Why are Marvel villains so lame!?

[Kevinroc]

Wait, you want Marvel villains to start acting like DC ones have since Countdown?

Actually, Marvel villains don't really get along. Look what Magneto did to Red Skull in Acts of Vengeance.

Kang has conquered the Earth before and could have kept it conquered if he didn't have a sense of "honor".

Doom has also already conquered the world before. He gave it back out of boredom.

Magneto doesn't really want the world. He just doesn't want to see mutants persecuted.

Loki wants Asgard. He has no interest in Earth.

The Green Goblin wants to one-up Spider-Man. He doesn't seem to care about the world or anything.

Ultron wants to kill every living (non-machine) creature.

Galactus just wants lunch.

What The Leader wants seems to change based on who is writing him.

[Huzzah!]

The problem with batman villains is they are all insane.

Although i guess because batman is nuts too it works



Flash villains are horrible though. That colorblind guy. Captain boomerang

oooo man.

but dont get me wrong i hate spiderman villains too

[Dark Soul # 7]

The problem with batman villains is they are all insane.

Although i guess because batman is nuts too it works



Flash villains are horrible though. That colorblind guy. Captain boomerang

oooo man.

but dont get me wrong i hate spiderman villains too

Then what kind of villains do you like?

And for Marvel villains grouping together to act out vengeance on the heros we have Sinister Six/Syndicate, Masters of Evil, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Frightfull Four and more.

The villains that keep Marvel baddies over DC baddies are Kingpin, Dr. Octopus, Green Goblin, Dr. Doom, Thanos, and Red Skull.

Dude you forgot Magneto, Sabertooth, Juggernaut, Purple man, Apocalypse, Maestro, Venom, The Leader, Sentinels, Mephisto, Dormammu, Mandarin, Mr.Sinister, Count Nefaria, Bullseye, Abomanation and Hobgoblin, to name a few :D

[HartyPotter]

I personally don't think the DCU has interesting villains at all. Marvel has Doom and Magneto... DCU doesn't have anyone CLOSE to as complex and 3-dimensional as those two, hero OR villain.

[Brian R]

I personally don't think the DCU has interesting villains at all. Marvel has Doom and Magneto... DCU doesn't have anyone CLOSE to as complex and 3-dimensional as those two, hero OR villain.

Doom and Magneto are very straigtforward, DC has villains like that. Doom and Mags may be the two best villains ever, but what is so complex about "NONE JUDGE DOOM!!" ?

In my opinion, Prof. Zoom is every bit as complex as those two, even though he isnt as iconic as those guys.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Please. Marvel has great villians galore. And when underrated ones like Sinister finally get a story to shine, he will be added to the most impressive list as well.

[Kevinroc]

Doom and Magneto are very straigtforward, DC has villains like that. Doom and Mags may be the two best villains ever, but what is so complex about "NONE JUDGE DOOM!!" ?

In my opinion, Prof. Zoom is every bit as complex as those two, even though he isnt as iconic as those guys.

Doom has a lot of issues. In the right hands, he could be seen in a much different light. Even a hero. But his ego gets in the way. The problem is Marvel's heroes include the likes of Black Panther, Dr. Strange and (the greatest threat to Doom) Reed Richards and the rest of the FF. Unlike most comic (and real world) dictators, Doom actually treats his subjects very well if they are loyal to him.

Magneto is definitely much harder to classify as a villain. Because all he really wants is basically the same thing as Xavier. Mutant rights. He just doesn't think mutants will ever get equal rights because of his own past experiences, which leads him to do what he does. There was a great Magneto story written by Joe Kelly in which Magneto disguises himself and talks to a regular human about mutants. Magneto eventually gets fed up that this guy doesn't really hates mutants and reveals himself as Magneto, which leads this guy to get scared out of his mind. This guy was scared not because this was a mutant but because this was Magneto. Magneto was so blind to this and was just looking for justification for what he was about to do.

Zoom II certainly has potential but I wouldn't put him up there with Doom or Magneto.

[Brian R]

Zoom II certainly has potential but I wouldn't put him up there with Doom or Magneto.

I wouldnt put Zoom in their class yet either, but if handled properly he does have the potential to be every bit as complex. Doom and Mags have been around for 30 years, and there arent many villains who have had as much development as these two, thats one of the reasons they are great. All too often, creators overlook villains and reduce them to "RAAR, I wanna take over the world/rape and pillage/eat your babies" etc...

[Neolucifer]

I know there have been some great stories involving Marvel villains and the ramifications they have had on some of the heroes..
but I just feel like the DC villains are more psychotic and are willing to do anything to get their point across.
Marvel villains...fight the heroes...capture a hero...about to unmask a hero..and the hero breaks free and wins..
DC villains fight the heroes...capture a hero..kills a hero!!!!!!!!!!! (Recent countdown events)..

Look other said lets say what kind of heroes DC allows to be killed... a handful of C or even D stringer . Well i'm not blaming DC , after all Marvel do the same , but still ...

I wouldnt dare say that DC's villain are more extremes and successful . Right now after all , hadnt Hydra manages to kill like 50 (or more) super heroes , and revive them on their side ?
Wasnt the same hydra lauching a quite big attack in Thunderbolts and supposed to have other plans for the future ? The likes of Hydra , AIM , the Hand are are marvelous criminal and terrorist organizations .

I also feel that lately a lot of supposedly marvel's weak or negligable villains have been buffed up and given more exposure .As an example , in in latest appearances in MK spidey and NA , Electro was quite a powerhouse , as he probably should be .

I understand that for many people that concept of villains uniting in teams and kicking asses , seems neat , and it sure is .Marvel had their share of those as well , like the Sinister 6 (and 12 :D ) , the Masters of Evil , the brotherhood of evil mutants to some extent , etc etc .The only difference being not used in a big important crossovers . Besides those team are either flawed by internal strifes or even efficiency or facing expandables heroes :D .

Lets think about it a second should Marvel indeed do a team of the "finest" villains , many line ups would kill the entire MU :D

Just imagine on a same team :

-Taskmaster (our resident deathstroke like guy , heck even more skillfull and powerful)
-Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) , imo a villain quite similar to Lex Luthor , except superpowered , and focusing on a street level hero , our friendly Spidey , wich prevented him so far , to be a worldwide threat . Still he got the potential , and spidey as a NA and no longer a "loner"(never liked to say he is a loner , since imo he wasnt for a very long time) should expend his number of foes and make it more of a challenge for him .
-DR Doom
-Count Nefaria (big powerhouse)
-Graviton (Big powerhouse :D )
-Sabretooth
-Magneto (the next time someone decide he is crazy again )
-Gorgon (i think he more than proven his work in Wolverine with both his plan , and fighting skills)
-Vargas

Its just an example and probably a better villain line up could arise , but just try to put that line up against the Mu's heroes . Most of those guys are already quite deadly and difficult to handle when alone . When Doom even dare teaming with someone , it probably involve at least two teams . A real Marvel team of current villains stars would kill everything , but we know that should it happen , again lower and unknown heroes would bite the dust .

[SuperJ]

Okay..well they aren't really all that lame. But comparing to the recent events going on in the DC universe..its like the Marvel villain aren't really any threat. They don't seem to be scary...
I wanna see the Marvel villains do what the DC villains are doing...
group together...plot...act out for revenge...destroy the heroes' lives..
I know there have been some great stories involving Marvel villains and the ramifications they have had on some of the heroes..
but I just feel like the DC villains are more psychotic and are willing to do anything to get their point across.
Marvel villains...fight the heroes...capture a hero...about to unmask a hero..and the hero breaks free and wins..
DC villains fight the heroes...capture a hero..kills a hero!!!!!!!!!!! (Recent countdown events)..
I just wish the Marvel villains would become more threatening to the heroes of Marvel U.!!!!!!!!

just my opinion

Hate it or Love it..the Underdog is on Top!

peace

Marvel villains did all get together once in a crossover called "Acts of Vengeance," and switched foes. It was a neat gimmick, but like all crossovers, that's really ALL it was.

Instead of gathering all Marvel villains together and putting them in a "Legion of Doom" type clubhouse (as in that great piece of Sunday morning dramatic theatre entitled: "Superfriends." Heh.) I'd much rather see them individually written well. You can take any old lame villain and make them interesting if you have the right writer on the job. For example: the late Mark Gruenwald's "Captain America" run did an awesome job with B and C listers tht I'd probably never have liked seeing, such as Batroc, Crossbones, Machinesmith, Baron Blood, Mr. Hyde, and lots of other "forgettables" who suddenly became interesting. Why? Because Gru gave them actual personalities, drives, and motivations BEYOND just "let's all get together and conquer the world and stuff." There's been other writers who have done the same thing, but I mention Gru because he seemed to have the most flair for taking boring characters and making them incredibly interesting ("Squadron Supreme").

Now, on the other hand, you could take the most powerful and deadly villains in the Marvel universe and make them as dull as can be with the WRONG brand of writing. If the threat they pose doesn't feel "real" (i.e. if the book is written like a sitcom or a comedy) then I don't think you'll ever have anything close to the impact that the writer may have been shooting for. The same can happen if the villains are flat and one-dimensional as well, with no goals other than to take over the world, or kill everybody, or whatever. In those situations the villains are nothing more than straw-men propped up to take a proper pounding from the hero at the designated moment and the entire book becomes incredibly predictable and...well...boring, really.

[Tobias March]

Didn't Luke Cage in his Powerman series have the crummiest villains ever! Even worse than pre-Frank Miller Daredevil!

[mastaflan]

Significant threats.. But alot of these baddies have some serious potential.

If written well....

The U Foes, Frightful Four, The Abomination, The Reavers, The Mauraders, and a bunch of others can be written as legitamate threats. It wouldn't take much just solid writing.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Doom has a lot of issues. In the right hands, he could be seen in a much different light. Even a hero. But his ego gets in the way. The problem is Marvel's heroes include the likes of Black Panther, Dr. Strange and (the greatest threat to Doom) Reed Richards and the rest of the FF. Unlike most comic (and real world) dictators, Doom actually treats his subjects very well if they are loyal to him.

Magneto is definitely much harder to classify as a villain. Because all he really wants is basically the same thing as Xavier. Mutant rights. He just doesn't think mutants will ever get equal rights because of his own past experiences, which leads him to do what he does. There was a great Magneto story written by Joe Kelly in which Magneto disguises himself and talks to a regular human about mutants. Magneto eventually gets fed up that this guy doesn't really hates mutants and reveals himself as Magneto, which leads this guy to get scared out of his mind. This guy was scared not because this was a mutant but because this was Magneto. Magneto was so blind to this and was just looking for justification for what he was about to do.

Zoom II certainly has potential but I wouldn't put him up there with Doom or Magneto.

Your talking about X-Men #85(second series). One of the best issues of the 90s.

[handOFfate]

As much as I like Spidey's rogues, NOTHING tops Batman's rogues. We've got Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, Catwoman (sometimes), Ra's As Ghul, Riddler, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mr.Freeze, Mad Hatter, Killer Croc, Black Mask, Deadshot, Prometheus, and Red Hood. And that's just off the top of my head.

Flash's rogues are entertaining, but aside from Zoom and Grodd none of them seem to be any kind of real threat unless they work together.

Lex Luthor is a great villain, and Superman has a very underrated gallery of his own. Toyman, Zod, Parasite, Darkseid, Metallo, that 4th dimension guy, and Brainiac, just to name a few.

Most of the other bigger DC heroes have a couple of good villains. Green Lantern's got Sinestro and Hector Hammond. Aquaman's got Black Mantis and Ocean Master. The JL have Star Conquerer and The Key.
--
On the Marvel side, Spidey's got a pretty good rogue gallery. The problem I see with them is that aside from a few of them Spidey doesn't really take them that serious anymore. The heavy hitters are Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Venom, Carnage, Hobgoblin, and now Electro. The lesser hitters are Sandman, Vulture, Hydroman, Rhyno, Shocker, Lizard, Enforcers, and Puma.

The X-Men have a couple of great villains in Magneto and Juggernaut, some okay ones in Apocalypse and Mister Sinister, and a bunch of lousy ones (everyone else, with a few exceptions).

Doom rocks, no doubt about it. Probably my all-time favorite. Others like Kang and Nefaria are great, too. But when measuring the two sides I find I like DC's selection slightly more.

[cable guy]

Doom and Magneto are very straigtforward, DC has villains like that. Doom and Mags may be the two best villains ever, but what is so complex about "NONE JUDGE DOOM!!" ?

In my opinion, Prof. Zoom is every bit as complex as those two, even though he isnt as iconic as those guys.

I agree that Doom and Magneto are two of the greatest villians ever.