The Marvel Universe is blessed with an assortment of colorful rogues. While everyone serves their purpose in acting as foils to the heroes, there are numerous big-name villains lurking around every shadowy corner. In fact, the good guys have an abundance of top-tier baddies to defeat on a weekly, if not daily, basis.
That said, many of these fiends don't live up to their own hype. They're pitted as these immovable objects meeting unstoppable forces, but they haven't really done much to solidify this reputation. In some cases, they haven't achieved anything at all. Let's take a gander at some well-known Marvel villains who are rubbish at what they do.
10 MYSTERIO
When one claims to be the master of special effects and sleight of hand, they should really be sitting pretty at the top of the food chain. After all, lesser con artists have tricked their way into positions in the highest offices possible. This is where Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio, leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes, he's given Spider-Man a run for his money on several occasions and even convinced the world he was a hero in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but what did he gain from it at the end of the day? He's still back at square one, with his only achievement being a snitch about Spidey's true identity.
9 ABOMINATION
With a name like Abomination, you'd expect a powerful villain who could crush the life out of an entire planet with his pinky. Not someone whose name describes their actual levels of success, because this is an abysmal supervillain if we've ever seen one. At times, he's borderline embarrassing.
Think about it: Abomination is supposed to be stronger than the Hulk. That's no small feat, yet he gets handed the L every time he goes toe to toe with the mean, green machine. Logic dictates that he should aim his wrath at another hero, but he's still out there trying to prove something; to whom, we'll never know.
8 TASKMASTER
So many people love the Taskmaster. Maybe it's because of his grim reaper-esque look and how it translates incredibly well to the comic book medium. Yet, this villain is about as useful as a teaspoon in a clogged toilet. Put Black Ant and him together and they're Marvel's Bebop and Rocksteady.
Sure, the mercenary is scheduled to appear in 2020's Black Widow film, but he's already failed. Why, you may ask? Well, since the movie is set after Captain America: Civil War and before the events of Avengers: Endgame, it's evident that the Taskmaster was incapable of stopping Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow.
7 OMEGA RED
In appearance and presence, Omega Red looks like a formidable foe. After all, who wouldn't want to have retractable tentacles to smash stuff with. The man formerly known as Arkady Gregorivich Rossovich was one of the best designed villains of Jim Lee's X-Men era and was set to be the KGB's answer to Captain America.
Unfortunately, he's nothing like Cap. His blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in Deadpool 2 shows just how far he's fallen down the list of priorities. Seriously, this is a guy who has the ability to secrete pheromones that'll make you ill or even worse, but his lack of achievements have cost him in the credibility department.
6 ARCADE
For many, Arcade is Marvel's version of the Joker and the Riddler smashed together. You can see the similarities, especially when you consider his look and how he's an evil genius and hitman utilizing traps to sucker in his enemies. Many stories have taken place in his Murderworld amusement park and it's a common setting for heroes to duke it out with him and his contraptions.
Unfortunately, Arcade is nothing more than a two-bit Jigsaw from the Saw film franchise. John Kramer had a lot more success and actually succeeded in finishing off his enemies. Arcade, on the other hand, is full of hot air and empty promises.
5 SCORPION
Sharing a name with the coolest character in Mortal Kombat, Scorpion is an instantly identifiable villain in the Marvel Universe. Whether it's his old-school outfit or the more modern reincarnation, you know who Spidey is squaring up against when he's in the panel or on screen. At one point, Mac Gargan even bonded with the Venom symbiote!
Sadly, Gargan is nothing more than an average henchman for bigger villains. He's struggled to make use of his abilities or create a real impact. While he'd like to see himself as something menacing, he's nothing more than a Level 1 boss fight.
4 BLACK TOM CASSIDY
The cousin of Banshee, Black Tom Cassidy possesses the ability to manipulate and project biokinetic energy through plant life. He's battled the X-Men for ages, since 1979 to be precise, usually with the aid of his longtime partner Juggernaut. Perhaps his most villainous act, though, was raising Banshee's daughter, Siryn, and bringing her into his life of crime.
Even there, that's not really a major win since Siryn became a superhero after leaving her uncle's gang. It's a recurring theme with Black Tom. With every step he takes forward, he ends falling two back. Just look at how he was portrayed in Deadpool 2, where he was nothing more than a punchline.
3 SAURON
Hey, when you look like a pterodactyl and possess vampiric abilities to absorb life force through touch, you pretty much can't suck as a character. That's true of Sauron, who remains one of the most original X-Men villains ever created. At times, he's even portrayed as something of a tragic villain, endearing himself to fans and readers.
When you get down to the nitty-gritty of it, though, Sauron hasn't pulled enough of his weight in the villain department. Sure, he's a challenge for the X-Men to defeat, but he's never done enough to cement himself as a Grade A rogue like Magneto or Mister Sinister.
2 TYPHOID MARY
With a name like Typhoid Mary, she literally sounds like the plague. In the '90s, in fact, the character was portrayed in a similar manner to Poison Ivy, where she'd use her seductive ways to lure the heroes in and use her psionic mutant powers on them. Throw in her dissociative identity disorder and you have a potentially dangerous supervillain on your hands.
It's her different personalities, however, that have prevented her from becoming a bigger menace than what she is. While her Typhoid and Bloody Mary personas are dangerous, Mary seems to resist their ways and rein them back in.
1 JUSTIN HAMMER
Justin Hammer isn't your typical villain with superpowers and an outrageous outfit and memorable codename. Nope, he's the evilest thing you can think of: a corporate mogul with deep pockets. His true power is that he can bribe and pay off the right people to stay out of harm's way. Who said that money can't buy you power or influence?!
At the same time, what has he actually done? If you compare him to Lex Luthor, another villain with deep pockets, you'll see that Hammer has failed to orchestrate the downfall of his many enemies. He's been fairly pitiful, in fact.