MCU Villain Showdown: Pt. 7

You might be thinking that this is coming out a bit late, as it was clearly stated that this was a series being done in the lead up to Avengers: Endgame. Well, I haven’t seen it yet and won’t for another few days I’m working on this to keep me off the internet.

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6

ROUND 25

KILGRAVE – ‘THE PURPLE MAN’ VS LOKI, GOD OF MISCHIEF

Successful Villainy: Once again we’re forced to consider the success in scale and intention here. Whilst Kilgrave (David Tennant) only ever intended to indulge himself and fuck with Jessica Jones’ head, Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) ambition was more of the coup variety. Working from a starting point from the fact they both succeeded at least for a while, we need to look at their lasting impact. Kilgrave wormed his way into Jones’ head and stayed there long after his own death…and yes, he died after his first scheme. Loki, on the other hand, loved to fight another day. Loki returned from his first successful coup to attack New York, backed by Thanos, and stage another successful coup before helping defeat Hela. Point to Loki.

Fight!: This is why we’re happy these two wound up facing each other. How do these two figures affect each other? Loki is the God of Mischief, and he can create powerful illusions and manipulate people to his own end. Kilgrave isn’t immune that, but all it would take is a word from Kilgrave to turn Loki on a dime. There’s nothing to suggest that an Asgardian would be immune to Kilgrave’s power. It’s pheromone based and we know Asgardian’s can love a human, we could assume that’s at least in part pheromone based…

This is getting weird. 

Ok, cut to the end. Whilst Kilgrave can certainly control Loki that would have to be the real Loki to begin with. Loki’s primary move is using illusions to appear elsewhere. Point to Loki.

Who We Love to Hate: These guys are both among the most memorable villains in the MCU, but this has to go to Loki. The audience got real attached to Loki real fast, to the point that the stage of Infinity War was set with his death. Point to Loki.

Result: 3 – 0 for Loki. Kilgrave is an amazing villain and incredibly entertaining but Loki is the original Big Bad of the MCU.

ROUND 26

WILSON FISK – ‘KINGPIN’ VS GRANT WARD

Successful Villainy: Our initial thought is that Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) ran a massive crime empire and that’s pretty damn successful, but Ward’s (Brett Dalton) mission had was completely bananas. Ward infiltrated SHIELD years earlier and remained a Hydra sleeper agent until the the villain faction completely took over the world’s leading intelligence and defence agency. On the other hand, Ward was a cog in a larger machine, whereas Kingpin built and managed the machine. Point to Kingpin.

Fight!: Ward is highly trained but Kingpin can go toe to toe with metahumans and mop the floor with them. He takes even more hurt than he can dole out. Point to Kingpin.

Who We Love to Hate: The sudden turn of Ward in the Agents of SHIELD TV series was extremely well played and tied in neatly with the events of Captain America: Civil War. Full credit to Brett Dalton for his work on this role. We are giving it to Kingpin though. He played a huge role in the Netflix Marvel Universe taking off and for good reason. Final point to Kingpin.

Result: Although this went back in and forth a few times in our minds it ended up being a 3 – 0 for Kingpin.

ROUND 27

JOHANN SCHMIDT – ‘RED SKULL’ VS THANOS

Successful Villainy: Whatever Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) managed to pull off, it’s not going to compete with wiping out exactly half the universe with a snap of your fingers. Point to Thanos (Josh Brolin).

Fight!: Snap. Point to Thanos.

Who We Love to Hate: Red Skull was delightfully evil but Thanos has become a cultural phenomenon. He’s going to be counted among the greatest villains in cinematic history. Point to Thanos.

Result: Nothing but 3 – 0 every round this time out. Thanos is storming through the competition.

ROUND 28

HELMUT ZEMO VS ADRIAN TOOMES – ‘THE VULTURE’

Successful Villainy: This is going to be an easy win for Zemo (Daniel Brühl) as he completed his entire plan to divide the Avengers by creating infighting among the heroes. Vulture (Michael Keaton) got all the way up to his grand heist but was foiled by Spider-Man, so it’s a point to Zemo. 

Fight!: Zemo is slick but he’s bringing torture techniques and subterfuge in a battle against a man with a flying mech suit. Zemo is going to get lasered in half in seconds. Point to The Vulture. 

Who We Love to Hate: As amazing as it was seeing Michael Keaton making a full return to comic book cinema, we’ve got to hand this to Zemo. The first really cunning, really surprising villain in the series makes Zemo stand out from the pack. Point to Zemo.

Result: Zemo takes this with a 2 – 1 win. I wonder how he’ll do against Thanos.