Phase 1 of the MCU might have introduced some of the most iconic cinematic heroes of the 21st century, but the villains were much less memorable. Aside from a couple of standouts, these early baddies failed to leave much of an impression. But it is interesting to look back on them and compare one evildoer to another.
One aspect that can make or break a villain is intelligence. It is always compelling when a villain is able to outthink our heroes. But when they seem like incompetent goons, it's a lot less exciting. So which of the Phase 1 MCU villains are too dimwitted to be scary and which are true evil geniuses?
Justin Hammer
Given that Justin Hammer is the head of an arms manufacturing business that rivals Stark Industries, one might assume that he would have to be pretty intelligent to get to that level. However, as far as we see in Iron Man 2, Hammer has little to no qualifications.
Despite the prominence of his company, all of Hammer's tech fails and he is looked at as something of a laughingstock. He also makes the very dumb mistake of hiring a murderous madman to build his weapons, which very predictably backfires on him.
Emil Blonsky / Abomination
Emily Blonsky is the kind of villain who is more of a weapon than a human. He is a skilled fighter and soldier even before he becomes the monstrous Abomination. But as a weapon, he doesn't appear to have much going on in his head.
He tries to take on Hulk alone as a human and only succeeds in getting every bone in his body broken. He is also stupid enough to ask for the same procedure that turned Bruce Banner into Hulk without realizing how bad of an idea that is.
Raza
Though he doesn’t get much recognition, Raza is really the first villain of the MCU and a man who is partially responsible for creating Iron Man. He is a terrorist leader and member of the Ten Rings who captures Tony Stark and forces him to build a missile.
While Raza has some intelligence, he is foolish enough to give a weapons manufacturer material and little supervision then is surprised when Stark builds a weapon of his own that he uses to escape.
Laufey
In the land of Jotunheim, the Frost Giants are ruled by their king named Laufey. Laufey is powerful enough to be a rival of Odin and he at least has the kind of intelligence necessary to lead a world of Frost Giants. But he sure does make some pretty bad decisions.
His biggest mistake is trusting Loki, who is literally the God of Mischief. When he offers to sneak Laufey into Asgard, Laufey fails to anticipate the fact that Loki will betray and kill him to make himself appear as the hero. In the end, Laufey is little more than a pawn.
General Ross
General Thunderbolt Ross is a veteran military man who was hoping to recreate the super-soldier serum that created Captain America. While that bad idea backfires and ends up creating the Hulk, Ross does end up replicating the serum, which actually works.
Unfortunately, Ross follows up this accomplishment by giving the serum to Emil Blonsky, who is clearly unhinged, and this results in an even worse monster. Ross is at least wise enough to let Hulk take out Blonsky and clean up his mess.
Obadiah Stane
While Tony Stark is the head of Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane is a very important figure in the business as well. He started the company with Howard Stark and remains Tony's mentor as he helps to grow the company to new heights.
However, Stane also wants the power for himself and turns on Tony. He makes plenty of dumb mistakes, like hiring a band of terrorists to attack a military convoy instead of employing a simpler way to get rid of him. But Stane also builds his own Iron Man suit and seems to get the hang of it a lot faster than Stark did.
Red Skull
Though Red Skull is a murderous madman who is at one time affiliated with the Nazis in World War II, he is smart enough to see Adolf Hitler as a loser and that the Nazis are doomed to fail. Instead, Red Skull forms his own evil organization that comes pretty close to ruling the world.
Red Skull has the intelligence to track down the Tesseract, a powerful weapon that has been searched for by people for many years. He also manages to build Hydra into a powerful force that survives long after he is shot into space.
Loki
Loki might not be as strong and powerful as his big brother, but he is certainly a lot smarter. In fact, Loki has the ability to trick just about anyone he comes across. From Thor to Malekith to Odin, Loki really does earn his title as the God of Mischief.
In Thor: The Dark World, Loki proves himself especially clever as he starts out as a prisoner before helping Thor find a secret way out of Asgard, tricking Malekith into thinking he betrayed Thor, tricking Thor into thinking he was dead, then tricking Odin and taking the throne for himself.
Ivan Vanko / Whiplash
If Tony Stark is a genius for making an arc reactor in a cave with a box of scraps, Ivan Vanko is just about as impressive for building the same device in a dingy Russian apartment with meager supplies.
Vanko manages to build a reactor strong enough to power his Whiplash suit. When he is hired by Justin Hammer, he proves he is really just as smart as Stark as he creates his own army of killer robots that respond to his commands rather than Hammer.
Arnim Zola
While Red Skull is the head of Hydra, Arnim Zola is the brains of the organization. He is the one who finds a way to harness the power of the Tesseract and uses it to build devastating weapons that could help conquer the world.
Zola also manages to perfect the super-solder serum. He does experiments on subjects like Bucky Barnes and is responsible for turning Bucky into the Winter Soldier.