Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1031724-20161023204704

(I'd post this on my previous thread, but no one really wants to read that presumably for the same reason I said in the title of this)

So, despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe being one of the most universally-adored movies of all time, one thing everyone else things that I disagree with is that the villains - aside from Loki, and probably Thanos, who we haven't really seen much of yet but we will, at least those of us still alive by then - are lame, and the weak link in the MCU.

But are they?

Every superhero story needs a villain, and doesn't it get repetitive to just have the same old villain each time? There's a huge rogues gallery in the Marvel comics and I think it's good they have a different villain for the hero to fight each time (most of the time), and, in most cases for Phases 1 and 2 - suspected to end Phase 3 but I'll have to see Doctor Strange to be sure - killing them off, because there's many unique and spectacular ways that can be done, three of them have been through use of an Infinity Stone, though two have been debated.

And they don't have to be really in-depth, tragic backstory (for all you Naruto lovers), sympathetic villains, standard megalomaniacs or apocalyptic villains are fine as long as they give us an enemy for the hero to fight in an epic battle at the end.

Let's take a look at the one-shot villains:

Obadiah Stane - Guy who betrays Stark and tries to take over his company, has his own Iron Man suit.

The Abomination - Like an evil version of the Hulk, not my favorite but it gives us someone who can be an even match for him, and he's one of the only three one-shot villains that survives, though Zemo is hinted to return.

Ivan Vanko - Another Iron Man enemy with a similar suit, he's a little less one-dimensional and he's played by Mickey Rourke

Justin Hammer - More considered the secondary antagonist, so he's trying to become more successful than Stark, like a rival to him

Red Skull - Classic Captain America enemy, plans to dominate the world using the first Infinity Stone, the tesseract

Aldrich Killian - Twist that he's the Mandarin rather than working for him (though this has been debated), and unique of the Iron Man villains, doesn't have his own suit, but is superpowered with Extremis. I thought he was an interesting villain

Malekith - Many thought he was dull and had no personality whatsoever, a generic doomsday villain, but I thought he was cool, sometimes mysteriousness makes them cooler, and one of my favorite final battles at the end, as well as one of the few alien villains. And his plan involved the second Infinity Stone

Alexander Pierce - Continues to operate HYDRA within SHIELD, and sparks a major turning point in the series.

Ronan the Accuser - Genocidal maniac, a surprisingly dark villain for a comedy movie, and they specifically made it their intention to make him not look like a wimp compared to Thanos by having him kill The Other in front of him, and later plans to kill Thanos himself once he gets the third Infinity Stone

Ultron - A major threat whose goal is the genocide of the human race, and has control over the internet and such, with all of his bodies to jump into, which all makes him nearly impossible to kill, if not for Vision. He also had an impact leading into Civil War.

Darren Cross - Well, he did seem like a more generic villain, wants to get the Yellowjacket Suits right and sell them to HYDRA. But again, as long as they give us a fun ride and are there for the hero to fight, does it really matter too much?

Helmut Zemo - Doesn't get a lot of screentime, I like them to get some screentime so we can get to know them and they can have a long run before their demise (which he didn't get), but he did have a big impact all the same. He split up the Avengers by manipulating them into fighting each other instead of trying to kill them himself like the other villains have tried to do. Like the Abomination and Hammer, he also gets imprisoned, but with satisfaction, and may return to be the third recurring main villain. 