Here are all the villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who still exists in the franchise. Over its more than a decade-long history, the MCU introduced a string of bad guys to square off against their heroes. Most of these adversaries only had one-off appearances, but some of them were lucky to survive their initial encounters with the franchise heroes that they continue to live through the events of the Infinity Saga.
Even some of Marvel's best villains don't live past their first movie appearance, robbing the franchise of the chance to see more of them. As the MCU has grown, Marvel has upped their game in terms of crafting well-rounded villains with Spider-Man: Homecoming's Adrien Toomes/Vulture (Michael Keaton), Black Panther's Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), and Avengers: Infinity War's Thanos (Josh Brolin). And though some of the earlier villains were somewhat lackluster, if they bring them back and utilize them better in the future, there's a second chance for greater success — similar to how they're doing to a handful of supporting characters who didn't get their dues in their previous MCU appearances.
As the MCU transitions into Phase 4, new heroes and their respective villains are expected to be introduced through Marvel Studios' upcoming movie and TV projects. However, there's also a chance that some familiar bad guys will find their way back into the forefront moving forward. Here are all the previously-debuted villains who are still alive and can factor in MCU's future.
The Abomination
Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) debuted in The Incredible Hulk back in 2008 and was a member of Thaddeus Ross' (William Hurt) special team was tasked to capture Bruce Banner/Hulk (Edward Norton). After he was injected with a different variant of the Super Soldier Serum and eventually transfused with Banner's gamma-radiated blood, he transformed into Abomination and wreaked havoc in New York City with Hulk coming in to get him under control. The World Security Council viewed him as a hero more than a villain, however, and initially, even tried to get him included in Nick Fury's Avengers Initiative. This obviously didn't happen with Blonsky transferred to SHIELD custody instead; the last thing fans knew about him, he's being held in a cryostasis facility in Alaska. There's been no update about him in quite a while now; he may very well be still frozen, but with the HYDRA uprising in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it's also possible that he was freed. Assuming that this is the case, it's likely that he's just waiting for the right moment to re-emerge, with Marvel Studios saving him for an appearance in future projects like Disney+'s She-Hulk.
The Leader
Another villain teased in The Incredible Hulk film is the Leader, though he ultimately he became one of the MCU's dropped plotlines. While the Louis Leterrier film didn't feature the character in full form, his existence in the MCU was teased after Dr. Samuel Stern (Tim Blake Nelson) was exposed to the blood of the Hulk as he injected Emil Blonsky with it. During his last sighting, the character's head had started to mutate and get bigger, resembling the Leader's appearance in the comics. When asked about the potential future of the villain in 2017, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige explained why the studio haven't followed through with the character's arc, suggesting that as with their existing characters, they're just looking for the right time to bring him back. Like Abomination, She-Hulk can be the perfect place to bring the Leader back into the MCU forefront.
Justin Hammer
One of the more fun villains that the MCU has introduced is Iron Man 2's Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). The former CEO of Stark Industries weapons manufacturing competitor Hammer Industries recruited Ivan Vanko/Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) to help him replicate Iron Man/Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) arc reactor. This ultimately backfired as Vanko betrayed the war profiteer resulting in him being locked up at Seagate Penitentiary for colluding with a convicted terrorist. At this point, he may still be serving in time in prison, but between Rockwell being open to returning and Marvel Studios' penchant for utilizing people who hold grudges against Stark, it's not impossible to see him back into the MCU in some capacity. It's also worth noting that Hammer is also a Spider-Man adversary in the comics.
Georges Batroc
An infamous mercenary who Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) at the beginning of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Georges Batroc (Georges St-Pierre) was one of Interpol's most wanted criminals. He held up quite well against the Super Soldier but was ultimately captured in Algiers and has remained in SHIELD custody. It was later revealed that he was actually sent by Fury to the Lemurian as a decoy so Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) could steal valuable information without Captain America finding out about it. With his ties to the Thunderbolts in the comics, Marvel Studios can bring him back in case they move forward with the rumored MCU project.
Trevor Slattery and the Real Mandarin
Iron Man 3's ultimate villain was Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who hired actor Trevor Slattery to play as the Mandarin - a global terrorist. What they didn't know at that time was that the real Mandarin actually exists, and is waiting to re-emerge in the upcoming film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Played by legendary Chinese actor Tony Leung, the villain will be the main antagonist to Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) in the origin movie. With his name used in vain in Iron Man 3, however, chances are that Marvel Studios will establish a connection between the events of the Shane Black film and Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings. The Marvel One-Shot titled All Hail The King already teased a face-to-face interaction between Slattery and the real Mandarin, which will more likely be revealed in the upcoming Destin Cretton project.
Ayesha
While Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) only appeared sporadically in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, it's clear that director and writer James Gunn has plans for her in the future. The Golden High Priestess of the Sovereign originally hired the cosmic team to protect the Anulax Batteries from the Abilisk. However, things went downhill when Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) decided to steal some batteries to sell them off later. The gang narrowly escaped the villain and her fleet of Omnicrafts, but the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 stinger confirmed that she is motivated to get even. In the end, Ayesha was revealed to have created Adam Warlock to help with her endeavor. Depending on whether or not the story of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was altered after its delay, there's a good chance that Ayesha's MCU's return will be in that threequel.
Helmut Zemo
The mastermind behind the falling out of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War, Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) is one of the most unique villains in the MCU. Instead of antagonizing the Avengers head-on, he devised a plan that would break them up from the inside which proved to be a successful tactic as the team was separated for two years until Thanos' (Josh Brolin) attack in Avengers: Infinity War. It's unknown where Zemo has been up to since he succeeded in seeking revenge against the Avengers for the destruction of Sokovia, but he is already slated to make his MCU return in the Disney+ series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Given what's been revealed about the show thus far, however, Zemo may not function as a straight-up villain in the show.
Dormammu
Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange changed up MCU's typical third-act battle by pitting the titular character to Dormmamu — an interdimensional entity who corrupted Kaecillius (Mads Mikkelsen) to destroy the Masters of the Mystic Arts in order for the Dark Dimension to easily take over Earth. While Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) was no match for him in terms of power-set, the sorcerer out-witted the villain by locking both of them into a time loop using the Eye of Agamotto/Time Stone, only releasing Dormammu if he promised to leave Earth with his minions. Defeated, the entity agreed to Strange's demand. While part of their deal was for Dormammu to never come back, with the Time Stone no longer in the sorcerer's hands after the Infinity Saga, it's possible that the Dark Dimension ruler takes advantage of the situation to pose a new threat to the MCU in the near future.
Karl Mordo
Originally an ally to Stephen Strange, Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was a member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts and a student of the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) introduced in Doctor Strange. However, after learning about his master drawing her powers from the Dark Dimension, Mordo became disillusioned. Upon learning that Strange meddled with time during his encounter with Dormammu, Mordo was fully convinced that he no longer wanted to be associated with them. He left the order and the Doctor Strange post-credits scene revealed him operating independently by tracking down sorcerers and stripping them of their powers. This was supposed to be a set-up for his and Strange's face-off in the sequel, but, it's unclear how much of their conflict will play into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Ejiofor did admit that he's slated to reprise his MCU role in the Sam Raimi project, however.
Vulture
Michael Keaton returned to the comic book movie world after previously playing Tim Burton's Batman, but this time in the MCU and as the villain Adrian Toomes/Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. An illegal Avengers battle scene scavenger, the villain sold what scraps of materials he collected on the black market while making high-powered weapons from it. The Marvel Studios/Sony collaboration project took it one step further by revealing that Toomes is also related to Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in an unexpected way being the dad of his high school crush, Liz Allan (Laura Harrier). Vulture is arguably one of the best villains the MCU has come up thus far and fans were thrilled to know that he's not a one-off villain, although, by the end of Homecoming, he's revealed to be locked up. He's able to leave prison one way or another as confirmed in his next appearance in the Sony spin-off, Morbius. He can also easily pop back in the MCU if news of a Sinister Six film in the works come to fruition.
Shocker, Tinkerer, and Prowler
Vulture needed minions to help him run his underground business in Spider-Man: Homecoming in the second Shocker (Bokeem Woodbine) and Tinkerer (Michael Chernus). Both survived the events of the Jon Watts movie, although its unknown where their current whereabouts are after Spider-Man took down their boss and sent him to prison. With Adrian Toomes out in Morbius, however, it's possible that he reunites with his associates as they plan their next move.
Spider-Man: Homecoming also debuted Aaron Davis (Donald Glover) who's known to be the Prowler. While the film didn't explicitly establish him as a fully-formed villain, his brief encounter with Spider-Man revealed that he's already having illegal dealings as he attempted to purchase weapons from Vulture. The uncle and eventual adversary of Miles Morales from the comics, Davis' MCU future could very well hinge on the potential introduction of his nephew in the franchise.
Scorpion
Another villain introduced in Spider-Man: Homecoming is Mac Gargan (Michael Mando). Like Aaron Davis, Gargan was supposed to buy some goods from Vulture when Spider-Man hijacked their transaction, resulting in the Staten Ferry incident. On the heels of this, Gargan was nabbed by the FBI, and at the end of the film was revealed to be in the same prison as Adrian Toomes. While the stinger didn't give any implication of the pair's dynamic, it's possible that they eventually team-up to get back at Peter Parker. With that, he could officially join Toomes' operation and eventually assume his villainous persona from the comics as the Scorpion.
Surtur
The ruler of Muspelheim, Surtur debuted at the beginning of Thor: Ragnarok. The God of Thunder sought the being after learning of the prophecy that he was supposed to begin Ragnarok in an effort to keep Asgard safe. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) succeeded in killing Surtur during their initial encounter, but during his battle against Hela (Cate Blanchett) on his home planet, he mandated Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to resurrect the villain using the Eternal Flame and kickstart Ragnarok to defeat his over-powered sister. The Fire Demon fulfilled the prophecy not knowing that Thor and the Asgardians had evacuated and were on their way to Earth. Since then, the MCU has yet to feature Surtur again, but as Thor goes back to exploring the galaxy, he could find himself facing the villain again.
Grandmaster
Thor: Ragnarok also introduced the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) — the leader of Sakaar and main proponent of the Battle of the Champions which both Thor and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) participated in. Eccentric and quirky, the villain may look harmless but he could be ruthless as he can quickly kill anyone who antagonizes him. On the heels of the uprising in Sakaar, he was ousted from his leadership role, although Ragnarok revealed that he survived the ordeal. The Grandmaster was also spared in Thanos' decimation. It's uncertain where he currently is, but given the confirmation that he's still alive, he can be easily brought back into the MCU if Marvel Studios wanted to.
Red Skull
Debuting in Captain America: The First Avenger as Johann Schmidt, the former head of HYDRA during WWII, he was also the first known human being to seek the powers of an Infinity Stone in the Tesseract/Space Stone — simply known as the Cosmic Cube back then. Originally played by Hugo Weaving and later on by Ross Marquand, Schmidt transformed into the Red Skull after taking an imperfect version of the Super Soldier serum hoping that it would enhance him physically as it did with Steve Rogers. His greed, however, resulted in him being banished to Vormir where he functioned as the gatekeeper of the Soul Stone as revealed in Avengers: Infinity War. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed that once the Soul Stone was acquired, Red Skull is free to leave the planet, which means in the main MCU timeline, he may already be freely roaming around — perhaps even finding a way to get back to Earth.
Ghost
Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) debuted in Ant-Man & The Wasp as the Ghost who has the ability to render herself intangible after she was exposed to massive quantum energy levels that killed her parents. Pitting her against the titular characters whose main power is shrinking made for some impressive action sequences in the Peyton Reed film. It's eventually revealed that Ghost was only after the Pyms and the Quantum Tunnel to save herself after learning that she's slowly dying due to the lack of quantum energy. Thanks to Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), she was able to be healed and the post-credit scene for the film revealed that the Pyms and Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) were still helping her. That said, given the events of Avengers: Infinity War, it's intriguing to think what happened to her since she had no source of quantum energy after Ant-Man was trapped inside the Quantum Realm.
Sonny Burch
Another character after the Quantum Tunnel in Ant-Man & The Wasp was Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), but unlike Ghost, he wanted it for purely nefarious reasons. A criminal and a black market technology dealer, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lily) sought his help for some parts to complete the Quantum passage that would allow them to save Janet van Dyne. However, Burch crossed them by wanting the miniature lab to himself. In the end, he was arrested by the police after the X-Con Security Consultants used the truth serum on him, resulting in Burch confessing to his sins. While Burch was more likely imprisoned for his illegal activities, given his supposed FBI connections, it's possible he'll eventually find a way out sooner rather than later.
Yon-Rogg
The leader of the Kree Empire's Starforce, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) was a loyal subordinate of the Supreme Intelligence in Captain Marvel. He was initially introduced as Carol Danvers' (Brie Larson) mentor and ally, but in the film's plot twist, it was revealed that he abducted Carol after she was exposed to the Tesseract-powered energy core that granted her super-power abilities. For years, Yon-Rogg manipulated Carol, making her believe that they are the good guys when in reality, they're the bad guys who are hunting the Skrulls. Captain Marvel had the opportunity to kill Yon-Rogg in their final battle, but instead, he let him go defeated. While the events of the Captain Marvel movie took place in 1995, Carol's return to Earth and the SWORD's upcoming debut could draw the Kree and Yon-R0gg back into the MCU centerfold.
Loki
The God of Mischief may have died at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War but Marvel Studios was able to find a way to continue his story past the Infinity Saga through Avengers: Endgame's time heist. During the heroes' visit to the Battle of New York, Loki, who was still at his peak villain state, was able to grab the Tesseract/Space Stone and escape with it. This effectively created a branched timeline in the MCU where the events of his upcoming Disney+ series, Loki would take place. That said, it doesn't mean that he won't find his way back into the primary Marvel Cinematic Universe reality and reunite with Thor there.
More: Avengers: Endgame Why Iron Man Really Stopped Thor From Doing The Snap
Key Release Dates
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Black Widow
Release Date:2021-07-09 -
Eternals
Release Date:2021-11-05 -
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Release Date:2021-09-03 -
Thor: Love and Thunder
Release Date:2022-07-08 -
Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness
Release Date:2022-05-06 -
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Release Date:2022-11-11 -
captain marvel 2
Release Date:2023-07-28
