Prepare for an epic journey through the most formidable villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! From cosmic threats to reality-warping beings, we're counting down the most powerful antagonists that have challenged our favorite heroes. Who will claim the top spot?
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most powerful antagonist
00:10from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
00:20Number 15, Ronan the Accuser, Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel.
00:24An extremist member of the Kree, Ronan is out for vengeance against his people's enemies.
00:29Ronan possesses strength beyond that of not only humans, but also other powerful alien
00:33races.
00:34He treats a fighter of Drax's caliber like a ragdoll.
00:45Ronan also has a hammer that produces shockwaves, which he uses to murder one of Thanos' underlings
00:50instantly.
00:51Most notably of all, Ronan is able to briefly acquire and wield the Power Stone, one of
00:56the Affinity Stones.
00:57Although it's ultimately part of his undoing, the fact that he can withstand it as long
01:01as he does is a testament to his strength.
01:20Number 14, Shu Wenwu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
01:33This complex fighter has an advantage many antagonists don't, the Ten Rings.
01:38These mystical objects grant Wenwu immortality, as well as increased strength, stamina, and
01:43speed.
01:44Wenwu can also control the rings physically and use them to produce powerful energy blasts,
01:48wield as a whip, and generate a force field.
01:50With his power, he was able to start the legendary Ten Rings organization.
01:54It's one thing to be a master martial artist, it's another to run an international organization
01:59of assassins.
02:00And given his age, he's undoubtedly more experienced than most other fighters alive.
02:12Number 13, Loki, Various.
02:27The god of mischief himself, Loki's most prominent abilities involve illusions he creates
02:32with magic.
02:33His frost giant physiology also makes Loki stronger and faster than most humans.
02:37Although he does lose to stronger characters like his brother Thor or the Hulk, he can
02:42go toe to toe with superhumans like Steve Rogers.
02:45His brief possession of the Mind Stone also let him brainwash others.
02:59Of course, Loki does obtain unfathomable power by the end of his eponymous TV series.
03:04However, we'd argue that by then, he's no longer a villain.
03:08But during his villainous period, Loki is still plenty threatening.
03:12Number 12, Agatha Harkness.
03:13WandaVision and Agatha all along.
03:22Magic users are among the most powerful villains in the MCU, and Agatha Harkness is no exception.
03:27A dark witch, Agatha can cast a wide variety of powerful spells.
03:32These include simple energy projection, mind manipulation, and telekinesis.
03:36Agatha is also effectively immortal.
03:37The catty witch's most dangerous ability is arguably siphoning the magic powers of
03:42other witches and magic users.
03:43This grants her their abilities while strengthening her own.
03:46She's able to stand up against Scarlet Witch's power.
03:49Agatha also attracts the attention of Lady Death herself, and we can't imagine she's
03:55Number 11, Gorr the God Butcher.
04:11Thor, Love, and Thunder.
04:13It's kinda right there in his name, right?
04:15The guy killed deities.
04:16Upon obtaining the Necrosword, Gorr is imbued with enough strength to overpower people so
04:21powerful they're worshipped by others.
04:33Gorr's strength, speed, and agility are also comparable to his divine prey.
04:37The dark blade also enables him to move through shadows and create dozens of creatures to
04:41do his bidding.
04:42However, while the Necrosword is Gorr's greatest strength, its destruction ultimately
04:47proves his undoing.
04:48Although his use of it wears away at him, Gorr loses nearly all his power when it's
04:52destroyed.
04:53Number 10, Arthur Harrow, Moon Knight.
05:08Few cult leaders are harmless, but Arthur Harrow is arguably the most dangerous.
05:12A disciple of the goddess Amit and her eventual avatar, Harrow can deliver to people what
05:16Amit most desires, judgment.
05:34Those deemed evil in the past or future can say goodbye to their souls.
05:38Harrow can also use the staff of Amit to emit energy blasts and summon jackals to attack
05:42his foes.
05:43But that's all before he becomes Amit's avatar.
05:46Once he embodies her power, he obtains superhuman strength, speed, and all the usual tricks.
05:51Oh, and he also gains the ability to grant his followers the power to judge others, effectively
05:56turning them all into instruments of mass murder.
06:08Number 9, Cassandra Nova, Deadpool and Wolverine.
06:24Professor Charles Xavier is among the multiverse's most powerful mutants, and his sister's
06:29strength rivals the omega level psychics.
06:32Cassandra is telekinetic, telepathic, and can phase through solid matter.
06:36She rules over the void with an army of survivors, feeding adversaries to the monstrous Aliath.
06:42Although she has to physically touch someone's brain to look into it, that only makes Cassandra
06:46a creepier villain.
06:48The sight of her fingers under people's skin is so dang unnerving.
07:05Cassandra also nearly destroys every timeline when she accesses the Time Ripper.
07:10However, even she is no match for the power of Madonna.
07:14Number 8, Wanda Maximoff slash The Scarlet Witch, Varius.
07:30Wanda has been many places on the hero to villain scale throughout her time in the MCU.
07:34The Scarlet Witch has access to a vast array of magical abilities, from levitation to teleportation
07:39and telekinesis.
07:40She can also alter reality to suit her whims over the distance of several miles.
07:45Wanda can also dreamwalk into other versions of herself in other universes, giving her
07:50influence over the multiverse.
07:51Her magic is strong enough for her to overwhelm foes like Thanos and easily murder her way
07:57through the Illuminati of Earth 838, even when Wanda claims to be reasonable.
08:01Her power is utterly terrifying.
08:19Number 7, Kang the Conqueror, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Quantumania.
08:24Some villains achieve power through innate strength or abilities.
08:27Kang is this strong through his genius, oh, and some incredibly powerful armor.
08:34Kang's technological suit grants him the usual host of superhuman abilities, super
08:49strength, speed, durability, as well as energy blasts and portal creation.
08:53Kang's so powerful that he has killed multiple versions of the Avengers across the multiverse.
09:09There's also many versions of Kang in other realities.
09:12One of them, called He Who Remains, even put into place a system to eliminate all other
09:16timelines to safeguard his own.
09:31Number 6, Hela, Thor Ragnarok.
09:36The Asgardian goddess of death, Hela, has all the strengths of her people, but taken
09:41to an absurd degree.
09:42She crushes Mjolnir, one of the strongest weapons in the universe, with ease.
09:54Hela handily defeats her brother Thor, one of the mightiest heroes in Asgard or any other
09:59realm, multiple times, as well as the entire Asgardian military.
10:03Along with her phenomenal strength and durability, Hela wields fearsome necro swords.
10:08And true to her title, Hela resurrects a legion of her soldiers as an undead army.
10:13Surtur, the fiery villain that proves her undoing, is also quite powerful, but his singular
10:18focus on destroying Asgard is a bit limited.
10:27Number 5, Ereshim the Judge, Eternals.
10:30As one of the Celestials, Ereshim is among the oldest and most powerful beings in the
10:35MCU.
10:36Not only is he absolutely massive in size, he can also survive the vacuum of space.
10:42Plus, there's the whole creating stars, planets, and intelligent life thing he's
10:46got going on.
11:04Ereshim is borderline invincible, though he isn't entirely all-knowing or all-powerful.
11:09His detached perspective leaves him unable to predict or understand lower life forms
11:13that well.
11:14And it's that same perspective that makes him a villain in the first place.
11:17His view of the circle of life is at such a macro scale that he doesn't consider the
11:22lives of people in the short term as important.
11:36Number 4, Ego the Living Planet, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
11:40This Celestial is not just the size of a planet, he is one.
11:44The huge being is able to manipulate matter and energy on both a large and small scale.
12:03He can be delicate enough to control the minds of others, make avatars whose durability and
12:07strength are superhuman, and reshape his form as he pleases.
12:11Furthermore, his master plan involves him seeding various worlds to expand his consciousness
12:16to effectively take over the entire galaxy.
12:19But Ego's biggest mistake proves to be killing his son, Peter's mother, and squishing his
12:24Walkman.
12:28Number 3, Infinity Ultron, What If?
12:31This version of the genocidal AI from Avengers Age of Ultron does manage to kill his version
12:36of the Avengers and turn his world into a wasteland.
12:45But Infinity Ultron doesn't stop there.
12:47After he encounters Thanos, the killer robot proceeds to dispose of the mad titan, take
12:52the infinity stones, and bring peace to the rest of his universe.
13:07When he becomes aware of the multiverse, he decides to do the same to every version of
13:11reality.
13:12And given the fact that he's able to handily defeat foes like the Watcher, he has a decent
13:16shot at it.
13:17Even he can't account for EVERYTHING.
13:22Number 2, Dormammu, Doctor Strange.
13:36Extra dimensional beings are pretty common in the MCU, but Dormammu dwarfs them all in
13:41power and scope.
13:42The ruler of the dark dimension, Dormammu wields mystic power on a universal scale,
13:46conquering realities and worlds.
13:48His control of his own dimension is so great that he can essentially reshape it at will.
13:53The shadowy being can influence others outside his dimension by granting his followers pieces
13:58of his power.
13:59Ultimately, though, Dormammu can be trapped, though it takes a rare spell and sorcerer
14:04to achieve it.
14:05And anyone else is likely to get more than they bargained for.
14:35Number 1, Thanos, Various.
14:36You had to see this coming, right?
14:38The mad titan conquered many planets with his legions of followers.
14:49Simply in his base form, Thanos can take on many of Earth's mightiest heroes with nothing
14:53but his fists and his sword.
14:55But when the purple people killer starts collecting infinity stones, he obtains powers like reality
15:00warping, portal creation, energy blast, moon throwing, and a whole host of abilities too
15:05numerous to mention.
15:06And of course, his most infamous act involved turning half of all life in the universe to
15:12dust with a snap.
15:13Thanos isn't just one of the MCU's best villains, he's also its strongest.
15:27Is there an unfathomably powerful Marvel Cinematic Villain we forgot?
15:30Surprise us with your favorites in the comments below.