Marvel's villains are some of the most frightening around. Whether they're the kinds of monsters who can fight off a team by themselves or just super schlubs who like to rob banks, each of them has something that makes them a formidable threat to the heroes. Villains don't remain static, though. Since they keep coming back each loss, they've often grown in power over the years, becoming much greater threats.
Many of Marvel's most well-known and formidable villains started out much weaker than they are today, growing in power and skill until they could challenge their heroic foes in new ways.
10 Carnage Has Gotten Way More Powerful Over The Years
As Venom got more popular, Marvel went back to the symbiote well and created Carnage. Carnage was basically Venom 2.0: crazier, more bloodthirsty, and less vulnerable since he wasn't vulnerable to sonics. He was still vulnerable to fire and while he was wasn't as strong as Venom, he used his symbiote in different ways.
"Maximum Carnage" gave the villain his first upgrade, as he needed to be powerful enough to face down Spider-Man, Venom, and a veritable raft of other New York-based heroes. Since then, Carnage has gotten more and more powerful.
9 Absorbing Man's Powers Became More Formidable Over The Years
For a long time, Absorbing Man was just the strong guy with the ball and chain who'd turn into metal or brick to fight the Avengers or Thor. He was useful cannon fodder but he wasn't exactly a massive threat to anyone. That slowly changed over the years, as more writers realized just how useful his absorption abilities could be.
Instead of just absorbing hard materials in order to up his strength and durability, he started getting creative with his powers and became one of the Avengers' most dangerous foes. In the Earth X timeline, he even singlehandedly killed most of the Avengers in battle because of his powers.
8 Annihilus Went From Getting Stomped On By The Fantastic Four To Becoming A Danger To The Entire Universe
Annihilus is the scourge of the Negative Zone, an insectoid conqueror who destroys everything in his way. He got a massive power upgrade in Annihilation when it was revealed he was the master of the Annihilation Wave. However, previously he wasn't exactly an unstoppable monster. In fact, he used to lose to the Fantastic Four all the time.
This wasn't the later days FF either, when the Invisible Woman had come into her power, but the Silver Age version of the team. Everyone was weaker and they usually only won fights because of Reed's science mumbo-jumbo. Annihulus was far from the universe-destroying force he would become.
7 Thanos Is Much Greater Than He Used To Be
Thanos is amazingly powerful but he didn't start out that way. His first appearance in Iron Man #55 saw him teamed up with the Blood Brothers and getting foiled by Iron Man, which isn't too bad but this was early Iron Man, so not as powerful as in later years. From there, he would battle Adam Warlock and Captain Marvel, who were powerful but not overwhelmingly so.
Thanos was far from the universe-beating Mad Titan he'd become. He was powerful but he was getting beaten by one hero, which isn't a fate anyone would imagine of him nowadays.
6 Doctor Doom Wasn't Always The God-Killer He Is Now
Doctor Doom may now have the best armor in the Marvel Universe but it wasn't always that way. Much like Annihilus, Doom used to get beat on by the Silver Age Fantastic Four, which is pretty ignominious when one remembers that the team's most powerful member was a teenage guy who could light himself on fire. As time went on, Doom became more and more formidable and now is one of the most dangerous villains around.
His armor is way more powerful than its original incarnation. Now it's clear that he is a master magician, and he's defeated gods several times over the years, usurping their power. Doom is one of the smartest and dangerous people on the planet and much better off than he was in the Silver Age.
5 Apocalypse Used To Have A Problem Beating The Original X-Factor
Apocalypse is one of the X-Men's greatest foes but it took some time to get him there. He first appeared in X-Factor #5 and was getting beat on by Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, and Angel. Now, sure, they had been heroes for ages, but this was feather-winged Angel and Iceman before he basically became a god. While other members of the team were tough, they weren't exactly what a modern reader would think of as an Apocalypse-beating group.
Apocalypse's power grew in leaps and bounds as his popularity did, with The Age Of Apocalypse really cementing his legend. From there, he got more and more powerful until he became his current unstoppable self.
4 Green Goblin's Goblin Formula Kept Making Him Stronger And Stronger
Green Goblin was always rather tough but as the years went by, he only got more and more powerful. This was especially true after his return to life, as he beat Ben Reilly nearly to death rather easily even before the clone started to degrade. It was also established at this point that he had a Goblin formula-based healing factor, which helped him cheat death time and again.
The difference in power between the Green Goblin of the Silver and Modern Ages is night and day. While he was always a challenge for Spider-Man, he wasn't really on the same level as the Wall-Crawler. Now, he surpasses him in some ways and is a tough nut for any hero to crack.
3 Juggernaut Went From Getting Beat By Teenagers To Beating The Hulk
Juggernaut has beaten a lot of Marvel's toughest heroes but it wasn't always that way. When he first appeared, Juggernaut went after the X-Men in order to get revenge on his step-brother, Professor X, and constantly lost to a bunch of half-trained teenagers. While he was certainly tough, he was a long way from being the titan who would smash through everyone in his path.
Silver Age Juggernaut couldn't hold a candle to later incarnations of the character. Juggernaut has knocked out the Hulk in a fistfight, which isn't exactly easy. He's grown immensely in power over the years.
2 Ultron Really Hit His Stride When He Got His Adamantium Shell
Ultron is one of the Avengers' greatest foes, mostly because of the personal dimension to their conflict. The problem with early Ultron came in that he was just a robot, something that superheroes fought all the time and destroyed scores of. Against a team with Thor on it, most robots aren't going to last long. That's why it was such a big deal when he started using adamantium to create his bodies.
This gave him the durability he needed to be truly dangerous to even the strongest Avengers. Since then, Ultron has become one of the Avengers' biggest threats, an enemy who can just about beat the team singlehandedly every time he fights them.
1 Magneto's Powers Got More Defined Over Time
Magneto is now known as the all-powerful Omega class mutant who has beaten entire teams on his own with little fuss. It wasn't always that way, though. While Magneto's powers haven't changed all that much, how writers think about them has. As the writing in comics has gotten better, Magneto's powers have become more useful as well.
Magneto can do things now with his powers that he wasn't able to back in the Silver Age and it's only made him a stronger person and character. While he isn't exactly at his most villainous anymore, he is at his most powerful.