Comics on Film: 5 Villainous Forces the MCU Can Face After Thanos

While we still have a fair amount of time until the release of the Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Infinity War, which will begin to resolve the conflict between the Avengers and Thanos that’s been building since 2012, some people may be curious about where the characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe can go next. Thanos will be a tough enemy to follow, since the threat he represents – particularly when he has the Infinity Gauntlet around his fist – is immense and universal.

Still, one of the best things about comics in general is the sheer wealth of new material that comes out with each passing week. That means that there are a whole host of new stories and candidates that become possible for any MCU movie to adapt, and when it comes to a threat as large in scale as someone like Thanos, there’s a whole host of major line-wide crossover events to look for the next major enemy to build towards.

So, in that spirit, here are five villains that the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe can build their next few phases toward if they so choose. Any of these villains (or tainted heroes) would work in a single movie, but they can also work as major crossover villains in their own right.

5) Sin, the Daughter of the Skull and the Serpent

While the daughter of the Red Skull may not strike people as being the most threatening universe-wide villain on concept alone, that’s exactly what she became in Marvel’s massive 2011 summer crossover event known as Fear Itself.

In the main series, written by Matt Fraction with artwork by Stuart Immonen, Sin locates an Asgardian hammer known as Skadi, which turns her into a physical embodiment of a being known as the “Herald of the Serpent.” The Serpent himself, whose true name is Cul Borson, is actually a brother of Odin and contends that the All-Father usurped his throne on Asgard. In Fear Itself, the Serpent and Skadi infected the world with immense fear, causing global chaos to erupt all over the planet. Where familiar characters in the MCU we’ve seen as elemental deities (Thor, the God of Thunder) and masters of manipulation (Loki, the God of Mischief), the Serpent quickly made clear that he was the God of Fear.

Thor has always been an important part of the MCU overall, and when looking at a threat worthy of all the heroes, Asgard becomes a clear candidate for something powerful enough to require the might of the assembled Avengers and more. On top of that, throwing some greater intrigue surrounding Asgard’s throne couldn’t hurt, either.

4) The Red Skull

We’ve banged the drum for his return in this column before, but when it comes to threats to the Avengers and the MCU as a whole, it would be hard to do better than a villain we’ve only really seen glimpses of in that world.

The Red Skull occupies something of a unique place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe right now, precisely because he’s the villain we’ve seen the least from, but his actions in the universe’s version of World War II have clearly had, arguably, the largest impact on the universe overall. Though only physically appearing in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, the ideas and motivations of the Skull’s devoted foot soldiers in Hydra have reverberated through almost every released MCU film since then. With S.H.I.E.L.D. basically serving as a front for Hydra until they were exposed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we’ve also seen their machinations active in some form in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, as well as a lot of episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter on ABC.

Recently on the comic book side of things, a reborn Red Skull kidnapped the body of a deceased Professor X, and used the mutant’s brain to give himself similarly immense telepathic powers. Beyond that, it doesn’t take a lot of looking in the source material to find the Skull vexing Captain America, the Avengers, and beyond. I’d say he’s worth the buildup.

3) Scarlet Witch, and a Brave New World

I know what you’re thinking: Scarlet Witch isn’t a villain, she’s an Avenger. And you’re right! The thing is, there was a pretty notable Marvel story that premiered in the summer of 2005 where instead of serving as a hero, Wanda Maximoff instead became a liability who shaped reality in a way that made people like her into insiders, instead of being outcasts.

In House of M, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Olivier Coipel, the X-Men and the Avengers are in an ongoing debate about what exactly they should do with an increasingly mentally unstable Scarlet Witch. When the X-Men and Avengers follow Professor X in an attempt to talk with her, there’s a flash of light, which gives way to a world that’s been changed completely by Wanda.

Steve Rogers was never frozen, instead he’s an elderly World War II veteran who keeps to himself. Spider-Man is a celebrity, married to Gwen Stacy and living like a star. With mutants living as first-class citizens while regular humans are being ruled over, the only hero with memories of the real world – Wolverine – allies with a human resistance movement led by Luke Cage and Hawkeye to try and find the key to setting things right. The resolution, though, is a total decimation of the world’s mutant population.

Now, obviously, the Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn’t be able to use the X-Men or even make reference to mutants, but a movie or two featuring a House of M-style altered world would likely make for a pretty interesting movie. And, since the comic book series brought at least one previously deceased character back to life, maybe some reality clean-up would rectify mistakes that the movies up until that point had made. Quicksilver, anyone…?

2) Norman Osborn, H.A.M.M.E.R., and the Dark Avengers

Norman’s been mentioned in this column recently as a good potential villain to return to the movies with Spider-Man’s introduction into the MCU, but actually having him serve as the big villain over the entire slate of movies for a period of time is a bit different than just having the Goblin show up to terrorize New York and Spider-Man once more. We previously alluded to the narrative power that Osborn’s infamous Dark Reign had over the Marvel Comics universe from 2009-10, but thinking about it even more in the context of who the heir-apparent to Thanos should be for the MCU’s big villain just makes it feel…right.

As we said before, Osborn’s seizing of power in the wake of the Secret Invasion of the shape-shifting aliens known as the Skrulls gave him the equivalent power of Nick Fury, which he quickly put to use for his own sinister ends. While in his mind he really felt he was doing the things he was doing in order to protect humanity, he certainly had a funny way of showing it. In addition to exerting more authoritarian power through his replacement of S.H.I.E.L.D., which he called H.A.M.M.E.R., he created his own team of Avengers which featured supervillains posing as heroes in order to leverage the public’s love of the original Avengers.

A stolen suit from the armory of Tony Stark allowed Osborn to become the “Iron Patriot,” a member that filled the symbolic voids of both Captain America and Iron Man. Because the heroes of the MCU didn’t trust Osborn at all, the vast majority of them became fugitives, causing Osborn to devote significant resources to arresting his enemies now that the shoe of “law and order” was on the other foot. It took a sustained, calculating effort on the parts of the true Avengers, Thor, Spider-Man, and many others to finally put an end to the Dark Reign once and for all.

Of course, one of the enemies Norman had to fight in this whole ordeal was the one inside of him: the Green Goblin, aching to get out at every turn. Having a phase of the MCU bring Dark Reign to life would make for a fascinating shake-up of the movies’ status quo, and could culminate in a fantastic showdown pitting the true Avengers against their dark counterparts.

1) The Skrulls

You know what the beauty is in adapting the Skrull invasion documented in Marvel’s summer 2008 crossover? It may have already begun.

Secret Invasion by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu was a pretty revelatory event, because it slowly became clear over the course of time that an army of Skrulls – a shape-shifting alien race hell-bent on destroying Earth’s inhabitants because of their queen’s extreme belief that humans will cause their extinction – had secretly infiltrated the planet, posing as various prominent Marvel characters. The lead-up and main series were full of revelations consisting of the true identities of various superheroes and villains, up to and including members of the Avengers, that would reveal themselves as members of the Skrull army that’s singularly devoted to the destruction of the human race.

Relying on another extraterrestrial threat after the heroes overcome Thanos may sound simplistic, but it would actually be pretty interesting to see how the major powers and protectors of the movies can actually put all of their alien defense efforts to the ultimate test. It would also be a convenient way to potentially begin building to the next story, because if we can get a hint at the idea of a Skrull infiltration at the conclusion of the story arc with Thanos, then it could fuel the overarching narrative of the universe for years to come. We’ll also be speculating a lot: who’s a Skrull? Who’s not? What events have they already set in motion? They could be anywhere!

There’s also, of course, no reason why an adaptation of Secret Invasion would have to play by the exact same rules as the comic book series. They can keep things interesting by changing the identities of the affected characters, and there would be a lot of opportunities to pull some mindblowing revelations out of the idea that a Skrull can be anybody. While it’s possible the Skrulls may be tied down to the Fantastic Four franchise and therefore bound to 20th Century Fox, it may be worth it to invest in regaining those franchises. Write the check, Disney!

Which big, bad Marvel villain would you like to see threaten the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe next? Sound off below, and we’ll see you with a new column next week!

Chris Clow is a gamer, a comic book expert and former retailer, as well as a freelance contributor to The Huffington Post and Batman-On-Film.com, as well as host of the Comics on Consoles podcast. You can find his weekly piece Comics on Film right here at Movies.com. Check out his blog, and follow along on Twitter @ChrisClow.

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