Villains are an important part of comics. How can a hero be any good if their villains are lackluster? One of the unfortunate realities of the comics is that sometimes, good to great villains get left in the lurch when compared to others. There are some villains that every creator wants to work with and others that while pretty good just don't get the love.
Captain America has a lot of villains like this- some of his villains get all the spotlight, while ones who could be just as good are left in the lurch. Cap is one of the greatest and most inspiring heroes in the Marvel Universe and he needs villains to match. Let's take a look at some Cap villains who deserve some more limelight and some others who can go away.
10 See More Of: Baron Blood
Vampires are always great villains and Baron Blood is a very interesting one, to say the least. He's a British vampire who fought on the side of the Germans in World War I and II, encountering Cap in WWII. They would clash multiple times over the years, with Cap even beheading him at one point.
The great thing about vampires is that even death can't stop them. It's kind of their whole thing. Bringing Baron Blood back to bedevil Cap would be simple. On top of that, he's got Cap beat in just about every category, meaning Cap has to think outside the box to take him down.
9 Stay Away: Hydra
Hydra has long been a thorn in Cap's side for years. The terrorist organization has been run by all kinds of bad guys over the years, trying to take out Cap and take over the world. However, after the events of Secret Empire, no one really wants to see anything Hydra related for a long time. While one of the best part about the group over the years has been how varied a threat they are, with many different members and leaders, being part of one of fans' least favorite event books in recent memory will leave a stink.
Hydra needs a time out; they have to go away, lick their wounds, make some plans, and then come back when fans have forgotten just why they wanted them gone in the first place.
8 See More Of: Flag-Smasher
Flag-Smasher is basically an anarchist; unlike a lot of other Captain America villains, he's not just anti-America, he's anti-every country. Flag-Smasher believes that all countries are equally bad and they should all be destroyed. He leads a group of like minded terrorists to help him carry out his goals... and act as cannon fodder when Cap shows up.
Flag-Smasher doesn't have any cool superpowers or anything; he's just a dude with a mace and beliefs. Putting him up against Cap is a very interesting proposition because both of them believe they are doing the right thing and will fight and die for their beliefs. Flag-Smasher not being a terrible Nazi also allows readers to empathize with him and his goals, giving writers more to play with.
7 Stay Away: Baron Strucker
Baron Strucker was one of the classic leaders of Hydra back in the day, but he's really never done anything interesting. He's been around for a long time but he's definitely a lower tier Cap villain when it comes to accomplishments. He was just kind of there.
Recently, he was in Captain America as the warden of a prison Cap was in and he was... alright. There are other characters that probably would have been better in the role. He's just not a very interesting villain when it comes right down to it.
6 See More Of: Sin
The Red Skull's daughter, Sin was once about to hit the big time. Set up in the run-up to Fear Itself as a new Red Skull, that fizzled out rather quickly and she went back to being plain old Sin. However, she stepped out of her father's shadow for a bit and got a taste of the big time, working with henchman extraordinaire Crossbones.
Sin deserves way better than she's gotten over the years. The constant resurrection cycle of comics hurt her chances; it's hard to be the next Red Skull when the old one is always just about to come back to life. Still, she's proven that she can work on her own, like her recent appearance in Dead Man Logan.
5 Stay Away: Hate-Monger
Look, everyone likes punching Nazis and beyond that, everybody loves punching Hitler. Both of these things should be win-win propositions. However, punching a clone of Hitler? It's still cool but it loses something. That's Hate-Monger- a clone of Hitler that gets carted out every now and again to do Nazi stuff.
Hate-Monger is too much like so many other Cap villains. Sure, he's basically Hitler but there are so many worse villains out there than a clone of Hitler, ones who have personally committed atrocities, that can be used.
4 See More Of: Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus is a special kind of Cap villain, one he doesn't get to face very much. Faustus's threat isn't physical but psychological. A twisted psychiatrist, he uses all of his knowledge and deeply persuasive voice to turn people against one another and often works with other Cap villains to manipulate Cap's allies into fighting him.
However, Faustus is a genius and can easily mastermind his own schemes, not needing anyone else to tell him what to do. Faustus is a very dangerous villain; he can't punch it out with Cap but he can make other people do it for him, people Cap loves and respects.
3 Stay Away: Arnim Zola
When one's description is evil Nazi scientist in a robot body, they should be an awesome villain. Arnim Zola is not. First off, there's the way he looks- the weirdly proportioned body with the giant screen for his face in the belly; it's pretty ridiculous. Secondly, he never does anything cool. His schemes are never very memorable or exciting.
Zola is just a dud of a villain. Maybe there was a time when that wasn't so but now a days, he's just sort of there. He should stay there, too, as long as there is far away from the spotlight.
2 See More Of: Baron Zemo
Baron Zemo was part of Secret Empire, but Baron Zemo is so great that he can escape the stink of it. Zemo is an Avengers level villain- he's led the Masters of Evil and the Thunderbolts and has had success with both groups. Zemo should be a bigger deal than he is and that can start at any time.
Zemo has an it factor that few other of Cap's villains have and it's a tragedy that it's not being put to use. He can be fighting Cap... or the Avengers... or just about any hero. That's just how great Zemo is- he can be used for so many different things but he's first and foremost a near perfect Cap villain.
1 Stay Away: Red Skull
Red Skull is a great villain; a reprehensible racist monster, he's one of the most easily hated villains in all of comics, one so terrible that even other villains hate him. Red Skull is one of those villains that everyone who works on Cap wants to use. There's a million different stories that can be told with him.
And that's the problem- just about everyone who has ever worked on Cap has a Red Skull story. Nearly every new writer in recent memory has used Red Skull. He's not only a great mastermind type villain but also a villain who can go toe to toe with Cap in general. However, it would be nice if everyone gave him a rest so some other villains can get a chance to shine.