For a story to become successful, there is always the need for an antagonist, MCU has several villainous characters who fit the role and have made their prominence felt in the last few years. The arrival of the antagonist in the MCU has always been played immensely well by the Marvel storyline and feeds the main plot behind every Marvel narrative. The majority of them have had their revelations made in the most spectacular way in the Marvel cinematic universe while being inspired from the comics but slightly different in the narrative. MCU shares the story of several villainous characters from the world of comics but, has never fallen short of the shocking reveal whether it be the post-credit scenes or the end of a Marvel movie. Here is a list of villain characters who made a shocking revelation in the MCU.
Ultron
In the earlier parts of the movie Age of Ultron, the avengers are seen warming themselves up for a housewarming party. They are all gathered in the new Avengers headquarters and seem to be taking a break from the previous engagement with the Chitauri in NYC. This is when Ultron, a battered up version of AI Jarvis who comes into being by colluding the original coding the AI software designed by Tony Stark and downloads itself in a drone built by Iron Man. He makes a dramatic entrance while downloading his conscience in several other drones Tony seemed to be working on, in an attempt to sabotage the Avengers and their forces. One of the drones is successful in escaping with Loki’s mind control scepter.
Mysterio
We witness Quentin Beck in Spider-Man: Far from Home, take away the technology handed over to Peter by Tony Stark called E.D.I.T.H. The tech gave access to anyone in control of a set of goggles the ability to summon multiple drones at a given point of time at any place around the planet. The illusion tech which was originally invested in by Tony was Quentin Beck’s and Quentin wanted to set in its military applications. It was then that Tony Stark stopped any future funding for this project and even fired Quentin from his job for arguing with Tony about its military applications. The fans who watched Spider-Man: Far from Home, wanted to enter the screen and whoop Peter’s ass for being so stupid.
Helmut Zemo
In Captain America: Civil War we witness Helmut Zemo ram his car in Vasily Karpov’s car, he then walks on to Vasily’s porch to ask for pardon and requesting to wrap up the matter within themselves without involving the police. It is at this time when Vasily opens the door and Helmut knocks him unconscious. Helmut Zemo makes an entry befitting an undercover spy, who has sworn to destroy everything that lay on his path to revenge. Zemo seems pretty destined to know what unfolded on 16th December 1991, as he intends to use this information to cause a rift between the Avengers.
Arnim Zola
During the narrative of Captain America: Civil War, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff stumble upon a secret bunker under Camp Lehigh in New Jersey. It’s here where a recording starts playing of someone who knows a lot about the Captain. It was only after a detailed debrief of certain facts about which the only Captain was familiar with, confirmed that the figure on the computer screen was Arnim Zola. He made a return after the event of ‘The First Avenger’ to avenge his confinement in the system servers for so long, by launching a short-range missile from the closest SHEILD hellicarrier.
Ego
The arrival of Ego is one that brought order amongst a lot of Chaos for the guardians of the galaxy. We see Ego riding his ship as a horse, whilst taking out the entire sovereign fleet as the fleet was hunting the Guardians for stealing Anulax batteries from the sovereign. Until Ego revealed to Quill, that I was he who had given his mother cancer and did it to be free from her grip of love. It was then when his real intentions were made clear and Ego transformed to be the villain of the narrative.
Thanos
It was in Avenger 2012’s post-credits scene when the writers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe decided to introduce Thanos and all hell broke loose. For those who knew who he was, it was a moment of better things to come. Those who did not know about Thanos, got more interested in the character and went back home and researched the whole narrative set behind the greatest force of the universe. With the introduction of Thanos, Marvel proved again that no one does a villain reveal better than them.
Hela
In Thor: Ragnarok, the audience grieved about Odin’s demise and him transforming into cosmic dust. It is at this time, Thor taps into his anger blaming Loki for what happened to Odin. But, their squabble is interrupted by a portal that opens up in front of them revealing Hela, Odin’s firstborn. Thor and Loki try to have a dialogue with her, only for her to order them to kneel to her. This is when Thor hurls his Mjolnir towards Hela, only for her to catch it in her hands without even flexing her muscles. The next thing we know is she shatters the Mjolnir into several pieces.
The Winter Soldier
In Captain America: Winter Soldier, the audience is greeted by the Winter Soldier who has recently been thawed out of his cryo-sleep by Hydra that has been operating secretly from within SHIELD for the last 70 years. A showdown between Steve Rogers and the winter soldier forces the mask off the assailant’s face revealing his true identity and putting the Captain in a state of shock. The captain is heard saying the words “Bucky”, reminding him of his lost friend. Whilst Bucky Barnes charges again at Steve Rogers, as it was his mission for which he was brought back. A simple directive and nothing more.
Killmonger
We witness the prince of Wakanda, N’Jobu being visited by T’Chaka the King of Wakanda, for an extremely pressing matter. During the events which unfold in the coming scenes, we witness the son prince being left behind by the king. This son later returns to Wakanda challenging T’challa for the rights to the throne. Killmonger has trained with the top militaries of the world and has killed more people than the king, making him a cruel and worthy advisory to the mantle of the Throne.
Agnes
The latest WandaVision epilogue is probably the most exhilarating and exciting television series in the history of Marvel. The series witnesses the arrival of Agatha Harkness, who seems to be the person responsible for everything bad that has been happening inside the Hex apart from Director Hayward Tyler. Agatha Harkness’s revelation came as a surprise to many, as she was the main conspirator of the events which unfolded in the Hex and was also feeding off Wanda’s energy. Agatha Harkness has laid the groundwork for many more characters to enter the MCU narrative.
