Top 10 Greatest MCU Villain Backstories

These sympathetic villains are some of the best in MCU history. For this list, we’ll be looking at villains featured in MCU films and television shows with the most interesting pasts. Our countdown includes Loki, Thanos, Erik Killmonger, and more! Who’s your favorite MCU villain? Let us know in the comments below!
Watch more great Marvel videos here:
Every MCU Movie Ranked: • Every MCU Movie Ranked
Top 10 Most Anticipated Marvel Movies: • Top 10 Most Anticipate...
Top 20 MCU Moments That Broke the Internet: • Top 20 MCU Moments Tha...
Have Your Idea Become A Video!
wmojo.com/suggest
Subscribe for more great content!
wmojo.com/watchmojo-subscribe
Visit WatchMojo Club for Great Deals!
wmojo.com/WatchMojoClub
Your trusted authority for Top 10 lists, reviews, tips and tricks, biographies, origins, and entertainment news on Film, TV, Video Games, Comics, Celeb, Music and Superheroes.
#Villains
#Marvel
#Thanos

[@WatchMojo]

Who’s your favorite MCU villain? Let us know in the comments below! For everything Marvel, check out our playlist!: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWmWlqmNd5uLbbc

[@edpadilla9402]

Top 10 time scorpion when beast mode (Mortal Kombat)

[@holty1314]

0:46 how did she make it and not the Iron Monger? 1:53 THATS NOT MCU!!! 3:13 AGAIN NOT MCU!!!! 4:29 u guys r taking the p*ss 5:39 🤯🔫 6:59 🪦

[@josephcarvil9474]

My favorite Villain is Ghost! 👻

[@holdensoderberg6428]

Killmonger and Thanos are my favorite villains

[@mlggamer5296]

Thanos or Killmonger. There's nobody else better than them in my opinion

[@alejandroxxv]

Too bad Magneto is not part of the MCU because honestly he has the best backstory of all Marvel.

[@outbreakperfected5704]

And it would also give Wanda and Pietro one of the best backstories as well

[@supdawg2559]

Above every fox mutant i would love to have michael fassbender back!! By far my favorite character of the new class!!

[@sgtcrack]

Him and Dr. Doom would probably be numbers 1 and 2

[@pedrovargas500]

Magneto is part of the mcu x men is m c u

[@theunknown7441]

No lol it's DR DOOM

[@meagtaylor3392]

Why ya'll sleeping on Zemo? The Avengers-Tony more accurately-inadvertently caused the destruction of his country and death of his family and he has a 100% win rate!

[@WatchMojo]

Love Zemo, good feedback!

[@RJIS]

I honestly didn’t like Zemo tbh

[@TheImaginator972]

Both Killmonger and Thanos are the most biggest MCU villains I truly enjoy and their backstory is truly understand that drove them to evil.

[@buggyyuji851]

Same

[@bobthedopeman7327]

Most biggest?

[@jamiemiller1482]

Thanos is, Killmonger not so much

[@joshuamohlman]

Almost every villain had abusive or dead parents and swore to not be like them if they were evil Well they became supervillains, so I’d say they’d succeeded

[@tdog703]

This is why villains are more fun then hero's

[@joshuamohlman]

@@tdog703 agreed

[@jamesblacker1840]

I’m sorry, but how is Red Skull’s backstory more interesting than Kilgrave or Kingpin’s?

[@Idontexisthihi001]

Yeah. I guess they went for the most popular

[@johnhank5115]

Agree

[@GentlemanGaGa29]

Because Red Skull is part of the MCU, those other 2 aren't

[@ianthompson1049]

@@GentlemanGaGa29 yes they are

[@iraford3702]

@@GentlemanGaGa29 they are very much apart of the mcu unless stated otherwise by Kevin fegie or marvel studios.

[@voiceacticon667]

I saw the steps of Kingpin's backstory last year and really felt bad for him. His father was a real prick.

[@nymetsfan9121]

vincent d'onofrio rightfully gets a lot of praise for daredevil but I don’t think David tennant gets enough for what he brought to killgrave

[@TheJoker4787]

This right here. Because of Kilgrave, I think Tennant should play villains more often

[@bekleedee]

I agree. David is a brilliant actor. He played Denis Nilsen in Des which is about the actual murderer and he's amazing in it. He's so talented.

[@flexivefowl8186]

A good backstory makes a good villain.

[@darkseidwavyy]

With great villain, comes great backstory.

[@1kbmahan]

The villain dies anyways

[@Brandon_4272]

And great performance leads to conflicting and relatable characters

[@KezyBugg1998]

Which is why Doofenshmirtz is the best villain ever 😂

[@kershabeaver3312]

Just as good sd their motive for why they are doing what they d I

[@DominickRuocco]

Hela is my favorite MCU villian. Cate Blanchett was amazing!

[@kingofthebronxoffical9500]

Hela is also my favorite villain

[@roberts.sorolla2414]

Same💚🖤

[@iraford3702]

One of the better mcu villians for sure.

[@kingofthebronxoffical9500]

@@iraford3702 no not the better the best

[@CharlesStanleyArt]

Red Skull is WAY too high on this list. Arguably shouldn't even be on it in terms of character depth IMHO. I agree with Vulture being on the list, perhaps he could've replaced lower on the list.

[@thesearchlightsyncher]

Ghost's backstory confused me. She was the only one alive in that explosion, but both of her parents died? Shouldn't they have the same phasing she has?

[@astrosanku]

Her parents died because they are directly hit by energy blast and they pushed her before energy hit her directly

[@thesearchlightsyncher]

@@astrosanku But they didn't push her back because what was shown in the flashback was her dad on the floor. Ghost was running to her dad with her mom following behind her as the quantum machine exploded.

[@raymondveritas5255]

@@thesearchlightsyncher They might have cut out the part where her parents pushed her behind a machine as they got hit? Idk a lot of stuff in movies get onto the cutting room floor

[@thesearchlightsyncher]

@@raymondveritas5255¯\_ಠ_ಠ_/¯

[@TheOneManWhoBeatYou]

@@raymondveritas5255 Not really how that works, other wise you could use that argument to explain away any plot hole in movie

[@rubygracemoseley8144]

Ghost’s story made me cry. I felt so bad for her. My favorite MCU villains are Loki and Hela. Odin’s a terrible father but on the bright side his kids he abused became awesome villains

[@kurisuochiru5014]

The greatest villains are the ones who become evil for a reason

[@PujaKumari-ml5yh]

Joker

[@patrickfinnegan7489]

The greatest villains are the ones you can empathize with. Even while they are evil, you can understand.

[@ishaanbhattacharya9405]

Joker

[@gaigepittman5730]

Vulture definitely should’ve been on this list

[@lindildeev5721]

Indeed, a father trying to help his family... and Zemo, another father who avenge his.

[@mehranshowkat09]

For me zemo had best backstory his entire family was killed in sokivia

[@Lanternfelix]

Halfway through and are we sure this ain’t just the Netflix universe

[@Beth-zs2jr]

My thoughts exactly

[@Cs-cp6vo]

Yeah it feels a little bias

[@natetodd2545]

“You can never go wrong with Sigourney Weaver” is the most truest true-true ever said.

[@olvialee7221]

318: The villain in Black Panther did want revenge but I still love T’Challa (rest in peace). Wakanda Forever

[@RestingMitchFace2112]

It’s funny how people say Marvel has a villain problem, the thing is they do, except for on the Netflix shows. The villains on the Netflix shows are awesome!

[@Jo-fk1be]

Don’t forget grant ward too

[@lishawnstreeter6577]

The movie villians are great too

[@SidneyMosley]

That's because they aren't even "villains" per say... They're just "antagonists" at this point... There aren't any true villains at this point anymore. There aren't any people who are evil for the sake of being evil cause it's like everybody has a sympathetic backstory at this point that kinda makes them justified is their reasons of why they do the things they do.

[@Idontexisthihi001]

Kingpin, Electra, Kilgrave and Mariah, he’ll yes!! The others are ok

[@subarashii2374]

"Greatest" is a stretch

[@leahdavis6040]

My favorite villain is Loki!!

[@mksaber170]

Loki should have been higher, I agree.

[@bananenneus1540]

Same

[@bennybojames5224]

Meh, Red Skull above Loki? Nah.

[@mksaber170]

Loki deserves #2

[@bananenneus1540]

Yes

[@madnessarcade7447]

The defenders deserved more seasons

[@slospop1125]

Blame Disney

[@iraford3702]

Agreed.

[@NewCreationRedeemed]

Why does this guy pronounce things so weird, like “daughter”? And she’s not “Maria”, she’s “Mariah”. Or how about learn how to say “battery” among other words. If you’re not sure how to pronounce a character or actor’s names, ask someone. Watch an interview with them or how about watching the actual source material!

[@DelosFive]

Can’t pronounce Alexandra either!!

[@sympa_is_misanthropic]

Ultron’s my fav villain though

[@edpadilla9402]

Top 10 time scorpion when beast mode (Mortal Kombat)

[@grimreaperjr7452]

Sad Zemo didn't make the list. His story is both tragic and sympathetic.

[@madnessarcade7447]

Grant ward has to be here right? Missed opportunity otherwise

[@lucasmarinho6816]

Agree, he should be 10 instead of Ghost

[@newageBoundhippie]

@@lucasmarinho6816 Ghost? Try Red Skull...dude's backstory barely goes beyond "crazed Nazi scientist deformed by experiment"

[@Savage--]

Not sure AoS is actually MCU canon anymore but you're right that Ward should be on the list. One of the best villians ever.

[@madnessarcade7447]

@@lucasmarinho6816 ghost wasn’t that much of a villain I like her but she got redeeemed

[@madnessarcade7447]

@@Savage-- well elektra and Alexandra were on the list so why not

[@disneyvillainsfan1666]

I like how you included Villains from The Netflix shows, even though it looks like they're not Canon to The MCU Movies because of their TV-MA ratings.

[@iraford3702]

They are still canon to the mcu unless officially stated otherwise.

[@RestingMitchFace2112]

HOW IS KINGPIN THAT LOW!? I’d put him at like number 2!

[@RestingMitchFace2112]

KILLMONGER’S NUMBER 3!? WTF is this list?! How is he not number one? He’s the only MCU villain who actually changed the mind of the hero!!! And his backstory is what supports that!!

[@jethropalillo1746]

Thanos completed his mission for a while

[@RestingMitchFace2112]

@@jethropalillo1746 That has nothing to do with his backstory. I mean yes his backstory motivated it, but that not his backstory.

[@Maikeru-os4ti]

A good one that wasn’t mentioned was Bushmaster from Luke Cage season 2 his backstory and motives was understandable although his methods to get what he wanted wasn’t

[@iraford3702]

Agreed.

[@jeopardy-alpha]

My favourite backstories for them are Killmonger, Hela, Kingpin, and of course always Red Skull, along with Loki,

[@vegaspowerlifting]

Wilson Fisk is my favorite. Mostly because Spider-Man is my favorite superhero. When I was a kid around 2nd grade, I first watched a Spider-Man cartoon. I was hooked; so hooked the next day I went to school checked out a spider book and tried to find a radioactive spider. And as you could guess, I wasn’t a bright kid.

[@randycrawford1132]

Loki should be #1 he has such an amazing backstory

[@sayheyguy]

The Netflix shows aren't officially part of the MCU, Feige said as much. This should be retitled "Top 10 Marvel Villain Backstories".

[@wwechamp913]

🤣

[@7AYELLOWPERSON7]

Source? Feige never stated this, and we likely won't ever hear such a definitive statement in the near future to avoid pissing off the Netflix fanbase.

[@giovannigiovanni.7220]

@@7AYELLOWPERSON7 And Hulu fanbase.

[@kyieronmcmullen7717]

One of your best lists.

[@ShayTheValiant]

I'm sure everyone has already said this and there's probably an answer to this, but why couldn't Thanos just make more resources with the Infinity Gauntlet instead of getting rid of half of all life in the universe?

[@austinalexander8457]

I believe it had something to do with the fact that Thanos would have to keep returning once every few decades to create more resources. I could be wrong, though

[@a55a55inx]

Because then we would have another hero and not a villain. Lol. I'm sure the writers were thinking of this too, but honestly this is a much better motive than the comic book version of Thanos. In Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos' purpose for killing half of the population was to impress the love of his life, which is a lot less interesting. I'm glad they changed it.

[@maddogkilla1]

Because that doesnt fix the problem. Its more of a bandaid a la a temporary fix

[@ShayTheValiant]

@@maddogkilla1 Still better than killing half of all life, isn't it?

[@maddogkilla1]

@@ShayTheValiant better? wtf? no it isn't... id rather fix my problems than delay them for a little longer. Imagine never fixing any of your problems and always having to deal with them

[@iraford3702]

Amazing mcu backstories for villians.

[@alexphillips4644]

Villains are always have the best tragic backgrounds.

[@thephoenix2038]

Loki should have been number 1

[@ethanotto5744]

You should make a video of the top 10 CW super villains

[@DrCory48]

Cool top 10

[@aananddaryanani]

Loki and killmonger higher up, and zemo on the list surely

[@damaniqphillip2756]

Nice

[@Flipfzzi]

Killmonger I'm black and was in the military. Ohhh does that not make a full backstory.

[@TreLarkins]

Killmonger, Ghost, and Thanos are my favorite stories! For the first two, I think their stories really hit on the idea of “thinking about how your actions affect others”. Even those who are indirectly affected. KM the product of a feud between two brothers-in-law royal blood to a technologically advanced nation, and Ghost, how her life was affected by the choices of Hank Pym and her fathers dive into desperation. Thanos was just a very well presented and twisted guy. He could of just doubled recourses in the universe and done that every couple centuries or whatever.

[@williamsummerson1204]

I'm sure everyone knew that thanos would be no1.

[@pikachuscoobydoo9507]

Many of these are really heartbreaking as some of these characters never meant to become villains but were forced to

[@THANATOS-PRIME]

Love Red Skull. Abomination in Barron Zemo are also some of my favorites.

[@angelasilvi9090]

I Love Loki!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@mohammedzaidi9081]

Guys please make a video on ranking best 20 original goosebumps books please BTW big fan

[@hollywood_club]

Every villain plays a huge role in these comics. My favorites are the ones we haven't even seen yet on the big screen. Stay tuned everyone!

[@railchief74]

I wish that wen-woo was on this list

[@sarahduke8157]

All these villians are vulnerable that is how they want you to their bidding

[@StonerPapi_J]

IT'S MARVEL WEEK 🔥🔥🔥

[@sifilore9462]

2 things. A) Thanos will b #1 for number of reasons but together how well he's written. Thanos is also delusional as in Endgames he thought the people will b grateful for "saving them". His fears of overpopulations and exhausting natural resources, he only killed the people but didn't even think about refueling and rejuvenating the resources. Shows how much of a nihilist he is. B) Its been years since I've seen Black Panther cause after watching them (MCU films) in theater, even after I get the dvds, I'm still looking forward to the next. From what I remember (how I thought it went down), I thought Killmongers motives to give Wakanda's tech to African descents to fight back was a ruse to the Wakandans for he really was gonna give it to everyone around the world, bringing in total chaos on every streets in every neighborhoods.

[@tony_sosa_4123]

Two of my favorite villains in the thumbnail👌🏽

[@hunterrousseau3770]

I'm surprised you left Vulture and Mysterio out of this WT Heck?

[@eldon2694]

Funny how most of he villains on the list were from the Netflix shows, goes to show that they need to be given another chance to thrive especially Vincent donofrio!

[@Cs-cp6vo]

I feel like Grant Ward should have been on here

[@RestingMitchFace2112]

OKAY this list is jank. Like i get it’s about the back story, but how is Red Skull even on the list!? The dude’s just an angry nazi that was the result of an experiment! AND HELA’S NOT EVEN ON THE LIST!

[@spaceagepenguin]

no wait wait, she gets an "honorable mention" (yeah I totally agree this is jank, it's almost as if Watchmojo is starting to run out of ideas on videos)

[@RestingMitchFace2112]

@@spaceagepenguin that’s not true, has nothing to do with their ideas. The list itself is a good idea, just the order and choices are jank. You wanna hate on Watchmojo, you in the wrong place

[@spaceagepenguin]

@@RestingMitchFace2112 good points, all of them

[@kobemeriez7860]

@@RestingMitchFace2112 They literally doesnt know much about anything they post about they sound like they only know headlines not the full story like they cant even pronounce half the people's name they call

[@RestingMitchFace2112]

@@kobemeriez7860 please look to my previous comment.

[@artasognomny5674]

My favorite marvel villains is killmonger and Loki.

[@kingofthebronxoffical9500]

Hela should have been on the list. Not a honorable mention.

[@josephsharp6221]

You forgot Mysterio from Spiderman Far From Home

[@matthijssmeets9325]

And now a video for the Top 10 Greatest DC Villain Backstories (Including Zoom from The Arrowverse).

[@Apollodidyourmom]

Hugo Weaving as Red Skull was so underrated

[@firstnamesecondname9282]

You can make a villain overly sympathetic though. Its best to only mention their backstory in passing.

[@alm2187]

1:20 I'd have thought running toward an explosion like that would get someone killed! Now I know better.

[@jiwankumar949]

killermonger is my faviourite mcu villan

[@brennanwn]

Thanos lived up to the hype as a MCU villain

[@ajpat9620]

Yes, it was... Moreover, Josh Brolin nailed the portrayal as Thanos, and it was brillant.

[@liloiax22]

After seeing Kingpin in that clip of him played by Vincent D'Onofrio from the Daredevil series on Netflix... I'll be rather upset I'd he's *NOT* included in the top 10 here

[@samoorellc5595]

Damn freaking Wyatt Bernstein played a young Kingpin!

[@bekleedee]

Ok, I love Hugo Weaving. I do. But Red Skull above Kilmonger, Loki and the Purple Man? I just don't know about that. Maybe it's just me.

[@olvialee7221]

316: Cottonmouth? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I should have Rocket with me

[@xyx2188]

There should be a flash back to when Thanos raided the Nova core and took the power stone

[@bheast86]

The big backstory about Hel is how Loki's daughter in the mythology became his big sister

[@johngrey7089]

You missed Grant Ward (HIVE) from agents of shield

[@downd.stairs2874]

ive heard dr doom had a good backstory so i thought i would finally know what it is

[@DJGamingSmash]

Why is Endgame listed for backstory on Thanos? It singlehandedly ruined the depth to his character by killing him for shock value and replacing him with an underdeveloped version of himself minus the personal attachment.

[@ZENN-LA74]

Magneto and Dr.DOOM are missing. Your list was spot on, tho.

[@TheAloktube]

Neither are in the MCU.

[@panchov2748]

This is a list of Netflix marvel villains, not the whole mcu.

[@brennanwn]

Kingpins past is truly tragic

[@yogurt1997]

Since there were Netflix MCU shows in the list, I was kind of hoping on an Agents of Shield villain. Like Ava or the mom from season 2

[@giovannigiovanni.7220]

Hulu MCU shows too.

[@joshuahoward7668]

I think Bushmaster should had a honorable mention

[@viniciusfaco214]

Nebula and Zemo should be on the list. At least as honorable mentions...

[@Arkham_Prisoner]

I can’t be the only one who completely forgot Sigourney Weaver was in a Marvel Project

[@RA-kk1rf]

The best villains are the ones created because of the heroes (Winter Soldier, Zemot, Jigsaw) and this list has none of them 😔

[@arthurguillen8432]

Fav villians are Thanos, Zemo, Vulture, Kingpin, and Kilgrave

[@akshattamrakar9071]

I always thought it would have been better of Michel Jordan played as black panther

[@gevorg1989]

4:24 assasin for the good side

[@brennanwn]

Cottonmouth was awesome in Luck Cage

[@josephhayden9941]

If only this list came out 2 months later, Wen-Wu would've been high on this list most likely.

[@EdwarWelderCreed]

Loki should have been #2 and Hela should have replaced Killmonger

[@wyattbenikas9420]

My favorites would be Thanos, Ultron, Ronan the Accuser, Killmonger, Hela and Kaecilius.

[@mlggamer5296]

Elektra? Wait a minute...well I guess in Daredevil's case but I didn't see her as a villain heck I didn't even know she was in the show. Especially since both were taught by Stick

[@sarkastro]

Spent the first 4 minutes wondering who Sigurney Weaver is, the next 3 wondering who Elektra Nachieos is, and the rest asking who Vincent Dona-frio is

[@bifa5414]

How it's possible that Calvin and Jiaying aren't on this list?

[@crazypopbeats]

🔥

[@spaceagepenguin]

seriously you mentioned Kaecilius but did not incude VULTURE OR ZEMO OR EVEN MYSTERIO?! HECK EVEN AGATHA HARKNESS HAD A PRETTY GOOD BACKSTORY!

[@aya2369]

I AM INEVITABLE

[@lgrello1214]

I never said I had all the answers I jus kno not to ever give up