Thor: The Dark World

Yeah, he wants to transform the entire universe into absolute darkness, but that and his freaky blue eyes are pretty much the dude's only defining features. I guess when you're in the same movie as Loki, there is just no competing. But, really, Malekith could not be more boring, and, I repeat,he wants to destroy the universe. When you are The Big Bad for an entire superhero feature film, the sin of total boredom is unforgivable. There is nothing worse.

Iron Man 3

He conspires with the Mandarin and sells out the president — and, worse, Tony Stark. So he's definitely a bad guy. But, to be honest, I totally forgot he was even in the movie. Because he's on screen for less time, though, he evokes less boredom than Malekith, so he's notquite as terrible. But only barely.

Ant-Man

This high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. official who is actually a Hydra weasel wants to use the shrinking tech designed by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to rule the world. Since Pym did make a memorable impact on Carson's face, however, he's more interesting than the previous two villains on this list!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

His one parkour-y fight with Cap is kind of cool? But that's all he does, and Cap wipes the floor with him. Next!

Iron Man 2

Mickey Rourke plays Whiplash with a kooky dreadlocked-ponytail-bun thing, a penchant for showing off his over-the-top tattooed physique, and what seems like only a vague grasp on his lines. Granted, that is the opposite of boring, but it isn't exactly interesting, either — it's just weird for weirdness' sake. Half the time, Rourke seems to be performing in his own movie, and the character's ultimate aim — killing Tony Stark with, uh, whips? — is weak sauce when compared to the grander designs of the other villains on this list. He is one of the major reasons whyIron Man 2is so irretrievably terrible.

Thor

Good grief,Thor has seriously lame non-Loki villainy. Colm Feore at least brings a spark of personality to the leader of the Frost Giants, but now that I've typed the term "Frost Giants," I cannot take him or his intimidating abs seriously.

Thor: Ragnarok

She's the Grandmaster's enforcer who thinks melted flesh smells like burned toast and has it out for Valkyrie. That's about it for Topaz, but it still makes her more interesting than all the men before her on this list.

Avengers: Infinity War andAvengers: Endgame

He looks like, I dunno, an evil elf? And he growls a lot. But the only real defining characteristic of this member of Thanos’s Black Order is the long-bladed weaponhe’s named after, and that is no substitute for an actual personality.

Avengers: Infinity War andAvengers: Endgame

Proxima Midnight’s problem is that her name is Proxima Midnight, but the character is more Proxima Three-Thirty-in-the-Afternoon. I’m frankly outraged thatthis is how Carrie Coon gets to join the MCU, but at least she (almost) held her own in a killer fight with Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, and Okoye inInfinity War. There wasso much happening inEndgame’s final battle, but if Proxima did anything of note, I must have missed it.

Iron Man

Marvel Studios' very first villain is essentially a standard Middle Eastern terrorist proxy for Osama bin Laden — he's like bad guy training wheels for the far more outlandish malefactors to come.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

He's brash, reckless, a pretty terrible shot, and kinda dumb (i.e., threatening to rat out his boss, Adrian Toomes, in a roomfilled with lethal alien weaponry). So, even though Toomes accidentally (allegedly) vaporizes him, the guy pretty much had it coming.

Captain Marvel

This tough, no-nonsense sharpshooter doesn't care for Carol Danvers' plucky, can-do charm and happily keeps the truth of Carol's origins a secret from her. Plus, she calls Earth a "shithole" — which, fair. She's the only member of Yon-Rogg's morally bankrupt Starforce that makes any kind of impression, but she's on screen so briefly that she can't do much more than clear that low bar. Great hair, though.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

InHomecoming, he's a generic criminal who's around just long enough to have his face messed up during Spidey's confrontation with Vulture on the Staten Island Ferry (which Gargan seemingly blames Spidey for, even though Vulture's the one who really causes that gnarly scar across his eye). Eye-based scars are obviously the most villainous scars — but since, according to the comics, this dude is destined to become Scorpion (and maybe Venom), we'll just have to wait to see what nefarious plans he actually has in store for our Spidey.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier andAvengers: Age of Ultron

Off camera, Strucker is a mad Hydra scientist willing to sacrifice the lives of untold numbers of "volunteers" in the pursuit of making "miracles" with Loki's scepter — including the primordial beginnings of what would become Ultron and his army of robots. That's pretty villainous. On camera, however, Strucker is a coward who surrenders to the Avengers without so much as a fight — and then promptly dies, off camera. Kretschmann brings a playful twinkle to the role, but, yeah, this guy is the definition of underwhelming.

Avengers: Infinity War andAvengers: Endgame

Evil Hulk is evil and Hulky.

Thor: Ragnarok

As a Fire Giant, Surtur is automatically cooler than the Frost Giants (terrible pun intended!), and to date, he remains the only villain on this list who successfully destroys an entire world. Granted, he basically had nothing to do with making that happen, since Thor was just using him to defeat Hela — an even worse, more powerful villain. Still: He's made of fire and has zero chill. (More terrible puns!)

Iron Man 3

As a visual, Extremis is creepy-cool to look at. As a character trait, it makes people into amoral jerks who get off on violence. Which is a decent attribute for a lackey, but it doesn't make that lackey all that memorable.

Iron Man 3

Savin gets more screen time than his Extremis-y counterpart Brandt, and he likes to chew gum a lot, a telltale sign of cinematic villainy. Therefore, he is slightly more evil. It's math.

Doctor Strange

The master of the Dark Dimension is one of the most powerful and formidable villains in the Marvel Comics. But in his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he's not much more than a massive disembodied head with an oddly passive drive to take over Earth. Granted, Dormammu is a reallycool-looking disembodied head, and he's voiced by Cumberbatch's singular baritone growl. But the best thing about the character — i.e., the way Doctor Strange uses his archenemy's catastrophically poor understanding of time-loop spells to get one over on him — has very to do with the character himself.

Thor: Ragnarok

One of the more wishy-washy villains in the MCU, Skurge forsakes his people to become Hela's executioner, which shouldn't be all that surprising given his penchant for pilfering from the nine realms and his obsession with Earth-bound firearms. Plus, his local barber/tattoo artist really leaned into the whole "Asgardian fuckboy" look. His last-minute sacrificial change of heart is certainly noble, but, like, it comes after he just stood there while Hela decimated just about every soldier in Asgard. The guy just has a problemcommitting.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

One of the oldest members of Spider-Man's comic book rogue gallery makes a subdued debut inHomecoming, slapping together alien and human technology to keep Toomes' criminal enterprise in business. This Tinkerer really only cares about his gadgets, indifferent to how they might be used...or misused: When Toomes "unintentionally" zaps his compatriot Jackson, Mason barely bats an eye.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier andAvengers: Endgame

UntilWinter Soldier, we thought Sitwell was one of the good guys, a stalwart S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and compatriot of Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson. So discovering he's been a Hydra weasel all along feels like a bracing slap in the face (in a good way!) — but Sitwell was only alive long enough to drop some exposition andtease the Doctor Strange movie before getting hit by a truck. Oh well. Great to see him pop up inEndgame, though!

Captain America: The First Avenger

This Hydra weasel has even less total screen time than Sitwell, but at least he actuallydoes something villainous — i.e. kill Stanley Tucci's Dr. Abraham Erskine — before taking his own life with a cyanide capsule. Also, a double-breasted suitand a vest? Even in the 1940s, that's evil.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

The most villainous moment in Schultz's young career as an MCU villain comes when he nonchalantly picks up his Shocker gloves after Toomes zaps them off of Jackson's body. Like, he's standing over the smoldering ashes of his compatriot, and his immediate thought seems to beYay, mine now!

Schultz also seems to relish beating the crap out of Spider-Man, but that's kind of his job as a bad guy, and he ends up bested by Peter's BFF, Ned, which has got to be embarrassing down at the local bad guy watering hole.

Captain Marvel

In the comics, Yon-Rogg is one of Carol Danvers' mortal enemies, which is why Marvel Studios kept the name of Jude Law's character a secret to preserve the twist that he — rather than Ben Mendelsohn's delightful alien refugee, Talos — is the movie's main villain. But in their first scene together, Yon-Rogg is already negging Carol for feeling her feelings, which doesn't exactly build our trust in him as a good guy. Plus, those of us within the small but potent fanbase for ABC'sMarvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. already know just how evil the Kree can be, so Yon-Rogg's treachery wasn'tthat surprising. It all adds up to a mishmash of a character who can get it as a hot dad, but never quite feels evil enough to be Carol's equal. Though maybe that's the point? We'll have to wait and see if he gets worse in the sequel!

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Of the MCU’s antagonists, Foster is one of the gentlest — he’s only trying to help Ghost not die, fixing a mess caused (he feels) by Hank Pym’s outsize ego. But while he operates with a clear moral code — like, don’t hurt kids! — he’s still OK with letting Ghost rob, kidnap, and assault to achieve her ends. Still, the most unsettling moment Foster has in the whole movie is when he appears in a flashback, and suddenly an uncannily young Laurence Fishburne is staring back at us on the screen. It’s weird! And not in a good way!

Iron Man 3

One of the very few female villains on this list, Hansen falls into bad behavior that is also the most human — she desperately wants to advance in her field, and just loses her way in the process. In the end, she feebly tries to redeem herself, and is gunned down for her troubles.

Iron Man 2 andCaptain America: The Winter Soldier

Garry Shandling's cameo as a weasel-y U.S. senator hounding Tony Stark was one of the few bright spots ofIron Man 2 (the other is coming up shortly), but it was a small masterstroke to make him into an actual Hydra weasel. And the sight of the late, great Shandling whispering "Hail Hydra" is one of themany bright spots ofThe Winter Soldier.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

He's Taserface! His name is what strikes fear in all those who hear it! Kind of. OK, not really. But he does murder all of those Ravagers in a mutiny, which is pretty bad. Taserface, everybody!

Captain America: The First Avenger

Zola's vigor for serving Hydra's aims of world domination, even as those aims terrify him, make for a welcome murky presence in the otherwise morally cut-and-dried firstCaptain America movie. And Toby Jones, bless him, was born to play the scientist lackey of a super villain.

The Avengers andGuardians of the Galaxy

With barely any screen time, anunrecognizable Alexis Denisof imbues Thanos's underling with a sinister, spider-y malevolence — and unlike Thanos himself, he actually carries out some evildoing before Ronan breaks his neck. Plus, that extra thumb is damn creepy.

Doctor Strange

The disgraced former disciple of the Ancient One is a nihilistic zealot driven by a boilerplate disregard for humanity and a fuzzy desire to escape the ravages of time. Kaecilius, in fact, might feel like just an empty shortcut to explicating Stephen Strange's personal failings were he not played by Mikkelsen, who has become something of an expert in imbuing creepy soulfulness into iconic villains. Also, for a universe filled with evildoers, this is one of the few MCU rogues who actually kills one of the lead characters.

The Incredible Hulk

Even more than Arnim Zola and Maya Hansen, Dr. Samuel Sterns is Marvel Studios' most insidiously amoral "scientist." Even as he strives to help "cure" Bruce Banner of his Hulk-itude, he thinks nothing of synthesizing Banner's blood to harness its potential. And when he gives Banner's blood to Emil Blonsky, Tim Blake Nelson knows how to barely contain Sterns' excitement at creating the Abomination. In that moment, Sterns also appeared to be transforming intothe giant-brained Leader, the scientist's ultimate fate in the comics. But sinceThe Incredible Hulk never spawned a sequel, he'll forever be caught in comic book movie limbo.

Captain America: Civil War

Zemo sets a plan in motion to tear the Avengers apart, and unlike almost every other villain on this list, his plan actually succeeds. Otherwise, he’s your basic cocktail of you-killed-my-family revenge story spiked with a lethal ability to google "Tony Stark dead parents Winter Soldier 1991." Which is to say, he's far from the most dynamic member of the MCU's rogues gallery, but Brühl shrewdly underplays the role. The fact that he also survives to the end of the film suggests that he may still live up to hisfar more outlandish comic book namesake.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp followedAvengers: Infinity War, a movie bursting with larger-than-life sci-fi villains deploying swarming armies of ferocious lizard soldiers in a quest to acquire the mystical Infinity Stones. What I’m saying is thatthank god Marvel had the good sense to follow allthat up with a 1990s-style smarmy arms dealer played by the master of comically menacing smarm, Walton Goggins. Burch’s henchmen’s most intimidating move is using a truth serum that results in the funniest sequence in an MCU movie in 2018 — not exactly the most villainous achievement, but certainly a welcome one.

Black Panther

N'Jobu betrays his country and allows Ulysses Klaue to steal its vibranium — leading to the deaths of many of his fellow Wakandans. But his decision comes from a place of almost existential frustration with the plight of black people who live outside of his homeland and cannot benefit from its prosperity. His screentime is minimal, but between the legacy of rage and tragic loss his character bestows upon his son, and the striking performance of Sterling K. Brown in the role, N'Jobu's impact looms large.

Villain inGuardians of the Galaxy, also appears inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

This one is tricky. In the firstGuardians movie, Yondu is constantly threatening to kill Peter Quill for what seems to be not much more than pride and a payday — greed appears to be his one and only north star. His treatment of Quill, including kidnapping him from Earth when he was just a boy, is antagonistic within the context of the movie. Also, as played by Rooker, Yondu's bad behavior is just tremendous fun.

InVol. 2, however, Yondu's actions throughout Quill's life are revealed to be much more complicated than the first film suggests. The guy is basically Quill's surrogate dad; he even makes the ultimate sacrifice to save his adopted son. Your mileage may vary on whether that means Yondu wasn't a villain in the firstGuardians movie. Like the other rogues on this list who eventually heed their better angels, however, I still think Yondu deserves to be here.

Iron Man

A father figure to Tony, Stane betrays him twice — first by selling him out to Ten Rings (Reza's terrorist group), and then by stealing the arc reactor straight out of Tony's chest to create his own Iron Monger. That's cold. And maybe a bit small fry compared to so many other villains here. What really elevates the character, however, is the fact that Jeff Bridges is playing him, bringing a wry playfulness to the man's very bad deeds. That, and a pretty wicked beard.

Avengers: Infinity War andAvengers: Endgame

He’s the only member of Thanos’s Black Order to make any kind of genuine impression, and it’s a considerable one. His eerily high voice makes his fanatical proselytizing on behalf of Thanos’s apocalyptic master plan that much creepier, and I know this maybe seems weird to say, but there’s something…untoward about the casual way he manipulates his telekinetic powers. He’s such an effective henchman — likely why he’s also the only member of the Black Order who does anything inEndgame — and yet he was vanquished inInfinity War by a high schooler who’d seenAliens. Pity!

Captain Marvel

One of the wildest (and best) ideas inCaptain Marvel is that a vast alien empire is governed by a deity-like artificial intelligence who takes on a different appearance depending on who is regarding it. But I cannot imagine how anyone could envision the Supreme Intelligence as anythingbut Annette Bening at her most officious and forbidding — that's how delightful Bening is in the role. Carol Danvers defeats the Supreme Intelligence inCaptain Marvel, but I dearly hope this isn't the last time these two get to tussle.

Thor: Ragnarok

Jeff Goldblum is such a gas as the despotic ruler of the galactic trash planet Sakaar that it's easy to forget that the guy is a cruel despot who pits slaves — or to use the Grandmaster's preferred term, "prisoners with jobs" — against each other in gladiatorial battles, and thinks nothing of liquefying his enemies with his trusty melt stick. I'm not convinced that any of Goldblum's lines were in the script, and I do hope we're treated to more of his wackadoo shenanigans in future movies.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Listen, all Debicki needed to do to rank high on this list was sneer imperiously at the Guardians of the Galaxy. As the perfection-obsessed leader of the golden-skinned, genetically engineered Sovereign, she is so delightfully put out by the Guardians' impudence that it barely matters that her efforts to snuff them out fail spectacularly. Maybecreating Adam Warlock will work out well for her! But probably not!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

He spawned thousands of offspring throughout the cosmos just so he could subsume their essence in his mad quest to replace all life everywhere. And then the one time —the one time! — Ego actually fell in love with one of the females he aimed to impregnate, he gave her cancer so she won't distract him from his ultimate goal because he is such supreme narcissist (it's right there in his name!).

That Peter Quill's father looks like Kurt Russell (and, for one freaky moment, David Hasselhoff) only makes the fact that he is literally the worst dad in the universe sting that much more. Also, he mansplained Looking Glass' "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" to Quill in a preemptive attempt to justify killing his mom, and that is just vile.

Villain inGuardians of the Galaxy andAvengers: Endgame, also appears inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,Avengers: Infinity War…andAvengers: Endgame

There is something just so coolly lethal about Nebula, from her sharp gait to her slightly mechanized voice to her cyborg-enhanced body. And Gillan also brings something treacherously desperate to the role — in the firstGuardians movie, you get the feeling that if she wasn't always on the razor's edge of violence, she would be even more dangerous.

ByVol. 2 andInfinity War, Nebula's antipathy toward her father, Thanos, and her, uh, complicated feelings about her sister, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), lead her tovery reluctantly join up with the good guys. ByEndgame, witnessing the devastation wrought by Thanos’s snap deepens and softens Nebula, which makes the contrast to her earlier, eviler self in the movie that much more striking. Like with Yondu and the Winter Soldier, our understanding of what drives Nebula's behavior earns our sympathy, but it doesn't excuse her past crooked actions — Nebula herself certainly doesn’t.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

He has a grumpy, wicked sense of humor ("I can't actually throw up in my mouth, but if I could, I would do it!"), and an apocalyptic plan to save the planet by destroying humanity. Those are pretty great combinations for a villain, and that's before factoring in Ultron's terrifyingly sleek design and James Spader's delightfully peculiar delivery.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier andAvengers: Endgame

Pierce could have been a deliberately anonymous government bureaucrat gone catastrophically to seed, which would have been effective enough for a movie about the perils of runaway military expansion. Convincing Robert Redford to play him, however, was a masterstroke of movie star casting. Who would have thought seeing the Sundance Kid whisper "Hail Hydra" as his dying breath — and then resurrected in a delightful fan-service flashback cameo inEndgame — would be so damn fun?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

When he was a man, Dr. Zola was a wee bit… meh. But when he transferred his consciousness into a vast, aging database buried deep underneath an abandoned army base so he could conspire to stretch Hydra's tentacles deep within S.H.I.E.L.D., Dr. Zola wasmagnificent. (He's also a fun, winking nod to the character'smore outlandish computerized iteration in the comics.)

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Unlike so many of the villains on this list, Toomes feels like a real guy, with real gripes about the rigged system that has left him and his crew scrounging for scraps to feed their families. Of course, he then decides to use those scraps to build a lucrative cache of alien-based weaponry that he sells to any dastardly criminal who can match his price, and his first instinct when confronted by his lackey Jackson is literally to shoot first and ask questions about the device he was holding later. But Keaton keeps his performance so grounded that these choices feel like the organic evolution of an everyday criminal, adding a welcome and pungent new flavor to the MCU's rogues gallery. And his decision not to rat out Peter Parker to Mac Gargan in prison suggests there are depths to this character that have yet to be explored.