8 Marvel Cinematic Universe Villains Who Just Plain Suck

Don't get us wrong. There's a lot to love about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And we do mean a lot. It brought to life a ton of obscure comic book characters, it re-popularized the superhero genre, and it's encouraged other studios to pursue their own shared universes. But, that being said, there are also a lot of flaws present in this bureaucratic franchise. Some would say the mise en scène is too similar between movies, while others would argue that each film has too many moments of levity. However, one of the more universally agreed upon cons of the MCU is without a doubt the fact that quite often, the supervillains just plain suck. Marvel's had a rich history of creating some of the best enemies in their comics, but their transition to the big screen has been rocky, to say the least. And while there have been a couple truly great antagonists over the years, the following 8 are certainly not amongst them. 1) The Mandarin The Mandarin is one of Marvel's odder characters. While being one of the most powerful enemies and Iron Man's archenemy, he's never quite managed to jump from the confines of B-list to the A-list status of others like Magneto, Doctor Doom and Thanos. This is in spite of several great story arcs penned by legendary comic writers like John Byrne ("The Dragon Seed Saga"), Kurt Busiek ("Revenge of the Mandarin"), and Matt Fraction ("Invincible Iron Man"). 2013's Iron Man 3 was an opportunity to prop him up, much like Marvel Cinematic Universe had done with Loki in Thor and The Avengers. Alas, that was not to be the case. Though we're aware of the retcon that occurred in the Marvel short All Hail the King that revealed a real Mandarin lurking in the shadows, that was clearly done in response to the fan backlash that was rightfully earned after Tony Stark's threequel. What was supposed to be the hero's greatest challenge yet was turned into a fight against a generic terrorist that was soon revealed, in a ridiculous plot twist, to actually be a ruse for the real enemy: a disgruntled entrepreneur named Aldrich Killian that Tony had embarrassed years ago in what can only be described as a rehash of The Incredibles. If the real Mandarin ever appears, he should be similar to his comic counterpart: Chinese, fascist and boasting 10 alien rings that give him all sorts of powers. That's how you do the character right. 2) Ultron If there was ever a single enemy that could claim the title of nemesis to The Avengers, it would have to be Ultron. Boasting the ability to not only withstand blows from Thor's hammer Mjolnir, but also access any technological port, Ultron has remained a thorn in the side of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes since his debut. Part of what makes this artificial intelligence so deadly is his ability to disappear into the online sphere, meaning even if his body is destroyed he always has a chance at coming back in some capacity. Of course, destroying his body alone is a feat considering it comes constructed from the near-indestructible metal known as Adamantium, an aspect that sadly had to be replaced with Vibranium in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron due to 20th Century Fox owning the rights to the former. Regardless, casting actor James Spader in the role was a work of genius, but sadly the character’s evil machinations were toned down to befit something odd: a dark-take on Pinocchio. No longer was this AI a cold powerhouse, but instead a wisecracking entity that couldn't even beat Captain America in combat. Ultron's plan also made no sense. He wanted to cause a cataclysmic event on Earth in order to wipe out humanity and save the planet, except such an event would also destroy everything else including energy sources, electric grids and computer networks: all things that Ultron will need in order to survive and grow. His death at the end only served to cement his legacy as yet another instance of wasted potential. 3) Malekith The Accursed The first Thor was not exactly the bell of the ball, but it featured a terrific performance from actor Tom Hiddleston who portrayed its reluctant antagonist Loki. For the sequel, Thor: The Dark World, Marvel tapped former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston to play Malekith the Accursed, a ruler of the Dark Elves that had a horrifying childhood, resulting in him being an entity of pure evil. Unfortunately, the film’s version of the character had none of his flavor, turning Malekith into just another generic villain seeking to gain power: in other words, a rehash of Loki, which is made all the more ironic considering that Loki's in the film, too. There was a lot wrong with The Dark World, and while Malekith was far from the biggest issue, he also didn't help matters. A true trashing of talent and comic mythology. 4) Yellowjacket If there was ever a stereotype to avoid using in cinema, it would have to be the evil white businessman. Caucasian industrialists that turn bad is one of the oldest cliches in the book, going all the way back to The Odyssey with Antinous and the other suitors that attempt to gain control of Odysseus's possessions through forcing his wife Penelope into marriage. Yet, it continues to be redone each and every year in both movies and television, with some of the latest examples being Morgan Edge in Supergirl, Santino in John Wick 2, and Zander Rice in Logan. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been suffering from this as well ever since the first Iron Man had Jeff Bridges portray Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger, a partner of Tony's in managing Stark Industries who's revealed to be secretly selling weapons directly to terrorists. But Phase II’s Ant-Man featured the hopefully final incarnation in the form of Darren Cross/Yellowjacket. Though he's hinted at having a deeper emotional motivation through his former mentorship with Hank Pym, Cross ends up turning into a tasteless capitalist criminal interested in making money through selling unethical technology. Not very memorable if you ask us. 5) Shocker Spider-Man: Homecoming helped rejuvenate a failing series involving the wall-crawler through an optimistic tone, dramatic moments and plenty of action. It took Peter Parker back to high school where he's still learning how to control his powers and balance school/personal life, whilst dealing with the possibility of joining The Avengers after helping Iron Man in 2016's Captain America: Civil War. While Michael Keaton stole the show as the primary villain, The Vulture, there were several other enemies tossed in for no real reason other than to set-up a potential Sinister Six. One of these was Herman Schultz/Shocker, one of Spidey’s oldest enemies that has the ability to project concussive wrist blasts through technology. There were technically two Shockers in the movie, but one of them gets killed off quickly by Toomes, leaving the more popular Schultz as the sole holder of the mantle. Instead of showcasing his own intelligence, though, Schultz is turned into slightly more powerful goon of Vulture’s that ends up getting easily beaten by Spider-Man during the finale. We can only hope that he'll be expanded upon in the sequel. 6) Whiplash The Iron Man series really has not had much success with their supervillains since the first film, and Whiplash was a great example of this. Played valiantly by Mickey Rourke, Ivan Vanko/Whiplash had a very interesting backstory that set up him to be an anti-Stark of sorts. His father, Anton Vanko, had helped Tony's dad Howard Stark create the endless energy battery known as the arc reactor. However, when he tried to sell it for a profit, Stark had him deported where he was imprisoned in a Gulag for many years while Stark became a billionaire entrepreneur. Wanting to enact revenge for his father's treatment, Ivan decides to destroy Tony's image by not only constructing his own reactor, but also building several rival armored suits courtesy of the manipulation of Stark rival Justin Hammer. While intriguing, the producers evidently decided to focus a good chunk of the movie on setting up The Avengers rather than developing these characters. As a result, Whiplash was thrown to the back, becoming a tonally inconsistent enemy that could go from snapping a guard's neck to stupidly playing with his bird. Though we got some cool lines out of him like "if you can make God bleed, people will cease to believe in him," he was overall very lackluster. It’s no wonder that Rourke had nothing but disgust after his experience here. 7) Red Skull Though a lot of people liked Hugo Weaving’s portrayal of Captain America archenemy the Red Skull, there really wasn't much to him when examined closely. Red Skull’s problem is that he is, for all intents and purposes, an Indiana Jones enemy elevated to a higher status without the proper character depth. He's literally a Nazi wanting to gain power for the sake of his Führer. That's it. It also doesn't help that he's not given much screen time and quickly dissipates at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger courtesy of touching the Tesseract. While there are theories that he could still be alive, his lack of appearance in both the Captain America sequels as well as The Avengers movies indicates otherwise. Who knows, though? Maybe we'll see him back on the big screen one day. 8) Kaecilius Perhaps the worst instance of a terrific actor being misused by a movie in recent memory would have to be Mads Mikkelsen in Doctor Strange. To call his character of Kaecilius, who was never that memorable to begin with in the comics outside of being a lackey for Baron Mordo, anything resembling substantial would be an insult to the word. After an admittedly cool beginning, he's infrequently seen throughout the movie, serving one purpose and one purpose only: to bring his master Dormammu to Earth. He has no clear motivations outside of thinking that the Ancient One's ways of restricting magic are wrong, and is never a serious threat against the beginning sorcerer Strange. That he ends up getting killed by Dormammu at the end was beyond pathetic. In what was otherwise a terrific film, Kaecilius sticks out like a sore thumb.