Thor: Love and Thunder is now a month away, and we’re getting ready to be introduced to an all-new powerful super-villain. Christian Bale’s portrayal of Gorr the God Butcher looks as mesmerizing as it does terrifying. A director doesn’t simply cast someone of Bales caliber for anything other than making an impact, so it’s no wonder why Taika Waititi says Gorr will be the best villain Marvel has introduced. It may be too soon for fans to verify his statement, but it does get one thinking about the foes from past movies.
With 28 films and more to come, we likely haven’t seen the most powerful villain that Marvel has to offer. However, the entries on this list will prove to be hard contenders to beat. Here are the strongest MCU villains so far. Be sure to come back here and see where Gorr stands in the hierarchy of power when the new Thor movie hits theaters.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
10 Loki
Photo Credit - Marvel Studios
First up is the God of Mischief himself, Loki. Making his debut in Thor (2011), the younger Odinson became a quick fan favorite from a not-so-favorite film and skyrocketed to the top of MCU fandom. The trickster possesses magical abilities such as astral projection, shape-shifting, hypnosis, and molecular rearrangement. He also shares Thor’s natural durability and strength, being able to overpower Captain America and take a hard beating from Hulk. While the god eventually leaves villainy, he’s left his mark on the franchise through his chaotic antics, effectively securing his spot as one of the MCU’s most powerful villains.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
9 Kilgrave
Photo Credit - Marvel Television, ABC Studios, Tall Girls Productions
Kilgrave doesn’t look like much of a villain. He’s not big, he doesn’t have armies, but what makes him dangerous is his ability to acquire people who do have these things with only his words. By simply giving commands, this terrifying villain from the Disney+ Jessica Jones can compel anyone to do his bidding at a moment’s notice. He’s used this ability on Luke Cage and Jessica, drastically altering the latter’s life and traumatizing her. This horrific power made viewers question if Jessica could stop him. His powers only grew stronger as time went on. Jessica was, fortunately, able to outwit the scourge and kill him, but imagine if he had gotten away. How powerful would he be now, and who else could he control? Imagine if he had come in proximity of Iron Man or Bruce Banner.
8 Ronan the Accuser
This stoic villain may have only been in one film, but he was a force to be reckoned with. Making his debut in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Ronan the Accuser served Thanos by putting his forces towards securing the power stone. He may not be the most memorable villain in the MCU, but take into account his presence in the film. He murdered Thanos’ spokesman right in front of him and wasn’t killed on the spot. He frightened Nebula when she spoke out of turn. He beat Drax in hand-to-hand combat like he was nothing. Most impressive of all, he absorbed the power of an Infinity Stone that turned all else who held it to ash. Now that’s power.
7 Agatha Harkness
Marvel Studios / Disney
The reveal of Agatha Harkness in WandaVision came not only as a shock within the MCU, but as one of the defining moments in the first Disney+ series. Even if Wanda had not realized her true potential at the time, she was outsmarted by this Salem Witch Trial survivor nonetheless. She also gave Wanda quite the fight, resulting in her fully realizing her identity as the Scarlett Witch. In a way, we have Agatha to thank for the Wanda we get in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which may be why Game Rant has her at number 11 of their “12 Strongest Marvel Villains” list. However powerful Agatha may have been, it may be that Marvel has only scratched the surface as the character is set to return in Agatha: House of Harkness.
6 Ultron
Walt Disney Studios
One of the only villains able to push the Avengers to their breaking point was an enemy made by Avengers. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony Stark, and Bruce Banner created the cybernetic AI to protect humanity from outside threats, such as the alien invasion from The Avengers. However, Ultron turned against them and began mass-producing a staggering robot army, through which he was able to transfer his consciousness. If there’s any villain that came as close as Thanos to complete world domination, it’s this being. He pushed the Avengers to their limits and gave the team their first fatality. Even without the army or his sheer power, his technological capabilities were on par with Tony’s. He could have collapsed entire economies with a thought.
5 Ego
This guy was an Avengers-level threat that Earth’s mightiest heroes were fortunate enough not to encounter. As the first Celestial fought by any Marvel heroes, Ego spent generations planting seeds around the galaxy, knowing one day they would destroy entire planets, one of which was Earth. The living planet was an extremely powerful force, one that could use energy and matter to his whim, and could only be destroyed at his core. If not for Peter Quill using his similar, dormant abilities to turn the tide of battle in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Ego would have absorbed all life until he was the only being left. Ego could have ended the Infinity Saga before Thanos even had the chance to get his first Infinity Stone had he succeeded.
4 Hela
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
If destroying Mjolnir with one hand isn’t the biggest power move, then nothing is. Some villains on this list have armies at their disposal. Hela, the sister of Loki and Thor, destroyed two armies all by herself, one of which was the Valkyrie’s. It’s been said that beating one of these warriors is no easy task. Hela killed all but one. She has superhuman strength and durability, and can shoot swords out of her hands. In Thor: Ragnarök, she took control of Asgard in a quick fashion and beat Thor, who was no match for her even after receiving a substantial power boost. It took the giant Surtur to defeat her, making her one of the few villains to lose without being beaten by an Avenger. However, fans speculate that the Goddess of Death could still be alive.
3 Thanos
In the number three spot is the only foe to fight the Avengers and win. Thanos was a fearful presence in the MCU long before taking the heroes to task. The powerful warlord’s name was known across the galaxy for mass genocide, murdering half the population of every planet he’d come across to preserve resources. Thanos was able to beat Hulk in seconds and beat multiple heroes without the use of Infinity Stones. In Infinity War, he beat the Avengers and forced them to know despair. After waging literal war, he would have beat them again in Endgame if not for Iron Man stealing the Infinity Gauntlet from him and snapping him out of existence. It’s hard to believe that the Mad Titan looming over three whole phases is not number one. The holder of the number two spot is the reason why.
2 The Scarlet Witch
Wanda Maximoff is arguably the one hero who could have killed Thanos on her own — and she came very close. What makes this hero the number two most powerful villain on this list is her raw, unbridled power that was on display in her turn to the dark side in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Wanda was able to fight the sorcerers, led by Doctor Strange, on their turf, and killed many of them. She was also able to dream-walk across universes to take control of one of her counterparts and kill some of the most powerful heroes yet to be introduced with ease. Being able to cause havoc across multiple realities put her on a whole different level of power than anyone else on this list, and we still haven’t seen her full potential. Her end in the film suggests we may have seen the last of her, but Marvel fans know that no one is ever really dead unless they see it with their own eyes.
1 Dormamu
Although this villain only appears for a scene in Doctor Strange, he makes quite the statement in his abuse of the titular hero. When Strange trapped him in an infinite time loop, Dormammu had nothing to do but torment and kill Strange endlessly until he relented from his destruction of the earth. During that entire time, Strange, the most powerful sorcerer at the time, was defenseless against Dormammu. It took an Infinity Stone to get him to relent, but had it not been for this plan, nothing could have stopped the ruler of the Dark Dimension. He’s able to maintain massive levels of magic and can dissipate his physical form to one of pure energy. It has also been claimed that he can destroy the Celestials. Dormammu may only be inferior to the likes of Galactus, who eats planets, but considering the massive being has yet to make his MCU debut, Dormammu holds the crown as the strongest villain.
