While the MCU is known as the world's most expensive franchise to grace the silver screen, it's also been (rightfully) criticized for several glaring faults that have plagued the long-running movie machine. Chief among these criticisms is a lack of memorable villains for the ever-growing roster of superheroes.
Fortunately, when casting its many villains and antagonists, Marvel Studios manages to strike gold more often than not. The MCU knows that the best villainous characters are the most relatable and sympathetic ones. Consequently, fans root for "evil" individuals when they can see their antihero potential.
10 Baron Zemo Works Up Some Sick Dance Moves
Debuting in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, Helmut Zemo is the mastermind that orchestrated the downfall of the Avengers – an action that landed him in the proverbial hot seat. However, Zemo isn't without his reasons, citing the deaths of his loved ones in Sokovia as a justification for his actions. As it was the Earth's Mightiest Heroes fault he lost his family, Zemo's reasons are valid if not misguided.
Fans started to root for Zemo during his return in 2021's Disney+ series: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He teams up with the eponymous Avengers to combat Karli Morgenthau and the Flag Smashers. Along the way, he proves his swagger to Marvel fans while fist-pumping to dance beats and becoming a meme legend.
9 Wenwu Is A Tormented Soul Struggling With Loss
While Simu Liu made for an awesome titular protagonist in 2021's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the real standout performance came with Tony Leung's portrayal of Wenwu. As the MCU's real Mandarin, fans witnessed firsthand how grief and loss can blind even the strongest of wills to reality.
The film shines brightest when it highlights the strained relationship between Xu Shang-Chi and his father, including when the former accuses the latter of his failure to be there properly in the wake of his mother's (Ying Li's) death. Wenwu isn't a general run-of-the-mill villain that fans are accustomed to seeing, which is an immense positive given the Mandarin's butchering in 2013's Iron Man 3.
8 Yondu Always Wanted The Best For Peter Quill
When Yondu Udonta is first introduced in James Gunn's 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy, he is a Ravager of contentious repute. He pursues the Guardians after Peter Quill double-crosses him and takes the Power Stone for himself. However, given that Star-Lord is his adopted son, Yondu finds it in himself to forgive the disreputable thief.
While Michael Rooker is likable as the Centaurian in Gunn's 2014 film, the Ravager really captures the hearts of fans in the 2017 sequel. After it's revealed he's a disgraced Ravager for abducting children per Ego's command, Yondu finds redemption with the Guardians after laying down his life to save Peter.
7 Vulture Only Wanted To Take Care Of His Family
One of the more surprising sympathetic villains is Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. He doesn't have a nefarious plan to take over the world; he's just trying to make a living and provide for his wife and daughter – the latter of whom Peter Parker is personally acquainted with.
The Vulture adopts a simple method with his heists: he only takes what he needs. After all, he and his crew managed to stay under the radar long before the webhead showed up and meddled in their affairs. Unfortunately, Spider-Man's moral obligation to do the right thing forces him to get involved with Vulture's illegal dealings.
6 The TVA Unjustly Tore Sylvie From Her Reality
It's hard to say who's more of a villain in 2021's Loki Disney+ series: the TVA or Sylvie. On the one hand, the TVA apathetically ripped a young Sylvie away from everything she'd ever known without so much as an explanation. On the other hand, the Sacred Timeline suggests that Sylvie's status as an iteration of Loki means she's destined to cause chaos.
Sylvie's certainly touted as the "bad guy" when the series begins, but it's not long before fans quickly fall in love with Lady Loki, who clearly outshines Tom Hiddleston's insecure version as he struggles to keep up with the TVA's rules of time travel. However, things take a turn for the worse after a wrathful Sylvie kills He Who Remains and triggers another multiversal war.
5 Nebula Just Wanted To Be Loved By Her Sister
Speaking of wrathful, vengeful characters, no MCU character's rage is more justified than Nebula's. She spends the majority of her life being torn apart and rebuilt by Thanos for failing to best her sister, Gamora in combat. Consequently, the Luphomoid developed a deep resentment for her sister, which she carries into 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
While Nebula fought viciously against the Guardians when Ronan the Accuser attacked Xandar, she makes peace with her sister after they confront Ego. However, that peace is short-lived as Thanos goes on to kill Gamora during 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. Fans can only hope that Nebula finds the family she wants someday.
4 Ghost Sought A Way To End Her Constant Pain
A victim of a quantum accident, S.H.I.E.L.D. used Hannah John-Kamen's "Ghost" as a stealth operative due to her "abilities" to phase between an ethereal and corporeal form. However, as 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp reveals, Ava Starr's reality is way more painful. She suffers from a disease that constantly rips her cells apart and stitches them back together.
To make matters worse, Starr learns from Bill Foster that her disease is slowly killing her. If she wants to survive, she needs more quantum energy. As a result, fans can't help but empathize with Starr when she chooses to go after Hank Pym's portable quantum tunnel. Her literal life depends on it.
3 The Winter Soldier Was Brainwashed By HYDRA
Bucky Barnes was a patriot, a soldier, and above all, a friend. Captain America's closest friend certainly didn't deserve the unspeakable horrors that HYDRA inflicted upon him following the events of Captain America: The First Avenger. Unfortunately, by the time he crosses paths with Steve Rogers again, Barnes has become the lethal Winter Soldier.
What's worse is the revelation during Civil War that Barnes was responsible for the deaths of Tony Stark's parents. Despite Captain America's aid and Shuri's "un-programming," it's clear the White Wolf is haunted by his time as the HYDRA assassin. Fortunately, fans root for Barnes as he slowly finds ways to make amends.
2 Killmonger Rightfully Points Out Global Injustice
It's rare when a movie (let alone a Marvel movie) presents a villain with an argument more compelling than the hero's. However, that's exactly what Ryan Coogler did with 2018's Black Panther. Featuring an unforgettable performance from Michael B. Jordan, he plays the deeply tragic Erik Killmonger – a man desperate for racial justice.
Although Killmonger's methods are barbaric and brutal, he makes a stinging point to T'Challa about his willful ignorance and Wakanda's unwillingness to help people "just like them" across the world. However, Killmonger's words weren't lost on T'Challa, who chooses to open the country's borders following his cousin's death.
1 Tom Hiddleston's Loki Has Become A Fan Favorite
Since stealing the spotlight from his Asgardian brother in 2011's Thor, Loki's fame as the most popular MCU villain of all time continues to grow. Not only is Tom Hiddleston fantastic as the God of Mischief, but fans can't get enough of the chaotic evil he always injects into the MCU.
While it seems the main Loki has perished for good after being killed by Thanos in 2018's Infinity War, Laufeyson's own Disney+ series proved Loki's variant was alive and well (and also aware of how his original story plays out in the main MCU timeline). Fans can't wait to see where the God of Mischief's misadventures take him next.