Strongest Marvel Comic Villains Of All Time

Summary

• The Leader’s super-intelligence, telekinesis, and telepathy make him a formidable villain in Marvel Comics.
• Hela’s black magic, immortality, and necromancy skills have allowed her to achieve incredible feats like killing Thor.
• Dormammu’s dark magic, dimensional travel, and immortality make him a multiversal threat in the Marvel universe.

When it comes to powerful supervillains, Marvel Comics has them left and right. In fact, thanks to the multiverse, even the usual heroes have taken some drastic rogue turns, turning them into lethal antagonists. The world of Marvel Comics can be a terrifying place, to say the least.

With universe-devouring entities and demi-gods everywhere, it becomes hard to put into perspective the power of these characters. If any of these villains decide to go all-out berserk, even The Avengers might not be able to save the day. So, before the universe gets destroyed or wiped out, here are the strongest villains in the world of Marvel Comics.

Updated May 25, 2025, by Blaise Santi: Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially ended with the release of Thunderbolts*. Phase 6 will kick off later this summer with the releases of both the Disney+ series Ironheart, and the highly-anticipated The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Both of these projects will introduce some serious big bads in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future, but will pale in comparison to the portrayal of Victor von Doom by Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Doomsday, which has just recently entered production. Before any of these iconic comic book villains finally make their proper debuts, here are a few other villains from Marvel Comics that fans should be aware of.

20

Annihilus

A Microscopic Threat Turns Menacing

Annihilus is often depicted as an adversary of The Fantastic Four, but he’s also been a villain in comics following the likes of Thor and Ant-Man. Annihilus is an Arthrosian, an intelligent species of insectoids from the Negative Zone, a pocket dimension of Earth-616. He sets his sights on conquering the larger world with the use of his cosmic control rod, which enables him to manipulate cosmic energy.

Although Annihilus’ plans to invade Earth are usually thwarted by The Fantastic Four and other superhero teams, he nevertheless proves himself a huge threat in the “Annihilation” arc. In this story, he proves his worth against an onslaught of Marvel’s cosmic threats, including Galactus and Thanos, with his cosmic fleet, but is ultimately killed by Nova.

19

The Leader

A Villain With Super-Human Intelligence

Initially a normal janitor, Samuel Sterns was exposed to gamma radiation, turning him into a green-skinned being known as The Leader. Gaining super-human intelligence from this transformation, Samuel embraced this new persona and became one of the most intelligent villains in Marvel Comics. Serving as the arch-enemy to the Hulk, The Leader aims to use his new-found abilities for world domination.

While other supervillains use brute force for offense, The Leader gets the job done using his intellect. Using his genius, this character has created many technologically advanced gadgets, which he uses to further his ambitions. On top of that, The Leader possesses the powers of telepathy and telekinesis, allowing him to control individuals.

18

Hela

Even Asgard Has A Lady Death

Those who watched Thor: Ragnarok are probably familiar with Hela, the Asgardian goddess of death who features as the main antagonist in that film. Naturally, Hela has a similarly destructive presence in the comics, though her backstory is a little different from her MCU version. Rather than being Thor and Loki’s sister, Hela is the daughter of Loki’s former incarnation, ruling over the realm of Nilfheim.

Unlike many other Marvel Comics villains, Hela has accomplished one incredible feat: killing Thor. While she later used her power of necromancy to resurrect him, there aren’t many villains who can claim that victory. Among Hela’s other evil accomplishments include recruiting the army of the Valkyrie, stealing the souls of major Marvel heroes, and even romancing Thanos to gain his allegiance.

17

Mephisto

Marvel’s Satan Likes To Play God

The name “Mephisto” might be triggering to those who watched WandaVision, given that the character was often referenced in speculation about where the show was heading. However, it’s actually surprising that Mephisto has yet to make his MCU debut. He’s an integral villain to the Marvel Comics universe, as Earth-616’s version of the Devil.

Mephisto’s powers are quite limitless, but among his greatest feats include creating a son, Blackheart, as well as granting the Ghost Rider’s powers to Johnny Blaze. Mephisto appears in the “House of M” storyline, granting Wanda her imaginary children. He also appears in the “One More Day” storyline, where he erases the memory of Spider-Man’s identity around the world.

16

Knull

The King Of All Symbiotes

Venom is obviously one of the more recognizable threats in the Marvel universe, but the character doesn’t exist without the existence of Knull. This eldritch deity is the ruler of the symbiotic race that creates Venom and Carnage. It is the source of many centuries of pain and suffering on Earth, including being the threat known as “Grendel” in the legends of Beowulf.

Knull’s greatest achievement, however, was creating the Necrosword, which it used to kill Celestials as well as goad Gorr the God-Butcher into his killing spree. Although Knull is technically defeated by Venom, in doing so, Eddie Brock becomes the new god of the symbiotes, freeing them of Knull’s evil and sadistic control.

15

Dormammu

A Creature Of Pure Energy

Hailing from the dark dimension, Dormammu is a creature of darkness. Created from pure energy, this character serves as one of the main antagonists to Doctor Strange. And to match the power of the Sorcerer Supreme, Dormammu possesses many powerful abilities. With dimensional travel and soul manipulation at his fingertips, Dormammu is a multiversal threat.

On top of his wide array of abilities, Dormammu possesses immortality. So, while this character can be defeated, he can’t die permanently. When bested in battle, Dormammu simply reverts to his form of pure energy and keeps on living.

14

Ultron

Superhuman Vs. Machine

It may seem surprising to put Ultron in-between literal gods and rulers of other dimensions, but one mustn’t underestimate this cybernetic threat. In the comics, Ultron was an A.I. created by Hank Pym who turned against his creator and sought to destroy humanity for its cruelty to machines. His robotic body is made entirely of adamantium, the same metal that gives Wolverine his strength.

Among some of Ultron’s biggest feats includes creating Vision, another android who later turns against Ultron and becomes an Avenger. Additionally, Ultron has also been recreated in many different improved models, some with the help of Doctor Doom, taking over entire universes. However, Ultron has also been easily destroyed by Scarlet Witch’s witchcraft or Wonder Man’s super-strength.

13

Jean Grey

The Tragic Mutant Who Loses Control

While Jean Grey is seen by many as a proper hero in the X-Men, she has a famous storyline in which the cosmic entity that grants her powers, the Phoenix, corrupts her and becomes a destructive agent to the world of mutants. She’s a huge threat given that, even when not the “Dark Phoenix,” she’s easily the most powerful member of the X-Men, and one of Marvel’s strongest heroes.

Not dissimilar to the Scarlet Witch, Jean Grey’s heel turn makes her one of the strongest beings in the Marvel universe. But unlike Wanda Maximoff, the Phoenix Force doesn’t empower her to bend reality. It still makes her incredibly strong and cosmically volatile. More recent storylines have seen her take on a Captain Marvel-esque role as a hero across the cosmos, a far cry from her days as a villain.

12

Loki

Thor’s Brother Is Always A Trickster

The adopted brother of Thor is the entire reason for the Avengers’ existence, after his plan to take over the Earth is opposed by the first assembly of superheroes. As the god of mischief, there are far too many schemes (both successful and failures) of Loki’s to name, especially when one counts all the variations of the god that exist throughout the multiverse, like King Loki and Lady Loki.

Surprisingly, Loki has, at times, been more of an anti-hero than a villain, and he has even risen through the ranks to inherit the Sorcerer Supreme title from Doctor Strange. Even amongst other god-like characters, Loki’s powers of sorcery, illusion-casting, and cheating death are impressive.

11

Apocalypse

The First Mutant Is Also The Worst Mutant

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to see Apocalypse among the strongest villains in Marvel Comics. One of the very first known mutants in human history, Apocalypse originated thousands of years in the past as En Sabah Nur, who becomes a refugee after Kang the Conqueror time-travels to Ancient Egypt and assumes power as Rama-Tut. Grief-stricken, En Sabah Nur’s latent mutant abilities arise, and he adopts his “Apocalypse” moniker.

Apocalypse later spends centuries in suspended animation before becoming a major threat to the X-Men, thanks to his adoption of Celestial technology to grant him energy absorption, telekinesis, and technopathy. Naturally, the X-Men are always able to defeat him, but not without suffering some major losses as a result of the character’s near-unparalleled strength.