How MCU's Multiverse Saga villains stack up before Avengers: Doomsday

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is reviving the hype for superheroes once again as we head into the last few months of waiting for the epic story. As part of the Multiverse Saga, this cinematic universe presented a range of heroes, giving some of these characters a chance to be explored further.

But as they say, 'a hero is only as good as its villain'. And while the lines may have blurred between the protagonist and the antagonist with many projects over the course of Pase 4, 5 and 6 of the MCU, we must revisit some of the antagonist to truly see the impact they had as characters amond the larger story that was told across these distinct phases. Here are 20 villains between Phase 4 & 6 (up to Spider-Man: Brand New Day) ranked.

The Clandestines aka Djinns, who appeared in the Ms Marvel series starring Iman Vellani as the titular character, had little to no impact within the larger story of the Multiversal Saga. While the series itself presented a fun origin story, the characters of The Clandestines and their leader Najma, felt like a one-and-done plot with little to no impact for Iman's Kamala Khan.

Werewolf by Night was a fun exploration of the classic horror elements of Hollywood movies. But Harriet Sansom Harris's Verussa Bloodstone felt like a self-contained villain for the story. Despite a campy yet enjoyable performance from Harriet, Werewolf by Night couldn't produce an impactful villain for the saga.

The MCU's adaptation of Taskmaster may just be one of the rare cases of a disappointing take from comics to film. In a quest to make the character get naturally weaved into the world of Black Widow, the solo film of the iconic character brought to the screen by Scarlett Johansson, the underwritten character barely had any personality that made them a menace in the comics. Moreover, her death in the Thunderbolts* made her feel like a throwaway character.

For a legacy character like Black Widow, a big impactful presence of a villain like General Dreykov was indeed needed. But the film falls short in fleshing out the true nature of impact that he had on Natasha/Black Widow's life since her harrowing experiences in the Red Room.

This rebel skrull was the leader of a movement that almost fell flat on its face, much like the series he was a part of — Secret Invasion. Radacalised as he was, Gravik's journey needed more presence, more fleshing-out. Being a villain whose almost mythical feature motivated many including Nick Fury's actions during the series' runtime, Gravik simply lacked good enough writing to help viewers believe and understand his motives.

With a very understandable agenda, Dar-Benn would've ranked high in the "villians who were right" or "villains who were misunderstood" list, but The Marvels villain was just not a standout. While the cosmic scope of the streatched across even the multiverse, Dar Benn's role to play was restricted heavily to the space-villain tropes.

By now, it must be easier to identify the pattern that the MCU went ahead with when it came to villains across Phase 4-6 — beings who have been wronged in the past and are out to undo the wrong done to them and their loved ones. Well, Karli Morgenthau and the Flag Smashers were the face of this villain arc before the above mentioned series ever aired. Fight for a just cause became the only personality we ever came across when it came to Karli, who acted as the defacto leader of the group in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series. Much to everyones annoyance, Karli's motives and the characterisations also felt out of place on many occasions leaving behind a rather stale taste.

Ethan Hawke's Arthur Harrow was the perfect cult leader figure. In the initial episodes of Moonknight the series that this character was featured in, Arthur was a menacing, brooding almost creepy antagonist who just dropped the ball when the stories scope expanded. Despite the ending of the series and its somewhat lukewarm conclusion, the very ending scene featured Arthur in an interesting light making him one of the rather underrated villains of these recent Phases.

While Eternals was a film that left MCU fans divided, it is safe to say that it was fun to see a Superman-like figure in this universe. Especially with him going rougue the final few scenes of this rather remarkable looking film, Ikaris' loyalty to the Celestials — the makers of the Eternals, gave a fighting chance for this film to be remembered as memorable project.

When it was announced that the former Batman, aka Christian Bale, turned into a villain locking horns with Thor, Marvel fans were ready to lose their minds — especially given Gorr's fantastical, horrifying presence in the comics. However, poor writing took the joy out of Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher. An obvious mismatch between the film's rather comical nature and Gorr's serious motives, the audience was not really offered the brilliantly dark rendition that existed in the comics. However, Christian Bale's visual language with his body and expressions made for some very fine moments within the film, making it one of his most admirable performances despite the lack of strong writing.

The cosmic scope of Galactus was one of the best portrayls of this character we witnessed on screen of a villain in the recent portrayals within the MCU. Although his true impact from the comics was played down a little for the screen, this rendition of this iconic Marvel villain still won over audiences especially because of Ralph Ineson played the character with his iconic deep voice.

The bizarre initial episodes of WandaVision introduced us to Agatha Harkness, who, behind her sweet, loud exterior, clearly hid something odd beneath. When viewers were finally introduced to her true nature, that's when Kathryn Hahn shone as the wicked witch that was out to get the Scarlett Witch and steal her powers. With her story pouring into Agatha All Along the character's undeniable charm set in perfectly within the self-contained and self-aware world of the series.

After seeing Jonathan Majors play He Who Remains in the Loki series, we witnessed him as Kang the Conqueror — the original intended big bad of The Multiverse Saga. This variant of He Who Remains was truly depicted as he was promised in Loki — evil and ominous. As part of the Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania film, Kang was probably the only bright light of the film that excited viewers. However, the project's writing, especially its ending may just give a jarring feeling to the viewer as it is yet to be cleared up and revisited in Avengers: Doomsday

In Deadpool and Wolverine, Emma Corrin's portrayal of Professor X/Charles Xavier's evil twin, Cassandra Nova was nothing less than amazing. Freakishly evil, stylishly sinister and a certain flair that resembled her nature in the comics, this version of the character, made her one of the best villains we saw in the recent Phases. As the first film within the MCU to fully embrace mutants, Cassandra's placement in this film made her a perfect villain — giving her further freedom to use characters among her group of mutants in The Void like play-toys.

Seeing Wilson Fisk return in the Hawkeye series overjoyed the fans. But his path from then on, extending into the Echo series and then the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, seemed to take away a bit of the charm that Vincent D’Onofrio used to always bring to the character in the original Netflix series. But we witness the character's true, complete terrifying return in the second season of Daredevil: Born Again, making him a top villain in the recent Phases.

We consider the High Evolutionary as one of the best written villains among these Phases of the MCU. From his cold nature to Chukwudi Iwuji's masterful performance as the deranged space scientist, there are endless shades of this antagonists that really brought the entirety of Guadrians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to a new high.

While very different in his characterisation from the comics, Namor's presence in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, brought a fabulous shift in tonality and increased impact across the MCU with his gravitas. Namor's duality of good and bad, loyal and respectful nature towards his people and environment was brilliantly weaved into his character, leaving scope for him to transition from a villain to something closer to that of a her.

When Agatha Harkness warned both Wanda Maximoff and inadvertently the viewers of what the true nature of the Scarlet Witch was in WandaVision, neither were truly able to grasp the extent to which an Avenger could turn into a evil shade. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we saw the real terror that resided within this character while also witnessing the humanity that was housed alongside. This film made her one of the best villains in this Saga quite easily.

Before the new age of the X-Men are teased and introduced, within the MCU, Spider-Man: Brand New Day welcomes Jean Grey. Her role in the film makes her villain that one may relate with at the core, but the film's most exciting moments come from her ominious moments before her character is truly revealed to others within the film as well as the audiences. Jean's first appearance in the MCU as a redeemable villain is an exciting one for the future.

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