Marvel Comics has as many unforgettable villains as it does heroes. But many people forget that Marvel's first heroes, the Fantastic Four, were a superhero team, and that solo heroes operating on their own would only come later. Since then, there have been plenty of other superhero teams like the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
But there are even more villainous teams than superhero teams. It seems like evil is just better at getting organized and banding together around a common cause. Whatever the cause, Marvel's most villainous teams should not be underestimated, as they are a danger to everyone they encounter.
10 The Masters Of Evil Put Their Mission Statement In Their Name
There have been many versions of the Masters of Evil over the years, but really, they all make their intentions pretty clear with their choice of a name. Branding is everything in a superhero world, and this group of villains chose a name announcing just what it is that they aspire to master.
The first version of the team was formed by Baron Zemo, a literal Nazi. Most versions of the Masters of Evil share at least one common goal: to destroy the Avengers at any cost.
9 The Hellfire Club Are Rich Mutants Obsessed With Power
The Hellfire Club is a social club for rich elites, inspired by the historical hellfire clubs that rose to prominence in Europe in the 18th Century. This modern-day Marvel group has a strict hierarchal structure based around pieces on a chessboard.
Most members of the Hellfire Club seem to be harmless hedonists primarily interested in kinky libertine exploits, which (while taboo) ultimately harm no one. However, the powerful seek more power, and the Hellfire Club's members have proven they will do anything in this pursuit. Interestingly, many of their members are mutants, but mutants and non-mutants alike seem willing to attack the mutant community to serve their own self-interests.
8 The Thunderbolts Are Supervillains Doing Superhero Work
The Thunderbolts is a particularly interesting team, as they are villains who present themselves as heroes--either as an act of deception or (more recently) as government agents.
The darkest (and most interesting) version of this team was led by Norman Osborn in the events leading up to Secret Invasion, where his sociopathy and narcissism led to some cutthroat policies even as his grip on reality began to slip away. This team carried out missions serving the darkest agendas of US government policy, and its members turned on each other without a second thought, brutalizing one another...and anyone else who got in their way.
7 The Dark Avengers Were Villains Who Tried Replacing The Avengers
After Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn became the head of US defense agencies, and he transformed the Thunderbolts into the Dark Avengers. Osborn was a master of public relations, making charismatic appearances in front of the media to build up goodwill with the public (and murdering journalists who had evidence of his crimes).
This version of the team tried to have a villain to replace every major Avengers hero. Dakken replaced his father Wolverine. Venom pretended to be Spider-Man. Bullseye dressed in Hawkeye’s costume. And Osborn famously repurposed an old Iron Man suit to become Iron Patriot--a perverse blend of Captain America and Iron Man. Given unfettered power, these villains brutalized anyone and everyone they could, regardless of the consequences.
6 The Purifiers Are Anti-Mutant Religious Fundamentalists
The Purifiers are a supremacist organization that claims to be serving their faith, but really only care about wiping out mutants.
There are many similar organizations that could be lumped in with them. Orchis. The Right. The Church of Humanity. All can fall under this umbrella of faith-based hate (though in some cases, such as Orchis, the faith is more a matter of belief in the general notion of human supremacy). When a group believes they are inherently morally right and therefore excused from whatever crimes they commit, there is no evil they will not perpetrate.
5 A.I.M. Pursues Science Without Morality
A.I.M. is a group dedicated to developing and acquiring bleeding-edge technology. Often, the acquisition of this tech is more important to them than actually building it, so they are willing to steal from others just to possess fancy new gadgets.
A.I.M. (whose name is an acronym for Advanced Idea Mechanics) has had splinter groups like A.G.M. (Advanced Genocide Mechanics), but even the main core organization is willing to kill interns or experiment on unconsenting people just for the sake of scientific pursuit without any conscience or consideration for possible repercussions.
4 H.A.M.M.E.R. Is The Darkest Possible Version Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
After Norman Osborn helped defeat the Skrulls in Secret Invasion, he became the leader of U.S. security forces. He transformed S.H.I.E.L.D. into a new organization called H.A.M.M.E.R.
Many of the original S.H.I.E.L.D. staff remained and continued to “follow orders,” doing their jobs even as the new leadership ordered them to commit war crimes and to break both international and domestic law. Under this new leadership, the entire might of the U.S. security apparatus devoted itself to hunting down superheroes, journalists, activists, and anyone Osborn didn’t like.
3 Hydra Is A Fascist Organization
Fascism takes many forms. The scholar Umberto Eco’s essay “Ur-Fascism” best defined it with fourteen points, but noted that fascist regimes could adapt and might not all have all of these points at any given time. Hydra is the perfect example of a fascist organization that has continued to change and adapt over the decades.
Their origins can be traced back to the Nazis and other European fascist movements in the early 20th Century. More recently, they have appealed to the anger of people in the US, using online recruitment strategies to radicalize hate and swell their ranks.
2 The Black Order Destroyed Whole Planes Of Existence
The Black Order is a group of powerful beings who came together under Thanos’s leadership to destroy parallel realities (and in doing so, save the main Earth-616).
The group reveled in the spread of suffering. They agreed to repeatedly save the Earth in exchange for control of Wakanda, where they inflicted unspeakable cruelties upon the Wakandan people. Shuri gave her life trying to stop them. Their motives and methods were despicable, but they did save reality numerous times.
1 ROXXON Are An Evil Corporation
The evil corporation is a bit of a cliche, both in the real world and in fiction. However, it is a trope that has been earned. Indeed, all superhero comics came into existence in response to the popularity of Superman, a hero originally dedicated to fighting against cruel businessmen and the corrupt politicians who help them, so in any, evil corporations are really the first supervillains.
No such corporation is as evil as the oil conglomerate Roxxon. Their newest CEO, Dario Agger, is a literal monster in human form whose ego is so great that when he first met Thor, he proclaimed that he always saw himself as equal to a god. The company has strip-mined whole worlds, polluted the Earth for profit, used social media to spread propaganda, bought politicians, manufactured weapons for profit, and even led armies from other realms in an invasion of the Earth. At the end of the day, Roxxon (like many real companies) cares only for profit, and if profit is the biggest motivator, then everything else the corporation does will serve the pursuit of profits, no matter how evil that action might be. There is nothing Roxxon would not do to get richer.