A Look at What Makes a Great MCU Villain

Scene from Black Panther

A few years back, there was one common complaint among critics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It was labeled "the villain problem" in that the franchise had trouble creating characters that were seen as iconic or interesting as their superhero counterpart. It's still easy to play this game: Name the bad guy of Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor: The Dark World. Even if you liked these films, the villains share a certain blandness that keeps them from standing out. It's partially what made this past weekend's Black Panther such a revelation. Not only was Killmonger a good villain, but he was one on par with the other cast members. He was just as interesting, worthy of serious discussion. So, what separates him from Ronan the Accuser or Malekith? There's something not in what superpowers they have, but what character developments they have.

For the sake of argument, this piece will only address MCU villains. There have been 18 movies now, and they all have had characters with varying degrees of intrigue. But honestly, how many stand out as being exceptional? Usually these films get by on the heroes bantering with each other while cool action set pieces take place. There's nothing wrong with that, though it does play into a central issue: a great superhero movie can have a foe that's an equal but opposite force. Usually this gets associated with strength, but one can argue that this comes with something deeper: intellect, capabilities, and overall empathy. After all, fiction thrives on making characters that have something for the audience no matter what their moral compass is like. 

It's an issue that has really impacted the quality of the first two phases of the MCU. For instance, one could argue that the Iron Man series never had an interesting foe in spite of being the flagship series. Guardians of the Galaxy had a fun journey into space, but nobody remembers Ronan the Accuser quite like Rocket Raccoon or Nebula. This isn't a terrible thing, but the best movies can play both sides with interesting foes. As it stands, it's difficult to name who the bad guy was in Ant-Man or Doctor Strange in spite of those films being intriguing. At best, the Captain America and Thor franchises have both benefited from having the seeds of what makes a good villain. In Captain America: The First Avenger, the presence of Red Skull could leave an impact because he symbolized Nazism in a raw nerve sort of way. Thor meanwhile introduced what would be the best tool for the MCU: family conflict. 

For what it's worth, the Thor movies are the weakest of the Phase 1 series in spite of having a family conflict that is nevertheless compelling. Thor and Loki are brothers, but both follow different paths. Here's where the MCU starts to get interesting: Loki, in mythology, is the trickster God and thus is seen more as an annoying brother who causes havoc. There's personal stakes on display that lead The Avengers to a compelling fight not because Loki was as strong as The Hulk or Black Widow, but because he had the brains to run an operation against his brother. It's likely why he still appears randomly throughout the franchise, and has recently introduced sister Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. For whatever conflict Loki and Thor have, they're still siblings, and Hela is much worse than either of them.

Scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier

On one hand, relationship status could be seen as an easy tool towards a great villain. It gives a deeper emotional stake for the characters when battling each other. Suddenly, it's personal in a way that makes us understand both sides without having to create exposition. For Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the choice to create former friend Bucky Barnes as a temporary enemy is an equally nice touch, suggesting that the powers can turn even the purest of intentions into something corrupt. There has to be a central drive to the characters beyond that they're evil and want to watch the world burn. So far, Thanos embodies this perfectly, as he's been mostly set-up without much character building. He may be the most powerful being in the MCU, but as a character he has done little to build anticipation.

Another aspect that could help is to not make the characters feel distant from each other. The issue with many of these characters is that they feel, at best, like impersonal coworkers who have pity grudges. Whiplash in Iron Man 2 attempted to have a personality but failed to be more than a guy who slings electricity. Abomination in The Incredible Hulk was equally as strong as The Hulk, but never was interesting as a central character when he wasn't mad. It's one thing to make them complicated in a way on par with Loki or Bucky Barnes, but to remove a narrative beyond "destroy your idols" is a quick way to make them forgettable. Even with Hydra, they're a bit faceless and lack anything cooler than people chanting "Hail Hydra" while brainwashing superheroes and, with exception to Captain America: Civil War, it's a bit hokey.

Scene from Spider-Man: Homecoming

On another note, it does feel like Phase 3 has largely been developed to fight the villain problem head on. There's of course Hela and Killmonger, but there's also The Vulture (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Ego (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2). These four are already far more interesting than most of the first two phases of villains. To some capacity, they all represent antagonists with goals to destroy that go beyond simply blowing something up. For The Vulture, he threatens to separate Peter Parker from his girlfriend. For Ego, he threatens to destroy the mythology that Peter Quill has of having an awesome father. Hela, somehow, has more powers than Thor or Loki which forces them to join forces in a manner that's long been their own personal conflict. It's putting these characters into a struggle that's different from simply finding their weak spot. It's about finding something that tears them apart emotionally.

Which is why Killmonger in Black Panther is likely to go down as one of the best that MCU will ever achieve. The film centers around the struggle of black identity both in America and in Africa. The fact that Killmonger has his own complicated past makes his turn towards evil all the more tragic. With a few plot changes, he could've been a protagonist. Instead, he knows of his poor fate, and gives into the negative divide of his own culture, choosing industrialization over environmentalism, and the idealistic divides of two continents. He is a foe with a lot to offer. Some could argue that even his former partner, Claw, is compelling in that he represents white colonialism in a way that is true to the antagonists of real life African cultures. It's a rich text, and one that would derail this discussion entirely.

But these four villains elevate the films into some of the most critically acclaimed MCU films in their entire canon. Sure, there have been some that have been oddly memorable in off ways (Ultron in The Avengers: Age of Ultron), but the best characters that audiences are likely to remember are ones that connect with themes that are personal to them. It helps that in general the MCU has tried to explore something besides exterior struggles. Civil War attempted to show the divide with heroism as a concept, Homecoming showed a coming of age story with superheroes, and Ragnarok showed that a culture is more defined by who's in it than where it is. Even if these films have succeeded to varying degrees, adding a threat to the very basis of a superhero is enough to make them immediately more interesting. 

The Avengers in 2012 was the breaking point where these could just be more stories in which superheroes fly with the greatest of ease. Phase 2 kicked off a sense of greater purpose, such as suggesting government espionage in The Winter Soldier. It's taken awhile for the concept and the characters to mesh in a way that didn't feel like conflicting tools for a story, but what they have created is comic book movies that try to be about something more while also being pieces for a bigger picture. Who knows. Maybe The Avengers: Infinity War will make Thanos into a far more interesting villain. For now however, he's really boring and Killmonger is already the best that 2018 has to offer. Why even try?