After 33 movies and 12 Disney+ series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has built an enormous library of villains, many of which have not yet reached their full potential. With the multiverse blown wide open, there is no limit to what can occur, making even death something that MCU characters can return from with the right story. As a result, Marvel now has the opportunity to not just reward viewers with return appearances of all of their favorite villains but also to correct and tweak the less-loved ones with rich potential throughout Phase 6 of the MCU.

Over the past 16 years, the MCU has shown a willingness to subtly redo characters. This happened with Baron Zemo, who first appeared in Captain America: Civil War before getting an extensive, comic-book-accurate rework for his celebrated return in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. Then this was done with The Mandarin, appearing in Iron Man 3 before being changed by introducing the real Mandarin in Shang-Chi. With The Fantastic Four, Blade, and Avengers: Secret Wars among those confirmed for Phase 6, there are many exciting opportunities for exploration of underutilized villains ahead.

10

Ultron

Played By James Spader And Ross Marquand

In Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Tony Stark sets out to build a suit of armor around the world and creates Ultron, one of the most terrifying threats the Avengers have yet to face. While an important story, much of Age of Ultron is viewed harshly upon rewatch. This has led to the franchise showing how the film’s events affected Tony’s worldview while avoiding any significant return of James Spader’s ominous threat. As artificial intelligence becomes more and more pervasive in daily life, opportunities for the MCU to return to Tony Stark’s legacy through Ultron grow more likely.

Ultron has returned in two minor ways, in a scene in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness and more significantly in What If…?, but there are still many opportunities for the villain to reappear in the MCU proper. Perhaps the most obvious would be in the upcoming feature Armor Wars. Formerly a TV series, the story of Armor Wars needs a hook and a big, colorful threat to justify its jump to the big screen, which Ultron could easily provide.

9

Ronan the Accuser

Played By Lee Pace

Appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel, Lee Pace delivers a captivating and stoic performance as Ronan the Accuser. With that said, there may not be much that most viewers would remember from this character beyond his elegant makeup and powerful voice. With Ronan’s ties to Thanos and the power stone, he is a prime candidate for future exploration in the MCU while retaining a link to the stories that have been told before.

As the cosmic side of Marvel continues to be explored following Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Marvels, there are many opportunities to include Ronan in upcoming stories. In keeping with the comic book where he first appeared, the upcoming The Fantastic Four would be an ideal place to include Ronan. Rumored as a multiverse story, rendering Ronan’s death at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy irrelevant, the film has the opportunity to feature Ronan alongside Galactus and The Silver Surfer, giving viewers an anchor to the MCU by retaining Lee Pace in a new setting.

8

The Vulture

Played By Michael Keaton

Adrian Toomes is one of the most beloved villains to be introduced in the MCU. Like the Tom Holland iteration of Peter Parker, the comic book canon for The Vulture was taken loosely, resulting in a character that felt fresh. The MCU’s Vulture is terrifying and fierce but also has relatable motivations and a family connection that makes his crimes understandable if not justifiable. With Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s end putting Toomes in prison while refusing to disclose Spider-Man’s secret identity, an interesting future seemed to be set up for the character.

Character rights between Sony and Disney complicated this when Toomes was whisked away to another universe in Morbius’ most controversial scene. In setting up their own cinematic universe, Sony hoped to create a team feature with Morbius, The Vulture, Venom, and others. However, after Morbius failed at the box office, those plans were muddied, leaving room for Toomes to return to the MCU. Vulture could now be utilized in the upcoming Spider-Man 4, where his multiversal travel may have left him still aware of Peter Parker’s identity as Spider-Man.

7

Green Goblin

Played by Willem Dafoe

Norman Osborn might be the greatest comic book villain of all time. This was exemplified by Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, which built its entire plot around a conflict with Willem Dafoe’s villain. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 went in a different direction, killing Chris Cooper’s Osborn just as the audience met him to defer to Dane DeHaan’s New Goblin. Feeling there was no way to improve on Willem Dafoe’s Goblin, the MCU used that same version of the character in Spider-Man: No Way Home before sending him back to his universe.

With Tom Holland’s Peter Parker left to start over after the events of No Way Home, Spider-Man 4 can introduce another Norman Osborn, and perhaps even a new Green Goblin who is a hero. Peter needs people he can relate to, and a shared love of science could provide a complex connection with another iteration of Osborn while Peter grapples with the villain he knows he could become. While Defoe’s Norman Osborn lamented that he didn’t exist in the MCU universe, this could easily be changed, and a charismatic performer could provide a new, exciting take on the character.

6

Baron Mordo

Played By Chiwetel Ejiofor

Following a starring role in the Academy Award-winning 12 Years A Slave, Chiwetel Ejiofor’s casting in Doctor Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme’s nemesis, Baron Karl Mordo, was as exciting as it was inspired. When the film was released, however, the character took a backseat to Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius and served as a mentor rather than an antagonist to Strange. The film ended with a tease of his heel turn that was never followed up on, and after Doctor Strange, many questions about Mordo remained.

Doctor Strange 3 is inevitable, with talk of release sooner than later, likely in Phase 6. Considering that he has been the primary antagonist of Doctor Strange since 1961 and has ties to Dormammu and The Ancient One, it is important that the arc of Baron Mordo finally be realized in a bombastic, colorful clash of magic. Thanks to the deleted scene omission of his death in Multiverse Of Madness, Baron Mordo is still on his quest to kill sorcerers. For the sake of Doctor Strange’s trilogy story, this clash of magical titans must finally be realized.

5

Justin Hammer

Played By Sam Rockwell

As the role of technology in modern life has continued to evolve, so has the perception of many of the tech billionaires who live in the public eye. Iron Man 2‘s Justin Hammer calls to mind many real-world controversial figures, and his weapons-manufacturing, anti-Tony-Stark presence finally has the chance to shine in the MCU. Justin Hammer is conniving, immoral, frustrating, and shallow, and all that makes for a lot of fun to watch, especially when played with humor by Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell.

A return by Hammer in Armor Wars feels necessary. The MCU has spent a great deal of time reflecting on the world after Tony Stark and discussing Iron Man’s role as Avengers leader. An interrogation of that legacy to be instrumental in shaping the MCU moving forward. Just as John Walker emerged as a dark, new Captain America in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, similar ground can be trod in Armor Wars with Hammer filling Stark’s vacant space in the public eye.

4

Red Skull

Played By Hugo Weaving And Ross Marquand

Nazis have always made effective villains, and Johann Schmidt is perhaps the worst of all of them. Debuting in 1941, Red Skull has had one of the longest runs in comic book history yet has barely made an impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the primary antagonist in Captain America: The First Avenger, the long-running rivalry between Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull and Chris Evans’ Captain America was set up. In The Avengers, however, it seemed that Steve Rogers alone had made it into the future, with only the specter of Hydra outliving Schmidt.

Avengers: Infinity War changed this, bringing the Red Skull back as a spirit guarding the soul stone. While this was a thrill for viewers who had given up hope of seeing Schmidt again, there is so much more that can be explored with the Red Skull in the future of the MCU. Especially when realizing how Red Skull plays the major MCU role of being why Captain America exists, a return of Schmidt is overdue. Due to his spiritual ties, Red Skull could easily be a main threat in Avengers 5 or a featured antagonist in the Shang-Chi sequel.

3

Mysterio

Played By Jake Gyllenhaal

The MCU’s take on Quentin Beck had a greater impact on the hero than many of the preceding stories of Marvel’s greatest illusionist. Mysterio is often considered to be a joke, and Sam Raimi even planned a Mysterio played by Bruce Campbell in Spider-Man 4 as a humorous cameo. In the 2004 video game Spider-Man 2, a hilarious misdirect occurs when the player encounters the villain stealing from a bodega. His health bar appears impossibly large as the battle begins, and so it is a surprise when one punch is all that it takes to defeat the sniveling foe.

While Mysterio was supposedly killed by a blast from his drones in Spider-Man: Far From Home, the film clearly shows how effective he is at manipulating illusions. With this in mind, Mystrerio could easily return in Spider-Man 4 or the upcoming Avengers sequel. Because the next Spider-Man story will begin with Peter Parker having been forgotten by the world, seeing Peter contend with his anger against Mysterio for ruining his life could be an effective counterpoint to the mercy he showed to the villains of other worlds in No Way Home.

2

Namor The Sub-Mariner

Played By Tenoch Huerta

Controversies with star Tenoch Huerta aside, the introduction of Namor is one of the most successful components of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Understandable motivations have been the key to some of Marvel’s most popular villains, and mistrust of the surface forced the water-dwelling Namor the Sub-Mariner to emerge from the sunken nation of Talokan to provoke war. Including the recent reinventions of Namor by Jason Aaron, there are innumerable stories to explore with the character, and it has been disappointing to hear so little about where he will appear next.

A Namor solo film would be an excellent addition to the MCU and could take up one of the untitled slots on Marvel’s release calendar. Whether with Huerta or a recast, Namor is an important figure in the Marvel universe and there are great stories of the water-dwelling mutant that, due to comic ties, could fit well into unannounced X-Men features or The Fantastic Four. It was previously confirmed that Namor would appear in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, however, it is unclear if that is still the case following the title and writer change.

1

Scarlet Witch

Played By Elizabeth Olsen

After a complex MCU timeline over 8 years, Wanda Maximoff has to return to the franchise. Even if the Scarlet Witch did die in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, it was a death that was not significant enough to her legacy built from Age of Ultron to WandaVision. Whether Marvel decides to undo her death or bring in a new variant of the character from another universe, there is too much left to do with Wanda. Especially with X-Men stories forthcoming, Wanda is very important to the future of the MCU.

It seems unlikely that, with plans for Avengers: Secret Wars to center around virtually every hero of every generation coming together to fight an enormous threat, there are no plans for Wanda to return. She could feature prominently in Vision Quest or appear in Agatha. There is necessary closure to her character and her relationship with her children that is required after her sudden heel turn in Multiverse of Madness. With many stories left to tell, it would be disappointing if a proper conclusion was not provided to one of the most developed characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.