Where are all of the classic Marvel supervillains?
Why was Red Skull only used in one movie? He’s a Nazi—basically a bad guy cheat code perfect for recurring use. No Masters of Evil. No Fin Fang Foom, despite the popularity of Godzilla-style movies. They turned MODOK into a badly rendered joke in Quantumania. Where was Thor’s classic villainess, The Enchantress? She could’ve spanned movies and shows and made a better long-term threat than Valentina Allegra de Fontaine trying to be a darker, quippier Nick Fury.
Why not adapt The Korvac Saga? It could’ve followed a fractured Avengers team dealing with the fallout of the Blip and the loss of Tony, Cap, and Natasha. Watching the team disassemble after failing against Korvac would’ve explained their six-year absence better than just ignoring them.
One of the MCU’s biggest issues is how it softens or discards its villains. Zemo, for example, was right about super soldiers and the Avengers’ collateral damage. He’s not a villain anymore, just an anti-hero. Gone are the villains who want to rule the world or rob a bank. Instead, they make these characters so sympathetic that audiences often side with them more than the heroes. Marvel seems more invested in their villains than their leads.
I get making villains complex, but Marvel often goes too far, or just turns its heroes into the villains. Wanda’s destruction in Multiverse of Madness doesn’t feel earned if we’re still meant to root for her. Gorr in Love and Thunder was a terrible adaptation; it’s hard to argue with him given how useless the MCU’s gods are. Dar-Benn in The Marvels responds to Captain Marvel bombing her home world. The Leader in Brave New World is portrayed more like a suppressed genius than a threat. And Thunderbolts* is about helping a hero through depression.
When Marvel does give us a true villain, like The High Evolutionary in Guardians Vol. 3, it works. He’s evil, cruel, and compelling. That’s the direction they need. Daredevil: Born Again’s Kingpin brings that old menace back. Same with Loki at his best. Let’s see more villains like that—the kind that made Marvel worth watching in the first place.
