Marvel isn't as known for horror as its distinguished competition. While it put out a bevy of horror titles in the '70s, it never had the horror renaissance that DC did in the '80s. While characters like Ghost Rider got popular, he has always been Marvel's last horror icon standing, as even Blade can't really keep a book. That doesn't mean that horror at Marvel can't or doesn't work; in fact, many of the publisher's respected roster of heroes would make for perfect horror movie villains.
With just a few tweaks, some of Marvel's greatest heroes would fit right in as horror movie villains, working in a variety of horror genres.
10 Ghost Rider's Quest For Vengeance Could Be Taken To Terrible Extremes
Ghost Rider is the Spirit of Vengeance, bringing justice to the world one evildoer at a time. The question is, what level of evil sets him off? Is it murder? What about stealing? What about online bullying? Where's the line and, more importantly, how much force is necessary? Ghost Rider's power comes from a demon after all; what does a demon care about human frailties?
Ghost Rider as an inexorable force of retribution for even the smallest wrongs, using his formidable power to punish people in disproportionate ways to their crimes would make for great horror. It has an almost Lovecraftian flair to it, with Ghost Rider as the uncaring force of vengeance destroying everything in his way, with no regard for the people his action affect.
9 Daredevil's Devil Motif Opens Up Some Interesting Horror Options
Daredevil is one of Marvel's toughest vigilantes, known for his amazing fighting skills and radar senses. He's also known for going through massive amounts of trauma, which is where the horror of the whole thing comes from. What happens when the ninja dressed as a devil snaps? When he decides that the only way to protect some is by terrorizing all?
Daredevil might not be a city-wrecking powerhouse, but his skills make him very dangerous. What happens when he decides the system doesn't work and he's the only one who can make crime stop? A broken Daredevil, swooping through the night and breaking all criminals, regardless of how small their infraction, is a terrifying thing.
8 The Vision Could Make A Potent Inhuman Killing Machine
Technology can be very scary and nothing is more frightening than artificial intelligence. There are plenty of heroes who are androids but none would be as dangerous as the Vision. Vision's powers are extremely formidable and if he decided that humanity would be better with him running their lives, there's basically no one that could stop him.
He can walk through any barrier and tear apart from the inside anyone who opposes him. As more and more fall before his might, the survivors have to figure out a way to stop him before he succeeds in his goal. That's some potent horror right there.
7 The Hulk Is Already A Monster
There have been many versions of the Hulk but what all of them have in common is a tendency towards mega-violence. The Hulk is a rage monster and is known for going on destructive rampages. He's like a kaiju, an almost elemental force of destruction that can sometimes be pointed at other monsters but mostly should just be avoided.
The Hulk's sheer destructive power makes him the perfect horror movie villain. The Immortal Hulk has already taken a horror monster approach to the Hulk but it doesn't really go far enough. The Hulk is an unreasoning force of destruction and that's what makes him a perfect horror movie villain.
6 Doctor Strange Going Down A Dark Path Could Make Him Perfect For Horror
Doctor Strange is the most powerful magician on the planet, a master of many potent spells. Magic has always been a frightening force and Strange dances on the knife edge between the light and the dark. It wouldn't take very much at all for Strange to fall to darkness, which would put all of his frightening power on the side of destruction.
The mystic arts can be beneficial but one slip on the path and the practitioner can easily become a monster. Using Strange to illustrate this is perfect, showing a hero becoming the very thing that he used to fight against.
5 Morbius Is Already A Vampire
Morbius the Living Vampire has always been an interesting character. He's not undead like other vampires but he still needs blood to live. While he often does his best to only drain evildoers, it would be child's play to make him into an unreasoning vampiric killing machine, one more concerned with getting the blood than where it came from.
Morbius has often been played as a villain, so just pushing him over to the evil vampire side instead of the conflicted man who sometimes slips up would be rather easy and make for some great horror.
4 Professor X Is Perfect For Psychological Horror
Professor X has long been one of Marvel's shadiest heroes and his telepathic prowess makes him perfect for psychological horror. With Professor X around, it's impossible to know whether one's thoughts are their own. Memories can't even be trusted as he can manipulate them, and it's child's play for him to take control of anyone around him.
Professor X can make anyone do anything he chooses. There's no stopping him once he gets into someone's mind. If he wants them to forget something, they forget. If he wants them to kill, they kill. Nothing can be trusted when Xavier's around.
3 Silver Surfer's Solitude & Power Make Him Very Frightening
Silver Surfer is one of the most powerful beings in the cosmos but he's known for his purity. This would make it hard to make him into a horror movie villain, but not impossible. The Silver Surfer travels the spaceways, all alone, the final arbiter of many worlds' fates. Who's to say how he makes his judgements on what worlds to save?
Out there in the cosmos, with only his thoughts as a guide, Silver Surfer could be changing. All those worlds of beings, living together, loving, make him jealous. He is forever beyond and above them— why shouldn't he decide their fate? Why shouldn't he make that fate happen? The shift from protector to predator would be complete.
2 Wolverine Would Make The Perfect Slasher Movie Villain
Wolverine is one of the most dangerous heroes on the planet and he already has one of the prerequisites for becoming a slasher villain: The claws. Wolverine's berserker rage problem has always been one of his most frightening attributes and are what would make him perfect for a slasher movie. What happens when he's pushed so far the rage never ends?
Like other slasher movie villains, his healing factor and adamantium skeleton give him the unstoppable quality that makes villains like Jason Vorhees and Michael Myers so scary. In a state of constant berserker rage, indiscriminately killing all around him, Wolverine would make for an amazing slasher movie villain.
1 Man-Thing Burns All That Feel Fear
Man-Thing isn't as powerful or as cool as Swamp Thing but he does have something that makes him perfect for horror. Part of his power is that anything that feels fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing. This is a pretty broad statement because it says nothing about what they fear— just that they fear.
Every living thing feels fear about something. That means every living being burns when touched by the Man-Thing. One top of that, he's a shambling swamp monster, ridiculously strong and hard to hurt. There's a lot in Man-Thing that can make him into a horror movie villain and it wouldn't even take all that much work.