In the MCU, the Avengers do not go down easily.
Even when they've been defeated, they've always managed to get back up and prove that they're
a threat not to be taken lightly.
But now that the Infinity Saga has come to a close, and we wonder what threats await
for the team on the horizon, we can't help but wonder what other villains from the comics
could give them a run for their money.
So today, we're counting down the top 10 villains who could defeat the Avengers.
Now, for the sake of this video, we're going to be looking solely at the MCU Avengers,
and looking at the iteration of the core team from the films - we're talking Captain America,
Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye.
Because we're dabbling in the MCU, we're going to avoid talking about villains from other
comic universes, aka, all of the big bads in the DC who could take them on - although
give us a shout in those comments if you'd like us to do a list on that.
Also, note that there are some spoilers for Avengers End Game and Infinity War in this
video - you've been warned!
So with that in mind, let's get to it!
10 Taskmaster Taskmaster's got some pretty neat abilities.
After injecting himself with a nazi created primer, aka a modified adrenal steroid costisol,
his mind's procedural memory potential was unlocked, allowing him to absorb knowledge
immediately.
This extends to his muscle memory, meaning, when seeing someone fight, he can mimic their
moves, making him a rather difficult individual to battle since he can predict what characters
will do next in a fight.
The only person who manages to evade this ability of Taskmaster's is Deadpool due to
the character being so darn unpredictable.
In the comics, Taskmaster has actually defeated multiple Avengers characters, including Hank
Pym's Yellowjacket and the Wasp, and managed to fight both Iron Man and Captain America
without getting his butt embarrassingly kicked.
While it would be real darn lucky if Taskmaster managed to defeat the whole team, he's still
got a decent chance of throwing them off guard and getting the upper hand if coming at them
unprepared, or if they fought him with no knowledge of his abilities.
Although these days in the comics, he's considerably less threatening, having joined the Secret
Avengers despite having a history of being a sleeper agent.
9 Cyclops Cyclops is one of the original X-Men members,
meaning it's likely that in the future of the MCU, whenever the X-Men are introduced,
we'll be seeing Scott Summers make an appearance, running with the good guys.
But, during the Avengers vs X-Men story event, Cyclops was a major threat to the Avengers.
In the story arc, Cyclops becomes possessed by the Phoenix Force, and he essentially conquers
Earth which forces the Avengers into hiding.
Cyclops would eventually lose control of the Phoenix Force, becoming Dark Phoenix, and
kills Charles Xavier, but is later defeated by his daughter Hope Summers and Scarlet Witch.
Not saying that we'll be seeing Scott's more nefarious side anytime soon, but it's something
that once upon a time was a prominent threat, so who knows how things in the future may
pan out.
8 MODOK MODOK is a villain that's existed in the comics
since 1967, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
And in case you're wondering, his name stands for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing.
That M has sometimes stood for Mobile or Mechanized, might I add.
Anywho, he was initially an employee of AIM's before they used him for an experiment, which
turned him into MODOK, and he rebelled against them, taking over AIM.
He's not only got a superhuman intellect in that big ol head of his; he's got psionic
powers and the ability to calculate probabilities, too.
Here's the thing though - the likelihood that we'd ever see MODOK entering the live action
MCU doesn't seem viable.
Recently, the character was announced to be getting his own animated series on Disney's
streaming service, and it seems to be an adaptation that will make the character more of an anti-hero
rather than flat out villain.
Plus, I don't think anyone ever wants to imagine the possibility of MODOK manipulating Carol
Danvers into thinking he's a hot little piece that she should make out with.
Yes, that actually happened in the comics.
Moving on.
7 Doctor Doom Victor Von Doom may not originate as an Avengers
villain, but he's come into conflict with the team in the comics, along with some of
their members individually over the years as well.
He's perhaps one of the most nerve wracking villains thanks to his abilities - Victor
is a scientist, a sorcerer, an inventor and a polymath with a genius level intellect.
He can manipulate electricity, project and absorb energy, create protective shields and
can summon demons.
But perhaps his most defiant traits are his remarkably indomitable will and his code of
honor; he once saved Captain America from drowning because Cap had saved his life in
the past.
He knows how to take advantage of a situation, and can be cunning and manipulative when he
needs to be.
Combining technology and sorcery has made him quite deadly.
Due to the rights for the character and the Fantastic Four now back in the hands of Marvel
Studios and Disney, we're sure we'll eventually see Doctor
6 Thanos Hey, I mean, this is technically true.
The first time around in Infinity War, Thanos defeated the Avengers and was successful in
his plan to eliminate half of all living things in the universe.
And then, in the prime timeline, he used the stones to destroy the stones before Thor decapitated
him.
The second time around, when 2014 Thanos showed up on the prime timeline, he almost defeated
them again, if it weren't for Tony Stark sacrificing himself to kill off Thanos and his army once
and for all.
Needless to say, if another timeline's Thanos popped into the prime timeline again, we know
that the Mad titan would be one hell of a threat for the Avengers, with or without the
infinity stones in his possession.
5 Magus Whose worse than Thanos?
How about the guy who ends up wielding the Gauntlet in the comics after Thanos fails?
Or rather, that guy's evil self?
We're talking about Adam Warlock's less ethical other half, Magus.
So for context, during Warlock's cosmic travels he came across the Universal Church of Truth
and their god, a fellow named Magus.
Turns out Magus is himself from the future, a corrupted version who occasionally pops
up to screw with Adam.
Magus believes that the concepts of good and evil are tools that allow one to chain sentient
beings, and craves all to worship him.
And if they don't, he'll just kill them.
And his powers?
He's got cosmic awareness, he's a shape shifter, he can summon the In-Betweener, he can manipulate
energy, absorb a being's life force, he uses quantum magic, can manipulate time and transmute
reality, is psionic and of course, possesses superhuman strength and all that jazz.
Overall, he's incredibly deadly.
4 Sentry/Void Sentry aka Robert Reynolds may have only been
introduced into the Marvel universe back in 2000, but he's definitely not a threat to
take lightly.
He was granted his powers from a super soldier serum that moves his molecules an instant
ahead of the current timeline, although in the Age of Sentry miniseries it's implied
that he's actually a refugee sentient life force from another universe.
He's a little like Superman to an extent, but said to be omnipotent, who generally holds
back his full might.
When he was first introduced though, Robert was a depressed chubby dude who started remembering
a different past, which unravels the truth - he existed in the Marvel universe all along,
but everyone's memories have been altered to forget him entirely.
This is because Robert was trying to suppress Void, a benevolent entity within him who has
all the same powers as Sentry does, can shape shift, control weather and can create something
called infini-tendrils which attack one's minds in traumatic ways.
He's gone toe to toe with some of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, too.
Needless to say, you could imagine why the Avengers would prefer Sentry over Void.
3 Mephisto Mephisto is literally Marvel's version of
the devil.
He's based on Mephistopheles, the demon from the Faust legend, and first appeared back
in the Silver Age in 1968 in The Silver Surfer issue 3.
Written by Stan Lee, the character would be a tempter who offered the Silver Surfer the
world, dangling his off limits long distance lover in front of him - all things that the
Surfer rejected thanks to his goodness and nobility.
But thus started a pattern with the character in the comics - he's constantly used as a
vehicle for temptation, for making 'deals with the devil', and he's always a character
ready to take advantage of a situation.
Hell, he even hung out with Thanos while the mad titan had the infinity stones in the 1991
Infinity Gauntlet series, knowing that the mad titan was emotionally unstable.
So what makes him deadly?
He's an immortal entity with magical powers, capable of a whole lot - he can alter time,
alter memories, project illusions, shape and size shift, and has superhuman strength and
durability.
If his physical form is destroyed, he can regenerate and reform in his home domain.
So why make deals with characters?
Mephisto cannot subjugate the will of another without their permission, which is why he
manipulates them through pacts.
So you can see how something like that could get real tricky for the Avengers of the MCU;
the closest we've ever gotten to that kind of deep rooted manipulation was likely in
Age of Ultron when Scarlet Witch manipulated their minds.
2 Galactus Next to Thanos, Galactus is one of the biggest
bads to ever find himself in the panels of Marvel comics.
But here's the thing about Galactus - he's not evil, per se.
Rather, the reason Galactus does what he does best - going around and devouring planets
- is because he's fulfilling his hunger.
He's essential to the balance of the universe (guess no one filled Thanos in on that, did
they).
Yet, in the comics, Galactus has been a major threat of the planet's, having decided on
Earth as a planet suitable for his consumption.
1 Korvac Korvac first appeared in 1975 in Giant Sized
Defenders issue 3, created by Jim Starlin (who also created Thanos) and Steve Gerber.
Initially Korvac was meant to be a throw away character, a dude named Michael Korvac who
hailed from Earth 691 and went through some serious crap.
He was a computer technician who, after the alien Brotherhood of Badoon invaded his planet,
was punished by them when falling asleep at work, turning his upper body into a machine,
making him a cyborg.
He's used by the Grandmaster as a pawn in battling Doctor Strange and the Defenders.
But after an encounter with the Guardians and Thor, he became a real threat - enter
the Korvac Saga.
Korvac fled his universe and came to Earth 616, where he stumbles upon Galactus' space
station, and decides to download Galactus' knowledge into his own body.
This causes him to be imbued with the power cosmic, essentially becoming a god, and he
decides to re-shape earth into a utopia.
Elders of the universe begin to sense his existence - The Collector, in an act of protection,
decides to remake his own daughter Carina into a powerful being to use as a weapon against
him, but she and Korvac fall in love.
Korvac is eventually found out by the heroes of Earth and is forced into battle, killing
a ton of heroes in the process.
And after defeating them all, what does he do?
He commits suicide after sensing that Carina doubts him, and in the process, restores the
Avengers and Guardians to life before he dies.
While the Korvac saga has been occasionally criticized for its story line, you can't deny
that he'd be an interesting villain for the Avengers to take on in the future in the MCU.
Alright, there we have it friends!
What other villains can you think of from the Marvel comics would make great additions
to the MCU as the next big Avengers foe?
Give us a shout in those comments below and let us know your thoughts and theories.
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