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The Avengers , Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, are one of comics’ most iconic superheroic groups. Gathered together to protect the Earth from supervillainous threats, the Avengers have been at the forefront of nearly every disastrous apocalypse that has befallen the Marvel Universe. Along the way, the band of rotating heroes have faced the Multiverse’s most sinister villains. However, some villains have risen above the rest as the Avengers’ greatest enemies.
From space-faring purple tyrants to steel-clad mystical conquerors, the Avengers have faced the worst evils the Multiverse has had to offer. But, admittedly, not every villain ranks on par with the rest. There are those villains who have truly excelled in the art of evil, challenging every Avenger to oppose their might. These kings, criminals, and creatures have each threatened to destroy the Avengers, testing the team’s resilience and resolve. This list features some of Marvel’s most terrifying threats, each of whom has risen to legendary status. These are the Avengers’ top ten greatest villains in Marvel history.
10 Taskmaster
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #196 (1980) by David Machelinie and George Perez
Admittedly, Taskmaster isn’t exactly an Avengers villain . While he has only faced the team a handful of times, Taskmaster is still very much a contender on this list. Marvel’s biggest bad guys certainly steal the show, but it's the grunts, thugs, and canon fodder soldiers that do most of the heavy lifting. And behind the scenes, training nearly every Hydra, AIM, or Serpent Society goon that has ever faced the Avengers, is the Taskmaster.
Realizing that he could make more money by training soldiers than risking his life as a mercenary, Taskmaster opened up the Taskmaster’s Academy. Anthony Masters possesses photogenic reflexes, allowing him to instantly mimic the combat abilities of any person he’s previously fought. Using his power, the villain has collected information from dozens of heroes. Through his Academy, Taskmaster trains his students to overcome their future heroic adversaries by deconstructing the heroes’ fighting styles. While he may not be an iconic Avengers villain, Taskmaster is responsible for training every villainous henchman the Avengers have ever faced.
9 Ronan the Accuser
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #90 (1971) by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema
Believing that the Kree had become too soft under the Supreme Intelligence’s rule, Ronan the Accuser betrayed his people’s leader to bring a new violent age to the Kree Empire. As his first act of emperor, Ronan enacted a plot to devolve all humanity and take over the globe unchallenged. However, it’s not his first attempt against the Avengers that makes him great, it’s what happened after.
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Following his first attack, humanity had become paranoid about future alien attacks. Soon, the public's hysteria targeted Captain Marvel, an Avenger and fellow Kree alien. The Avengers stood up for their ally, but after a violent mob destroyed the Avengers Mansion, the team was labeled as traitors to humanity and disbanded. However, due to Ronan's actions, the Avengers were made aware of the Skrull Empire . Even in their shattered state, the Avengers were prepared to go on defense when Skrull forces infiltrated the team soon after.
8 Mephisto
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #31 (2020) by Jason Aaron and Gerardo Zaffino
While Mephisto has not traditionally faced the Avengers himself, the team has proven to be the source of endless entertainment for the King of Hell. As far back as 1,000,000 BC, Mephisto spent eons manipulating the various iterations of the Avengers that have cropped up throughout history. However, one universe’s Avengers were not enough to satiate the Devil’s appetite. Mephisto’s joy had turned into anger as the heroes consistently defied his plans. The demon sought to rid the Multiverse of the Avengers, soon inciting the time-traveling Doom Supreme to follow in his footsteps.
Through his machinations, the Avengers were plunged into a time-traveling multiversal saga that threatened to undo the very fabric of the Multiverse. To face the threat of the Multiversal Masters of Evil and the Red Council of Mephistos, an epic collection of the Multiverse’s Mightiest Avengers banded together to save all reality. Mephisto is often a passive villain. He exists behind the scenes, pulling the strings of unsuspecting heroes and villains. While mortals may squabble over petty differences, the King of Hell sees only playthings for his amusement. Even the Multiverse and what lies beyond is not beyond the influence of his infernal schemes.
7 Korvac
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #168 (1977) by James Shooter and George Perez
Michael Korvac originally hails from the year 2977. Following a horrific string of betrayals, Korvac was forcibly transformed into a cyborg, equipped with an adaptive body that analyzes others’ powers and abilities to create a weapon capable of countering the threat. Following his rebirth at the hands of the galactic Badoon Empire, Korvac set out to prove himself an unparalleled power. Through his unyielding conquests, Korvac independently encountered Galactus and the Grandmaster , successfully copying the Power Cosmic and the ability to teleport through time-space. Now an unstoppable god, Korvac escaped from his time’s Guardians of the Galaxy to Earth-616.
Soon, the Avengers, Odin, and the Watcher launched an assault against the villain. However, Korvac laid waste to the heroes, brutally slaughtering them in battle. When Korvac was finally brought down, he revived the Avengers and Guardians. Korvac has returned since then, each time proving his strength against the Avengers. Korvac is the refined representation of the word “drive.” While only being a typical human at first, Korvac rose past a galactic empire and his home universe, effortlessly copying cosmic powers. His only drive was to prove his worth to others. Korvac is a singularly-driven character, but it has led to a string of incredible achievements.
6 Kang the Conqueror
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #8 (1964) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Following the Avengers’ initial formation, the team often faced a collective of villains known as the Masters of Evil. However, their normal operations were suddenly disrupted when a time-traveling conqueror sought to take over the world. Kang, equipped with his far-future technology, initially overwhelmed the Avengers but stood no match against the freshly seasoned superheroes. However, Kang would return time and time again to assert his dominance as time’s greatest conqueror. Kang exists beyond a level that most villains operate at. His mastery over navigating the timestream has given the villain infinite time to grow in power.
While Kang doesn’t possess any natural superpowers, his greatest strength lies within his mind. The villain has traversed countless realities across endless time, slaying heroes and conquering worlds in between. He is a scientific supergenius and a brilliant tactician. To Kang, the Avengers are pawns in his greater schemes. He has faced thousands of versions of the team across the Multiverse, collecting trophies from each of their defeats. Now, Kang and the Avengers have both become pawns in an even greater game of 4D chess.
5 Doctor Doom
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #25 (1965) by Stan Lee and Don Heck
The current Emperor Supreme of Earth, Doctor Doom is Marvel’s most well-rounded threat. The villain is a scientific genius, nearly on par with Reed Richards. Likewise, Doctor Doom is a master of the mystic arts and has currently succeeded Doctor Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme . While Doom was originally an exclusive threat to the Fantastic Four, the villain first targeted the Avengers as a means to instill fear into his true enemies. After sending a false invitation to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to meet their “aunt,” the siblings, alongside Captain America and Hawkeye, travel to Latveria to meet the family. Upon arriving, Doom captured the Avengers but was swiftly defeated by the Fantastic Four.
While the villain has remained a consistent threat to the Avengers, he is a unique addition to their collection of villains. Doom is a near-unmatched intellectual talent with the resources of an entire country behind him. When faced with great evils that threaten the entirety of Earth, the Avengers often turn to Doctor Doom to aid them in their fight. Now disgusted with the Avengers’ lack of ability to prevent disaster, Doom has created his own Avengers to rival his enemy heroes.
4 Baron Zemo
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #275 (1968) by Roger Stern and John Buscema
While Baron Heinrich Zemo deserves to be credited for creating the Masters of Evil, the Avengers’ earliest team of supervillains, it's the Baron's son who has earned a spot on this list. Following his father’s death, Helmut Zemo rose in Heinrich’s footsteps. When he first debuted against the Avengers, Zemo assembled his own Masters of Evil, continuing the team’s ongoing war with their rival heroes. On his own, Zemo is a nasty villain and a textbook Nazi. The Zemo family has long stood on the side of fascism and Zemo’s devotion to Hydra proves he’s no different.
However, Zemo's greatest victory over the Avengers is still credited to the Masters of Evil. Under his direction, Zemo and the Masters led a violent assault against the Avengers Mansion. The ensuing brawl was brutal, leaving the heroes broken and scattered. The damage was so catastrophic that Captain America was left in tears for his fallen comrades and lost home. This villainous mastermind often chooses to hide behind the scenes, manipulating others to achieve his goals.
3 Loki
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #1 (1963) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Loki is the villain who started it all. Before the God of Trickery arrived on Earth, Marvel’s greatest heroes rarely fought side-by-side, often consumed by their independent enemies. However, when Loki saw an opportunity to transform the Hulk into his personal living weapon, their schemes unintentionally brought Marvel’s best together. Dubbed the God of Evil, Loki proved to be an unmatched threat that no hero could take alone. Since then, Loki has remained a consistent threat to the Avengers, only recently embracing their more heroic qualities.
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The God of Mischief is a multi-thousand-year-old sorcerer who has seen more war than any other Avenger besides their brother Thor. Thus, the Asgardian god often looks down on the Avengers, believing the mortal heroes to be a waste of their time. By the end of the original Loki’s life, they had fully turned over a new leaf, sacrificing their life to save the Avengers. While they may be gone, the sinister reverberations of Loki's early actions will be remembered as long as the Avengers exist . Despite this, they truly cared little for the Avengers or mortals for that matter. Yet, their intentions and whims are often fleeting and varied. However, their confusing nature is what makes them such a well-established character. The heroes may remain on guard against Loki, but the god still remains three steps ahead.
2 Thanos
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #125 (1974) by Steve Englehart and John Buscema
On a day like any other, the Avengers are met by Rick Jones’s girlfriend, begging the heroes to help her forever-sidekick boyfriend and Captain Marvel. Soon, the Avengers would face the team’s most iconic threat of all time, the Mad Titan Thanos. However, Thanos possessed a tenacity that the Avengers had not yet seen. With the Cosmic Cube in his possession, Thanos reshaped all reality, transforming himself into a god-like being. While the heroes defeated the galactic tyrant, the pure power of the creature they just faced left them visibly shocked.
Admittedly, Thanos has not been as consistent a threat to the Avengers as villains like Ultron or Kang, but when he has appeared, it’s always been an event. However, no hero can shake away the harrowing moment when Thanos snapped away half the universe and most of the Avengers alongside it. His pure, unrefined, evil stands out among the Avengers’ other villains. Thanos is a natural disaster whose very presence incites chaos. He bears no life as significant because his heart belongs to death. However, despite his overwhelming popularity thanks to the MCU, another villain ranks as the Avengers’ greatest foe.
1 Ultron
First Fought the Avengers In: Avengers #55 (1968) by Roy Thomas and John Buscema
First created by Hank Pym, Ultron was designed to test the scientist’s ability to create high-intelligence robotics. Ultron rapidly developed sentience and influenced Pym to forget the android’s existence. In part because of his rapid evolution, Ultron developed an unquenchable god complex, believing himself to be superior to humanity. However, his drive to destroy the Avengers is personal. Despite his complex plans, the Avengers eventually overcame Ultron following their first encounter.His ego was left shattered. In his eyes, the Avengers were now the greatest threat to his ascension.
While every villain on this list is an Avengers-level threat, only Ultron can be considered an Avengers-specific threat. The other villains all belong to individual heroes and only face the Avengers after comitting something truly evil. But Ultron's hatred of the Avengers is personal. Yet, in his efforts to destroy the heroes, Ultron inadverently created one of the team's most powerful allies - Vision. In an odd twist of fate, Ultron had become the Avengers’ most recurring villain while credited with creating an iconic hero as well. He may not possess Thanos’s strength or Kang’s technology, but Ultron’s singular motivation to destroy the Avengers asserts the villain as the team’s greatest villain of all time.
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