Iconic villains stand the test of time. They come in and out of fashion. They defy trends. In the right hands, they embody everything fans love to hate about the best of the worst villains of all time. In the wrong hands, their unique qualities are poorly translated, or sometimes not at all.
The most iconic Marvel villains have had a lot of different takes over the decades in the comic books, and more still across different media as they show up in animated series or live-action films. Here are the ten worst versions of iconic Marvel villains, ranked.
10 Magneto (Earth X)
In what can only be described as 'Huh?,' the Earth X version of the Master of Magnetism is one of the worst takes on the character. Good, bad, or in between Magneto is always a force to be reckoned with and not someone who will bow -willingly - to anyone.
In the alternate reality of Earth X, not only does he lose his signature electromagnetic powers, he's forced to become a court jester for the new ruler of Sentinel City, Toad. This humiliation is hard to square with a character as strong-willed as Magneto.
9 Electro (Amazing Spider-Man 2)
The cinematic version of iconic Spider-Man villain Electro had a lot going for it: Jamie Foxx first and foremost, and an interesting design that amplified the electrical nature of the character.
All of that looked great on paper, but like with almost everything else in the truncated Amazing Spider-Man reboot, it didn't work. The character was rendered as a bumbling fool and was made largely irrelevant thanks to an overstuffed plot that also included (checks notes) the Rhino, Green Goblin, and the Sinister Six (kind of).
8 Green Goblin (Spider-Man Unlimited)
Green Goblin is one of Spider-Man's greatest foes and is pretty much a lock for any screen adaptation of the Wall-Crawler. So it was natural when he showed up in the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series from the early 2000s.
What wasn't expected was the tack the series took with him. Green Goblin wasn't Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn, or even a villain. He was a man named Hector Jones and in his one appearance on the show, helped Spider-Man out instead of trying to kill him.
7 Dark Phoenix (X-Men Last Stand)
Dark Phoenix is one of the greatest villains of all time, from one of the greatest comic book stories of all time, so fans assumed her translation to the big screen would be a slam dunk. Instead, the character and her classic comics arc were botched in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Rather than be the focus of her own story, Dark Phoenix is relegated to an accessory in an overstuffed plot. She mostly stands around as Magneto and a mutant army fight a battle she can win in a flash and when she gets into it finally, Wolverine kills her.
6 Thanos (Helicopter Pilot)
Thanks to his snappy rampage through the MCU, Thanos has become one of the greatest Marvel villains on screen and in the comics. Being a genocidal terror wasn't always the Mad Titan's deal, though. When he first appeared in the comics, he was more down to earth. Well, just above it.
In Spidey Super Stories #39 from 1979, Thanos tries to steal the Cosmic Cube and makes his escape in his own personal Thanos-copter. It's very Silver Age, in a bad way.
5 Apocalypse (X-Men: Apocalypse)
Apocalypse is one of the most powerful, intelligent, and ruthless villains in all of comics and yet in the first movie to bring him to the big screen, he spends most of it walking around collecting people to do things he can do for himself.
His powers are all over the place and so is his place in the plot, which barely exists. Oscar Issac is utterly wasted in a role that should have put the character on the map in the minds of the general public. Instead, the movie was pretty forgettable and so was Apocalypse.
4 Bullseye (Daredevil, 2003)
A Marvel comic book villain played by Colin Farrell sounds like a great idea, but the movie version of Bullseye didn't quite hit the mark. Conceptually, the character didn't come together, much like the 2003 movie adaptation of Daredevil itself.
He's kind of a grungy, punk character who's supposed to be a ruthless assassin so good at his job the Kingpin hires him. But this version of Bullseye is hardly a match at all for the highly trained Daredevil, and it doesn't make sense that he's a threat at all.
3 Ultron (MCU)
Despite its astronomical success, not everything in the MCU works. For a long time, the franchise struggled with presenting really good villains who weren't Loki, and Ultron is a great example of that.
The comic book version of Ultron is a frightening, unstoppable menace that gets worse every time he shows up. The movie version - despite a unique performance from James Spader - seems like a standard big action-movie villain who just wants to destroy the world when he can't get what he wants.
2 Doom (Fantastic Four 2015)
Doctor Doom is virtually unrecognizable in the generally maligned disaster that is the 2015 Fantastic Four. The character doesn't feature any of the character's comic book qualities, and his costume, such as it is, only provides a passing resemblance.
While it's easy to hate on the film, which got little about the franchise right, the mischaracterization of Doctor Doom is especially egregious considering that he is one of the all-time great villains and he was utterly and completely wasted.
1 Galactus (Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer)
While the 2015 Fantastic Four movie may have been the worst screen adaptation of the franchise - and that's saying something - it doesn't feature the worst cinematic depiction of a classic Fantastic Four villain. That distinction goes to the 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
In that film, all-time great villain Galactus is rendered as a giant cloud in space. Not a big purple guy with Kirby-tech. A cloud. That complete whiff on one of the best characters in comics signaled the end of this version of the Fantastic Four movies.