Avengers: Endgame may very well be the last time we see Thanos as a villain in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe.
And though the comics have plenty of bad guys to choose from, filling Thanos' shoes won't
be easy.
It's got to be someone truly powerful and truly scary.
Here's a look at some of the villains who could be the next MCU big bad after Thanos.
In Marvel lore, the Celestials are a race of cosmic beings who created intelligent life
forms across the galaxy — including humanity — as a grand experiment.
And when that experiment fails to meet their standards, the Celestials… end it.
They've already shown up in Guardians of the Galaxy, with one of their heads serving as
the outpost called Knowhere, and they’re rumored to possibly be in the upcoming Eternals
movie, meaning the heroes of the MCU could literally meet their makers sooner rather
than later.
Of the villains we've actually seen in the MCU, possibly the most staggeringly powerful
was the godlike Dormammu of 2016's Doctor Strange.
Even Stephen Strange himself realized he had no prayer of defeating Dormammu, so he resorted
to some clever trickery to get the entity to promise not to mess with Earth again.
But oaths are made to be broken, and if Dormammu returns, it might take the combined might
of all the MCU heroes to stop him.
One of the better kept secrets of Infinity War was the surprise reappearance of Captain
America's old enemy, the Red Skull.
Audiences hadn't seen him on the big screen since 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger,
and the crimson-faced Hydra-founder's fate had been something of a mystery.
With Thanos gone, though, Red Skull may finally be free to return to Earth.
And who knows how his experience in space has changed him?
The dude was dangerous enough even before being cursed by an Infinity Stone.
Now?
He might even be a match for the Avengers.
Ever since fans learned that the shapeshifting alien Skrulls were going to appear in Captain
Marvel, there's been speculation about a big screen version of Secret Invasion, the 2008
Marvel Comics event that revealed the shapeshifting aliens had been infiltrating the Earth for
years.
Or maybe the groundbreaking 1971 epic Kree-Skrull War, which was at the heart of Captain Marvel.
Sure, the Skrulls in that film turned out to be okay.
But there could be plenty more that may not be quite so nice, meaning either of these
epic storylines could still be in store for MCU fans.
When a Marvel Comics reader thinks big, cosmic, world-threatening villain, Galactus is probably
the first one to come to mind.
An immortal entity who has lived since before the Big Bang, Galactus must feed his insatiable
hunger by devouring entire planets whole.
He sort of made an appearance in 2007's Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
But not really, as he was just a goofy cloud.
Now that Disney has re-acquired the rights to Galactus from 20th Century Fox, a glimpse
of his classic outfit and hearing some booming voice say "I…
HUNGER!" would be all you need to get fans ready for Phase 4.
How awesome would it be to see the Avengers fight the Justice League?
Well, it's not as crazy as you think, because Marvel actually has their own version of the
Justice League.
Called The Squadron Supreme, this alternate universe group of heroes features characters
that are all analogues of DC icons, like Superman...
Wonder Woman...
Green Lantern...
Flash... and Aquaman.
Sure, it would be a cheeky surprise if Marvel decided to risk a lawsuit from Warner Bros.
by promoting the Squadron to star players.
But comic book fans would be over the moon.
The payoff might just be worth the risk.
It isn't clear whether or not Mark Ruffalo will be continuing to appear as the Hulk after
Avengers: Endgame.
But if he does, there's an intriguing option on the table: Maestro.
It's been rumored for awhile that Bruce Banner and Hulk may reconcile their differences from
Avengers: Infinity War by combining into Professor Hulk, a version of the character who has the
Hulk's brute strength but Banner's brilliant mind.
Now imagine what might happen if someone like that turned evil?
That's the idea behind Maestro, who in the comics is a future version of Hulk who has
taken over the world and murdered all the other heroes in the process.
Now there's a threat that's truly chilling.
When it comes to Avengers villains, though, there's one that stands out above all the
rest — above Loki, above Ultron, and even above Thanos: Kang the Conqueror.
In the comics, no villain has more consistently given the Avengers more trouble than Kang,
a warlord from the distant future who uses time travel to invade other eras with his
technologically superior armies.
Kang is another character whose rights had been tied up at 20th Century Fox, but now
that Avengers: Endgame is rumored to involve time travel, it seems like the time might
finally be right for Kang to make his long awaited appearance.
Arguably Marvel's most important villain in the comics, Doctor Doom has appeared in two
different Fox iterations of the Fantastic Four movie franchise...and both versions have
been, for lack of a better term, total poop.
But like Galactus, Marvel Studios now has the movie rights to the character, so they
can do the doom right.
Doctor Doom has the presence and the power to give anyone a run for their money: not
only is he basically an evil Tony Stark, with genius level intellect and a suit of super
armor to match, he's also a sorcerer who can hang with Doctor Strange.
And you know what can happen when more than one powerful doctor gets in the same room
together...
"...I don't have to say anything.
I'm a doctor too."
And those aren't the only heroes for whom Doctor Doom is an evil reflection.
Think seeing a big screen version of Wakanda, ruled by the heroic Black Panther, was amazing?
Imagine how awesome it'd be to see an MCU version of Doctor Doom ruling Latveria with
a literal iron fist.
In the comics, he's beaten the Avengers and taken over the world single-handedly, so we
can't wait to see him in the MCU sooner or later.
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