Movies based on comic book superheroes have
never been bigger or better, but each new
film or franchise requires a supervillain
that is just as memorable. As the stakes and
threats are rising every year, and Marvel's
shared universes continue to unite heroes
against a common enemy, the villains will
need to up their game just as quickly. That
may seem a tall order, but there's no shortage
of villains who could fit the bill. Here are
Screen Rant's 10 Most Powerful Villains In
The Marvel Universe.
Ultron
The classic Marvel villain Ultron may have
been made famous on film, but the comic book
version is even more dangerous. Hank Pym originally
created Ultron using his own mind as a blueprint,
giving the A.I. genius-level intellect, and
leading it to upgrade itself multiple times
before attacking the Avengers. Constructing
a new body out of the indestructible metal
Adamantium, Ultron's powers go well beyond
superstrength, flight, or speed. He's notoriously
hard to kill, turning on every other villain
who decided to bring him back to life. Add
that fact that he can control technology remotely,
and even hypnotize humans to implant secret
missions, and Ultron's constantly evolving
intelligence can go toe-to-toe with the best
comic book villains, period.
Vulcan
Every X-Men fan knows of the Summers brothers,
codenamed Cyclops and Havok, and both able
to launch powerful energy attacks. Scott,
in the form of beams from his eyes, and Alex,
released in waves or along his arms. But it's
the third Summers brother, Gabriel, who can
call himself the most powerful. Since he's
basically able to control energy in nearly
every form, Gabriel can deflect Cyclops' eyebeams,
resist psychic attacks, and even hijack or
absorb the abilities of mutants around him.
When he feels betrayed by professor X, he
takes the name Vulcan, and turns those powers
against his own family. Thankfully, he pursued
his villainy in space, not on Earth, becoming
the head of an entire alien empire.
The Dark Phoenix
Back when Jean Grey was only the psychic 'Marvel
Girl,' the writers of the 'X-Men' series decided
to stun readers by making her the most powerful
mutant yet. Exposing Jean to lethal radiation,
she emerged as 'Phoenix,' a physical form
of the cosmic and otherworldly 'Phoenix Force.'
Eventually, her heightened powers corrupted
her, driving Jean mad and wiping out alien
worlds by accident. Wielding telekinetic and
psychic power beyond any of her friends, Phoenix
ended her own life to prevent more death.
Even though the publisher would later reveal
it wasn't really Jean, but a copy of her created
by the Phoenix Force, The Phoenix Saga remains
a fan-favorite. The story was attempted on
film by director Brett Ratner, but it couldn't
hold a candle
to
the comics.
Galactus
Originally created to fight the Fantastic
Four, Galactus isn’t an alien, or a god...
but a bit of both. Before the Big Bang created
Marvel's universe, an alien fled the death
of the one that came before, fusing with its
essence before the new one took its place.
Galactus was the result: a god-like embodiment
of the cosmos that most beings can't even
perceive, who has to feed on living planets
to stay alive. His scout, the Silver Surfer
may get most of the recognition, but Galactus
has the power to do just about anything: transform
matter, teleport, create life, revive the
dead...you name it. Even the brilliant Reed
Richards couldn't tell just where Galactus'
powers ended, but exploiting his weak spots
has saved Earth more than a few times.
Thanos
The alien known as the Mad Titan joined the
Avengers universe following their first team-up,
hinting that Earth's first encounter with
magical cosmic weapons was only the beginning.
In the comics, ancient cosmic beings created
a race of Eternals to defend Earth, but when
Thanos (pronounced Thann-ose) was born, the
genes he shared with the Eternals' sworn enemies
were clear, and he was shunned. To prove his
love to Mistress Death, Thanos killed billions
of innocents across space, including his own
people. He may have been based on the DC Comics
villain Darkseid (pronounced "Dark Side"),
but using the Infinity Gauntlet to amplify
his superhuman strength, psychic powers, and
universe-hopping technology, Thanos has defeated
Marvel's greatest heroes too many times to
count.
The Beyonder
Plenty of Marvel villains can claim to be
the biggest threat a universe has to offer,
but few can actually state that they ARE a
universe. When The Beyonder was introduced
as the main antagonist of Marvel's "Secret
Wars," it was revealed that he was no mutant
or alien, but an entire universal realm known
as 'The Beyond' condensed into a human form.
And his powers were as impressive as you'd
expect. Able to banish demons effortlessly,
destroy, resurrect, and reshape beings at
will, The Beyonder was even able to defeat
Death itself. How did The Beyonder first use
that power? To throw heroes and villains into
battle for his amusement - proving that even
if your existence is an infinite one, a sense
of humor can't hurt.
Annihilus
When an advanced race from Marvel's Negative
Zone seeded barren worlds with alien spores,
they couldn't have predicted that one spore
would grow into Annihilus. Evolving from a
weak insect into a brilliant warrior thanks
to his creators' technology, Annihilus set
out to destroy any and all life he saw as
a threat. Over the years, that would come
to include the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and
nearly every other Marvel superhero team.
It's hard to know what's scarier: the Cosmic
Control Rod he wields, granting him superstrength
and immortality, or his Centurions - 200 superpowered
aliens plucked from the Negative Zone's many
planets. Oh, and he can't be killed without
coming back to life even angrier than before.
Apocalypse
Five thousand years before mutants emerged
into the Marvel Universe, there was Apocalypse.
Born with grey skin and blue lips in ancient
Egypt, his tribe left him to die. Instead,
he was discovered by a band of warriors who
recognized the boy as "En Sabah Nur" - the
first, immortal mutant. Over the years, Apocalypse
would take a new name, and reveal more mutant
powers than nearly another other Marvel character.
Able to reshape his body, strength, speed,
and nearly everything else, there's no challenge
the villain can't change to defeat. Eventually
taking over Earth and mutant kind to separate
the weak from the strong, no mutant could
ever make the X-Men tremble like Apocalypse.
Magus
Every Marvel fan knows the story of Adam Warlock,
a hero engineered to be the most perfect and
highly-evolved human in existence. Not long
after being created, Adam encountered Magus,
a leader of pure evil who led an oppressive
religious empire across thousands of enslaved
worlds. With powers of "Quantum Magic" well
beyond Warlock, the real twist came when Magus
revealed that he was once Adam Warlock, eventually
corrupted and growing impossibly powerful.
Warlock ended up using his Soul Gem (and some
teamwork) to bring Magus down, but his millennia-long
empire and limitless power make him one of
the greatest villains in Marvel's multiverse.
Doctor Doom
Not every villain needs a superpower or alien
upbringing to be effective. Take Victor Von
Doom: left with one parent lost to a demon,
and the other to a tyrant, Victor put his
energy into righting those wrongs. Mixing
his mother's mysticism with old-fashioned
science, his brilliance soon landed him a
scholarship to America. But when an experiment
left his face horribly scarred, he put the
blame on his friend and colleague, Reed Richards
of the Fantastic Four. Taking over his home
country of Latveria, Doctor Doom would become
one of Marvel's most brilliant - and most
villainous - figures, even curing The Thing
of his condition, when Reed could never achieve
it. The bad news: that was who sabotaged his
experiment in the first place.
So what do you think of our list? Did we miss
any powerful villains in the marvel universe?
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