Warning! This article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.
Summary
TheMarvel Cinematic Universehas introduced many exciting villains from the comics, but sadly, the franchise killed a lot of them in their debut movie. TheMCU’s best moviesare often accompanied by strong villains, with such cases includingJosh Brolin’s Thanos, the MCU’s most important villain, in the latest two Avengers films, as well as Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier inCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, and many more.
However,the MCU has a problem of being trigger-happy with its villains. One of the comics' most interesting aspects is how someone could reappear out of the blue issues or runs later. While the MCU has a few such cases, many villains who had the potential to be part offuture MCU movieswere killed in their debuts. Despite complaints, Marvel shows no sign of ending the trend.
How To Watch the Marvel Movies In Order (By Release Date & In Order Of MCU Timeline Events)
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Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Cast
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania follows Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne, joined by Janet van Dyne, Hank Pym, and Cassie Lang, as they navigate the Quantum Realm. Their journey introduces them to peculiar creatures and challenges their understanding of reality, pushing their abilities to new extremes.
Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror is first on the list because he is a special case. The villain was set up by Disney+‘sLokiseason 1, which introduced the concept of multiverse variants and had Majors play He Who Remains, a version of Kang. The character then made his formal MCU debut inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, whichended with Kang seemingly dying after a confrontation with the lead duo of heroes.
As Kang the Conqueror was set to be the main villain of the Multiverse Saga, no one expected him to stay dead. However,Majors is out of the MCU, with Marvel announcingthe next two Avengers movies will star Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, taking Kang’s role. As such, Kang is dead in the MCU afterQuantumania, and it seems like that will continue.
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Avengers: Age of Ultron
Avengers: Age of Ultron, released in 2015, follows Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man and Captain America, as they contend with Ultron, a rogue AI with plans for global annihilation. This Marvel sequel sees The Avengers form uneasy alliances and embark on a perilous global adventure to thwart Ultron’s schemes.
Ultron is a very important villain in the MCU, as he served as the main foe of Marvel Studios’ flagship franchise, the Avengers, in 2015’sAvengers: Age of Ultron. The character is a killer robot with infinite knowledge and thus endless potential. However, not only didMarvel decide to make Ultron a one-and-done villain, but the studio even went out of its way to show that the Avengers wiped out every last Ultron bot.
Vision destroyed Ultron’s remaining sentry at the end ofAvengers: Age of Ultron, with the character only showing up in Marvel Studios projects through the animatedWhat If…?series. The show introduced Infinity Ultron, a threat to the whole multiverse, showing just how interesting the character could have been with another MCU appearance and a different take from his often comedic lines in his debut.
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the adventures of Peter Quill and his eclectic crew as they navigate complex family dynamics and revelations about Quill’s mysterious heritage. Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film explores themes of family and identity against a backdrop of intergalactic adventure.
Kurt Russell gave life to one of the MCU’s best villains asGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s Ego. AsStar-Lord’s father, the character brought a strong emotional component to the movie that could have been further explored in more MCU entries. However, the James Gunn film ended up killing Ego in his MCU debut, with the living planet exploding as the Guardians set off a bomb in his brain.
While the setup was good, asit was Star-Lord’s choice to be a normal guy rather than a god, Ego had great potential to be a foe in other MCU cosmic entries. A movie likeEternalscould have used the familiar villain, with theNovaseries that is in the works being another that could have had Ego play a role. Russell also made the villain one of the MCU’s most despicable, and a single appearance was not enough for such a great character.
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Thor: The Dark World
Thor: The Dark World, the second installment in Marvel’s Thor series, follows the titular hero as he faces Malekith and the vengeful Dark Elves. With the universe threatened, Thor joins forces with allies, including Jane Foster, to thwart the cosmic peril and restore balance to the realms.
As it currently stands, Malekith is one of the most forgettable main villains in the MCU. However, it did not have to be that way. It all starts with his actor, asMalekith was played byDoctor Who’s Christopher Eccleston, who is an experienced actor in both dramatic and comedic roles. As such, he could have done more with the villain had Marvel decided to bring Malekith back and actually add some substance to the role.
In 2019, Marvel Comics came up with the perfect storyline for Malekith in the MCU.Thor 5or an Avengers film could adapt “The War of the Realms” story from Marvel Comics, whichfeatured Malekith as its main villain, trying to conquer all ten realms. However, Malekith was crushed to death by his own giant ship in the MCU, so a return is likely out of the question.
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6MODOK
A Returning/Transformed MCU Villain
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniadid not just kill Kang the Conqueror. The movie also featured the live-action debut of MODOK, with an original twist to the MCU version of the character. Instead of being scientist George Tarleton, the MCU decided to makeCorey Stoll’s Darren Cross, aka Yellowjacket, the franchise’s version of MODOK. It was fitting due to the character’s prior MCU plot point of getting shrunk into the Quantum Realm.
Stoll’s MODOK was used as comedic relief inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. However, given his previous role inAnt-Man, Stoll managed to present a couple of emotional moments in the role, with MODOK “becoming an Avenger.” However, that came as the character died from injuries sustained trying to help the Ant-Man family stop Kang. MODOK is a major comic book villain, and the character had the potential for a more menacing MCU role with AIM that will never come to pass.
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Thor: Love and Thunder
In Thor: Love and Thunder, the Norse god teams up with King Valkyrie, Korg, and the Mighty Thor, Jane Foster, to thwart Gorr the God Butcher’s quest to eradicate the gods. This cosmic adventure sees Thor confront new challenges as he navigates his return from retirement.
Christian Bale is one of the best actors in comic book movies, having become famous forplaying Batman in director Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knighttrilogy at DC. It was surprising when the actor decided to return to the superhero medium as a villain inThor: Love and Thunder. Bale delivered one of the MCU’s best villain performances as Gorr the God Butcher, but the movie he was in failed the actor.
Thor: Love and Thunderended up having a major clash of tones, with director Taika Waititi’s signature humor undercutting big dramatic moments with Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster and Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher. The villain was also missing for long stretches of time, barely killing gods — what he is known for — onscreen. To cap it off, Gorr died at the end of the movie, andBale’s potential to appear in several MCU projects killing gods was squashed.
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Black Panther
Black Panther follows King T’Challa as he returns to Wakanda to assume the throne of the technologically advanced African nation. Faced with internal and external challenges, T’Challa dons the Black Panther mantle, uniting with allies to protect Wakanda from potential global conflict.
Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger was a very nuanced villain inBlack Panther. While the character’s methods could not be approved, he saw the world’s wrongs and the errors made in his childhood and sought a way to make them right.Killmonger’s pain was understandable, and the fact the character came to have such a bittersweet death while watching the sunrise his dad had promised they would see when they returned home in the future was heartbreaking.
Killmonger was such a good villain that Marvel keeps bringing the character back, but his death limits the MCU’s storytelling potential.Killmonger could have been a major player in all Black Panther movies, but instead, the character only had a cameo inBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever, appearing to Shuri on the Ancestral Plane. Perhaps the multiverse Killmonger fromWhat If…?can get to Earth-616.
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Marvel getting Jake Gyllenhaal to play Mysterio inSpider-Man: Far From Homewas a surprising choice. When the movie was released, it made sense that the MCU had gone for such a high-profile actor to play a villain who has been the butt of many jokes in the comics.Mysterio is crucial to the story of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, airing his secret identity out to the world and essentially leading to all the bad things that happen to the hero inSpider-Man: No Way Home.
Sadly, that huge part of Spider-Man’s arc had to come with the villain’s death. Mysterio’s demise makes more sense than most villains on the list, asSpider-Man is blamed for his death. However, as the villain is known for his illusions, he could have simply faked his death. Mysterio is a classic Spider-Man villain, and like in the comics, he could have been a recurring MCU presence.
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Thor: Ragnarok
Thor: Ragnarok, released on June 15, 2025, is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It features Chris Hemsworth as Thor, who is imprisoned on the other side of the universe, racing against time to return to Asgard to prevent Ragnarok and confront the formidable Hela.
Casting Cate Blanchett as Hela inThor: Ragnarokwas another major get for the MCU. It led to not only one of the franchise’s best villains but also one of the best MCU movies, completely turning around Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder.Hela was menacing and deadly, with Blanchet clearly having fun in the role.
As the movie andWhat If…?season 2 showed, Hela had a lot of potential to serve as a full-on franchise villain or return in a Loki-like role later on. That would not be possible, asHela perished in the Ragnarok event. Hela was last seen fighting the giant Surtur in Asgard as the realm burned, with the character’s giant sword seemingly obliterating Hela as it came down. The character could have come back for a reunion with Thor and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki variant from his Disney+ series inThor 5.
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Deadpool & Wolverine
A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
Finally, Cassandra Nova closes the list of MCU villains who were killed in their first movie, falling short of their potential.Emma Corrin was perfectly cast in the role, with Cassandra Nova being a formidable foe who took quite a bit of ingenuity from the heroes to be able to defeat in the Void. However, the character’s master plan ended up being too generic.
Cassandra Nova’s backstory with Charles Xavier and some of her past exploits could have been explored in the movie. The character’s experience in the Void and powers also made the villaina great one to appear in the two upcoming Avengers movies, taking on several MCU and multiverse villains at once. It made little sense to kill her when the MCU had perfectly set up projects that could have used Cassandra Nova, but that is what Marvel did.
