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Why are Marvel's film villains so hit and miss?

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I want to see if Marvel handle their villains differently going forward from Civil War since we know Zemo is going to be further developed in later films. Maybe they'll treat them better now that Feige has full reigns (or maybe not).

I would honestly not be surprised if that wack creative committee mandated that all the villains be expendable.
 
the problem ultimately lies in the existence of the MCU itself. Everything has to be intertwined, movies churned out quickly before the audience gets distracted, stakes always toned down because there's the next Cap movie planned so you only get a little bit of this and that...its a behemoth that needs to keep moving, no room for character development nor finesse nor definitive dramatic battles. Landscape has changed drastically since the Raimi days and the movies reflect that
 
Doc Ock? If you're counting him then you may as well count Magneto.

If we're talking MCU then there's no hits, just consistent misses. The closest they got to a hit was Loki, but then they just had to milk him so much that he wore out his bag of tricks and welcome along with it. I can't stand him now.
 
How do his robot arms/tentacles allow him to withstand superhuman-strength punches to the face and other such physical punishment?
 
I feel like Feige has heard the criticisms. I mean, they have the Raft now. Presumably, they're going to use it.
Ah yeah, forgot about that. Hope they put it to good use.
Loki, Obediah Stane, and Stryker are up there with Doc Ock, magneto and Gobiln.
I feel like the only person who enjoyed Jeff Bridges in the first Iron Man.
I really liked Bridges as Stane. He's the best 'asshole in a suit' villain they've had.
I would honestly not be surprised if that wack creative committee mandated that all the villains be expendable.
Yep, I was thinking they maybe did something along those lines.
 
Winter Soldier was a great villian too. I guess they can do good villains when they plan to have them stick around for the next movie.
 
Tony Stark built this in a cave...with a box of scraps! is the best quote mcu has produced yet (and the best delivery tbh)

Iron Man 1 is still MCU goat. makes me miss how standalone this genre used to feel.
 
How do his robot arms/tentacles allow him to withstand superhuman-strength punches to the face and other such physical punishment?

Isn't it said somewhere in the comics that Spider-Man subconciously holds back to avoid punching people's heads off?
 
Absolutely not. There are some really awesome rogues galleries you're overlooking that are way better than the bat stable.

I would put COBRA and the X-villains above both. Maybe the decepticons if we ignore the movie incarnations.

Even if they aren't Batman level, other heroes still have a bunch of great villains. Captain America's rogues gallery is surprisingly strong, especially since it tended to cross over with the type of people that Nick Fury took on.

There's a ton of stuff you can do with Thor. I don't think Malekith would have even made my top 10 villain ideas for him.

Guardians is wide open.
 
Winter Soldier was a great villian too. I guess they can do good villains when they plan to have them stick around for the next movie.

He's just some amnesiac friend of Caps. With MCU villains you're told their motivation in some dumb exposition or backflash and then that's it, they don't attempt explore it at all and instead stick in some ugly action set pieces, but hey, Captain America fought his friend in a teary battle while trying to prevent helicarriers from killing key figures around the world that would lead to Hydra Dominance.
 
Because outside of xmen, marvel villans suck.

Dc villians are better, but their heroes are worse. Imho of course.
 
Also not sure if he counts as a villain but Sam Rockwell was by far the best thing about Iron Man 2


if marvel got off favreau's back iron man 2 would have been legendary with rockwell/rourke.

rockwell is prolly second best mcu villain after jeff bridges for me tbh. even if it's a bit wasted he's just too good.
 
Why do people expect every villain to be "complex" and have pathos?

It's nice to give them texture and layers instead of having them be 1 dimensional, but that doesn't necessarily mean every villain has to be complex.

Complex villains are interesting as characters which is appreciated, but that alone doesn't always automatically make a villain great.
 
Killian was actually a great villain. A really clever one. To dismiss him as just another corporate asshole is misguided, to say the least.

Great aesthetic (Wesker-esque, dare I say it), take no bullshit type villainy, and interesting motive/origin that flips common themes on their head. Decent right hand man and henchmen. His ending was kind of iffy though.
 
Even if they aren't Batman level, other heroes still have a bunch of great villains. Captain America's rogues gallery is surprisingly strong, especially since it tended to cross over with the type of people that Nick Fury took on.

There's a ton of stuff you can do with Thor. I don't think Malekith would have even made my top 10 villain ideas for him.

Guardians is wide open.

Oh I know. I made a thread about that once. Very entertaining, though batman fans got their jimmies rustled.

Imagine how ridiculous caps gallery would be if COBRA had been Hydra, as originally conceived? How Cap vs COBRA hasn't happened yet I'll never know
 
if marvel got off favreau's back iron man 2 would have been legendary with rockwell/rourke.

rockwell is prolly second best mcu villain after jeff bridges for me tbh. even if it's a bit wasted he's just too good.

If they ever make an Iron Man 4, they gotta bring back Rockwell
 
Stane was actually enjoyable until they put him in the Iron Monger suit - then he lost everything that made him at all compelling.

I don't find that many Marvel villains are compelling in general in the comics, aside from a few amazing ones that they can't use - Magneto, Doom, Mr Sinister, Goblin, etc.


People say Spider-Man has the second best rogues gallery, but TBH I don't see it. It's better than most, but not as good as X-Men's IMO.
 
The only MCU villains I've really enjoyed are Winter Soldier, Ultron, and Abomination. Badasses who actually seem like a threat. Abomination just has to get stronger, like Vegeta or something.

Ronan is trash tier. He doesn't do fucking anything. He's supposed to challenge Thanos or something but gets beaten by Starlord saying a swear word. Nebula is sick as hell, until the time comes for her to actually do anything, then it's a joke just like everything else in Guardians. Weak

Loki is really boring to me and I feel like he's just there for people to make gifs of him
 
Alright, I'll say it, am I the one guy who thinks Red Skull is a better villain than Loki? Sometimes, all you need for an effective villain is to have him be irredeemably evil.
 
Alright, I'll say it, am I the one guy who thinks Red Skull is a better villain than Loki? Sometimes, all you need for an effective villain is to have him be irredeemably evil.

He has a handful of cool moments, played by a good actor, but not enough going on for my taste. He certainly disappointed from an nemesis point of view. Maybe Zemo will pick up the slack.
 
Thanos: Purple asshole

DC also could be trying harder

Joker: anarachy asshole
Ras: justice and balance asshole
Bane: cuckold asshole
Zod: go to Mars ass hole

Captain America and Dr Strange probably won't have memorable Villians but suicide squad will have tons.
 
I had very high hopes for Ultron. He could've easily, EASILY been the MCU's Joker in terms of sheer goddamn terrifying.

But no, Whedon had to have his quips....

A robot walks into a bar, orders a drink, and lays down some cash.

Bartender says, "Hey, we don't serve robots."

And the robot says, "Oh, but someday you will."
 
Can people even agree on what a good villain is? Or who has been a good villain?

The fact I see how much people want complex villains and then say that Darth Vader and Heath Ledger's Joker rank among the greatest film villains ever makes me think people don't know what they want in a villain.
 
Alright, I'll say it, am I the one guy who thinks Red Skull is a better villain than Loki? Sometimes, all you need for an effective villain is to have him be irredeemably evil.

My man. I like them equally though. Red Skull looked so goddamn good on screen

PuTVMqm.png
 
Can people even agree on what a good villain is? Or who has been a good villain?

The fact I see how much people want complex villains and then say that Darth Vader and Heath Ledger's Joker rank among the greatest film villains ever makes me think people don't know what they want in a villain.

Most people want someone who looks cool, comes off as a real and believable threat, and delivers a memorable performance.


Vader and Joker hit those. Ronan, not so much.
 
Thanos: Purple asshole

DC also could be trying harder

Joker: anarachy asshole
Ras: justice and balance asshole
Bane: cuckold asshole
Zod: go to Mars ass hole

Captain America and Dr Strange probably won't have memorable Villians but suicide squad will have tons.

And yet they will be played more like anti-heroes and it's possible we never see them actually playing the "villain" role on film.

We've seen the reformed heroes before, and it doesn't necessarily make them "villians" in this day and age.
 
And yet they will be played more like anti-heroes and it's possible we never see them actually playing the "villain" role on film.

We've seen the reformed heroes before, and it doesn't necessarily make them "villians" in this day an age.

They're still villains. It's their shtick to break free from the squad. It's not like they're going to finish the mission, go back to Waller, put on a suit, and become a government agent.
 
They feel that giving screen time to villain takes away from hero that will continue on in future movies.

But now with the potential for a Thunderbolts movie building everyday, expect them to be better -- starting with Zemo.
Edit: this might be miscontrued as a spoiler, i dont know what happens in the flick. I dont expect Zemo to die
 
Hit and Miss? Just about every MCU villain is a giant miss. They are maybe, what, 3/12?

Even Thanos, got undermined by that chump Ronan. Dude took his Infinity Stone out from under him... didn't do anything about it lol.

Not only that, but that's our first real scene with him and a chump like Ronan doesn't fear him, why should the audience? If you wanted to build Thanos, they could've made him fear Thanos, and keep the stone with fear hoping it would protect him. Instead they Marvel'd...

It's an issue, but one Marvel doesn't seem to care about... they've managed to craft a lot of good/great/amazing movies without consistently delivering a good villain, why stop now?

Also, Red Skull > Loki. Loki is charismatic but Red Skull the better villain.

Set your expectations to "very low" for Zemo. He's not even the only villain in the movie and it's not even about villains. No way he gets the screen time to do him justice.

They've spent so much time developing Tony and Steve, might as well play each other against each other and forgo a real villain.
 
They feel that giving screen time to villain takes away from hero that will continue on in future movies.

But now with the potential for a Thunderbolts movie building everyday, expect them to be better -- starting with Zemo.

Set your expectations to "very low" for Zemo. He's not even the only villain in the movie and it's not even about villains. No way he gets the screen time to do him justice.
 
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