The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is full of villains who can rival the heroes when it comes to impact and fandom. While some are just plain evil and a lot better for it (ex. Hela from Thor: Ragnarok), others are so tragically relatable that some fans wish these characters were with the Avengers instead.
Unfortunately, fans’ desires can only go so far. Some villains were lucky enough to survive and get the chance to turn their lives around like Loki did, while others perished before they could even see where they went wrong.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
10 Karl Mordo Chose Violence
Doctor Strange can be viewed as the villainous origin story of Mordo, a devoted practitioner of mystic arts whose faith in the sorcerers’ calling as Earth’s defenders broke upon learning of The Ancient One’s use of Dormammu’s powers. Mordo can’t be faulted for his disillusionment, and his choosing to violently eradicate all magic afterward was sadly inevitable.
Mordo could’ve been a powerful ally of Doctor Strange, but he’s now fated to become one of his most powerful enemies. The movie shows him and Strange getting along well even after some initial animosity, but now their friendship is beyond repair. Time will tell if Mordo will stay his zealous course or change in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.
9 The Power Broker Ignored Her Second Chance
Sharon, the great-niece of SHIELD founder Peggy Carter, was once a celebrated agent before she was deemed a threat by the government after the Civil War. Bitter and angry, she left her old life and relocated to Madripoor. There, she created a criminal empire with herself –The Power Broker– as its head.
The Falcon & The Winter Soldier ends with her getting a pardon as Sam Wilson promised, but Sharon is anything but reformed. Instead, she plans to use her restored connections to turn a profit back in Madripoor. Sharon’s descent into criminality is understandable, but hard to witness given her family’s legacy and how heroic she used to be.
8 Vulture Was Cheated Out Of Work
The thing about Spider-Man’s antagonists is that they’re not evil; they’re victims of an apathetic system. Case in point, Adrian Toomes and his crew from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Before turning to arms dealing, Toomes’ disaster clean-up business Bestman Salvage was driven out by Damage Control, the government, and the Tony Stark-funded response agency.
To keep themselves financially afloat, Toomes and his men reverse-engineered whatever they salvaged from the Avengers’ fights into weapons to sell or use. Given these motives and Toomes being a generally decent person, some viewers wanted him to leave the business before things got worse. Unfortunately, he stayed long enough to get arrested and see his life destroyed.
7 Agatha Harkness Could’ve Been Wanda’s Friend
The big twist of WandaVision is that Westview’s strange sitcom prison wasn’t Agatha’s doing all along, but Wanda’s. In deep grief following Endgame, Wanda inadvertently unlocks her true powers and creates an escapist fantasy. The powerful witch Agatha noticed what was going on and investigated, engaging in some mischief to do so.
Up until the final episode, Agatha was more of an observing trickster than a foe. She only turns evil when she realizes that Wanda is the Scarlet Witch of legend, whose power she wants to steal. If only Agatha wasn’t so power-hungry, she could’ve been the friend and magical mentor that Wanda so desperately needed at her lowest moment.
6 Mysterio Could’ve Been Peter’s New Mentor
When Spider-Man: Far From Home opens, Peter feels empty and rudderless following Iron Man’s sacrifice. Enter the “multiverse hero” Mysterio, aka Quentin Beck. Peter and Quentin get along on a personal level, so much so that Peter takes Quentin’s advice to drop the superhero gig and live to enjoy life as a normal teenager.
However, Quentin was just manipulating Peter to get under his skin and use him as part of his revenge against Stark. Unlike Vulture who was just nice to Peter, he felt like Quentin really understood him. The fact that whether or not Quentin was emotionally sincere with Peter early on is still up for debate, which makes his betrayal all the more painful.
5 Ego The Living Planet Could’ve Been The Father Star-Lord Always Wanted
Star-Lord’s father left before he was born, leading him to overcompensate while joyriding around the galaxy aimlessly. Peter Quill’s prayers are finally answered in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2, where it’s revealed that he’s the son of the godlike living planet Ego. Unfortunately, Ego is a monster who killed his own children and will kill even more.
The most heartbreaking thing about Ego is that he was the father of Peter’s dreams. Peter really wanted Ego to be a part of his life, only to find out that he’s the reason his childhood was shattered in the first place. Shortly after his biological father’s death, Peter loses his actual dad, Yondu, who he only appreciated when it was too late.
4 Endgame-Nebula Didn’t Have To Go Down A Dark Path
Avengers: Endgame offered fans everything they dreamt of, but even they didn’t expect to see an alternate timeline Nebula. Instead of breaking free of Thanos’ abuses, this Nebula proudly does his bidding to surpass Gamora and gain the Mad Titan’s praise. To this end, she tries to steal the Infinity Gauntlet for Thanos but is stopped by the present Nebula.
This Nebula is who the present Nebula would’ve become had her life turned out for the worse, and she knows it. Where the current Nebula rebelled against Thanos, her alternate version chose otherwise. Neither the current Nebula nor the audience wanted the alternate version to die but given the dire stakes, there was no choice.
3 Baron Helmut Zemo Was The Victim Of The Avengers’ Crossfire
Zemo is simultaneously one of the Avengers’ most dangerous yet sympathetic foes, since his villainy is a direct result of their callousness. Zemo’s family was killed during Ultron’s rampage in Sokovia, and his bitterness and grief drove him to ignite the Avengers’ Civil War. Even sadder, he only did so to prove a point and hopefully kill himself at the end of it all.
Zemo returns in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, where his friendlier human side broke through his Machiavellian stoicism. This endeared him not just to Sam and Bucky but to viewers, who saw that he could’ve been a good man if Age Of Ultron ended differently. The series makes Zemo more understandable but doesn’t fully redeem him, disappointing his newfound fans.
2 Erik Killmonger Deserved Justice & A Lot More
Even today, Black Panther’s Killmonger is one of the most complex and lauded superhero movie villains ever seen. Killmonger returns to Wakanda to claim legacy and vengeance for his father, who was killed by his own brother King T’Chaka for trying to incite armed revolution around the world using Wakandan technology. The thing is, Killmonger was right.
Killmonger calling out Wakandan traditions’ hypocrisy and selfishness was right, so much so that T’Challa and viewers agreed with him. Though he opposed the means, T’Challa changed Wakanda’s ways based on Killmonger’s ideologies. Killmonger choosing death may have been a fitting end to his story, but some still wish he lived to change Wakanda more through atonement.
1 Karli Morgenthau Fought For A Righteous Cause
The post-Endgame world was finally shown in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. Those left behind rallied together to survive, only to be cast aside when Thanos’ casualties came back. Angry that restoring the pre-Endgame status quo was prioritized over the present’s oppressed, Karli forms the Flag-Smashers to stand up for the world’s neglected.
Karli’s reasons were so sympathetic and topical that her being the show’s antagonist actually got audiences riled up. Viewers were mad at her terrorist actions not only because they were irredeemable, but because they felt such acts needlessly demonized her otherwise agreeable cause.
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