The Marvel Universe is full of unfathomably powerful villains, many of which have found their way into the live-action movies at some point or another. The various villains of Marvel movies exist on a wide spectrum of power levels, from lowly criminals and up-jumped thugs to overwhelmingly influential cosmic beings. From the films of the MCU to the one-off Marvel movies that came before it, only a select handful of antagonists can bear the distinction of being the strongest.
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In most cases, the most powerful evil beings in Marvel canon exist as overarching or background threats that aren’t easily defeated, merely driven into a corner or staved off with the expectation of eventually coming back. Their strength is often proven by staggering feats of power, such as destroying entire planets or re-writing reality itself. From tyrannical aliens to supernatural forces of the universe, Marvel’s strongest movie villains aren’t to be taken lightly.
10 Galactus
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
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Though he may be one of the most disappointing movie incarnations of a Marvel villain, there’s no denying that Galactus is also one of the most powerful. Just like his original version, Galactus is an ancient, all-powerful being known for its ferocious appetite, devouring entire planets whole to feed itself. Other than his ability to engulf and consume entire worlds, Galactus’ power is indicated by the Silver Surfer, a mere vassal of his that acts as a scout for finding suitable meals.
Silver Surfer’s many incredible powers are only a small sample of Galactus’ vast cosmic influence, evoking a terrifying well of deeper abilities beyond smashing planets. Sadly, Galactus’ appearance was quite disappointing in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, with the physical form of a sentient, angry cloud. Hopefully, Galactus’ form in Fantastic Four: First Steps will be able to make up for this woeful lack of a corporeal body.
9 Thanos
Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame
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Undeniably the Marvel villain with the single biggest cinematic impact, the Mad Titan Thanos needs little introduction. Once a member of the Titan Royal Family, his alien race was destroyed by famine and a lack of resources just as he had predicted. Following this tragedy, Thanos sought to eliminate half of all life in the universe with the aid of the Infinity Stones, ancient artifacts that each controlled a fundamental law of the cosmos.
Before collecting all six stones, Thanos was already quite powerful, able to bully the Hulk in a battle of sheer strength and having already successfully invaded many planets. But after donning the fully-loaded Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos became almost godlike in his powers, able to alter reality on a whim and throw entire moons at his enemies. If Thanos himself hadn’t used the stones to destroy the stones, there’s little doubt that he could’ve ruled uncontested as a lord of the universe forevermore.
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8 Apocalypse
X-Men: Apocalypse
Despite mostly being scrappy mutants with city to country-level powers, the X-Men often find themselves going up against quite powerful threats. The most terrifyingly strong villain the superhero team ever encounters in the X-Men Fox movie timeline is easily En Sabah Nur, better known as the villain Apocalypse. Existing in Ancient Egypt as the first mutant ever, rather than having a slight mutation, Apocalypse has a variety of potentially world-ending powers.
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Returning after a multiple-millennia-long slumber, Apocalypse’s longevity is impressive enough on its own. But it’s his command over powers like force fields, telekinesis, matter manipulation, portal creation, knowledge absorption, and psychic abilities strong enough to dominate a telepath as powerful as Charles Xavier that make him such a potent combatant. It took the immense power of the Phoenix Force for the X-Men to have a chance of defeating him in X-Men: Apocalypse.
7 Dormammu
Doctor Strange
An all-powerful deity, Dormammu is an ancient being with a clear hunger for ever more territory and influence. Already having an entire dimension under his dependence, the Dark Dimension, Dormammu sought to merge his holdings with Earth by granting a small fraction of his power to Kaecilius and his followers. The power Dormammu is able to grant to his vassals is quite impressive, with Kaecilius’ magic being strong enough to even kill The Ancient One herself, a nigh-immortal Sorcerer Supreme.
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Dormammu himself shows off his vast cosmic powers when Doctor Strange finds himself in his dimension, being killed by the entity over and over again in a series of increasingly creative and violent magical attacks. It’s only through a clever cheat with the time stone and years of perseverance that Doctor Strange was able to overcome the Dark Lord, and even then, only temporarily. With the power to consume and control entire dimensions, Dormammu is easily one of the strongest villains ever depicted in a superhero film in general, let alone Marvel specifically.
6 Arishem The Judge
Eternals
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It’s a shame that Eternals is such a glossed-over entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe catalog, considering how potent of a villain it introduces to the story. One of the Celestials of the MCU, Arishem the Judge first seems to be a benevolent ally, sending the Eternals to Earth to defend a fledgling humanity from the terror of the Deviants. It’s explained that Arishem was the one to essentially create the universe as we know it, making him undoubtedly one of the most powerful beings in the MCU, if not the single strongest.
This fact makes his villainous reveal all the more ominous, as it turns out that Arishem seeded intelligent life across the galaxy to feed the birth of new Celestials, created at the expense of entire planets of sapient creatures. It’s quite commendable that the Eternals decided to rebel against Arishem despite his clear overwhelming command of the very forces of the universe. Still active, Arishem lives up to his name by scanning the memories of Sersi, Kingo and Phastos to judge whether the preservation of humanity was worth their sacrifice.
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5 Ego
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Arishem the Judge isn’t the only Celestial in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a vision for the future that clashes with humanity’s existence. Enter Ego, a very different Celestial that seemed to have spawned out of nothingness on his own at the edge of time. Drifting through the cosmos for untold ages, Ego was eventually able to use his powers to form an entire living planet around himself, and by extension, create biological avatars of himself that could act in his interest from afar.
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Star-Lord’s father, Ego callously reveals his plan to activate the seeds of himself he had planted in planets across the galaxy, re-shaping its matter into his own image and absorbing the biomass of all living things. Even if he needed the strength of another half-Celestial being to do so, the fact that Ego was nearly able to effortlessly re-shape thousands of worlds in his own image was a startling admission of power. If it wasn’t for Peter having the mental fortitude to fight back his father’s corruption, the MCU would’ve likely ended there and then.
4 Scarlet Witch
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
It says a lot about Doctor Strange’s powers as a hero that his movies contain not one, but two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s strongest villains. Scarlet Witch may have started life as an ordinary human, but by the time of her death in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, she’d become anything but. At first, it was thought that Wanda Maximoff’s powers were the result of experiments with the Mind Stone. However, WandaVision reveals that this influence merely activated her latent chaos magic as the Scarlet Witch.
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In WandaVision, Scarlet Witch is able to completely rewrite reality to her whims, trapping a whole town into her own TV show fantasy while creating life out of thin air, with a new version of her deceased husband and even kids. By the time of her fall to villainy in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, she’s able to overcome the powerful heroes of the Illuminati with little trouble, threatening entire alternate universes with her mere presence. If it weren’t for a last-minute change of heart, it’s hard to imagine that there would be any way to stop her.
3 Mephisto
Ghost Rider, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
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Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider duology may be something of a forgotten footnote in the grand scheme of Marvel movies, but their overarching villain still remains one of the most powerful. Just like in the comics, the demon lord Mephisto is the closest thing the Marvel universe has to the literal devil in Ghost Rider, being the one to turn Johnny Blaze into the Spirit of Vengeance in the first place. Though he appears in various human bodies, Mephisto’s true infernal form can be seen via his shadow.
Admittedly, Mephisto’s influence on the human world is quite limited, having to act through shady deals and avatars that utilize a fraction of his power. But on seeing how strong his vassals like Blackout and his son Blackheart are, the films clearly only scratch the surface of the true vastness of Mephisto’s true power. Within the underworld, Mephisto is obviously the undisputed ruler, making him a terrifying, ever-present influence on Earth.
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2 Kang The Conqueror
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
There have been many different versions of Kang throughout his brief run in the MCU, all of which have only hinted at the true depths of the character’s power. While the Kang that appears in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was ultimately defeated by Ant-Man, he was able to conquer multiple universes before being banished to the Quantum Realm by the Council of Kangs, proving his status as a mythical tyrant. In truth, Kang’s real strength as a villain is the inexhaustible numbers of him, with entire legions of Kangs ready to work together to steward the multiverse.
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In truth, the strongest Kang variant in the MCU still remains He Who Remains, a version of Kang that was able to establish the TVA and use it to prune entire realities to his liking, ensuring complete control over a singular sacred timeline. He Who Remains was so powerful that upon his death, time itself began to unravel, making him a keystone of the very operation of the universe. Another variant could return in Avengers: Doomsday to further prove the name’s weight, even if Jonathan Majors is re-cast as Kang.
1 The Phoenix Force
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
More of a living law of the universe than a singular being, the Phoenix Force is a deadly terrifying aspect of Jean Grey’s power that makes up the single most threatening X-Men villain. Previously, X-Men: The Last Stand re-interpreted the cosmic entity as a powerful hidden persona of Jean’s locked away by Charles Xavier. X-Men: Dark Phoenix retells the famous comic storyline by properly introducing the Phoenix Force as a genuinely alien existential threat.
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Vuk explains that the Phoenix Force was the very spark that gave life to his universe, and destroyed his race’s entire planet, wreaking havoc on everything in its path on its way to Jean Grey. The Phoenix Force was also powerful enough to destroy even Apocalypse, setting a precedence for being at the top of the X-Men movie villain hierarchy. The Phoenix Force can certainly contend with any villain introduced so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Upcoming MCU Movies
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Captain America: Brave New World
Release Date February 14, 2025
- Thunderbolts*
Release Date May 2, 2025
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Release Date July 25, 2025
- Blade (2025)
Release Date November 7, 2025
- Avengers: Doomsday
Release Date May 1, 2026
- Avengers: Secret Wars
Release Date May 7, 2027
Captain America: Brave New World
Thunderbolts*
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Blade (2025)
Avengers: Doomsday
Avengers: Secret Wars