A hero is nothing without its villains, and neither is an interconnected universe. So without further ado, here are the top 10 Marvel Villains.

10. Hela

Thor: Ragnorok was hilarious, and what's more hilarious than Cate Blanchett essentially playing evil Galadriel from Lord of the Rings. Hela is a deliciously evil character who enjoys being the Goddess of Death. Her time as ruler of Asgard is both funny as well as horrifying.

9. Ego The Living Planet

Ego the Living Planet, talk about parental issues to the max for Star-Lord. He's a fun villain. At first, you don't really know if he is a villain or just a powerful entity in the cosmos. However, once you know the true extent of his plan, he immediately becomes scary, showing the full extent of his power as well as…a living planet. Talk about the dad of the year. That's why he is Ego the Living Planet.

8. Red Skull

"Cut off one head two more shall take its place. Hail HYDRA!”

What more can one say about the Red Skull? In terms of the timeline, he is the O.G. villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What is more evil than essentially a Nazi with superpowers. The leader of HYDRA is the supreme force of evil, with all the powers of HYDRA under his command and a plethora of alien technology is both menacing. Red Skull is forever a thorn in Captain America's side.

7. Loki

God of Mischief and blessed with the glorious purpose, Loki has been a staple of the MCU since Phase 1 and still remains with us today, even if he's a different character variant. Thor's brother is fun, evil, but also sympathetic. One can sometimes feel why he does the things he does, his inadequacies, even his vulnerabilities. Even when he is murderous, there seems to be a pain that people and fans can connect to. However, there is also a sort of pathetic charm, for even when he tries, deep down, he always finds a new way to fail. A mix of all the qualities of villainy, he is Loki, God of Mischief.

6. Alexander Pierce

Another HYDRA agent, but unlike Red Skull, Pierce is scary because he is familiar. While he shares the same totalitarian roots of the Red Skull, he does so in an understandable way. They give the idea of bringing peace and security even though, in reality, he is bringing oppression and tyranny. It is a real-life argument made by politicians and powerful people of the modern age. It's scary because it feels so real.

5. Ultron

A.I. is terrifying, and A.I. that takes on a life of its own and thinks the world needs to die is scarier. But a lot of what makes Ultron horrifying is his perception of man. Not necessarily that it's negative, but in many ways is correct on accounts of our ability to evolve, destroy each other, and our flaws. Sometimes a villain with a compelling argument, especially if they're a computer, can be a scary sight indeed.

4. Xu Wenwu Aka. The Mandarin

Some villains are evil because of power, others for an ideology, but what about one that does the thing they do out of love. Wenwu is a gripping villain for he is someone who already had his world-conquering arc by the time we met him. Now he uses his organization, the Ten Rings, and his power of the actual Ten Rings for one mission and only one mission: to bring back his supposed dead wife and restore his family. It gives him a sense of not just evil for evil's sake but makes him almost a hero in his own journey.

3. Killmonger

Villains who have a point are always the scariest. Villains who almost have a good point are tragic. Killmonger is that villain. For the most part, he is right. Someone who is a minority in America and sees how that nation treats its minorities and finds out that his roots are from the one nation that could help those minorities in America and worldwide. It's not surprising that he would take the actions he does, even if they are violent and ideologically compromised. He is right in his ideology about the oppression his people have suffered at the hands of the white man, even if his actions are extreme.

2. Thanos

A villain is remembered for their impact on the universe. Perhaps Thanos more than any other. He is the one who blipped half the universe, and even if his actions were reversed, the universe had five whole years to deal with it. The aftermath of the snap remains messy to this day with people thinking "Thanos was right" after the Avengers saved them. His impact will have vast repercussions for the entire MCU to come.

1. Green Goblin

Sometimes, the greatest evil is just evil. Sure is it a cheat to have Norman Osborn from the Rami films be the number one MCU villain by a technicality, perhaps. The Green Goblin reminds us of the simplest of evil. Those with power think they can get away with anything, including murder. His greatest foe is a young child who lives by a creed, trying to take responsibility for his action. The Green Goblin is the greatest MCU Villain with an iconic look to boot.

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Top 10 MCU Villains