Marvel has shown comics fans some of the scariest and most complex villains a superhero could face over the last 80 years, so it is obvious that not everyone has gotten their chance to shine on the big screen yet. But, some of the missing-in-action villains would have easily slipped into stories we’ve already seen. Maybe they didn’t have to be the main baddie, but introductions could have been made during the Infinity saga.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t pop up in other corners of the MCU multiverse. Going into Phase 4 of the MCU, the universe is opening up well past the Avengers, which makes plenty of room for different villains to cause some mayhem, even if they should have been doing it for ages already.
10 M.O.D.O.K.
A.I.M. is already well known in the MCU for human experimentation with little regard for the wellbeing of the test subject. Mad science being what it is, it wouldn’t be surprising to have seen some designs or plans for a M.O.D.O.K system in amongst the work done under Aldrich Killian.
Now, knowing that Killian’s claim of being the real Mandarin is decidedly untrue, M.O.D.O.K. could be not only a visually horrifying villain, but a way to bring Guy Pearce back into the MCU. Also, if Marvel wanted to go way out on a limb, they could pull from Ales Kot’s Secret Avengers run and redeem a M.O.D.O.K.
9 Moonstone
Karla Sofen might be earth’s worst therapist, and that’s a kind assessment of her career. She’s murdered and manipulated her clients to gain power and she’s used that power to do some pretty awful things against many, many heroes, even in her time as a Thunderbolt. The easiest way to get her into the MCU, even before she dons the tights, would be to have had her working for SHIELD. Obviously, working for SHIELD would require a certain amount of counselling from time to time.
As the mental health of SHIELD agents hasn’t been a priority on screen, she is most likely to show up going head to head with Captain Marvel, but seeing her working with Baron Zemo as a precursor to the MCU Thunderbolts would be a treat.
8 Umar
Another Dark Dimension royal, Umar embodies the adage ‘the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy’. While she would have thoroughly enjoyed the downfall of her brother Dormammu at the hands of Stephen Strange, she is still a threat to the world Strange is supposed to be protecting.
While Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness likely won’t dive back into the Dark Dimension, Umar’s daughter, Clea could show up to help out the Sorcerer Supreme. Either of these ladies could open the door for the other to join the MCU.
7 Kraven the Hunter
One of Spider-Man’s most iconic villains, may have gotten a nod or two in the background of the current Spidey franchise, if you look very closely. But a bakery van isn’t enough for Sergei Kravinoff. There could have been a mark on Peter Parker since the tail end of Spider-Man: Homecoming. After all, hunters are patient.
That is not in the cards though, so Kraven will have to work his way into the Spider-Man rogues gallery in the next Spider-Man movie. That is, if Sony doesn’t give him the Venom treatment, divorcing him from the Spider-Man connections in his story.
6 Green Goblin
He’s been a staple of Spider-Man movies since Sam Raimi’s days at the helm, and long before that, in the comics, Norman Osborn has made the wall-crawler’s life a living hell. Oscorp could have bid against Stark Industries, or even just popped up in one of the many New York City skyline shots.
Now it seems that the Osborn family has been taken out of the current Spider-Man MCU mythos. Harry’s missing too. But, as Peter grows up—if they let him—his old friend could make a reappearance, complete with his supervillain father to shake things up.
5 Amara the Enchantress
Enchantress has been magicking her way around Asgard and earth, causing trouble for Thor, for a very long time. She has mind-controlled Valkyrie, love-potioned Thor, and teamed up with some of the baddies we’ve already seen in the MCU. While her favorite minion, Skurge, was passed off to Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, and her sister, Lorelei, did some damage on Agents of SHIELD, Amara has yet to get her moment in the sun.
Amara could have been present in Asgard from the beginning, even as a cameo, or an ally to Loki. She could be retconned into the Thor franchise pretty easily too, and now that her people are on earth, presenting her as an exile who has found the new colony could be an interesting approach.
4 Sin
The daughter of the Red Skull has menaced Captain America since the 80s, but her role in Ed Brubaker’s run should have made her an easy fit for the Captain America movies. In fact, her story in that run tied in with the Winter Soldier arc, with her story acting as a foil to Bucky’s return.
The obvious choice for where she could have popped up is Captain America: The Winter Soldier, perhaps near the end, or in the tie-in comic, busting Crossbones out of the hospital he was being treated at. But, since that didn’t happen and Crossbones is no longer an easy in for her character, she could be sneaking around New Asgard, hunting for Skadi’s hammer to bring about the return of Cul Borson, and scare the crap out of the MCU, in an on screen version of Fear Itself.
3 Annihilus
Best known for ruling the Negative Zone, Annihilus and his armies have threatened the entire Marvel universe. The Annihilation Wave and Annihilation event brought the cosmic heroes together against the unstoppable blight, and it went on for a long, long time. Hints of the wave, or Annihilus himself could have popped up in the Guardians of the Galaxy, either volume.
That’s probably still the safest way to bring Annihilus to the big screen, though, depending on how far into his science haze Reed Richards is when we meet the Fantastic Four, the Negative Zone is a valid option as well.
2 Namor
While Namor is the ultimate anti-hero, introducing him as an antagonist would be a bold move, especially since Namor isn’t a great candidate for a run-of-the-mill redemption arc. There have been hints that Atlantis exists in the MCU, with blips on various maps, and undersea earthquakes, but there was a Submariner-shaped hole in Captain America: the First Avenger.
Even without his Invaders history in the MCU—or at least history we’re not aware of yet—Namor would be an interesting antagonist for T’Challa, with clashes between Wakanda and Atlantis. Of course, there’s always the Namor and Fantastic Four dynamic to play with when Marvel’s first family makes their entrance, as well. Nothing says fun like some Namor-Sue-Reed tension.
1 Doctor Doom
It makes sense, on some level, that Victor Von Doom has yet to show up in the MCU, with the rights, until recently, still being Fox’s to play with. That said, there were a lot of ways to wink and nod at Doom and Latveria in the meantime. Latveria and Sokovia would be geographic neighbors, in theory. SHIELD hinted at Wakanda in Iron Man 2, and it would have been easy to throw another blip on the map.
Doom’s connection to the Fantastic Four probably means that he’ll show up when they do in the MCU, but Doom has been the thorn in the side of the Avengers many times. Given that WandaVision looks to be pulling from the House of M playbook, Victor von Doom showing up alongside Wanda Maximoff to deal with the fallout could be a less obvious option.