The scarcity of villains who survive their debuts has been a source of debate for Marvel. The desire to convey a whole story sometimes requires the permanent removal of a villain’s danger. Because heroes like Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk are so powerful, the dangers against them must be far more powerful than usual, sometimes even more powerful than the heroes themselves. On the other side, as movie budgets have grown larger, supervillains in films have only gotten more amazing. However, not every villain can be Ultron, with his plans to wipe humanity from the planet. They obviously can’t be Thanos, who held limitless power thanks to his gauntlet.
A villain’s purpose can sometimes be to appear weak. So they’re supposed to use their knowledge or skill to defeat the superhero’s strength, fooling them and thereby winning the day. Other times, the villain is simply badly written, or the hero is simply too powerful, making anyone look weak in comparison. There were some villains that dId not possess Thanos’ earth-shattering power. Or were not able to go toe-to-toe with such a thunder god, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous; it only means that, on a scale among the most strong villains in the Marvel Universe, they’re near the bottom.
Here are the Top 10 Weakest Marvel Villains:
10. Taskmaster
What a waste of a villain. The MCU’s Taskmaster, a badass masked hitman who can duplicate the powers of whomever they’re fighting, was a much-anticipated addition. The comic book version of the character is immensely popular, and there has been a lot of speculation about who was behind the mask, with suggestions ranging from a Natasha clone to Hawkeye. Unfortunately, Taskmaster was a huge disappointment in the end. She makes a brief appearance and is ultimately reduced to a henchman, while the revelation of who was behind the mask was as disappointing as it could be.
Not only does this twist have no weight, but it also shows a very weak move on Marvel’s side, as she turns out to be Antonia Dreykov, whom Black Widow thought she’d assassinated as a child. This twist appears to be the result of them being too afraid to get one of their heroes to be the cause of a child’s death. Even then, while Natasha’s confrontation with a symbol of her dark history could have been emotionally intense, this potentially thought-provoking scenario isn’t used. Let’s be clear: Taskmaster was one of the MCU’s most terrible missed opportunities.
9. Whiplash
Despite not being the strongest villain in the series, Ivan Vanko was a serious contender for Tony Stark, who was still in his early stages as Iron Man at the time. Vanko made it his mission to destroy Tony with his own technology in order to take revenge on the Stark family because of what they did to his late scientist father. Vanko basically ended up building an Iron Monger suit with massive electrical whips, able to cut through nearly anything and shock Iron Man and War Machine after becoming Whiplash and joining forces with Justin Hammer to improve his suit. Whiplash was an uninspiring lead villain, which may be due to one factor: studio interference.
Ivan Vanko was a physicist who succeeded in building his own arc reactor. The character is a mix of Crimson Dynamo, Anton Vanko, and Whiplash from the comic book. In Ironman 2, Whiplash damages Stark’s red-and-silver armor, but that too only after catching him off guard. It doesn’t make them equal just because he put together a clone of Stark’s reactor. Even though Vanko had drones to attack Stark, their fight didn’t continue long after Stark took him seriously. Vanko should have created his own Iron Man suit rather than upgrading the one Hammer gave him.
8. Vulture
Given Peter Parker’s status as one of the MCU’s most powerful characters, it would be an understatement to say Vulture was out of his depth when dealing with the teenage. Despite having a brilliant and compelling narrative, Vulture doesn’t really deserve to be considered a powerful villain. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, the wings of the Vulture’s bodysuit were shown to be dangerous weapons. However, they didn’t do much damage in the end, and any damage they did cause was more of an accident than anything else. However, anyone who attempted to date his daughter would be terrified of getting stuck under a building, because daddy said so.
Vulture was never a huge danger to Spider-Man within comics, thus he’s not a major threat in the movies either. One of the core themes of Spider-Man: Homecoming is how Peter Parker isn’t ready to step into the role of a big character in the MCU. Despite this, he has little trouble dealing with Vulture. Toomes is dependent on imperfect technology gathered from numerous heists and still never manages to match Parker’s strength. Vulture was not one of the MCU’s most dangerous villains, despite being one of the most lovable.
7. Obadiah Stane
Iron Man created a big trend in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was the first film in which the character’s business partner was transformed into a villain with nearly the same abilities as the hero. After a nasty business relationship between Obadiah Stane and Tony Stark, Obadiah created the Iron Monger suit. When Iron Man faced Iron Monger, it wasn’t the same as facing Thanos or perhaps even Aldrich Killian. It was more of a warm-up for Stark’s tougher fights to come. Iron Monger, however, comes the closest to becoming a worthy enemy out of all of the villains who are just regular people with no obvious superpowers.
Iron Man is far more than Tony Stark’s origin story. It also serves as the origin story for the MCU’s villain issue in both MCU phases. Tony Stark’s unfaithful business partner, Obadiah Stane, seems to be a mash-up of all the MCU’s worst villains. When it comes to one of the worst MCU villains, you can expect a few essential characteristics: they’re terribly boring, without seriousness or depth, don’t add to the story or challenge the protagonist in a meaningful way, and waste a wonderful actor… Stane possesses all of these qualities and more.
Also Read: Upcoming Marvel Movies In 2022-23: From Morbius To Spider-Man 4
6. Yellowjacket
The Ant-Man films are a lot of fun because of how the lead character and his companion Wasp use their size-changing abilities. Furthermore, the Ant-Man series contains other brilliant visual gags, such as Thomas the Train as well as the Hello Kitty Pez box turning huge. There’s a lot to be disliked when it comes to the series’ villains. Out of jealousy and daddy issues, Hank Pym’s student, Darren Cross, transforms into Yellowjacket in the first film of the Antman series. Cross may appear scary in his outfit after frightening an old fella who is unable to defend himself and kidnaps Cassie, an eight-year-old girl. In actuality, he’s a pathetic guy.
Darren Cross was more of an irritation to Scott Lang & Hank Pym than a villain. He had the ability to shrink, but he didn’t appear to grasp the seriousness of the job nearly as good as Scott Lang, or even just Hank Pym. He was more interested in being a fighter than Lang, and that is why he was able to dominate them in their first match. Lang, on the other hand, deceives Cross and forces him to shrink forever. Cross’ downfall was because of his arrogance, and his belief that he knows the best way to manipulate a technology that someone else had invented. Whenever it’s Hank Pym behind the mask, Yellowjacket is even more amazing.
5. Ghost
Ghost, who appears as the villain in Ant-Man 2, is yet another disappointing villain in the Ant-Man franchise. Her abilities, unfortunately, have many more flaws than positives. Ava Starr, in many ways the franchise’s most sad villain, never felt like a full-fledged villain, but rather a confused and wasted weapon who only wanted to just save herself from certain death. Starr took the title Ghost and became a deadly assassin who was impossible to stop after being used as a tool by SHIELD for years. With her ability, she was able to fight both Ant-Man & the Wasp at the same time.
Sadly, the particle that powered her had also been killing her, and Janet van Dyne had to save her before she could escape and hide. Ghost is forced to reside in a glass box, showing that her molecular disequilibrium is a disease rather than a strength. Furthermore, she has been fooled by Scott on multiple occasions. While her history was sympathetic, it didn’t change the fact that she was a weak villain. Kang the Conquerer, the villain in the next Ant-Man film, may put a stop to Ant-Man’s trend of weak villains.
4. Crossbones
Brock Rumlow was the commander of SHIELD’s elite Strike Force before being injured and accepting the mantel of Crossbones. He was a highly-trained warrior and sharpshooter who just so happened to be serving for HYDRA behind closed doors. Rumlow was crushed by a collapsing Helicarrier when Captain America stopped HYDRA’s next plan, and after being healed, he was offered new battle armor and strong gauntlets that granted him superhuman strength. He also didn’t feel pain because of his injuries, and he was able to battle Black Widow before being put down by Cap.
Crossbones’ position in the MCU was essentially that of a James Bond-style henchman, doing the actual villain’s bidding. In Captain America: Winter Soldier, he was introduced, and Steve Rogers quickly dispatched him, particularly in the legendary elevator scene. During his brief appearance in Civil War, Wanda, Cap, and Black Widow all took turns beating him. When it comes to fighting superheroes, physical strength isn’t everything. He would have not lasted as long as he did without such comic book-accurate outfit he wore in the first five minutes of the Civil War. Even with the super gear, he didn’t last long.
3. Baron Zemo
Baron Zemo isn’t the comic book character he appears to be. Because he’s someone who’s had everything snatched from him, he’s a lot more relatable character. He spends years attempting to figure out the best way to bring down the Avengers, and his plan works. Zemo was a clever strategist who recognized that he couldn’t physically defeat the Avengers. Instead, he chose to destroy them by causing a breach between Captain America and Iron Man, their two most powerful leaders. He chose intellect over strength since he lacked the force to take on the Avengers. Zemo was well aware that he would be no match for the Avengers, hence why he devised a plan to tell Stark the truth about his parents’ deaths.
Because of Zemo’s actions, there was no Avengers for a time, giving him the title of one of the MCU’s most effective villains. But that doesn’t imply he’s a really good fighter. Zemo’s strength remained a mystery until he had completed all of his tasks. Regardless, his actions landed him in prison. He wasn’t lacking in abilities; he just wasn’t up to the job of dealing with superhumans. He saw the possibility of driving a wedge between the two most powerful personalities. Many things had to go perfectly for his plan to succeed, but they did, due to backup preparation and maybe inside help.
2. Justin Hammer
Justin Hammer, more than any MCU villain, is just a regular guy. He wants to use Tony Stark’s technology against him to develop massive, almost-sentient weapons, just as Obadiah Stane from Iron Man 1. Hammer, unlike Stane, who transforms into Iron Monger, does nothing to fight Iron Man, and he’s one of the reasons Iron Man 2 has aged poorly. Justin Hammer is desperate to be like Tony Stark. He embarked on the armored suit wagon as a weapons manufacturer, even trading with foreign countries.
Justin chose to put Stark out of existence, but he isn’t as cunning as he thinks he is. He tries to connect up with Vanko, but it doesn’t work out. He eventually sends thousands of drones after Iron Man and War Machine, but they achieve nothing. When it comes to weaponry, Hammer is a household name, but after Iron Man 2, he learned to leave Tony Stark alone. When it came time to humiliate Tony Stark at his own convention, Hammer couldn’t even do it himself. He faked Ivan Vanko’s murder and exploited the criminal genius’s expertise to construct armor that would outperform Iron Man. When Vanko betrayed Hammer, he offered no struggle when he was arrested.
1. Sonny Burch
Do you recall who this guy was? No, I don’t think so. Sonny Burch was an underworld technology dealer in Ant-Man and the Wasp. To continue his work, Hank Pym had to deal with Burch. Burch betrayed them when he decided that stealing Pym’s technology would be more profitable. Burch was stopped by Ant-Man, Ghost, and Scott Lang’s X-Con Security partners. He held Pym’s shrunken lab for a short while, but he was too weak to face several threats. He and his crew were given a truth serum that forced them to confess to the cops.
As a result, it feels as if Sonny Burch, a black market dealer attempting to steal Pym’s tech, was just thrown in to give the film a side villain. They shouldn’t have bothered, to be honest. Sonny Burch appears in a few sequences throughout the film to annoy the heroes, but that’s about it; worse, he’s annoying and stupid rather than being remotely scary, and he has no depth, so he fails as the movie’s villain on nearly every level. When Sonny first arrives, the Wasp shouts huffily, “This guy again?!” and audiences too had the same reaction.
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