Should Marvel do more to raise the profiles of their villains?

[The Master Meglomaniac]

It seems like recently the super villains of Marvel have been overshadowed by hero vs. hero conflicts, should Marvel do more to raise the profiles of its super villains? Also I'm not just talking about using guys like Dr. Doom again, I am also talking about doing some new interesting things with some of their B-list villains. Frankly it seems like DC has been making better use of their villains for the last decade then Marvel has.

[Monty_Cristo]

It seems like recently the super villains of Marvel have been overshadowed by hero vs. hero conflicts, should Marvel do more to raise the profiles of its super villains? Also I'm not just talking about using guys like Dr. Doom again, I am also talking about doing some new interesting things with some of their B-list villains. Frankly it seems like DC has been making better use of their villains for the last decade then Marvel has.

they are using them and well. ex. the Spot

[Rimmer]

they are using them and well. ex. the Spot

I think they are using other villains, often B-list villains, and people just don't seem to care.

• You had "The Hood" throughout Bendis' New Avengers, and most fans rolled their eyes and complained every time he showed up.
• You had Red Skulls daughter (who was really a B-list villain at least before her father died) get to star in her own event, and is still around causing trouble. Not sure if most folks were ambivalent to HER or just to "Fear Itself" on this one, but who would you rather have as a villain - Red Skull or Red Skull Light?

Look at the main "go-to" villains for some of the main characters:

• Red Skull - appeared as the big bad in around 60+ straight issues of Captain America, currently dead/missing/something
• Mandarin - appeared as the big bad in quite a few of Iron Man issues lately.
• Dr. Doom - randomly shows up here and there, was in F4/FF for a bit, was in "Children's Crusade", had "Doomwar" awhile ago.
• Magneto - No longer a 'big bad' I suppose.
• Surtur (one of Thor's big bads) showed up recently in Thor.
• Loki (Thor's #1 big bad) isn't really a villain at the moment, but still managed to star in his own series for a time.

I think the villains are still around, still doing their thing, they're just getting overshadowed by the huge events that they're not a part of.
Perhaps once the dust settles in Marvel Now, and the hero vs hero thing dies down again, we can have more huge villainous plots.

Wouldn't it be great to have a huge 'event' centered around a huge villain? Last event was the Phoenix, which doesn't talk. Before that, some random Asgardian god and red Skulls daughter, before that in Siege I suppose you could say Norman Osborn was the big bad.

Probably the last time we had a huge event with a legitimate bad guy(s) was Secret Invasion. Heck, even the bad guys helped fight on our side in that one.

[The Master Meglomaniac]

they are using them and well. ex. the Spot

That is true, but they are still lagging behind DC in how they are using their villains, IMO. DC has villains play a greater role in their crossover events, for example, Luthor and Dr. Silvana helped the heroes against Darkseid in Final crisis, several villains got a spot light in Flashpoint, in Blackest Night several villains got a spot light, including Black Hand who got a his character fleshed out. I think Spidey's rogues gallery has gotten fleshed out recently, but a lot of other villains have remained in a rut or have been down played. The villains start to look a little irrelevant, if the heroes can spend months beating each other up and they will do nothing to take advantage of it.

I think they are using other villains, often B-list villains, and people just don't seem to care.

• You had "The Hood" throughout Bendis' New Avengers, and most fans rolled their eyes and complained every time he showed up.
• You had Red Skulls daughter (who was really a B-list villain at least before her father died) get to star in her own event, and is still around causing trouble. Not sure if most folks were ambivalent to HER or just to "Fear Itself" on this one, but who would you rather have as a villain - Red Skull or Red Skull Light?

Except no one seems to have a problem with the way Spot is being used, the problem with the villains you mentioned is the execution. Bendis transformed the Hood from an interesting anti villain to a one dimensional power mad villain and those villains who were in the Hood's gang were loyal to the Hood even it contradicted their personalities and they seemed to have their IQ's reduced while in this group. The Hood's gang came off as generic thugs rather villains with individual powers and personalties. Wouldn't the Hood's gang have been more interesting if the villains had used powers more effectively and had their personalities intact? Is one villain being promoted at the expense of several others a good trade?

Also Red Skull's daughter's problem is she is just a poor man's version of hr father, but what about the several villains who are not poor man's versions of other more well known villains, why can't they get more prominence?

Look at the main "go-to" villains for some of the main characters:

• Red Skull - appeared as the big bad in around 60+ straight issues of Captain America, currently dead/missing/something
• Mandarin - appeared as the big bad in quite a few of Iron Man issues lately.
• Dr. Doom - randomly shows up here and there, was in F4/FF for a bit, was in "Children's Crusade", had "Doomwar" awhile ago.
• Magneto - No longer a 'big bad' I suppose.
• Surtur (one of Thor's big bads) showed up recently in Thor.
• Loki (Thor's #1 big bad) isn't really a villain at the moment, but still managed to star in his own series for a time.

I think the villains are still around, still doing their thing, they're just getting overshadowed by the huge events that they're not a part of.
Perhaps once the dust settles in Marvel Now, and the hero vs hero thing dies down again, we can have more huge villainous plots.

Wouldn't it be great to have a huge 'event' centered around a huge villain? Last event was the Phoenix, which doesn't talk. Before that, some random Asgardian god and red Skulls daughter, before that in Siege I suppose you could say Norman Osborn was the big bad.

Probably the last time we had a huge event with a legitimate bad guy(s) was Secret Invasion. Heck, even the bad guys helped fight on our side in that one.

I think its a balancing act, you can base an event around one of those big name villain, but still have other smaller villains play a role as well. Blackest Night, a major DC crossover, had a B-lister like Black Hand and obscure cosmic villain like Nekron and that worked. I do think with the right writer can base a crossover around a B-list villain and make it work. But you are right about Marvel not having their villains play effective roles in recent crossovers.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Problem is, raising profile just means "Kill a random hero"

It's dull.

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

Yes! HELL YES!

[The Master Meglomaniac]

Problem is, raising profile just means "Kill a random hero"

It's dull.

Yeah, if the story is written by a hack. Look at what Waid did with Spot. A good writer can have a villain do something more interesting and unexpected then killa random hero, try to rob a bank or just rehash a story from the Silver Age. DC has been doing it for a while, Marvel has done in small doses (with Purple Man, Spot, many Spidey rogues). So it can be done, it just takes some creative writing.

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

Problem is, raising profile just means "Kill a random hero"

It's dull.

That's the thing. It doesn't have to. All they really need are major arcs. Think about it. What if they had a magic-themed event with Nox as the primary antagonist instead of Dormammu or Chthon? Why not have Monica Rappaccini show up in Iron Man as a long-term antagonist? How about having Centurius pop up in Cap?

[Monty_Cristo]

That's the thing. It doesn't have to. All they really need are major arcs. Think about it. What if they had a magic-themed event with Nox as the primary antagonist instead of Dormammu or Chthon? Why not have Monica Rappaccini show up in Iron Man as a long-term antagonist? How about having Centurius pop up in Cap?

that second Dark Avengers storyline was a complete waste. i had my fingers crossed for Rappaccini and Superia teaming up to steal H.A.M.M.E.R away from Osborn. turns out that Madame Hydra did it instead. yet Hydra hasn't done jack since then.

[Melab]

That's the thing. It doesn't have to. All they really need are major arcs. Think about it. What if they had a magic-themed event with Nox as the primary antagonist instead of Dormammu or Chthon? Why not have Monica Rappaccini show up in Iron Man as a long-term antagonist? How about having Centurius pop up in Cap?

Dormammu would make for a great villain. As far as I know, he is primarily relegated to Doctor Strange territory. If he is to be used, then it [the plot] should be something that is either new or has not been used in a while and should go beyond a Dormammu vs Strange thing, like how Dark Reign wasn't Spidey vs Osborn.

[tigerkaya]

Dormammu would make for a great villain. As far as I know, he is primarily relegated to Doctor Strange territory. If he is to be used, then it [the plot] should be something that is either new or has not been used in a while and should go beyond a Dormammu vs Strange thing, like how Dark Reign wasn't Spidey vs Osborn.

In New Avengers tie in Secret Invasion, Dormammu provided power to The Hood. The relationship of the partnership was explored later on in The Dark Reign The Hood mini.

[Melab]

In New Avengers tie in Secret Invasion, Dormammu provided power to The Hood. The relationship of the partnership was explored later on in The Dark Reign The Hood mini.

Not big enough.

[tigerkaya]

Not big enough.

I liked it. Because it took Dormammu from trying to conquer Earth to manipulating the weak to serve as his agents
to reek havoc on Earth in Dormammu's name. I would have liked to have seen Dormammu play that up further with various people
using his powers manipulating them to twisting their previous goals to suit his interest.

[Melab]

I liked it. Because it took Dormammu from trying to conquer Earth to manipulating the weak to serve as his agents
to reek havoc on Earth in Dormammu's name. I would have liked to have seen Dormammu play that up further with various people
using his powers manipulating them to twisting their previous goals to suit his interest.

What I mean is that I want other characters to become more familiar with him.

[Void Clock]

Yup...the villains should shine more.

Remember when Norman Osborn led the Dark Avengers in "Siege"? That was a masterpiece...