Every fan has a favorite villain. Generally, that villain has made an impact of sorts, sometimes bringing destruction on a massive and amazing level. Some villains add more than merely their existence as an opposing force for the hero. Some have a backstory with which you can empathize, and they can add depth and emotion to the stories they frequent. In the film, no one seems to do this better than the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Update September 28, 2023: This article has been updated with even more great MCU villains that should return to the franchise.
In the early years, aside from Loki, after a villain showed up, they were done, and the franchise moved on. Yet, in recent years, the MCU has been revisiting more villains. The Incredible Hulk's Abomination returned after a long hiatus for a cameo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and then in a major role in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Samuel Sterns was also introduced in The Incredible Hulk, and many people thought the plotline of him being the Leader would be forgotten, but now he is set to appear in Captain America: Brave New World. Ant-Man and the Wasp's Ghost and Black Widow's Taskmasters will be members of the Thunderbolts. With that in mind, here are some villains that should return to the MCU in some capacity.
13 Thanos
Aside from Josh Brolin absolutely crushing his role here, Thanos, at his heart and in the comics, is an Eternal. Indeed, Eternals' introduction of Harry Styles into the MCU as Thanos' brother Starfox confirmed this. While it doesn't appear that Thanos was directly connected with the Eternals in the movie, there's so much potential backstory and family history to explore. What's more, Marvel's most recent animated series What If...? brought both Thanos and Brolin back for a few episodes, signifying that the studio might not entirely be done with the character and actor.
Thanos could appear in a flashback moment in the MCU's history. In a more interesting twist, a variant of him could also be recruited by the MCU heroes to fight off Kang the Conqueror, establishing how big a threat he is that the Avengers need to recruit their greatest enemy to help fight him.
12 Scorpion
Scorpion was teased in Spider-Man: Homecoming and has not been seen since. Locked up in prison, he approached Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture, about forming an alliance to kill Spider-Man. Yet the MCU has not followed up on that premise, even in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which featured a team of Spider-Man villains and the world knowing Peter Parker was Spider-Man.
While there is still no word on Spider-Man 4, there is a good chance that Scorpion could return as a villain in that film. Even if he isn't a primary antagonist, he certainly would be a good threat for the wall-crawler to face off against as well as a way to wrap up this plot thread.
11 Hela
Even as a murderous, envious, would-be queen of Asgard, Cate Blanchett is charming. The Academy Award-winning actress pulled off the role easily — and with style. While Hela seemed to have met a tragic end in Thor: Ragnarok, it's arguably ambiguous: not only did she vanish in a flash of green light when she "died," her ultimate fate was more or less off-screen. Asgardians, of course, are exceptionally strong beings. As the Goddess of Death, who had survived in exile for all these years, surely Hela could have survived Ragnarok. A variant of Hela will appear in What If...? facing off against Wenwu, which will provide an interesting set up. Yet the goddess of Death should make some type of return in the near future in the wider Multiverse Saga.
Hela Almost Showed Up for One Quick Joke in the Original Thor Movie
10 Wenwu
Speaking of Wenwu, one of the few issues with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is that it killed off the main villain. It was thematically appropriate and fit with his character arc...but selfishly, fans want to see more of Tony Leung as this great character. Can you blame them? The actor injected such humanity into this villain, elevating the reworking of The Mandarin to something far greater than his comic book counterpart.
While Wenwu himself is dead in the main timeline, there is still plenty of possibilities to explore with him. Marvel could show him at various points in his long life. He likely encountered the Eternals and maybe Asgardian's early visits to Earth. In the comics, they introduced the Prehistoric Avengers. While Wenwu was around long after that, the idea of a secret team of ancient long-lived characters like Wenwu, Namor, and maybe the future X-Men villain Apocalypse would make for an interesting premise and a great way to revisit this iconic character.
9 Red Skull
After being defeated in Captain America: The First Avenger, the Red Skull was seemingly killed, but holding an item that was a shell for the Space Stone — the Tesseract — he was transported to Vormir. There, he acts more like a guide, even going as far as saying he guides others to a power that he can never possess. With the Soul Stone gone, he likely can leave the planet and could pose a great threat to the universe.
He is now stuck in space, so the Red Skull could not become a cosmic-level threat. A villain, somebody like Thor, Captain Marvel, or the new Guardians of the Galaxy, would have to deal with. While Hugo Weaving is not likely to return in the role, Ross Marquand has more than proved capable of voicing the character in both Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and What If...?
8 Ultron
After Infinity Ultron was very much the main antagonist in What If...? it seems to leave viewers wanting a little bit more. His defeat of Thanos in the blink of an eye leaves one craving a rematch between the mechanical menace and Earth's Mightiest Heroes. After seeing a decapitated Ultron head in Spider-Man: Homecoming, it seems it could happen, and there is a lead-up and Ultron Sentries in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness; the character likely will appear again sometime soon.
One interesting way to display how powerful Kang the Conqueror is would be to put him against Ultron. With the multiverse at his disposal, Kang could encounter a variant of Ultron and either defeat him or make him a minion of his like he had M.O.D.O.K.
7 Justin Hammer
The wannabe Tony Stark from Iron Man 2 was last seen in the All Hail the King one-shot, complaining about Trevor Slattery's popularity in the Seagate Penitentiary. Although Justin did not succeed in surpassing Stark's influence and power with his own tech, if he ever escapes or is sprung from jail, he could definitely try for a comeback. Some upcoming MCU projects would be a great option for Hammer's return, and the actor isn't against the idea. In an interview on The Discourse podcast with Mike DeAngelo, he asked Sam Rockwell if Hammer would be back for Armor Wars or Thunderbolts. Once he explained to Rockwell a bit more about the projects, Rockwell expressed interest in that potential return, adding, " ... [Justin's] fun, he's a real Lex Luthor."
6 Baron Zemo
Helmet Zemo is a charming villain. While it was sad that his actions killed King T'Chaka in Captain America: Civil War, as the film progressed, you truly did understand his motivations. He was trying to do what he felt was right and destroy the Avengers — who he deemed responsible for his family's murder. (It's hard to argue that point.) Aside from that, Zemo was really the first villain in the MCU to win. Yes, it could be said that he got caught, but he was going to kill himself in the end anyway.
His actions divided the Avengers, and it was that chink in the armor that split up Cap and Iron Man, arguably leading the way for Thanos to succeed in Infinity War. When last seen, Zemo was fresh off of busting a move and being escorted on his way to Wakanda to pay for his crimes against their people. It's not playing with house money to assume he could be seen again. He later appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier but is notably absent from the cast list of both Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts, both of which seem to be films he should pop up in. This is too great of a character not to return in the MCU at some point.
5 Vulture
Speaking of a villains' motivation being their family, the poster child for that is Michael Keaton's Vulture. The chilling car scene alone in Spider-Man: Homecoming is more than enough to want Keaton to reprise his role — and based on the end-credits scenes of Morbius, Keaton's Vulture has made a new home in the Spider-Man universe helmed by Sony. With the multiverse, anything is possible.
Who's to say another Doctor Strange spell gone wrong wouldn't snap him back to the MCU, even if only temporarily? Although the Vulture in the Sony universe seems potentially interested in taking Spider-Man down, he was originally supposed to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Homeas an unlikely helper for Peter Parker. Maybe in a future MCU film, Vulture and Spider-Man would face off once more before putting their differences aside to defeat a worse villain.
4 Kingpin
Kate and Eleanor Bishop gave Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) quite the beat down in the season finale of Hawkeye, and Maya Lopez finished the job with a gunshot. However, the shot was evidently not fatal, as it's been confirmed that Vincent D'Onofrio will reprise his role as Kingpin in upcoming MCU projects Daredevil: Born Again and Echo.
Not unlike a cockroach, he's hard to kill and shows up where you least expect (or want) him. But his powerful criminal ties and tendency for violence make him a formidable and interesting villain. It would be fascinating to see him team up with a villain like the aforementioned Justin Hammer — two big egos battling it out for the top dog spot who may destroy each other, making the heroes' jobs easier.
3 Dormammu
Using time as a bargaining chip with the big bad will likely only be a temporary solution to his plans of taking over Strange's dimension. Dormammu is one of the most powerful villains in the Marvel Universe, so the MCU is likely not done with him. With his niece Clea (Charlize Theron) showing up in the mid-credits of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it seems clear that the character and the dark dimension will factor into the future of the MCU.
2 Jake Lockley
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Oscar Isaac had triple duty playing Marc Spector, Steven Grant, and Jake Lockley in Moon Knight. Although Marc and Steven spent season one bonding and learning how to work together, neither of them seemed to know a third alter exists — and that the third alter is still happily under Khonshu's thumb with the murder of Arthur Harrow on his hands.
It would be interesting to see Marc and Steven battle it out with the villainous Jake, with the alters taking turns fronting in an epic battle. Or perhaps they'd somehow convince Jake to be good, and all three alters could finally find common ground and work side-by-side-by-side.
1 Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch — aka Wanda Maximoff — went from a villain to a hero to a villain again in the MCU, but she may now fall somewhere in the "antihero" category after she nobly sacrificed herself at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Wanda's actions helped rid the multiverse of the Darkhold, but is it possible she could return?
Her immense power has been used for good and evil, and it would absolutely come in handy facing off against Kang and any other villains in future phases of the MCU. She might be the key to saving the multiverse...by fulfilling her destiny to destroy it only to recreate a new rebooted MCU.
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