Thanos is an amazing character, and he is such a clever manipulation of a character from the rival company that his stature has become much grander than the original character that he is based upon. To cut a long story short, Darkseid has been around for 46 years, but, there is hardly any effort to make him contemporary and appealing to modern comic lovers. On the contrary, Thanos has only grown stronger and more popular since the time he was created in 1973 by Jim Starlin. While he is one of the nastiest villains around, he is highly unpredictable. Success is a very different ball game for Thanos, and now he is gearing up to launch his first ongoing comic series created by Jeff Lemire and Mike Deodato.
Thinking of Thanos made us wonder if there are any other villains mightier and deadlier than Thanos in the Marvel Universe? Thus, we explored and created a list of 11 Marvel villains who are so dangerous that Thanos might look mild in comparison.
11. Dracula
It’s not difficult to lose track of Dracula being a sincere villain in the world of Marvel comics. We haven’t seen him in a proper series for almost 40 years now, and in between, he has rarely made any appearances. It is true that he is occasionally seen from time to time such as in the “Fear Itself” crossover event, but, he is extremely irregular. Despite the rare appearances, he is a bigger challenge to Thanos compared to how Thanos fares against the rest of the Marvel villains.
Thanos always plans grand and well planned, deeply researched missions which might take him years on the drawing board and if he fails, he goes back to improvise. In contrast, Dracula, despite being a smart schemer is more of an on the go threat because of his vampire existence and ample self-motivation which doesn’t need to be based on collecting magical stones from far-flung creatures.
10. Mystique
Mystic has recently appeared in a heroic role in the recent X-Men movies such as “First Class” and “X-Mein: Apocalypse.” She has been around in X-Men comics for years. She played a major role in “Days of Future Past” and now is a cog in the wheel of the backstage designs of S.H.I.E.L.D. and X-Men team. She is a supervillain worthy of a place on this list.
Her connections with X-Men and her manipulation of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents make her a deadlier villain compared to Thanos who just comes and causes mass destruction, but, normally fails to achieve his goals. Mystique is an extreme opposite which causes long-lasting damage, and her stealthy capabilities make her a villain hard to notice, but, deadlier to tackle.
9. Ultron
Ultron is so dangerous that he could have deserved a higher rank, but, his image got severely dented by the second Avengers film. He was extremely powerful and had built up a great robot army, but, his flawed decision-making and confused screenplay caused his downfall. He was bummed by Tony Stark, but, instead of tearing the Iron Man apart, he strangely decided to take on the world and at the same time he didn’t want to hurt the Scarlet Witch.
Ultron had an Adamantium body, he could make an infinite number of clones and had a deadly psychotic disorder which makes him a greater threat than Thanos. He has no emotional weaknesses though in the ending sequences he confessed having been affectionate towards some of the guys he battled against. He surely is one villain we are going to remember.
8. Kang
The ground rule for judging a villain is how long does it take to describe him? If that were the only criteria, then Kang would be a failure. However, this Fantastic Four and occasionally Avengers villain is loved by fans, and he has great futuristic weapons. He looks awesome from a cinematic perspective and has the capability to cause as much chaos as he wishes for. Thanos is often found wanting without his gems, but, Kang has no such issue. Not only that he can undo the damage caused if he wants and he can mess up the universal timelines without any Time stone.
7. Galactus
This good at heart guy struts around in a purple helmet and gobbles planets, caring nothing for the billions that get wiped out in the process. Death is probably his travel mate who gets fed very well each time Galactus feasts on a planet. He has had crossed swords with Thanos several times, but, he is one guy who kills only out of necessity and not random. The only thing that denies him a top spot on the list of villains is the fact that he is more of a natural disaster than an evil guy bent on destruction. However, he is way deadlier than Thanos because he has been around since long before the birth of the universe and there is no reason why he won’t outlive it.
6. Mephisto
Mephisto is literally Saturn’s incarnation. This evil creature is almost limitless in powers, and he has also taken Thanos on in “The Infinity Gauntlet” series. He is probably the most entertaining and sadly the most underrated Marvel villain. If you wish to truly assess his powers then you need to go through the controversial “Spider-Man: One More Day” storyline and those are the kinds of powers that Thanos can only wish for.
5. Dormammu
His name might be a bit odd to pronounce, but you can hear it being spoken more than once in the soon to release Doctor Strange film. Oops, was that a spoiler here? His popularity is on the rise, and Marvel has been roping him in every new video game and animation that they produce these days. This incredibly powerful bully is one of the mightiest villains sharing space on this list. Thanos is shown to be on a mission to gain more power and attain a position where the Goddess of Death is happy to play pals with him. On the other hand, Dormammu is way stronger than Thanos and the only area where he can beat Dormammu is the sense of humor.
4. Green Goblin
Green Goblin is a monstrosity, and he is as merciless and playful a killer like the Joker. He is highly vindictive, and though he might not be the mightiest, he keeps reinventing himself to cause fear and mayhem. He is not just an enemy of the Spider-Man, but, of the entire Marvel Universe. Since he is an Earthling unlike most others on this list, he is a constant threat. He has no morals or rules that prevent him from hurting anyone who comes his way.
In fact, we might consider the fact Thanos doesn’t consider himself to be a villain and at times he has shown mild traces of compassion. His only focus is on his goals, and the cost or the destruction is only a tool for him. He focuses on increasing his powers, invincibility and ruling others. Green Goblin has none of those notions. He is a ruthless killer who doesn’t mind refitting his body and coming back again to kill some more.
3. Loki
Loki is a villain whom you can’t hate. This character represented by Tom Hiddleston is being seen with a great deal of frequency in the movies these days, but, he is one of the main bolding forces behind the Avengers, and that’s why he is among the top three on this list. He can change shapes and is a God on par with Thor. He is highly vindictive and has a great deal of access to cosmic powers, but, he is not a ruthless terrorist on a killing spree. He is a fascinating villain and the more we get Loki, the more we enjoy it.
Thanos has appeared in several films, but, apart from minor appearance and threats, we haven’t yet seen him take center stage whereas Loki impresses in each appearance. In the world of comics, he is even more popular and loved than the movies.
2. Magneto
There are a lot of villains here who have some nobility and ideology, and this is where Magneto reigns supreme. He is one villain who fights on opposing sides and at times on both sides in his bid to achieve his objective.
In fact, in comic books, he is often shown as a hero, and that’s heartbreaking. However, whenever he would play a proper villain, he will be extremely destructive and successful. He can wipe out the life on Earth by only thinking of it and not needing to make any physical attack, and that makes him infinitely more dangerous than Thanos.
1. Doom
There was no way that Doctor Doom won’t have appeared on the top of this list. He has taken all every character worth his name in the Marvel Universe including the recent crossover series “Secret Wars”. He has struck deals with demons, he peeled off the skin of his childhood bestie to create an armor out of her skin and used magic to change the lineage of the daughter of Reed and Sue so that he could be her father. That’s just a tiny fraction of the crazy things that he has done. Despite being a human, this character has been one of the nastiest and deadliest villains in the Marvel Universe since his origin in the 1960s. He doesn’t have to depend on other things for his powers (he is like a Thanos without the infinity crap and Ultron without internet. That’s what he is).
Fox holds his cinematic rights. Thus, he can’t feature in the MCU or else he would have been the stellar villain of the films instead of Thanos. When it comes to comic books, he is the meanest, sharpest, cruelest and the most chilled out villain in the house of Marvel.
