WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, now in theaters.
Since the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, several organizations, both good and bad, have started and ended. However, none compare to organizations like Hydra, the Red Room and the Ten Rings when it comes to villainy. And while all three have been soundly defeated either by the Avengers or the combined efforts of other heroes, in their time being active, they caused all sorts of trouble. But which of them should be considered the best evil organization?
Hydra
Hydra is one of the oldest organizations in the MCU. According to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the group began as a cult that worshipped the first Inhuman known as the Hive. And to usher in his return, members of this society gave sacrifices to him through a portal. However, as the years progressed, Hydra grew into something slightly less supernatural and more practical. It gained numbers by joining Hitler's campaign as a Nazi deep science division led by Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull. Seeking world domination, Schmidt uncovered the Tesseract and powered his weapons and vehicles with its energy. And while Hydra was seemingly defeated in Captain America: The First Avenger when the Red Skull was transported into space, it infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. in the years that followed World War II.
By Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Hydra had its hands in the world's strongest spy organization, was in the ears of several world leaders and kickstarted the Winter Soldier program. Its goal was to rule through fear using three armed Helicarriers designed to kill anyone who would threaten its rule. However, Captain America and his allies foiled their plans and severely crippled Hydra until they eventually folded.
The Ten Rings
Even older than Hydra, however, is the Ten Rings. As was explained in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wenwu led the organization for over 1000 years, achieving this feat with the power and immortality granted to him via ten otherworldly rings he controlled. In his early years, the goal was power and conquest, with Wenwu wanting to be the strongest force in the world. He would eventually retire after finding love, but his past would come back to haunt him, leading to the murder of his wife. On a quest for revenge, Wenwu brought back the Ten Rings and began to amass his army once again.
However, rather than continuing his conquest of the world, he used his resources to try and save his wife's soul from Ta Lo, a mystical village in another dimension. Compared to other evil organizations, the Ten Rings' influence left something to be desired. And, in the end, Wenwu's reign ended with his death, with his daughter Xialing planning to resurrect his former organization in her own image.
The Red Room
Like Hydra, the Red Room has been around for some time. In Agent Carter, it's revealed the organization began as a program called Leviathan, which would train small girls to become elite killers. In Black Widow, this story is continued, with a man named Dreykov influencing political situations with his group of Black Widows. However, as the years progressed, Dreykov used his money and power to turn his Black Widows into chemically subjugated killers, even more so than the Winter Soldier program. And to make matters worse, he turned his own daughter into the killer known as Taskmaster.
Dreykov operated like a predator and used his influence with world leaders to become one of the most powerful men in the world. However, Natasha Romanoff learns of his grand plan to plant Widows worldwide and proceeds to destroy the Red Room. And while she frees some of the Widows, Dreykov's influence had already left an indelible mark on the MCU's history.
Winner: The Red Room
While Hydra has garnered massive influence and the Ten Rings conquered most of the known world over 1000 years, neither got the same present-day results as the Red Room. Dreykov's Black Widow program completed missions more efficiently than the Winter Soldier and had even bigger plans for the future. Hydra spent the majority of its existence planning, while the Ten Rings reformatted into Wenwu's private army, but the Red Room was the only group to achieve consistent results, making it a more tangible threat.
To see how the Ten Rings compares to other evil organizations in the MCU, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in theaters now.