ruins rather than enhances a movie.

What's even more infuriating is how M.O.D.O.K was perfectly portrayed by Patton Oswalt on an eponymous series for Hulu a few years earlier. The tone of the show, the animation, and the voice acting suited the character like a glove. Instead, Marvel Studios decided to give everyone nightmare fuel in "Quantumania" and make M.O.D.O.K. as ridiculous as possible.