There was an idea. To bring together a group of extraordinary people. To face the threats they couldn’t face alone. Yet, whenever we think about the Avengers and how they came to be, do we ever stop to think about those individuals who have driven these individuals to become a superhero team?

The MCU is defined by the incredible stories and heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, without villains to give the heroes a run for their money. These villains range from goofy CEO’s and thieves to war criminals and galactic tyrants bent on ultimate destruction. These villains have challenged the heroes both personally and in a group setting, changing the world and the heroes themselves in more ways than they could have ever imagined. From the streets of New York City to the hidden city of Wakanda and the metropolis planet of Xandar, these villains inhabit our universe, seeking to gain their own power, wealth or even worse, pure chaos. Some villains work towards a larger goal, while others are villains of chance, striking out for personal whims and for the sheer fun of the villainous acts they do. Yet, one thing that no one has stopped to ask themselves is who is the most powerful villain of the MCU?

That’s why today we are going to rank the villains of the MCU from weakest to strongest. Some of these characters barely made the cut for the title of villain, while the most powerful villains earned their titles in more ways than one.

31 Hammer Down

via ComicBook.com

This first MCU villain barely registers as a villain. The CEO of Hammer Industries, Justin Hammer, formed a rivalry with the more popular and successful Tony Stark. Both were weapons dealers who competed against one another in a business rivalry like no other. Yet, when Tony Stark ended his company’s weapons dealings, the relationship between them changed. Stark’s business soared to new heights with the invention of his arc reactor and Iron Man suit, while Hammer started desperately trying to build his own version of the Iron Man suit to sell to the US military.

However, his weapons had a habit of malfunctioning or failing to work altogether. Appearing in Iron Man 2 and being played by Sam Rockwell, the character saw the film’s villain Whiplash hurt Tony Stark in battle, and arranged for the villain to be broken out of prison, hiring him to build an army of armored suits similar to the Iron Man brand. His money fueled Whiplash's mission of vengeance and led to the near destruction of an entire city. While his motivations were driven by rivalry and business, his actions still helped a known criminal and terrorist nearly destroy a large convention full of people. Not a smart business move Hammer.

30 Whip It Real Good

via Comic Vine - Gamespot

Justin Hammer only made an appearance on this list because his money fueled the war between Iron Man and the second film’s antagonist, Whiplash. Appearing in Iron Man 2 and played by Mickey Rourke, Ivan Vanko was a Russian scientist who’s father worked with Tony Stark’s father. When he was wormed out of the company and sent back to Russia, Ivan swore vengeance on the Stark clan and came to attack Tony using reactor arc whips.

He built an exoskeleton with powerful whips that nearly dealt Tony Stark in.

Later he used his engineering genius to build Justin Hammer an army of robotic suits that were only controllable by Whiplash himself, betraying his benefactor to gain his revenge. However, his villainous role is considered one of the least impactful. He not only got defeated pretty easily in this film not once but twice, and didn’t even make it past the film to fight another day. He was taken down the first time by being hit by a car and the second time he had spent the rest of the movie building a robot army for Justin Hammer. However, Ivan ended up being destroyed by Tony and Rhodey at the end of the film.

29 Baron Von Struck Down

via ScreenGeek

A minor villain that appeared in the second Avengers film is none other than Marvel Comics legend Baron Von Strucker. The monocle-wearing fiend was a huge character in Marvel Comics. One of the leaders of the Nazi organization Hydra, Strucker is a famous name in the Marvel Comics world, a longtime archenemy of Captain America and the Avengers. He had a gauntlet of his own that held great amounts of power, was driven by mad experiments and could remain immortal using his gauntlet to suck the life out of his victims and remain young forever.

His presence is felt in nearly every Hydra story told in modern day in the Marvel Comics world. However, his role was cut supremely short in Avengers: Age of Ultron. As the man who used Loki’s scepter to create Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, you’d think his cunning and vast criminal empire would make him a formidable threat. However, after being defeated by the Avengers in the beginning of the second film, the film’s main antagonist Ultron would later go on to end his life off-screen while he was in prison. So much for a Hydra leader, am I right?

28 Should Have Shielded Himself Better

via Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki - Fandom

One of the more secretive villains of the MCU has to be Alexander Pierce. Played by the iconic and legendary Robert Redford, Pierce was a government official who held a secret that would change the world forever. Another leader of Hydra, the former member of the worldwide security council took control of S.H.I.E.L.D. after Nick Fury was supposedly taken out. This all happened in Captain America: Winter Soldier. For years Hydra had wormed its way into every facet of the worldwide spy organization, with some of the worlds biggest political figures, soldiers and spies turning out to be secret Hydra agents, and their current leader was none other than Alexander Pierce himself.

This conspiracy and villain changed the MCU in a huge way. When Cap learned that Hydra had infiltrated the spy organization and Pierce was one of their leaders, he fought to take down the entire S.H.I.E.L.D./Hydra network, and it was a very much alive Nick Fury and Black Widow who took Pierce down. Despite his vast network of both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra agents and resources, he was taken down by a stray bullet.

27 System Failure

via ew.com

Another important character in the Captain America mythos is Arnim Zola. Zola was a huge part of the Hydra legends, becoming a prominent figure in the organization and surviving into the modern day world through the use an advanced robot that downloaded his conscious mind into an artificial body. He would copy himself onto various networks online in case his body was destroyed, and a visual representation of the once living scientist would be captured on the chest plate of the robot’s body. Yet, his villainous appearance in the MCU differed slightly from his comic book counterpart.

Played by the incredible Toby Jones, Zola was a scientist who became responsible for Hydra’s infiltration of the world’s governments. Once a prominent Nazi scientist for the Red Skull and Hydra in the first Captain America film, Winter Soldier introduced Zola once again in a computerized form. After defecting to the US and helping establish the Hydra network within the United States government, he downloaded his mind into a computer system that held all of Hydra’s secrets. However, instead of taking his comic form inside of a robotic body suit, he instead was destroyed with the facility that housed him by a drone strike.

26 Double Agent

via The Daily Dot

One of the biggest threats to the television side of the MCU came as bit of a shock to fans of the show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as the man who everyone considered one of the top heroes of the MCU show, Grant Ward, would become their greatest and most personal threat. A skilled agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Grant Ward revealed himself to be a double agent, working for Hydra instead. A member of the original team led by Coulson in season 1 of the MCU show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ward became a constant thorn in the team’s side as the series went on, revealing his dark past and penchant for violence and evil.

From his responsibility for the loss of his parents in a cruel way to helping to rebuild a crumbling Hydra after Cap’s victory over Alexander Pierce, his schemes knew no bounds.

While he would become much more powerful years later when an Inhuman named Hive took control of his body after being taken out by Coulson on an alien world, the real Ward was simply a man with a lot of fighting and assassin skills.

25 Just A Tool

via ComicBook.com

Introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ulysses Klaue is a thief, weapons dealer, and terrorist, who is known to be the only man to make it to the famed Wakanda and escape. Played by the incredible Andy Serkis, Klaue was a major foe for the Black Panther in the Marvel Comics world. From his tactical prowess and sonically enhanced biomechanics arm, Klaue became the invader who tried to usurp the city of Wakanda’s greatest asset, vibranium. This translated slightly into his portrayal in the MCU, as this Klaue was a calculating madman who took great pleasure in the thrill of his violent acts against the kingdom of Wakanda, which branded him a war criminal.

Taking a large cache of vibranium with him and blowing up a building in Wakanda, the wanted fugitive lost his arm during a battle with Ultron, and later teamed up with Eric Killmonger to perform more terrorist acts in an effort to get back into Wakanda. While he did have a cool robotic arm that became a weapon, Killmonger ended up being the end of Klaue in Black Panther, as he was just a smart yet wild human criminal who didn’t have the power to stop Killmonger.

24 True Survivor

via Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki - Fandom

Zemo was introduced in Captain America: Civil War. A former soldier in the doomed city of Sokovia (which was destroyed by Ultron during the second Avengers film), the man lost his family to the attack and blamed the Avengers for their loss. He took it upon himself to learn the secrets of Hydra, pitting the Avengers against one another and tearing the team apart with secrets about the death of Tony Stark’s parents and the actions taken by Winter Soldier while being used by Hydra. He was responsible for the bombing of the Sokovia Accords, framed the Winter Soldier for the crime, found a secret Hydra facility in Russia that housed five more hibernating winter soldiers, and managed to tear apart the friendship and trust between the Avengers two leaders, Iron Man and Captain America.

His actions tested Cap’s moral standing and his position in the world and gave the villain a more personal story that was far away from his comic book iteration of the purple suit and sword. He did a great job being villainous and nearly destroyed part of the Avengers. While he succeeded in dividing the team, he was only a human and ended up going to prison. What separates him from most human villains, however, is he managed to survive his battle with the Avengers.

23 The Kingpin Himself

via Marvel Movies Wikia - Fandom

Otherwise known as the Kingpin, the Daredevil and Defenders villain is a huge villain in the MCU. Played by the incredibly talented Vincent D’Onofrio, Wilson Fisk was a troubled young man who made his way to the top of the criminal underworld. After being forced to take out his own father after his dad continuously attacked his mother and him, Fisk lost his innocence and instead found a more violent way of dealing with the world. A major figure in the Marvel Comics world, he has been associated in the past with the taking of Matt Murdock’s father’s life and has gone toe to toe with the likes of Daredevil, Spider-Man, and the Punisher, as well as the larger Marvel Universe as a whole.

In the MCU, Fisk is one of the most feared and powerful crime bosses. Taking a more street-level approach, the Kingpin controls most of the crime within New York City. After a troubling childhood that created the monster he became, he was a human with no powers to speak of. While his reach is far and wide in the criminal underworld, he was defeated by Daredevil in the hero’s first season of the MCU show, and currently resides in prison.

22 Drink Your Milk

via Screen Rant

Brock Rumlow was a former double agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who worked for Hydra. He even served under Captain America for a while, working as a part of Cap’s covert military group who was sent in by S.H.I.E.L.D. to reduce the casualties from normal government operations. So when he was revealed to be a part of the evil Hydra organization, it was a total betrayal to the man whom he’d served under and the hero of the world, Captain America. He worked directly for Alexander Pierce.

During the events of Winter Soldier, he was taken down by Captain America and later Falcon. At the film’s end, he had barely survived being crushed by a building. He later appeared leading a terrorist group to steal important material from a research facility. Decked in armor and wearing concussive gauntlets, he went toe to toe with Cap and lost. He ended up setting off an explosive on his person, ending his life and taking out part of a building in the process. This character was a skilled fighter but was underused in the MCU, getting defeated pretty easily in each of his appearances.

21 It's Just Business

via Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki - Fandom

Stane was the first MCU villain, appearing in 2008’s Iron Man. A business partner of Tony’s father and later Tony himself, the Stark Industries leader was responsible for the abduction of Tony Stark, hoping to take control of the company. He hired the terrorist cell to capture the billionaire playboy, and when they failed to take him out he had the cell terminated. He was a ruthless businessman, working behind the scenes to assume control of the Stark name and company and fighting to make the Iron Man armor into a weapon for the military to sell.

However, after Tony survived and escaped, Stane tried to take the Iron Man armor Tony built, using the original suit to make his own suit called the Iron Monger. When Pepper Potts and S.H.I.E.L.D. found out about his crimes, he took the suit and he and Tony fought for control of the arc reactor. He became the first villain casualty of the MCU as well, getting destroyed inside his Iron Monger armor and being defeated once and for all. Without his suit of armor, he was just a rich and powerful businessman with nefarious schemes but no powers.

20 Don't Get Stung

via Screen Rant

Darren Cross was the rebuked mentee to Hank Pym, founder of Pym Particles and his own company. Darren wanted to be the rightful heir to both the company and the Ant-Man suit. Yet when Darren’s ruthless business tactics and morally questionable actions, Hank rebuked the young man, forcing the villain to take matters into his own hands. After forcing Hank out of his company, he became obsessed with replicating the Pym Particles technology to sell military Ant-Man suits to the highest bidder.

With a weird obsession with both Hank and his daughter Hope Van Dyne, he ended up donning the Yellowjacket prototype suit his company built to mirror Ant-Mans.

His actions led Hank and Hope to hire Scott to use his thief skills and the Ant-Man suit to steal the prototype suit Darren had and stop him from selling it to criminals before it was too late. When Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang took the Ant-Man mantle and tried to stop Cross, the villain tried abducting the hero’s daughter, and the two fought until Ant-Man destroyed the Yellowjacket suit, crumpling the man until he shrunk down into the miniature universe that Janet Van Dyne disappeared in years earlier.

19 We Wanted Mandarin

via Pinterest

When it was revealed in Iron Man 3 that Sir Ben Kingsley was not the true Mandarin, but in fact an actor named Trevor, fans learned that Guy Pearce’s character was the true film’s villain. Years earlier, Pearce’s character Aldrich Killian was a nerdy and acne covered scientist who tried to present his technology to Tony Stark at a business conference. Yet, the playboy’s demeanor and writing off of Killian at the time led the scientist to become the nefarious man he was in the film.

The leader of a criminal enterprise and creator of the biological suit virus known as Extremis, the man whose ideas were rebuked by Stark years before his time as Iron Man sought revenge on his former idol. Using Extremis on himself, he went toe to toe with Iron Man and his army of Iron Man suits, and nearly succeeded in defeating the hero. However, he ended up being defeated by an Extremis infected Pepper Potts, who fought him long enough for him to explode. While having potential with these powers, having him be the real Mandarin would have been a much better reveal for the film. We’re still waiting on the Mandarin to make his debut Marvel.

18 Love Bites

via Talkies Network

The tormented villain of Daredevil and The Defenders fame, Elektra was the young girl who was raised by famed blind life-taker and warrior Stick to become the world’s deadliest life-taker herself. Taught her whole life that she was fighting a centuries-long war against the Hand, Elektra integrated herself into Matt’s life in college, falling in love with one another and using that love to try and convince Matt to give into his violent urges and take the life of a guilty man. Matt learned then that she was sent by Stick to bring him into the deadly war he was waging against the Hand, and his relationship with her fizzled.

However, she learned she was sought after by The Hand, a secret and immortal organization that wanted to use her as a living weapon. During the final episodes of season 2 of Daredevil, Elektra lost her life, but unbeknownst to Matt Murdock her body was taken and in The Defenders she was resurrected, trained by the Hand and turned into the weapon they wanted. Taking control of The Hand herself, she nearly destroyed the city, and was eventually defeated by The Defenders when Matt held her off long enough to have the other heroes drop the building down on top of them.

17 Punisher Of The Punisher

via Fiction’s Mistress

One of the MCU’s most recent villains to take on the street level heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was none other than Billy Russo, aka Jigsaw. The skilled soldier turned CEO of a mercenary group, Billy Russo was one of Frank Castle’s best friends in The Punisher. The two served in the military together, and were tasked by a higher up in the CIA to become hitmen for the US Military, taking out targets without any knowledge of their identity or crimes. While Frank left that life behind when he learned of the innocent lives he’d been forced to take, his good friend Billy took another approach. He instead worked with the CIA higher up, using his skills as a soldier to create a mercenary group and amassing both wealth and power in exchange for working with the CIA.

However, he betrayed Frank, working with the CIA operative who organized the hit that took out Frank Castle’s family. He went toe to toe with Frank in the final episodes of MCU hit The Punisher, and ended up getting defeated. While surviving the ordeal, his face was so damaged that his villainous alter ego Jigsaw was born.

16 Half Blood Is Thicker Than Water

via Comic Vine

The notorious gangster Willis Stryker was the half-brother of hero Luke Cage. The two brothers shared the same father, a minister, but had separate mothers. Willis was often treated as the outsider, never really acknowledged or cared for by his minister father as he was conceived during an affair, and thus his identity was kept secret from Luke Cage. The two became friends during childhood and got into lots of trouble together, but all the while Willis and his hatred for Luke grew. While they got into trouble, they never committed any serious crimes until Willis set up Luke for a crime he didn’t commit. Blaming Luke and his mother for his being shunned by his pastor father, Willis not only set up Luke for the crime that landed him in prison, but came to Harlem when he learned of Luke’s rise to fame as a hero in the city.

He nearly ended Luke’s life and took his mission of vengeance so far that the two fought in the streets of Harlem, with Willis using a powerful suit to take on Luke. He was defeated, but survived the ordeal, so a possible return is not out of the realm of possibility.

15 Mind Games

via Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki - Fandom

Killgrave was the villain who haunted Jessica Jones throughout season 1 of her show of the same name. Experimented on as a kid, Killgrave gained a truly terrifying ability that allowed him to exert his twisted version of fun on innocent people. A man with the ability to get people to do whatever he wants with his voice, he becomes obsessed with Jessica after she manages to finally break his hold on her, escaping and leaving him to perish.

His crimes against her were horrid, and he not only became a physical threat to the hero during the season but a psychological one as well.

Getting inside her mind and revealing secrets about her she didn’t even know, he not only tried to manipulate her into coming back to him but used everyone in her life to force her hand. He survived the accident that she left him to pass away in, coming back into her life in an effort to prove some sick romantic relationship existed between them. He used his ability to try and tear her world apart since he couldn’t control her anymore. While he lost his life in the final fight with her, his villainous role and impact on the MCU-grounded shows is still a fan favorite to this day.

14 The Vulture Circles

via ovicio.com.br

Otherwise known as The Vulture, the classic Spider-Man villain made his MCU debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming. The man was a common worker who turned to crime after his contract with New York City’s cleanup after the battle of New York fell through. Blaming men like Stark for taking work away from the common man, he became a thief and weapon’s dealer, taking weapons from the battles of various heroes throughout the years and selling them on the black market. He enjoyed eight years of relative peace, stealing his way into a lavish lifestyle and providing for his family the only way he knew how.

Yet, his devotion to his family gave Adrian a sort of Breaking Bad level of character growth, showing his Walter White descent into villainy and ruthless nature. When the weapons he stole make their way into the streets of New York, Spider-Man starts trying to dismantle his operation, despite Iron Man’s warnings. It turns out Toomes is the father of Peter’s crush, Liz Allen, and the villain learns Peter’s secret and threatens to end his life. Eventually, Spider-Man prevails, but Toomes lives on, currently residing in prison and rumored to be returning in the film’s sequel.

13 Family Will Get You First

via Screen Rant

Eric Killmonger is the villain of Black Panther. Played by Michael B. Jordan, the man is a soldier turned thief and terrorist, marking his body for every person whose life he’s ended and working his way into the famed city of Wakanda. After spending years as a ruthless US soldier, he turned to crime, studying the rumors and secrets of Wakanda and using Ulysses Klaue to trick his way into the kingdom. After taking out Klaue and delivering his body to the Wakandan council, he forced T’Challa’s hand for control of the crown. It turns out Killmonger is the cousin of T’Challa, the Black Panther.

When his father was taken out by the current king’s father, Killmonger grew up hating the Wakanda kingdom and its failure to give people of color around the world the power to overcome their circumstances and take control of the world using the country’s advanced tech. He takes control of Wakanda during a trial by combat with T’Challa, but the hero survives and returns to reclaim the throne. During their final battle, Killmonger gets injured, but rather than go to prison he decides to let his wound grow and end his life. He’s super strong and powerful but is just human.

12 The Darkest Elf

via Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki - Fandom

The leader of the Dark Elves, Malekith is one of the more underused yet still powerful villains of the MCU. Malekith the Accursed is a well-known villain in Marvel Comics, becoming a constant thorn in Thor’s side. Appearing in the less popular film, Thor: The Dark World, Malekith is the dark elf who went up against Thor’s grandfather Bor years earlier and lost. It was thought that he and his people were destroyed.

However, he had survived, building his army of dark elves and returning to take on Thor and Asgard once again. He took control of the Aether, otherwise known as the reality stone. He wanted to use the stone during the Convergence to reshape the universe and bring it back to the age of eternal darkness. He tried to wield it when all of the nine realms were aligned, but Thor managed to defeat him, taking the reality stone from him and the dark elf falling in battle once more. While he lost his life, the fantasy-driven aspect of this villain and the superhero world he’s in make his reappearance a possibility. Let’s hope if we ever see him again his return is much more glorious than his initial debut.