By Phase Three of the had become pretty common. The complexity of heroes like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers was being consistently praised by fans and critics alike, but one-dimensional villains like Malekith and Ultron had left audiences feeling disillusioned and short-changed. Marvel responded to those criticisms with some well-rounded Phase Three bad guys.
There were still some pretty lackluster antagonists appearing in MCU movies throughout Phase Three, but the ratio of strong villains to weak rose. In fact, Phase Three brought two villains that are now frequently ranked among the greatest villains in movie history.
Kaecilius
Mads Mikkelsen proved in NBC’s sadly short-lived Hannibal series that he could match Christoph Waltz when it comes to playing a memorable villain, but in a one-dimensional, poorly defined role that only served to introduce the real villain, Dormammu.
Ghost
Although her powers are visually stunning and her tragic backstory makes her somewhat sympathetic, Ava Starr's Ghost falls into the category of the MCU’s most forgettable villains. She was a real low point in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Ulysses Klaue
After being established as a thief of Wakandan vibranium in an overlong detour in the middle of Black Panther to sing “What is Love” and set up Killmonger as the main villain before being promptly killed off. Such a waste of Andy Serkis' talents.
Ayesha
The leader of the Sovereign, Ayesha orders an attack on the titular team at the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 when she realizes Rocket stole some of their batteries. After Ego saves them, Ayesha doesn’t reappear until the end, only to up the stakes in the final battle.
In one of the movie’s many mid-credits scenes, Ayesha reveals that she’s created Adam Warlock to destroy the Guardians, so maybe she’ll have a more substantial role in the sequel.
Dormammu
“Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain.” The third-act battle of Doctor Strange nicely subverts the usual city-wide destruction as the Sorcerer Supreme creates a time loop specifically to avoid such destruction. Dormammu himself doesn’t make much of an impression, though.
Sonny Burch
After making Ant-Man as a heist movie, Peyton Reed envisioned Ant-Man and the Wasp as an Elmore Leonard-style crime caper, with the secondary villain Sonny Burch acting as a vaguely Leonard-ian crime boss character.
The character himself isn’t particularly well-written, but the immense charms of Walton Goggins — who previously starred in FX’s Justified, adapted from a Leonard story — went a long way.
Surtur
Surtur only appears at the beginning and end of Thor: Ragnarok, but he’s pretty integral since he’s the one who sets off the titular apocalyptic event.
He bookends Thor’s character arc in the movie, as he starts off as a cocky hero who blindly believes he’s warded off all danger, and eventually becomes a king who can make tough decisions, like the decision to allow his kingdom to be destroyed.
The Black Order
The Black Order is made up of Thanos’ henchmen: Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive. Maw is the only one who is really rounded out into a character; he’s the one whom Tony Stark calls “Squidward.”
But on the whole, they’re a bunch of pretty awesome characters and when Thanos isn’t around, they still pose a real threat to the Avengers.
Yon-Rogg
Jude Law’s Kree character Yon-Rogg isn’t set up as the villain of brainwashed Carol Danvers into thinking they were the good guys.
Helmut Zemo
Helmut Zemo arguably wasn’t necessary to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers’ relationship.
But the idea that a regular guy with no special armor or abilities used nothing but his cunning wit to turn Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against each other is an fascinating one.
