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Marvel Comics has had a lot of different characters over the years, and it is very easy to lose some in the mix. Some characters get more attention, others are developed extensively, others become much more prominent for commercial reasons, and others do not generate much interest. It’s a shame, but this is how the comic business works.
Having said that, there are some Marvel villains that, storytelling-wise, are underrated. Perhaps they are not used often, or their best stories didn’t get the credit they deserved. Be that as it may, here are, in no particular, some of the more underrated Marvel villains.
The Civil War comic book event by Mark Millar is very popular among fans, but the truth is that the story damaged several characters. However, a character that benefitted was The Hood. Once a street-level villain who proved how essential intellect is.
The Hood has teleportation and demonic abilities, allowing him to form a union with lesser villains. That made him so powerful and influential that he became a part of Norman Osborn’s Cabal and even gathered the Infinity Gems and the Infinity Gauntlet.
It is a villain’s version of starting from the bottom and reaching the top, showing how capable The Hood was during the Civil War comic book.
Daredevil villain Typhoid Mary took a lot of elements from Matt Murdock’s greatest antagonists (Kingpin, Bullseye, and Elektra) and cranked them up to eleven. She represents everything a Daredevil villain should be, and it’s a shame that she is often neglected in the modern iterations of the Man without Fear.
Typhoid Mary has three different personalities, and one of them started dating Matt while the other two wanted to kill him. This is why their central conflict, written during the 80s, was so appealing and exciting: it combined all the different sides of Daredevil’s characters and inner conflicts into one antagonist.
Mary was a mutant with telekinesis and pyrokinetic powers. She was skilled in martial arts, thus becoming a significant enemy against Daredevil. In the grand scheme of things, she is one of the most underrated Marvel Comics villains ever.
Now, while Taskmaster appeared in the Black Widow movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has been overall well-received by fans over the years, there is an argument to be made that this character has been underutilized in the Marvel Universe. On the one hand, Taskmaster can learn and copy any fighting style he sees, becoming an extremely dangerous foe to battle against. On the other hand, the most interesting part about his character is that he is all business: he doesn’t want world domination or power, just money, and is willing to do any job as long as it pays well.
He also trained several villains and heroes, including Spider-Woman, Crossbones, and US Agent. This character has great potential and often doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
Hobgoblin is one of the best antagonists in Marvel’s history and a success story showing that modern writers don’t always have to bring someone back to life or make constant mantle changes for shock value. When writing the Amazing Spider-Man comic in the early 80s, writer Roger Stern proved that with this character.
Norman Osborn, also known as the Green Goblin, had always been (and still is) Spider-Man’s greatest villain, and his death in the early 70s left a huge void in the series. Stern had a lot of pressure and people, both in and outside of Marvel, wanting him to bring the Green Goblin back, but he did something very different: he created a new, albeit similar, character.
The Hobgoblin was a businessman who found Norman’s Green Goblin tech and expanded upon it, creating a criminal empire in New York. The mystery behind who he was ran for years, adding to the character’s mystique, and he became one of the most prominent Spider-Man villains in the 80s. Nowadays, he doesn’t have a lot of recognition, but Stern managed to fill the Green Goblin void without resorting to classic comic book shenanigans.
Many writers are scared of writing psychopathic female villains, and Marv Wolfman had no qualms about doing that with Karla Sofen, mostly known as Moonstone. The reason for this is that Wolfman took a very interesting concept and went on to create a Ms. Marvel parallel without making her feel like a copy.
She started as a psychiatrist who reveled in the suffering of her patients, which was already dark enough. Still, she gained the Moonstone, a Kree object, and gained powers of gravity and the capacity to go toe to toe with a powerhouse such as prime Carol Danvers during her Ms. Marvel years.
Moonstone could manipulate people to get what she wanted, and there were moments when she would even play both sides to achieve her goals. Her character had a delightful element of villainy, which played a massive role in her success over the years. Plus, the fact that she was a dark side reflection of Danvers, at least at surface level, was also significant.
Of course, many people know her as a member of the Thunderbolts, which could be argued was her most significant moment in the comics. She was never a heavy hitter and was never meant to be that, but she was a fascinating villain in her own right.
I have always had a spot in my heart for the bad guys, especially those with a purpose, no matter how warped that purpose may be. Marvel has a ton of villains to highlight. We just want to give some ink to a few deserving bad guys. So there you have it: the World’s Coolest list of the most underrated Marvel Villains. Who is on your list?! Let us know in the comments.
