1996's Captain America: The Legend – written by Mark Gruenwald, with art by Jason Franzone – included a list of "off-the-charts" powerful villains, those Steve Rogers considers to be the most dangerous in the Marvel Universe.
While Thanos, of course, was the MCU's greatest villain, the only other antagonist from this list to appear on screen so far has been M.O.D.O.K. – leaving related character M.O.D.A.M., as well as Dragon Man, Jakar, Terminus, the Captain America-duplicate Ameridroid, and the particularly dangerous Super-Adaptoid waiting in the wings to be used as on-screen enemies.
Six Of Captain America's List Of Eight "Thanos-Level" Villains Have Yet To Make Their Marvel Cinematic Universe Debut
Captain America: The Legend – Written By Mark Gruenwald; Art By Jason Franzone, Comicraft & Paul Becton
While fans are excited about seeing the first appearance of Galactus in the MCU, there is another giant-sized villain who could cause just as much destruction, and Captain America knows exactly how strong he is. Terminus is one of the toughest enemies that Captain America has ever faced, and often requires the entire Avengers team to bring him down. Terminus is so powerful even the Justice League struggled with him. In Amazing Spider-Man #694, Captain America even realized the Avengers were no match for Terminus and was forced to retreat and rely on the hero Alpha to beat him.
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One of the most dangerous beings in the DC Universe has always been the Amazo Android, capable of replicating any power. Naturally, Marvel has its own version of this character, known as Super-Adaptoid. The Super-Adaptoid is capable of copying up to 8 individual powers and skill sets at the same time; it makes sense that Captain America would view the Super-Adaptoid as off-the-charts powerful, considering it was perfectly capable of combining Thor's obscene physical strength with Steve Roger's own fighting talents. There's no better threat to make an interesting Avengers movie villain.
Ameridroid Is An Over-The-Top, Oversized Version Of Captain America Himself
A Threat Specifically For Steve Rogers To Handle
While the Super-Adaptoid is certainly dangerous, he's not exactly specific to Captain America. So, if Marvel Studios wanted a villain more tied to Steve Rogers, there's no need to look further than Lyle Dekker, also known as the Ameridroid. Lyle Dekker has a fittingly goofy backstory, as seen in Captain America #218. In this story, Lyle Dekker is tasked with sabotaging a Hollywood movie based on Captain America's life. After harassing the studio and staging various accidents on set, he's eventually found out by Captain America and his kid sidekick Bucky, but he manages to make a daring escape.
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After Lyle's complete failure, he was brutally tortured by the Red Skull and left for dead. Infuriated by being betrayed by the cause he so believed in, Lyle spent the next several decades constructing a 12-foot-tall robotic version of Captain America's body. Once Captain America reappeared after being frozen for decades, Lyle captured him and copied his powers into the Ameridroid, which he then merged his own mind with. From there, Lyle continually haunted Captain America as a ridiculous giant robot version of the iconic hero.
Captain America Has Many Unused Villains Waiting To Be Revitalized As Major On-Screen Threats
Any Of Them Could Make A Great MCU Antagonist
One of the major difficulties of having a shared cinematic universe is the inability to showcase everyone's villains to the degree they deserve. When a cinematic universe juggles six to seven major heroes, and each hero comes with eight or nine villains, it makes sense that they aren't all shown. Especially when the movies end up serving the purpose of furthering the bigger grand storyline. Such as how Captain America: Winter Soldier focused on showcasing the return of Bucky Barnes instead of an actual Captain America villain.
The MCU could potentially offer the definitive versions of villains like Terminus, or Super-Adaptoid, or even Ameridroid.
The only real Captain America villain to get center stage in the MCU was Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger. This is a shame because there are actually tons of powerful Captain America villains that Steve, or his successor Sam Wilson have yet to face on the big screen. While Red Skull is essential to the Captain America mythos, he doesn't even rank on Steve's own list of eight most dangerous villains. Further, the MCU could potentially offer the definitive versions of villains like Terminus, or Super-Adaptoid, or even Ameridroid.
These aren't the only examples of villains that really pushed Captain America to the limit. There's also M.O.D.O.K. and M.O.D.A.M, with the former having appeared in the Ant-Man movies. There's also Jakar and Dragon Man, both of whom Cap calls Thanos-level threats. The absolute toughest villains that Captain America has stated to go up against were also USAgent, Grand Director, and Deathlok. It's a shame that the only Captain America villain to really take center stage has been Red Skull, because there are so many more villains that could work for whatever next movie Marvel has planned.
Captain America: The Legend is available now from Marvel Comics!
Captain America
Initially debuting in 1940, Captain America is the patriotically themed superhero who has shared the title with only a few individuals. Beginning with Steve Rogers, Captain America's birth resulted from a frail man taking part in an experimental U.S. Army super-soldier trial, which imbued him with super-human abilities. The character is often depicted wielding a nigh unbreakable and aerodynamic shield made of vibranium that they use to defend and attack their foes.
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