The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a vast, interconnected network of heroes, villains, and the rest in between—more than 700 characters strong and growing. With that number of capes, cowls, and sidekicks floating about, not everyone can be a T’Challa or a Wanda Maximoff. Some are just meant to be the punchline, the cringe in the audience, or the villain you wish would just remain snapped. Here are ten of the absolute worst characters to ever make it into the MCU, ranked with all the love and all the snark they deserve.
1. Malekith (Thor: The Dark World)
The MCU’s dark elves might have been threatening, but Malekith is the archetype for untapped potential. With a villain this uninspired, it’s no surprise that fans hardly recall the storyline of Thor’s second film. Even Christopher Eccleston couldn’t salvage this one from being a cosmic yawn.
2. Iron Fist (Danny Rand, Marvel’s Iron Fist)
Danny Rand is meant to be some magical martial arts guru, but his show on Netflix had people questioning whether he’d ever so much as cracked a kung fu book. The show’s cringeworthy attempts at Eastern philosophy and a hero who can’t even harness his abilities made Iron Fist a joke instead of a force to be reckoned with.
3. Inhumans Royal Family (Marvel’s Inhumans)
The Inhumans TV show was so bad that fans have all but forgotten it. The royal family, under the silent Black Bolt and the eternally bewildered Medusa, did not have a hope with stilted performances and a bad cosplay competition plot.
4. Whiplash (Ivan Vanko, Iron Man 2)
Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash had the potential to be a great villain before he ever opened his mouth. From the bird fixation to the disappointing final fight, Whiplash is more remembered for his bizarre accent than as a legitimate threat to Tony Stark.
5. Justin Hammer (Iron Man 2)
Sam Rockwell can’t be faulted—except when burdened with a script that makes him a bargain-bin Tony Stark. Justin Hammer is all smarm and no substance, a tech bro who’s more grating than menacing.
6. The Warriors Three (Thor Franchise)
Thor’s Asgardian trio of friends—Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg—ought to have been the MCU equivalent of the Three Musketeers. Rather, they are elevated extras who are ruthlessly dispatched in Ragnarok. Blink and you’ll miss them, and quite frankly, you won’t miss much.
7. The Leader (Samuel Sterns, The Incredible Hulk)
Don’t forget about the man whose head began to expand after The Incredible Hulk? So does the MCU. Samuel Sterns was positioned to be the future big bad, but he disappeared into thin air, leaving audiences with a villain who never got to wreak havoc.
8. Cloak & Dagger (Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen, Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger)
The Freeform duo’s attempt at street-level drama for the MCU was unsuccessful, with Cloak and Dagger’s brooding teen romance and glacial pace being easy to forget. Their abilities are nice, but their characters are CW filler material.
9. The Mandarin (Trevor Slattery, Iron Man 3)
Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery is a comedic fake-out, but as the would-be Mandarin, he’s a disappointment of epic scale. The twist is great, but it left viewers salivating for an actual villain rather than a drunken thespian in over his head.
10. Darcy Lewis (Thor Franchise, WandaVision)
Kat Dennings’ Darcy began as a source of comic relief, but her act got old quickly. By the point at which she appeared in WandaVision, her oddball one-liners tried harder than they were funny, making her one of the MCU’s most polarizing sidekicks.
The MCU universe is one of infinite possibilities, but it cannot be that all characters are scene-stealers. Some will be doomed to be the punchline, the plot hole, or the face you forget as soon as the credits roll.