The villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have had a long and arduous struggle with actually accomplishing what they set out to do in their respective films. Since 2008's Iron Man, big bads like Obadiah Stane have tried to thwart each and every one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes into giving up their livelihoods, assets, powers or lives in no particular order. And some have come awfully close to fulfilling those promises, proving that they can sometimes be as cunning and smart, if not more so than their heroic counterparts.
And the story is mostly different for every villain. Baddies like Stane, Whiplash and Aldrich Killian have gone toe-to-toe with Iron Man. Red Skull and his Hydra colleagues have tried to take down Captain America on numerous occasion. Thor has handled everyone from the Destroyer to his own brother, Loki. And the Guardians of the Galaxy have come face-to-face with some high-level cosmic threats. But each villain has their own wit and will among them, some just happen to do a lot better than others. And yeah, we know there's one particular villain who rises above the rest. But don't worry, we'll get there. These are the villains of the MCU, ranked by their cunning and intelligence.
WARNING: Spoilers for Infinity War ahead.
30 ABOMINATION
An oft-forgotten villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tim Roth's Emil Blonsky, better known as Abomination, was basically the big bad of 2008's The Incredible Hulk. That being said, his skills were less than impressive, operating off of blind rage and hulking (no pun intended) while battling with the Hulk. And what happens? Well, he end up laying waste to a good portion of Harlem in New York before Hulk puts him down and the Army puts him away.
And while Emil Blonsky himself isn't so weak-minded, what with him being part of the British Royal Marines and all, the bit of serum he receives send him off the deep end, causing incredibly erratic behavior and a complete lack of thought or control. In terms of motives, Abomination's are definitely some of the weakest in all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Couple that with the fact that haven't seen him since that fateful encounter, and it looks like the powers that be at Marvel agree with us. And while his abilities seemed to be somewhat evenly-matched against Edward Norton's Hulk, Banner's will and intellect won him the fight. Sorry Blonsky, hope you're comfy in The Raft. Maybe we'll see you again someday.
29 SURTUR
Surtur made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut during 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, attempting to cement himself as one of the biggest bads in all of the Nine Realms. And while, sure, he did eventually get what he wanted in the total destruction of Asgard by his hand, but he didn't necessarily accomplish that himself. In the opening moments of Ragnarok, Thor is able to quickly disarm and outsmart the fiery villain, taking his skull and escaping the hellish landscape. Thor then does battle with Hela through most of the film, a much more formidable foe, until he is forced to unleash a fully-powered Surtur on Asgard to destroy Hela and take all of Asgard down with him.
It's supposed to be a somber moment, but Surtur is left as the butt of Ragnarok's many jokes. His planning was poor, and he was unable to keep Thor on lock-down even with him quite literally on lock-down at the beginning of the film. Seriously? What kind of cosmic demonic evil doesn't know about Mjolnir. On top of that, Surtur's lack of power from the jump puts him at a disadvantage, and he's only useful when called in as a last resort with the Eternal Flame quite literally given to him.
28 CULL OBSIDIAN
One of the most recent additions to this list, Cull Obsidian is probably the most powerful of The Black Order with regard to pure brute force, but that comes with a bit of oafishness on his part. During the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Cull Obsidian is never really seen figuring out his own thing. We first see him paired up with Ebony Maw when they touch down in New York, and he does a bit of damage before being transported to the Arctic, courtesy of Wong. But really, most of the needed help in that seen comes from the Maw, who is able to beam up both Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
We later see Cull Obsidian during the big battle in Wakanda, where he again proves he's a tank, grounding Falcon and War Machine here and there just dealing out some damage. Of course, he eventually meets his end while going toe-to-toe not with The Hulk, but with Bruce Banner in a Hulkbuster suit. With a severe lack of cunning and response, Cull Obsidian is offed by the Hulkbuster's severed arm, and he explodes once he hits the dome over Wakanda. As far as smart threats go, we can't say we'd pair Cull Obsidian with any of the top brass. He may have lasted longer than at least one other Black Order member, but that's not saying much.
27 WHIPLASH
Mickey Rourke's portrayal of Whiplash is often considered one of the weakest points in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And despite a few pretty cool fight scenes in Iron Man 2, we can't help but feel a little wanting from the use of Whiplash in live action. Sure, he plays the long game pretty well, to a point. Once Whiplash actually gets the scenario he wants, he buckles under pressure and ends up quite literally beaten for it. During the Monaco fight, Whiplash is haunting with his execution, but he's downed by Happy Hogan driving a car. With Justin Hammer, he tries to secretly build robots for the weapons manufacturer, only to have them turn on any number of characters.
And why? Well, he wanted revenge on Tony Stark for the disgrace and eventual death of his father. Sure, that's sound reasoning as far as villains go, but a lack of followthrough meant all of the build-up, research and time spent on Ivan Vanko's part basically went to waste. And, of course, Whiplash is eventually killed while trying to take on both War Machine and Iron Man at the same, falling victim to an endgame plan gone wrong. Like many MCU villains, he couldn't even make it past the first flick.
26 CROSSBONES
Crossbones is the perfect example of a victim of circumstance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We first meet Brock Rumlow as a double agent for Hydra hiding within S.H.I.E.L.D. So yeah, his first mistake was aligning with a pseudo-Nazi organization hellbent on control of the world and humanity. And he may be a fine soldier, but he's quickly taken off the board by Captain America any time the two come into contact. From the famous elevator fight scene to being outsmarted at mission control, Brock Rumlow just isn't that great at keeping it all together. He's then seemingly killed after a fight with Falcon during the climax of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
We later meet Rumlow as Crossbones in the opening moments of Captain America: Civil War, when the guy thinks he's smart (and we guess he is when it comes to collateral damage), but he ends up getting himself killed via explosion anyway. Not many people get two second chances only to completely ruin them by focusing on poorly planned revenge and heavy duty armor. Will Crossbones be back? Well, things aren't looking too great for the Captain America rogue, but with the Infinity Stones in play, anything can happen.
25 KAECILIUS
In many ways, the original goals of Kaecilius were pretty solid. He wanted to see his wife and son again, so he was willing to let other dimensions occupy the same space as Earth. Unfortunately, that would be absolutely terrible. As a member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, he sought the training necessary to attempt control over realities, but he was ultimately failed by obsession and misplaced revenge.
Kaecilius' obsession with The Ancient One and their ability to transcend dimensions and reality led him to a foolish attempt to take over the world. He wanted to bring Dormammu to the mortal world, which definitely almost takes the cake for dumbest and least effective idea ever. This led to Doctor Strange, Sorceror Supreme, taking on both Kaecilius and Dormammu in attempt to protect our reality and stop the dark lord from taking over. Thankfully, he succeeded in doing both. And, in punishment, Kaecilius was trapped in the Dark Dimension, which is kind of what he wanted. You know, if eternal damnation is your thing. Like many Marvel Cinematic Universe baddies, Kaecilius will be chalked up to someone between religious zealot and crazed sorcerer. Fortunately, there are worse places to be.
24 RONAN THE ACCUSER
In the Marvel Comics cosmic universe, Ronan the Accuser is one of the last bastions of the Kree Empire. He is a judge that borders the anti-heroic line by serving as a needed line of defense during the Annihilation conflict, while having a bit of a human side, as seen by his marriage to Crystal of the Inhumans. But in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ronan the Accuser is little more than a crazed religious zealot hellbent on being judge, jury and executioner for all people in the known universe. This leads to a bit of trouble for basically everyone when Thanos tasks Ronan with obtaining the Power Stone.
And like other villains before him, Ronan becomes the butt of a joke. In this case, it was a the dance off to save the universe at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, in which Peter Quill and his ragtag group of misfits quote Footloose and then literally wield the power of the Power Stone to take down Ronan for good. And while his upcoming appearance in Captain Marvel could change how we feel about the Kree judge, for now, we can't quite buy in to his plan or execution. Sorry Ronan, they did you dirty.
23 CORVUS GLAIVE
Another member of Thanos' Black Order during the events of the recent Avengers: Infinity War, Corvus Glaive might be the most terrifying of the bunch. A fairly close adaptation of the Marvel Comics character, we can see that Corvus Glaive is an integral part of the evil Children of Thanos, most closely associated with Proxima Midnight. His goals are clear and thought out: go for the Mind Stone at all costs. He quite nearly succeeds multiple times, though he has a knack for getting stabbed and possibly killed multiple times.
That all being said, his "death" at the hands of Black Widow becomes an integral part of the Black Order's plan for taking the Mind Stone. This allows Corvus Glaive to sneak up on Shuri while she's working on removing Vision's Mind Stone in her lab. And while this does lead to Vision taking him out eventually (via stabbing), he does quite literally get the Stone into the perfect place for Thanos to arrive and take it, sacrificing himself for the "greater good" of the universe. And while we would have liked to have seen his relationship with Proxima Midnight more developed on screen, we can't complain about what we got. Good on you, Corvus Glaive, if destroying half of the universe is your thing.
22 IRON MONGER
Obadiah Stane was our first taste of what a villain could look like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As interim chief executive officer of Stark Industries, Stane was caught off guard by Tony Stark's revived interest in taking back the company, what with his return from imprisonment and all. So, like a textbook bad guy does, he tried to off Stark via assassination and take back the company for himself. He felt threatened by the junior Stark and sought to take back what he believed was his by force. And that was even before he built the Iron Monger armor.
But we can't really give it to Stane for his motives. In a way, one could see it all as a meta-commentary on technology in the hands of those that weren't young enough to master it when it first released. Smartphones, tablets, etc. We can see Stane's disdain for the young. But what we can't see is building a co-opted suit of armor and attempting to kill the CEO of a major company. His thirst for vengeance led to his death, but it helped to kick start the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Tony Stark's importance at the center of it all. And for that, we've got to hand it to him.
21 YELLOWJACKET
In a lot of ways, Darren Cross in Ant-Man mirrors Obadiah Stane, except it was sort of the other way around. Disgraced mentee to Hank Pym, Darren Cross sought the use of the Pym Particles for a lot more than just general science and protecting the world as Ant-Man. No, he wanted to weaponize the technology in a ill-fated attempt to command an army and quite possibly take over the world. You know, your typical mad with power situation. This led to the creation of the Yellowjacket suit, which Cross tried to use to win over weapons buyers for any number of terrorist outfits.
Of course, he was bested by the combined efforts of Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym and Scott Lang, now operating as Ant-Man. Cross had the right idea in his own mind for trying to weaponize the Pym Particles, but didn't have the follow through. He was versed in the hostile takeover, but was unable to finish what he started and it ended up killing him. I mean, you're basically destined to lose if you try and go up against Paul Rudd, right? Dude is immortal. This all in mind, we can't imagine seeing a return to the daughter-kidnapping Darren Cross any time soon.
20 DORMAMMU
Dormammu does not have time for your petty human arguments. Of course, that's exactly what led to his downfall during the events of Doctor Strange. But that's beside the point. Dormammu is still very much an evil, demonic constant of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one that we don't see going away any time soon. And while his attempt to be unleashed from the Dark Dimension was fairly close to fruition, his disdain for human argument had him reeling after one or two bouts with Doctor Strange.
Oh, and by one or two we mean millions, as Doctor Strange uses the Time Stone to lock Dormammu in an endless time loop in which Strange comes to bargain. And he does bargain, because Dormammu is so annoyed that he ends up abandoning his plan to reach the Earth and takes the evil Kaecilius with him back into the Dark Dimension. Sure, Dormammu himself became a bit of a joke here, but he's got bigger and more cosmic reality-like things to worry about. Much like Surtur, Dormammu is big, brute power, but he lacks the power of reasoning that heroes like Doctor Strange or, yes, Thor have. Sorry Dormammu, better luck next time.
19 BARON VON STRUCKER
Baron Von Strucker came incredibly close to his plan to bring Hydra back to the forefront of the world following its demise in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. For all intents and purposes, he had full control of the Mind Stone, and used it to create two incredibly powerful, enhanced individuals: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. But his hubris had him running from The Avengers, and this led to his assassination while in prison. He had big plans, but they ended up being co-opted by a murderous metal robot, not himself.
And the twins escaped, with Quicksilver ultimately dying on the battlefield to save Hawkeye and a child, and Scarlet Witch becoming one of the strongest Avengers basically ever. Sorry Strucker, your "miracles" turned on you and became pretty stellar heroes. The chain of events he set into motion actually became a huge benefit to The Avengers as they journeyed toward Infinity War. Even the events of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. poked holes in Strucker's plans, and even led to the raid from the beginning of Avengers: Age of Ultron, courtesy of Phil Coulson's squad of agents. Baron Von Strucker was loud and proud, and that was truly his downfall as a big bad.
18 MALEKITH
One of the most under-utilized villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Malekith had been around for quite a long time. We learned in Thor: The Dark World that he had originally gone face-to-face with Thor's grandfather, Bor, and almost died in the process. But he returned from that fight stronger than ever, prepping his long game and army of Dark Elves to once again try and make each of the Nine Realms kneel in his honor. But he hadn't met Thor.
Malekith's other mistake was attempting to wield the power of the Aether, which was actually the Reality Stone. He brought that power to Earth and ended up falling in a final showdown with Thor, the grandson of his greatest enemy. The battle was pretty stellar, taking place between rings of all of the Realms, but Malekith's hubris and ego cost him his life. As far as Thor villains go, Malekith could have been something truly great. Instead, he's just a blip in the rogues gallery of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Though, we wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of resurgence from the Dark Elf master in the future. After all, is anyone truly dead? With the Infinity Stones in play, who knows who could make their way back to the land of the living.
17 PROXIMA MIDNIGHT
Proxima Midnight is definitely one of the most haunting of the Black Order in Avengers: Infinity War, but she's also quite obviously the military brains of the bunch. She speaks for the more brute-like members of the squad during the film's opening moments, and seems to call the shots when her and Corvus Glaive take on Scarlet Witch and Vision in Scotland. Of course, she's also the one that beams the pair up when they are basically defeated and threatened by Captain America, Black Widow and Falcon.
She then reappears during the big battle in Wakanda, testing the boundaries of the shield dome, commanding the Outrider armor and sending Cull Obsidian into battle as a tank. She also tells Corvus Glaive when to make his strike on Shuri and Vision, all after successfully drawing Scarlet Witch out on to the battlefield. With an enhanced military intellect, Proxima Midnight is a big player in Thanos' victory, especially when your Outrider army is entirely dispensable. Of course, she also meets her end in this fight at the hands of Scarlet Witch tossing her into the wheel machines she used to draw her out. Quite poetic, we'd have to say, even if we were sad to see her go so soon.
16 VULTURE
Adrian Toomes live-action debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming was very neatly tied into the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And timeline antics aside, the fact that he was economically tied to the Battle of the New York from the jump makes him a more interesting character, and a more sympathetic one at that. But he was also smart to try and benefit off of the attack, and very clearly invests in his own weapons and armor developed by his crew from Chitauri and Stark technology. So, his plan to take down the Stark plane transporting stuff from Avengers Tower makes total sense. But he didn't count on Spider-Man.
As Vulture, Toomes threads the needle of maniacal villain and caring father disenfranchised by an economic crisis. Toomes really does just care about his family, and that might be his downfall. He also figures out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and despite this, Parker doesn't kill him, he uses it to his advantage as a protection for Toomes. And sure, we know Peter is a good guy, but we also know he sort of respects Toomes for all of this. And for that, Vulture is easily one of the most cunning of the grounded super villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
15 ALDRICH KILLIAN
Aldrich Killian finds himself at the middle of the pack for not his plan, but his execution during the events of Iron Man 3. His villainous origin was sound, in that he was turned down by his greatest idol, Tony Stark, and forever sought his revenge on a man he felt didn't have enough time for the little people. In doing this, he built up a terrorist criminal empire, posed as one of the greatest threats to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as The Mandarin and developed Extremis, which literally made people explode.
Killian was a viable threat to everything Tony Stark had built. He went after his home, his suits of armor and the woman he loves, Pepper Potts. And Killian almost beat Stark too, but he talked too much, and his vengeance got the best of him. That, and it helped the Pepper, under the influence of Extremis, used that power for good. Yeah, remember when that happened? We're still waiting on that Rescue armor. But it's cool, we get it, you're busy with Thanos and all. This all being said, part of us wanted Trevor to be the true Mandarin, because who doesn't need more Ben Kingsley in their lives?
14 ALEXANDER PIERCE
Alexander Pierce may be one of the most imposing villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And, well, it doesn't hurt that he's played by Robert Redford. For all intents and purposes, Pierce is one of the modern heads of Hydra, and he just so happens to be the catalyst for Hydra's reveal that they have been infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. since the beginning. Pierce is also the main reason for the re-utilization of the Winter Soldier, and for this he becomes a major thorn in Captain America's side.
But you have to be pretty smart to do all of this under the nose of Director Nick Fury, someone who basically knows when and why everything is happening. But Fury was caught off-guard, and Project Insight very nearly succeeded in taking every global "threat" off the board for good. But Pierce's will to destroy the agency of the world's foremost peacekeeping force was the biggest undertaking of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the time. And we have to give him credit for the fact that he almost got a way with it, too. That darn meddling Captain America and his ragtag group of enhanced individuals. Seriously, the debut of Falcon and the team-up with Black Widow all in one movie? Can't beat that.
13 ARNIM ZOLA
During the events of Captain America: The First Avengers, Arnim Zola might have had trouble being seen as more than just an intelligent lackey to Hugo Weaving's Red Skull. But behind the main baddie of the film was a lasting legacy for Hydra, one that started with the post-war recruitment of Arnim Zola to the newly born S.H.I.E.L.D. From there Zola, was able to plant his seeds of revenge, sending his own consciousness after death into a series of computers. Oh, and he also built the foundation for Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., which you'll remember as the main plot point from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
And the worst part about Zola is that no one really saw it coming, at least from a character standpoint. He had been willing and able to help Tommy Lee Jones' character in The First Avenger, and many saw it as the turning of a new leaf and a reason for Zola to use his intelligence for good. Well, if he ends up like any part of his character from Marvel Comics, then we're talking about a guy who builds his own dimension and race of people. And that sounds pretty terrifying to us.
12 EBONY MAW
Of the members of Thanos' Black Order in Avengers: Infinity War, Ebony Maw might be the most intellectually powerful. From the moment we see him, this dedicated baddie is the perfect equal to Doctor Strange's mystic arts. And while his jokes don't exactly land in the face of Tony Stark, his powers speak for themselves. Ebony Maw is the intro to Thanos' reign of destruction, and his delivery is haunting. It's even more terrifying that he basically makes good on his promises. He successfully captures Doctor Strange on one of Thanos' ringed ships and heads for Titan.
He then tortures the good Doctor in an attempt to retrieve the Mind Stone from him, though he is bested by a team-up between Spider-Man (now with more Iron Spider), Iron Man and Doctor Strange's cloak. He's caught off guard, but not before proving one last time that he's grossly terrifying, what with his sharp crystals going into Doctor Strange and all. And while we last see him freezing out in space, we can't get the image of the gruesome Maw out of our heads. We imagine the Avengers might have a similar problem. It's just a shame that we're all out of Black Order members for Avengers 4.
11 GRANT WARD
Maybe the most inconsequential villain on this list, Grant Ward was diabololical from the moment he debuted on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Before any number of turns, he quickly becae a fan-favorite character for his skillful abilities, relationship with Daisy (then Skye) and passion for making things right for the organization. So when it came out that he was an embedded Hydra agent trained by John Garret, a lot of stuff hit the fan. From then, Ward became a haunting presence to Coulson's team of agents, almost killing Fitz and Simmons and Agent Melinda May. And this was all before becoming a leader of Hydra.
And while he was eventually killed by Phil Coulson well on down the line, he was then co-opted by Hive, an adaptation of the Hydra head from Marvel Comics as a "dark Inhuman." As far as second winds go, we're not sure there is anyone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who has had as many as Grant Ward. And while he may finally be off the board now, there's always a chance he's lurking somewhere in the shadows, waiting to take our lovely Coulson down a peg. Though, with Ghost Riders and pseudo-Matrices, we're not sure there's any more room for a Grant Ward.