The most interesting villains are those with compelling backstories, and those adapted from the pages of Marvel Comics often possess just that. Many Marvel villains introduced in the movies of the MCU and beyond have suffered a great many losses before turning to villainy, and others still lose objects, places, or people important to them after acting as antagonists. Although these villains all fall onto the darker side of the moral spectrum, they’ve all experienced significant loss or tragedy, too. With that in mind, here are the 10 Marvel movie villains who have lost the most.
10. Victor Von Doom Loses His Wealth & Status
Fantastic Four (2005)
2005’s Fantastic Four might predate the MCU, but it also depicted a villain who lost everything. Though Victor Von Doom is far from a tragic figure, the film sees him stake his financial and professional well-being on an ambitious trip to space. When it goes awry and grants the Fantastic Four their powers, Von Doom loses everything, including his business and his societal status. Then, he loses his identity, too, as his body slowly transforms into an incredibly durable metallic substance. He’s hardly a sympathetic villain, but he’s certainly one that knows loss.
9. Taskmaster Lost Her Free Will
Black Widow (2021)
Though Taskmaster isn’t the primary villain in Black Widow’s cast, she’s still something of a tragic figure. The MCU’s version of the character is the daughter of Dreykov, the man responsible for the Red Room’s creation and operation. After an assassination attempt gone awry, Antonia Dreykov was scarred and transformed into Taskmaster, then used as a blunt implement of her father’s organization. Having had her entire identity and any semblance of free will taken from her, the MCU’s Taskmaster is truly defined by all the things she lost.
8. Helmut Zemo Lost His Family
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
The villain of Captain America: Civil War is revealed as Helmut Zemo, a former Sokovian Intelligence agent with an ax to grind against the Avengers. During the events of Age of Ultron, Zemo’s family leave the city in Sokovia, believing they’d be safe. When the Avengers dropped the city, Zemo’s family were killed, leaving him behind to blame the Avengers for his loss. His character is later explored further in the MCU TV showThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, cementing the impact his loss had on him as a man and as a villain.
7. Ghost Lost Her Parents & Was Manipulated Into Evil
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Ghost is a perfect example of an MCU villain completely defined by her losses. As a child, Ghost’s parents were scientists working with quantum energy until their lab exploded, killing them. The accident also affected the young Ghost, rendering her intangible and unable to physically connect with those around her. Orphaned and struggling to understand her powers, Ghost was then manipulated into villainy in the hopes that her condition would be cured. Ghost’s losses as a child were substantial, and they were the main factor in her later role as an MCU villain.
6. Magneto Lost His Family & Innocence At A Young Age
X-Men (2000)
Magneto has been both a hero and villain in Fox’s X-Men movies, making him one of its most complex characters. However, his role as a villain is directly linked to the horrendous losses he suffered as a child, feeding into a unique worldview that leads him to resent humanity. The young Jewish mutant Magneto experienced the Holocaust firsthand, losing his family and seeing his people treated in the most horrific of manners. These losses shaped Magneto, directly informing the stance that later sees him act as an X-Men villain.
5. Gorr Lost His Daughter & His Faith Before Turning On The Gods
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Gorr the God Butcher might well be one of the MCU’s most bloodthirsty villains, but his backstory is a particularly tragic one. The beginning of Thor: Love and Thunder sees Gorr wandering the desert with his dying daughter, desperately seeking water and food. After she dies in his arms, he meets the god he had prayed in vain to, only for the deity to laugh in his face. It’s only after losing both his daughter and his faith that Gorr succumbs to the influence of the Necrosword, allowing grief over his loss to turn him into a villain.
4. Thanos Lost Everything When He Was Exiled
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Thanos is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, but he’s also suffered heavy losses. While living on his home planet of Titan, Thanos was exiled for his radical solution of killing half of the population. After his exile, Thanos watched as his people and his planet died, losing everything he once held dear. It’s this that prompted Thanos’ crusade to wipe out half of all life in the universe, meaning he too was very much shaped by his losses.
3. Killmonger Lost His Heritage And Royal Connections
Black Panther (2018)
Killmonger is often considered one of the MCU’s most justified villains, as his plan to seize the throne of Wakanda was born of noble intentions. As a child, Killmonger watched as his father was killed for attempting to use Wakanda’s power to help the rest of the world, losing both his father and his royal heritage as a result. Being estranged from his homeland is what leads Killmonger to be at odds with the Black Panther, meaning his entire villain arc started with his loss.
2. Nebula Had Her Identity Taken From Her By Thanos
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Nebula’s story is one of the MCU’s darkest, as she explains that after being adopted by Thanos she was effectively tortured. Forced to fight her adoptive sister Gamora, Thanos would remove and replace Nebula’s body parts after each loss, slowly taking her identity from her. It’s the loss of her identity and original body that drives Nebula, later seeing the MCU villain help the heroes before defecting to the Avengers.
1. Wanda Maximoff Lost Everything Before Becoming The Scarlet Witch
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
There are few characters in the MCU who have lost as much as Wanda Maximoff. As a child, she lost her parents, and after joining the Avengers, she lost her twin brother. After falling in love with Vision, she lost him, too, and then lost the family she created for herself in her grief as well as her hero status in the Marvel Universe. It’s all of these losses that finally sees Wanda embrace her dark potential, becoming the Scarlet Witch and acting as a powerful villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
