With the way the film industry is today, superheroes and villains are all the rage, specifically in the MCU. Time and again, audiences see one villain after another populate Marvel's Cinematic Universe, pulling off dastardly schemes and doing team-ups, some of which fans loved, others they hated. Yet, while there are plenty of villainous team-ups in the MCU, audiences seem to forget the comics.
While many fans know of many a bad guy team-up from the world of Marvel comics, some MCU fans may not realize the alliances that have been made within comics. From the A list villains to C list and even Z list, the team-ups are endless.
Thanos And Thanos
Who better to team-up with than oneself? In the 2018 run of "Thanos," the Mad Titan and one of the MCU's best villains found himself transported from the present to a future where he won and encountered a Cosmic Ghost Rider and an older version of himself, asking to help him find Death.
What followed was an evil team-up unlike any other, with the twin Mad Titans battling a fallen Silver Surfer armed with Mjolner with their combined evil gelling well with one another before the two turned on each other to please the embodiment of Death.
The Leader And The One Below All
While the Jade Giant's changed a lot in the MCU, in comics, the Hulk has become a horror icon thanks to the acclaimed "Immortal Hulk" written by the brilliant Al Ewing. Par for the course, many of the Hulk's foes have been given a horror update, like with the nefarious Leader who's allied himself with The One Below All.
A somewhat new entry to comics, The One Below All is a dangerous, demonic entity that Samuel Sterns, the brilliant Leader, has given himself over to in an attempt to destroy the Hulk, the world, and become a Cronenberg-style monster.
The New Cabal
Over the course of DC history, there have been plenty of massive villain team-ups. Some have consisted of street-level baddies, while others, like the New Cabal, consisted of incredibly powerful villains ranging from Thanos to the inhuman Maximus The Mad, and, of course, the insane alternate version of Reed Richards, The Maker.
Working to take on the Avengers and survive the oncoming Incursion that would lead to 2015's "Secret Wars," this New Cabal was a force to be reckoned with for both its brains and brawn.
Dark Avengers
For the longest time, fans knew who the Avengers were, no matter who joined the roster. Then, "Dark Reign" hit the MU, and with it came a whole new time not of Earth's Mightiest heroes, but rather their villains.
Led by the incredibly wealthy Norman Osborn under the guise of Iron Patriot, the team had counterparts to the originals and consisted of Moonstone, Scorpion/Venom, Bullseye, Daken, Ares, and The Sentry. Serving as a way for Osborn to gain power in the Marvel Universe, the Dark Avengers wreaked havoc on the former Avengers.
Doctor Doom And Namor
Fans of all ages will forever recall the classic hero team-up comics that graced the industry. Many, however, may not recall the villain team-up comics that ran for a limited time and included such team-ups like the heinous Doctor Doom and the King of Atlantis and sometimes-villain, Namor.
Serving as a follow-up to a previously canceled Namor series, the series followed the two Fantastic Four foes as they worked together to take on numerous other villains like Attuma and the Ringmaster before Namor left and was replaced by Magneto before the series was canceled a short while after.
Red Skull And Magneto
Now, being apart of a world where superheroes exist will lead to some bizarre team-ups. Yet, the alliance between the leader of a Nazi organization, Red Skull, and a mutant holocaust survivor, Magneto, raises some alarm bells.
During the "Acts of Vengeance" storyline, Magneto and Red Skull first crossed paths, where Magneto openly expressed hatred towards the Nazi for obvious reasons. However, for less obvious ones, Magneto joined Skull in "Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe Again," and once again in the "Old Man Logan" universe to aid in the villain takeover.
The Hood’s Crime Syndicate
Crime bosses like Kingpin, Hammerhead, and Tombstone are villains even casual fans know pretty well. A villain like the Hood, a criminal who uses a cloak with the powers of a demon, is not an incredibly well-known one, but he went as far as to create his own gang.
Populated by vile characters such as Jigsaw, Madame Masque, and even Deathlok, the Hood's Crime Syndicate cut a large and bloody path through the Marvel Universe before it was, like most comic book-related villains, taken down by the nominal heroes.
Crime-Master And Toxin
Sometimes the team-ups that occur in comics are more nefarious than they appear on the surface. During "Agent Venom," a story in which Flash Thompson became Venom, he went up against the likes of a new Crime-Master, who recruited the former Venom, Eddie Brock, to his ranks.
Crime-Master wasn't just content in bringing on Eddie, though. Using the symbiote Toxin, the Crime-Master forcibly bonded it to Eddie and used him with other villains to target Flash and hurt him through his friends and family before both Toxin and Crime-Master were killed.
MODOK's Eleven
Beyond the typical villain team-ups 0ut there, sometimes the team-ups don't always make the most sense, though they end up being enjoyable nonetheless. MODOK's Eleven is such a crew, a mismatch of low-level villains recruited by the intelligent MODOK to steal a source of unlimited energy, the hypernova.
From the forgettable Puma, Armadillo, and Spot to a super-adaptoid version of The Chameleon and the Living Laser, the team and series went through a whole bunch of double cross and betrayals before the bloody journey came to an end.
Superior Foes of Spider-Man
Everyone knows of the Sinister Six, one of the first-ever villain teams in comics and Spider-Man's classic villains. However, not everyone has heard of the "Superior Foes of Spider-Man," a team who called themselves the Sinister Six and consisted of five low-level villains.
Boomerang, Overdrive, Beetle, Speed Demon, and Shocker are all D or C level villains who teamed up to pull heists and leave their mark on New York. What followed was a highly enjoyable seventeen-issue run full of shenanigans that let the team leave their mark on comics in their own way.