Over the course of 23 movies and 13 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has provided comic book fans with faithful adaptations of their favorite superheroes and supervillains. While the next phase of this amazing franchise had been delayed for a bit, things seem to be picking up again with the recent release of Wandavision on Disney+.
However, the MCU has often been criticized for having one-dimensional villains who are killed off in the third act, never to be seen again. While movies such as Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War have gone above and beyond in fleshing out interesting villains, there are some villains fans just didn't like.
Loved - Hela
Appearing in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, Cate Blanchett's Hela has cemented herself as one of the most powerful and dangerous villains in the entire MCU. As the Goddess of Death, Hela can use necromancy to resurrect the dead soldiers of Asgard to do her bidding and can manifest weapons such as swords, axes, and daggers.
Hela's life force was tied to Asgard, and the closer she gets to Asgard, the more powerful she becomes. However, she was still unthinkably powerful even before drawing power from Asgard. She was able to not only hold Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, but was also powerful enough to destroy it. Hela felt like a true threat and Cate Blanchett was clearly having fun with the role.
Hated - Malekith
Thor: The Dark World was a huge disappointment to fans and critics, and a large part of it was due to the one-dimensional villain. The MCU isn't known for having fleshed out, realistic, developed villains, and Malekith is the perfect example of that. Malekith is a dark-elf whose only goal is to plunge the world into darkness.
Fans were getting tired of yet another generic villain who wants to destroy the world for the sake of it. While the MCU did take great strides in developing compelling villains later on in the franchise, needless to say, Malekith was not received well by fans.
Loved - The Vulture
Michael Keaton is no stranger to playing comic book characters, having portrayed the Dark Knight in Tim Burton's Batman. He played Adrian Toomes a.k.a. The Vulture in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. After getting fired from his job, he sets out to become a criminal.
Fans loved Keaton's menacing and chilling portrayal of The Vulture, especially the scene in which he figures out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. The Vulture will be making an appearance in Sony Universe's upcoming film, Morbius, with many speculating that the film takes place in the MCU. Fans are excited to have him back.
Hated - The Yellowjacket
A huge criticism that the MCU often faces is that the villains of the films have the same powers as the hero, but they're just evil. Be it the Iron Monger from Iron Man or Abomination from The Incredible Hulk, MCU villains haven't been as creative and fleshed out as they have been in recent years.
The well-received Ant-Man suffers from the same predicament. Darren Cross is the one-dimensional cliche "evil businessman" and nothing more. His suit provides the same abilities as the Ant-Man suit but he uses it for evil, and that's the extent of his character development.
Loved - Killmonger
One can argue that Black Panther's Killmonger is yet another supervillain who has the same powers as the superhero but evil, but Killmonger has been fleshed out and developed so much that no one was upset. Fans were sympathetic for Erik Killmonger because he was a victim of T'Chaka's actions.
Although his means were violent and cruel, his intentions were for the best of his people, and he actually managed to convince T'Challa to work for the betterment of his people rather than live in the shadows like all the Black Panthers before him. Although he has been killed off, there have been many fan theories about his return to the MCU with Black Panther 2.
Hated - Kaecilius
Appearing in Doctor Strange, Kaecilius was the estranged student of the Ancient One and the servant of Dormammu. As much as everyone loves Mads Mikkelsen, Kaecilius is nobody's favorite MCU villain. Kaecilius never felt like a true bad guy, but more like an evil side character. And the fact that it was Dormammu who was pulling his strings makes this problem even greater.
Given just how much the movie had to deal with (establishing the mystical side of the MCU, Dormammu, and completing Doctor Strange's character arc from arrogant, cocky genius to powerful wizard), it was completely understandable why the villains were so simplistic and underdeveloped.
Loved - Loki
While Loki has been more of an anti-villain in the recent MCU movies, he started as the MCU's big bad, playing the antagonist in Thor and The Avengers. Even though he has done some horrible things, fans are sympathetic towards Loki, having grown up in Thor's shadow and then finding out he was adopted.
Tom Hiddleston is universally adored for playing the God of Mischief, and Loki remains one of the most realistic and compelling characters in the MCU. And, even though the Loki fans know and love is dead, fans will be delighted to see him return, albeit as a different version of him, in the upcoming Disney+ series.
Hated - Whiplash
Even in the comics, Whiplash has never been a formidable foe of Iron Man. So when he was announced as the main villain for Iron Man 2, fans were a little weary. Russian scientist Ivan Vanko was supposed to be the ultimate enemy of Tony Stark - having all of his genius intellect but none of the humanity - but ended up as a big joke.
To make matters worse, Mickey Rourke, who played Whiplash, delivered a less-than-adequate performance, mumbling his way through his lines and demanding his character have a pet bird. What was supposed to be a comeback role for Rourke (much like Iron Man was to Robert Downey Jr.) ended up leaving a bad taste in the mouths of fans.
Loved - Thanos
The big-bad of the MCU had been teased years before making his appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy. First seen in the post-credits of the first Avengers movie, Thanos had been revealed as the one pulling Loki's strings. Fans saw Thanos in all his evil glory in Avengers: Infinity War, and instantly fell in love with the character.
Not only is he insanely powerful both with and without the Infinity Stones, but he is also the only villain to actually realize his goal - he managed to snap away half of all life in the universe. His intentions disturbingly make sense, and his personal connection to Gamora humanizes (Titanizes?) him, showing a depth no villain in the MCU has ever done before.
Hated - The Mandarin (Aldrich Killian)
The twist that Ben Kingsley's Mandarin was just a timid actor never quite sat right with fans. The Mandarin is supposed to be cunning, ruthless, and powerful, not some guy with dragon tattoos who breathes fire. Fans were promised the enigmatic leader of the Ten Rings terrorist organization and instead got Aldrich Killian.
The movie tried to subvert expectations, and it ended up doing exactly that in the worst way. The villain was downgraded from "mysterious and ruthless terrorist" to "guy with a grudge." While he did end up proving to be a tough fighter, Killian was overall quite a forgettable villain. The true Mandarin is apparently going to be part of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.