The Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced fans to many great heroes, villains and memorable side characters, but some weren't as well-received as others. They were either revealed to be unlikeable heels or fans felt like they took something away from the stories.
Some of these heroes and villains have become the MCU's most disliked characters. This can be due to their actions during the films and series or even due to a poor adaptation of the source material. Fans just never quite warmed up to these live-action adaptations of Marvel comic characters in the MCU.
Updated on August 3, 2023 Ajay Aravind: Phase Four of the MCU ended after The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in December 2022. Although Marvel Studios introduced dozens of new characters since the end of the Infinity Saga fans immediately loved some, but couldn't help but hate others. As such, we've updated this list of the most hated Marvel characters with three more entries.
20 General Dreykov
A former officer from the Soviet Army, General Dreykov was the leader of the Red Room operation as seen in Black Widow. For decades, Dreykov kidnapped young girls only based on their genetic potential and trained them to be Russian spies — brainwashing them and exposing them to all kinds of torture, including forced hysterectomies. Dreykov took his villainy way too far. He even transformed his own daughter, Antonia Dreykov, into Taskmaster. He may not be one of the most powerful villains in the MCU, but he’s one of the most ruthless. It’s impossible to forget when he compared women to a personal resource.
19 Dormammu
The first Doctor Strange movie features a mysterious and overpowered entity known as Dormammu. This being holds absolute sway over the Dark Dimension, as seen when he effortlessly defeats Doctor Strange on countless consecutive occasions. Although Dormammu's character design was spectacular, viewers found that he didn't have much character development to speak of. As a cosmic entity and final villain, Dormmamu should have had more of a role to play. In addition, the time loop tactic used by Strange comes off as repetitive, even if it was quite funny to watch.
18 Flash Thompson
In the comics, Flash Thompson experienced tremendous growth following his days as a high school bully. He became a war hero and eventually an Avenger after he bonded with an alien symbiote, transforming into the mostly-heroic Agent Venom. Unfortunately, the MCU's version of this character is a spoiled rich kid who is still a literal high school bully. His comic version is definitely stronger than his MCU counterpart. Even the small glimpses into Flash's lonely and troubled home life didn't garner much sympathy. His attempts to cash in on Peter Parker's troubles in Spider-Man: No Way Home only further proved that Flash is one of the worst MCU characters.
17 Sersi
The 2021 film Eternals introduced Sersi to the MCU. Portrayed by Gemma Chan, Sersi is the only one in the group who truly learned how to co-exist with humans, so she loves them. Her choice to help humans rather than her own peers soon turned into a sore spot. Sersi became one of the most hated MCU characters as soon as she appeared on the screen. Although Chan has done a great job in different projects, the MCU Sersi was quite boring. She had no chemistry with Ikaris, and her story fell mostly flat – especially compared to the comics, where she’s a party girl who evolves into a hero.
16 Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts has been a part of the MCU from the very beginning. The character briefly armored up in 2013's Iron Man 3, which seemed to displease fans. Unlike other Iron Man side characters like Happy Hogan, fans never seemed to warm up to Pepper Potts the same way Tony Stark did. Pepper even donned her own armor in Avengers: Endgame to become the superhero Rescue. And yet, many fans still weren't clamoring to see more of the new hero on the big screen. There is a contingent of MCU fans who just refuse to accept Pepper Potts and her lasting role in the MCU.
15 Todd Phelps
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law introduced Todd Phelps, a narcissistic billionaire who developed an obsession with the titular character. As he believed that Jennifer didn’t deserve her powers, Todd organized a group of men to boycott her public life and then attempted to get gamma powers himself. Todd was quite a vile villain, but more importantly, he was an entitled rich kid with free time and sexist ideologies. Since the whole point was to show how misled he was, it makes perfect sense that nobody likes him. He's easily one of the most hated Marvel characters.
14 Red Skull
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Hugo Weaving and Ross Marquand played Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger and Infinity War. However, fans were more annoyed with Weaving's version of the character. The first MCU Red Skull was little more than an overblown caricature, a cartoonish parody that worked in the comics but failed to translate to cinema. Further, comparing him with MCU villains like Thanos and Killmonger makes Red Skull's character arc feel all the more incomplete and anchorless. His villainous legacy is essentially non-existent, a sad state of affairs for such an iconic comic book character.
13 Ronan The Accuser
The first Guardians of the Galaxy movie assembled a team of cosmic heroes to deal with the threat of Ronan the Accuser. The Kree extremist sought the destruction of Xandar due to a long-standing feud with his people. However, he went after the Power Stone in order to get Thanos' help. This took some of Ronan's ultimate menace away, though he did turn on the Mad Titan and empowered himself with the Power Stone. When the character returned in 2019's Captain Marvel, he failed to impress once again. Ronan quickly turned tail and ran away as soon as Captain Marvel displayed her true power, which didn't win over many fans.
12 Tyler Hayward
The MCU has introduced a few popular characters who don't have comic counterparts. Luis and Dr. Darcy Lewis both became hits with fans, but the MCU has also introduced a few hated original characters. WandaVision debuted a new organization known as S.W.O.R.D. that was under the control of Director Tyler Hayward, a new side character. Hayward had been attempting to rebuild the Vision after his many changes since J.A.R.V.I.S. He used the Westview incident as an opportunity to wipe out Scarlet Witch and bring his Project: Cataract to fruition while cleaning up any loose ends. Fans quickly turned against the S.W.O.R.D. director after he blatantly shot at children.
11 Malekith
Malektih the Dark Elf was an adequately powerful villain with an interesting story when he appeared in 2013's sometimes underrated Thor: The Dark World. Sadly, the character failed to make an impression on fans and became one of the worst MCU characters. Malekith's history and personality were practically ignored, while his incentives remained ambiguous to viewers. Clichéd villains like Malekith might be great as side characters, but they absolutely have no place as a movie's main antagonist. It's unfortunate because the Dark Elves are some of Marvel's most interesting races.
10 Ralph Bohner
WandaVision played with several different fan theories throughout the Disney+ series. This included the appearance of Evan Peters as a new version of Wanda Maximoff's brother, Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver. However, Peters' portrayal of Quicksilver in the Sony X-Men movie franchise made fans question his appearance in the MCU. This misdirection was further complicated when WandaVision revealed that this new Pietro was just a resident of Westview named Ralph Bohner. Agatha Harkness bewitched him into believing he was Wanda's Quicksilver, which earned him the fandom's ire.
9 Ultron
2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron introduced one of the deadliest enemies that MCU heroes have ever faced. However, the robotic Ultron also quickly became one of the most disliked villains the Avengers ever faced. One of the main reasons Ultron failed as an MCU villain was that he was evil just for the sake of being evil. Further, some fans took issue with the humanization of Ultron via James Spader's performance. Others didn't like the changes to his origin that gave Tony Stark and Bruce Banner credit instead of Hank Pym. Even Ultron's return in the animated What If...? resulted in many disappointed fans who disliked the synthezoid's enhanced power levels when he became Infinity Ultron.
8 Justin Hammer
Sam Rockwell is a phenomenal performer, and his depiction of Justin Hammer hits most of the right notes. That said, the overall portrayal of this Iron Man 2 villain leaves a lot to be desired. Fans complained that Hammer just didn't have the necessary grace and dignity to be Iron Man's rival. On the contrary, he's basically an envious CEO who wants to surpass Stark Industries in the market. These are not values that MCU fans expect from their villains, especially someone who's supposed to be a gifted engineer and scientist like Tony Stark.
7 Korg
Korg is a formerly enslaved Kronan who became one of Thor’s closest friends after they escaped Sakaar. Since then, he has appeared by his side in every film, adding very little beyond a few throwaway jokes. In the comics, Korg is one of the strongest warriors in the Marvel universe. He’s a key ally for Hulk during the Planet Hulk storyline, but not necessarily a villain. This makes him a complex character. In the MCU, he’s a walking joke that has become less and less fun as time passes. That said, fans love to watch Taika Waititi strut about on screen.
6 Whiplash
2010s Iron Man 2 was the first sequel in the MCU, which helped to further set up the upcoming Avengers crossover film. There was a lot of time devoted to introducing new characters like Black Widow, so the villain of the piece was left woefully unexplored. Mickey Rourke's Ivan Vanko/Whiplash character put a new spin on the classic Iron Man villain. Unfortunately, a lot of the work and effort that went into developing Whiplash's character was left on the cutting room floor. His villainous debut in the movie set up his potential, though his downgrade into just another armored villain didn't bring much to the MCU.
5 Taskmaster
The news that the villainous Taskmaster would finally be joining the MCU in 2021's Black Widow excited fans. Unfortunately, the character was completely rewritten for the MCU. While Antonia Dreykov was an interesting take on the character that worked well for Black Widow's story, she wasn't who fans were hoping to see. Tony Masters was a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who used his photographic reflexes to become an expensive mercenary. He was able to steal the moves of any hero or villain he witnessed, which made him a deadly threat to teams like the Avengers. The MCU's Taskmaster lost a lot of what made the comic character a fan favorite, making her return in Thunderbolts less exciting.
4 Star-Lord
When Star-Lord debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy, he quickly became a fan-favorite MCU hero. That all changed after his actions in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. The Guardians teamed up with Iron Man, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange against Thanos on Titan, where they almost managed to hold him down long enough to remove the Infinity Gauntlet. Unfortunately, Star-Lord intervened and began striking Thanos after he learned of Gamora's fate in Vormir. This ruined the team's plans and led to the iconic "snap" that erased half of the universe's population, including Star-Lord himself. His passionate outburst cost the MCU dearly, and fans have had a hard time forgiving Peter Quill for his actions.
3 John Walker
A few heartbreaking moments in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier explored the ongoing legacy of Captain America. The series takes place after Avengers: Endgame and Steve Rogers's retirement. While he entrusted the shield and position to Sam Wilson, the government actually gave the Captain America mantle to a military man named John Walker. Fans were immediately against this new Captain America. A lot of online hate for John Walker materialized, so the character served his purpose. However, fans are still excited to see him return as U.S. Agent in the upcoming Thunderbolts movie.
2 The Mandarin
Iron Man 3 seemingly followed up on the tease of the Ten Rings organization that first appeared in the first Iron Man with the introduction of the Mandarin. However, the Mandarin as he appeared in this movie was a ruse created by a corporate rival of Tony Stark named Aldrich Killian. Killian engineered a fake terrorist threat to extend his power base while also exploiting the true organization's name. The real Ten Rings later appeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, further weakening Aldrich Killian's reveal that he was the "true" Mandarin, and angering some fans who were expecting more.
1 Gorr
Fans were hyped to hear that Christian Bale was going to play Gorr in Thor: Love and Thunder. The actor, famously known for his radical transformations, consistently delivers incredible performances. Given this, everyone was ready to see him portray the sanguinary God Butcher. Unfortunately, he was criminally underused in the film. While the comics’ Gorr is one of the most dangerous villains in Marvel, Bale only got to scare some kids (which he did masterfully). He may not be one of the worst MCU characters, but Gorr's adaptation feels like a wasted opportunity.