Highlights
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe has showcased amazing and terrifying villains, but some deserving characters have only appeared in one movie and deserve more recognition.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a plethora of amazing and terrifying villains across its decade of expansion of movies and TV. Such villains like Thanos and Loki have captivated fans for years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they have had more than enough shine in the spotlight.
But several villains have only appeared in one movie that deserves some love from Marvel, villains that are big players in the comics but don't receive that same treatment on the big screen. Some characters just appear and then are never seen again or killed off in the movie they first appeared.
10 The Leader
Fans often forget that The Incredible Hulk is a part of the MCU, this is because Bruce Banner was a re-cast and looked completely different by the time The Avengers Assemble came around, but the second entry in the MCU is very much canon. Tim Blake Nelson's Samuel Sterns was a cellular biologist tasked with finding a cure for Bruce Banner's big, green, and angry other half.
At the end of the movie, audiences watch Samuel Sterns get infected with Banner's blood and his head begins to mutate to transform him into the villain known as The Leader, a regular villain of the Hulk in the comics. But this is the last time he was seen. However, he is tipped to return in Captain America: Brave New World. Hopefully, The Leader will get the play he deserves and prove himself as a formidable foe.
9 Taskmaster
Black Widow is one of the MCU's entries that isn't widely loved by fans, set in the past (during its release) and when fans already knew Natasha Romanoff was dead. For many, the movie just seemed pointless since it didn't add much in regards to the overarching story, and that's not to mention its villain just yet.
Fans were treated to a fan-favorite enemy from the comics, Taskmaster, a villain who has a photographic memory and can copy the fighting styles of the hero, theoretically, they cannot be beaten. However, Taskmaster was portrayed as a silent, almost robot-like version of the character, and it was not well received. The performance was emotionless, and the character deserved better, with her being freed from the Black Widow program she could well likely reappear in a future installment.
8 Malekith
Wildly regarded as the worst MCU film, Thor: The Dark World even has a lackluster villain to boot, Christoper Eccleston is a terrific actor but Malekith was the victim of poor writing and really didn't bring much to the screen.
Completely forgettable, a Dark Elf and a mortal enemy of Asgard, he should have posed more of a threat in his quest for the Aether, the Reality Stone. Due to his death in the movie, it is unlikely that fans will see Malekith in the MCU again, which is a shame, if the character was in a better movie then maybe he could have been one of the MCU's greatest villains.
7 Crossbones
Brock Rumlow, AKA Crossbones first appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a secret HYDRA agent and he had a great rivalry with Steve Rogers that was perfectly portrayed throughout the movie.
After being horrifically injured thanks to the events of the movie he donned his Crossbones attire and had a deep-rooted hatred for Captain America who he blamed for his injuries. During the opening act of Captain America: Civil War, Rumlow reappeared as the Avengers attempted to end his terror attack in Nigeria. Upon being captured by Cap he set off a suicide vest which was redirected into a building by the Scarlet Witch which in turn caused the events of the Civil War. Another villain which was killed off so soon, it would have been great to see this rivalry between Rumlow and Rogers throughout the MCU.​​​​​​, but Marvel Studios killed this character off far too soon.
6 Kaecilius
Wasting Mads Mikkelsen on this character is just ludicrous, the antagonist of Dr. Strange, Kaecilius was hell-bent on allowing other dimensions into Earth, so he could potentially be reunited with his deceased wife and son.
The Ancient One opposed this and Kaecilius took to a life of evil and attempted to bring Dormammu to Earth, but this was prevented by Steven Strange. Mikkelsen's portrayal was faultless, but there was a sense that the character should have done more and shown up in future movies. The sequel to Doctor Strange was a perfect opportunity to bring Kaecilius back, but he was left in the one-movie-and-done pile.
5 Darren Cross/Yellowjacket/MODOK
Darren Cross is unique in this list in he has become two villains in the MCU, first appearing as the villain in Ant-Man donning the guise of Yellowjacket, a villain with similar powers to Scott Lang. At the end of that movie he seemingly dies but as fans learned in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania he survived but became the comic favorite villain MODOK.
As a follower of Kang, MODOK helped rule over the Quantum Realm, but by the end of the movie he redeemed himself and then later died. Wasting such an iconic and menacing villain, turned it into a joke, which was a common problem of that movie. Not every villain needs to be redeemed, and some people should just stay evil, and not die in their second appearance.
4 Justin Hammer
Justin Hammer's dynamic in Iron Man 2 was perfect, a cocky sure of himself villain who was motivated by money and power. He is Tony Stark if he was not a good person. Sam Rockwell's performance received stellar credits but has not been seen since the Iron Man sequel.
Hammer was sent to prison, where he still remains as far as fans are aware, there is no reason why he couldn't show up and attempt to take over Stark Industries with the man himself no longer alive. Armor Wars would be the perfect chance for him to reappear and really put a stamp on the MCU.
3 Gorr The God Butcher
Gorr was the big bad in Thor: Love & Thunder, in the movie's opening scene, audiences learn of Gorr's hatred towards gods and how he vows to kill them all. Yet, audiences don't actually see any of this in the movie, and they only see him kidnap children in the limited screen time the villain gets.
Played by Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale, there was scope to have an amazing and complex villain, but that is just not what was portrayed on screen, wasted and underused, Did he even butcher any gods?​​​​​​​
2 Red Skull
The arch-nemesis to a certain Captain America, Red Skull was the leader of HYDRA during World War 2 and was the victim of disfiguration due to an unfinished super soldier serum, hence his red appearance.
There is no fault in Red Skull's role in Captain America: The First Avenger but the character was not seen again until years later in Avengers: Infinity War. He has seemingly given up on his evil HYDRA-related crimes and become the keeper of the Soul stone. It was nice to see the character again but in this form, he is just not the same. Red Skull and Captain America went toe-to-toe for years in the comics, and it is a shame fans did not get to see that for long in the MCU.​​​​​​​
1 Ultron
Feared in the comics as one of the main villains of the Avengers, Ultron was given the main villain status in his own movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron. But this was his only appearance, there is so much potential in the character of Ultron, but this has been left in the shadows.
Ultron did receive some love in the What If? series asking What If... Ultron won? This showed how powerful the creation of Tony Stark can be. Ultron needs to return to the MCU, but with Kang taking the limelight as the main player, fans may never see Ultron again which is a real shame as it is such a unique and interesting villain.