10 Iconic MCU Villains Who Deserve More Screen Time

Let’s start with one of the bigger guys in the house. The main villain has been foreshadowed many times in Doctor Strange, however, it wasn’t until the end of the movie that we got to see the powerful cosmic entity, and the brief under-10-minute appearance of his feels a bit lacking. Dormammu looks intimidating alright, but in the MCU, he serves as nothing more than a target for Doctor Strange to showcase his magical chop and bargaining skill.

When he first appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Rumlow impressed us with his performance, proving to be a pain in the back for Steve Rogers. We were all excited to see him alive at the end, and have him transform into the notorious Crossbones two years later in Captain America: Civil War. However, much to our expectation, Crossbones is killed off barely 10 minutes in, and doesn’t get to showcase much of his villainy in the MCU at all.

The leader of the Sovereign, Ayesha looks formidable when she was first introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. She doesn’t appear much, though, leaving the spotlight to Ego. The audience thought to see more of her in Volume 3, with the debut of Adam Warlock, but even then, Ayesha only serves as a mere pawn to the main baddie – The High Evolutionary and is quickly demolished later on the planet of Counter-Earth. Ayesha is a very capable and promising character, so having her under the radar for the majority of the franchise is quite a shame.

Fans were on their feet when they saw Zeus in the trailer of Thor: Love & Thunder, but as much as a disappointment of a movie it was, the Greek God’s appearance didn’t feel right. From a powerful and intimidating god in the comic, Zeus was reduced to a carefree and irresponsible clown in Love & Thunder and had his lightning staff easily taken away from him afterward. At least, we’ll get to see more of him and his son Hercules in the next Thor sequel, as teased in the mid-credit scene.

Another villain who’s done dirty by Taika Waititi’s crew beside Zeus. One of the most charismatic and dangerous villains in the comics, Gorr is capable of murdering countless gods with the power of the Necrosword, spreading terror all around the universe. 

The MCU version, though, while Christian Bale did a good job to portray the character, simply failed to live up to expectations with his limited screen time and poor character build, having less than ten minutes of appearance in total. He dies in the end without leaving anything for the audience to remember, barring his daughter, Love, who’s later adopted by Thor.

The mastermind behind the corruption of S.H.I.E.L.D., who effortlessly tears down the Earth’s line of defense and causes Nick Fury and Captain America so much trouble, it’s hard to believe that Pierce only appears himself for under 10 minutes in The Winter Soldier. While Bucky Barnes serves as the main antagonist, Pierce controls everything from behind, and only reveals himself at the end of the movie. The villain’s limited appearance only shows how terrifyingly smart and scary he is, but we can’t help but wonder what would happen if he gets more screen time.

Likewise, with his minimal screen time in No Way Home, Norman Osborn easily topples everyone else in the Sinister Six to be the most intimidating villain in the movie. His crazed actions and pure evilness of his has no bounds, killing Peter’s Aunt May in the process and stabbing Tobey Maguire in the abdomen. We all want Green Goblin to make a return in the next Spider-Man movie, as 15 minutes is not enough to do the villain justice in No Way Home.

Not only poorly written, Malekith also barely appears on screen – sometimes it makes us think if he’s even the real antagonist of the movie at all. With only 8 minutes on screen, the dark elf doesn’t even make the most of it, shying away from most battles and dying to a fallen spaceship. Malekith is one of the most forgettable characters in the MCU, which is baffling considering how strong he is in the comics.

Of course, no one would expect Thanos’s deputies to appear much on screen, but the Black Order has shown themselves to be a formidable gang in the comics. In both Avengers movies, they only make a brief appearance and are killed off quite easily as well. Ebony Maw, the leader of the Order, even got blown into space by an Alien reference, of all things.

Even in the MCU, Surtur is so strong, Thor has to use him as a last resort to defeat his sister Hela, at the cost of the whole Asgard kingdom. With his helmet and sword at hand, the Fire Giant is near unstoppable, and effortlessly dispatches the Goddess of Death, who caused Thor so much trouble, with only one hit, and a villain of his caliber deserves at least another role in the franchise. 

Do you want to add any more bad guys to the list? Which villain do you think deserves more screen time? Let us know in the comments.