The Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of villains who are considerably weaker than their heroic counterparts, not putting up as big of a fight as they really should have. Every MCU movie comes with its own distinct villain, from small-time crooks to terrifying world-ending threats necessitating a response from the Avengers. Occasionally, a villain is so much weaker than the hero that they face that it’s hard not to at least acknowledge the vast disparity in power between the two.
In many cases, these types of villains are only simple side threats for the powerful heroes of the MCU to quickly handle in the background or before dealing with a given movie’s main villain. Other times, the soft power wielded by the more mastermind style of bad guys gives them at least some degree of narrative threat even if they have no real superpowers to speak of. In either case, it can be hard to take many villains from the esteemed film and TV franchise seriously due to just how powerless they are compared to who they’re up against.
10
Crossbones’ Power Level Seriously Pales Compared To The Avengers
Captain America: Civil War
The closest thing to a recurring villain in the Captain America trilogy, Brock Rumlow, a.k.a. Crossbones, is a villain almost worth feeling sorry for. Once a decorated S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and part of the secret HYDRA strike force infiltrating the organization, Rumlow almost dies after getting demolished by Captain America in the famous elevator fight when Sam Wilson crashes a helicopter into him. Surviving with horrific scars, Rumlow sets out on his own as the domestic terrorist and supervillain Crossbones.
Compared to most battle-ready MCU villains, Crossbones doesn’t have much to offer. Despite having plenty of combat experience and some powerful super-strength gauntlets, he’s decisively defeated by Captain America once again. Only through the activation of a suicide vest is he able to deal any lasting damage to the Avengers’ reputation. It says a lot that Rumlow had to sacrifice his own life in order to amount to any kind of threat to Captain America and company.
9
Zemo’s Whole Story Relied On Him Being Physically Weaker Than The Avengers
Captain America: Civil War
Despite being physically and politically weak, Baron Zemo is one of the few MCU villains who essentially won, at least in the short-term. A Sokovian noble and high-clearance paramilitary commander, Helmut Zemo’s peaceful retirement as a family man was interrupted by the Battle of Sokovia, which resulted in the death of his family. Swearing vengeance against the Avengers, Zemo puts a plan into motion to tear them apart from the inside out via infighting.
It’s worth noting that even Zemo himself admits how physically powerless he is against the superhero group, not even attempting to go toe-to-toe with them in all-out warfare as HYDRA and Ultron had. Instead, Zemo settled on tearing the group apart by framing the Winter Soldier for a bombing that took the life of Black Panther’s father, T’Chaka, and set into motion a series of events that lead to the Avengers essentially breaking up. Zemo’s poignant scene with Black Panther revealed he wasn’t expecting to survive this attempt, proving him to be a glᴀss cannon.
8
The Vulture Had None Of Spider-Man’s MCU Powers
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man villains have always varied wildly in power, from godlike control over the elements themselves to over-reliance on very specific technology. The Vulture is a prime example of the latter, a supervillain whose bark was ultimately worse than his bite. A disgruntled former city contractor who was forced out of the valuable cleanup job after the Battle of New York, Adrian Toomes pivoted to the sale of black market alien technology to the highest criminal bidder.
Keeping some goodies for himself, the Vulture had an impressive arsenal, including a personal flight suit with wings, dangerous leg claws, and a variety of powerful energy weapons. At the end of the day, however, Toomes is a typical blue-collar worker who happens to get access to some lucrative toys, having no actual superpowers to compete with Spider-Man. At least Toomes’ sharp senses allowed him to quickly figure out Spider-Man’s secret idenтιтy and threaten his loved ones.
7
Todd Phelps’ Potential Power Is Rectonned Away
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
As weak as some Marvel Cinematic Universe movie villains may be, the antagonists of the Disney+ MCU shows are often even bigger pushovers. Needing to at least represent some kind of esoteric danger while still not being important enough to be worth movie inclusion, antagonists like Todd Phelps are par for the course for Marvel TV shows. The secret leader and creator of the misogynist group Intelligencia, the worst thing Phelps manages to accomplish is leaking She-Hulk’s private life.
Todd almost manages to become a much more threatening enemy, with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law showing a brief glimpse of him injecting some compound made from Jennifer’s blood to become a Hulk-like being himself. Rather than deal with this disaster, however, She-Hulk instead breaks the fourth wall to ask for a retcon, simply erasing the plot development with ease. Thus, Todd Phelps is left as one of the most hilariously pathetic MCU villains ever concocted.
6
Whiplash Can’t Hold A Candle To Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 is considered to be one of the weaker MCU movies, particularly in Phase 1, thanks in large part to its weak antagonists. Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko, a.k.a. Whiplash, trade places throughout the film as the main villain, with Hammer getting the majority of the screen time punctuated by Whiplash at the very beginning and end. When Whiplash finally puts his plan into motion, him and his drones are handled quite easily by Iron Man and War Machine.
Granted, Whiplash is at least able to do some damage before Iron Man responds, and he does get one over on Justin Hammer by stealing his resources to build an army of drones. However, Tony is able to take out the majority of the robots with a single laser light show, and Vanko’s own suit doesn’t fare much better. He takes a direct hit from one of Rhodey’s missiles (which turns out to be a dud, luckily for him), and is annihilated by a dual repulsor blast.
5
Yon-Rogg Doesn’t Even Come Close To Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel
Yon-Rogg might just be one of the most mismatched villains in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. A fierce warrior and Kree leader, Yon-Rogg is one of the few twist villains Marvel has attempted, though Jude Law’s performance doesn’t do much to hide the character’s nefarious intentions. Eventually, the film reveals Captain Marvel’s true history as an amnesiac Earthling subjected to the vast forces of an Infinity Stone and turns against her.
Compared to a human, Yon-Rogg is quite threatening, enjoying all the benefits of Kree physiology, including enhanced durability, strength, and speed. Compared to Captain Marvel, however, he’s not a threat physically in the slightest, barely giving her any hesitation with his telekinetic devices before being utterly overpowered. Yon-Rogg might be something in the Kree Empire, but compared to one of the galaxy’s mightiest heroes, he more than falls short.
4
Sonny Burch Is A Two-Bit Thief
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Occasionally, Marvel villains serve more of a comic relief role than an actual serious threat. It makes sense that the most comedic franchise in the MCU, the Ant-Man trilogy, featured one of the best villains known for his hilarious presence rather than his genuine stake in the story. Enter Sonny Burch, yet another black market technology dealer who sought to steal Hank Pym’s mobile lab and sell it to nefarious bidders for a small fortune.
Sonny Burch spends most of the B-story in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania chasing around Scott Lang’s friend while him and Hope are too busy with Ghost. Eventually, when he actually does get his hands on the mobile lab, Sonny Burch doesn’t get far before a giant-sized Ant-Man chases him down and apprehends him. Walton Goggins’ hilarious Southern charm makes Sonny a memorable and hilarious villain, but a serious foe he is not.
3
Malekith Isn’t Able To Enact His Plans Successfully
Thor: The Dark World
It says a lot that many of the MCU’s most ineffectual villains hail from its more underseen films. Enter Malekith of Thor: The Dark World fame, played by Christopher Eccelston, who infamously hated the role. A dark elf once banished by Odin, Malekith sought to use the power of the Aether to erase the Marvel Cinematic Universe as audiences knew it, prompting an Asgardian response.
While Malekith’s plan certainly was high-stakes, but he isn’t able to do much to accomplish it. Compared to most beings in the MCU, Malekith would indeed be a fearsome foe, with his nearly godly levels of power, but compared to Thor, he falls far short. Malekith’s tale ends with him being shunted across the realms of Asgard and killed with his own warship, making him perhaps the single weakest villain Thor has gone up against in a solo film.
2
Mysterio Is Totally Reliant On His Illusions
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Once again, Spider-Man’s cinematic villains seem to pale in comparison to the wall-crawler himself. At first, Mysterio seems to be quite a significant threat, posing as a hero that travels around the world stopping the so-called “Elementals” from wreaking havoc. Admittedly, Mysterio is quite wily, able to successfully trick Peter Parker into handing over the valuable E.D.I.T.H. device to his control thanks to his acting skills and illusions.
Under his holograms, however, Mysterio is more or less a normal man. Other than the holograms, his drones are only armed with simple machine guns that deal real, lasting damage to the environment and Mysterio’s enemies. Spider-Man is a particularly bad match-up for the master of illusions, considering that his Spider-Sense allows him to act on instinct alone and cut through all the sound and noise Mysterio uses to distract and confound.
1
Sadie Deever Is Fired From Being A Villain
Ms. Marvel
It’s true that Ms. Marvel doesn’t have much in the way of a true overarching antagonist, but Sadie Deever is the closest thing the series has. A high-ranking agent of the Damage Control superhero monitor and response organization, Sadie leads the effort in apprehending Ms. Marvel as a new unknown superpowered individual. The organization is still growing its power in the MCU, and according to Sadie’s efforts, it doesn’t seem to be all that effectual.
Sadie Deever’s despicable tactics and unstable nature make her an interesting antagonist, but as an actual threat to Ms. Marvel, she isn’t able to stack up. Sadie doesn’t seem to be all that great at her job, and is perhaps the only villain in MCU history to have the honor of being fired from being a villain, unceremoniously ejected from her position via phone call. Few villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe can boast a bigger disparity in power compared to their enemy.
Upcoming MCU Movies
-
Captain America: Brave New World
- Release Date
-
February 14, 2025
Powered by
-
Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
-
May 2, 2025
Powered by
-
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
-
July 25, 2025
Powered by
-
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Powered by
-
Spider-Man Homecoming 4
- Release Date
-
July 24, 2026
Powered by
-
Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
-
May 7, 2027
Powered by
