Top 10 Greatest Avengers Villains

Heroes are only as great as their villains and the Avengers have a collection of some of the greatest villains out there. And we are gonna take a look at those villains now with all their dark, deeply rooted. deeply insane and vile ways of how they are by far among the most evil of them all.  Warning: This is mostly personal opinion. Feel free to comment.


TOP 10 GREATEST AVENGERS VILLAINS

by Frankie Rodriguez



10 -  PROCTOR & THE GATHERERS 

     Never heard of them. I know. During the times when the team consisted of Black Widow, Hercules, Black Knight , Sersi and Crystal; The team faced some of its hardest challenges. Not because of the threat they represent a lone. Oh no. But for far more personal and sinister. Proctor's Gatherers proved themselves a match for the Avengers when they took down the team with an Alternate Reality version of the Swordsman, infiltrated the Avengers by switch out minds from their Vision with our own, and started to make Sersi crazy enough that she was killing people more often than not.
 
    This time proved a highlight in the career of Dane Witman, the Black Knight as he fought the Gatherers and was also starting to go nuts cause Sersi decided to do some weird mind meld thing with him which pissed off Proctor. And Proctor ... why he's the Alternate Reality version of Black Knight ... completely possessed and driven mad by being Sersi's former lover and the mystical Ebony Blade. This group was able to take down Hercules and Thor on more than one occasion and the evil Vision proved to be even creeper than the last time Vision was evil. You know ... with the right writer ... this team can once again to prove to be an even bigger.


9 - HANK PYM 

    I know. I know. You say I am cheating. You say he's one of the founders and greatest Avengers ever. That isn't debatable but let me take a minute to point out something. Hank Pym is responsible for the follow deeds that are deemed evil:

   - being so insecure of himself that he becomes a wife beater and goes a little nuts.

   - being the father of Ultron, who has one of the highest body counts on Marvel 616 Earth.

    - Alongside Tony Stark and Reed Richards, was responsible for making the Thor Clone Ragnarok that killed longtime friend Bill Foster aka the current Goliath.

  I am sorry. Hank was not mystically made into creating Ultron or making a clone of Thor. He wasn't coerced. He did it of his own free will. And still, to this day, has issues with his insecurity. I am sorry. For all the Scarlet Witch haters ... as revealed in Avengers: Children's Crusade: She was being manipulated by Doom. And while she did kill 4 Avengers ... 3 of which she did resurrect, she was not in control of herself cause of someone else. Hank Pym, on the other hand, did this all of his free will. Scarlet Witch and Tony's evils were easily swept under the rug by being controlled by others ...while Hank is still Hank. So, he's a toast to Hank Pym . . . hope you are happy!


8 - NORMAN OSBORN

   Say what you will but Norman has definitely advanced in the world. He went from being Spiderman's Greatest Nemesis to one of the Avengers greatest villains within the course of the last six years. Norman's rise to power can be thanked since Tony decided to give Norman a chance to redeem himself by making him in charge of the Thunderbolts during the days of the Initiative. After Norman gives himself one of the greatest heel to face turns (for all those not into wrestling: a heel is a bad guy while face is a good guy) by shooting a Skrull Queen in the face.  And once he took over as top cop, he deputized villains into cops, turned the New Avengers into outlaws and then does something much worse: Have some of his Thunderbolts and some new members dress up as Avengers with him leading the team in Iron Man armor he modified to look patriotic.

  Bullseye became Hawkeye. Moonstone was Ms. Marvel. Daken became Wolverine. Just to mess with the Avengers. He threatened Luke Cage and his family multiple times. Norman later fell because he thought he could control the Sentry . . . and he was wrong. And while Norman was finally put in jail, he eventually escaped because of a new version of his organization called H.A.M.M.E.R. And what does he do when he retreats?

   He insights riots and protest against the Avengers, proclaiming that he was held without due process. He teams up with Viper's sect of Hydra, members of the Hand and the remainder of H.A.M.M.E.R., he gets a genetist to give his soldiers powers of the Hulk and he reforms the Dark Avengers with a brand new line up to take down the New Avengers while his soldiers and Viper take down the Avengers team. Yeah. Norman Osborn has became quite a threat. A very personal threat. Not just to Spiderman but to Luke Cage, Jessica Jones-Cage, Ms Marvel, Spiderwoman, Hawkeye and more.


7  - MASTERS OF EVIL


    The Masters of Evil have been a thorn in the Avengers side again and again and again. But none where they more a problem as when the Masters of Evil, lead by Baron Zemo, entered the Avengers Mansion and began their seige. They tortured Jarvis and they began to pick off Avengers one by one. They put Hercules in a coma. They crippled then chairman Wasp to the point where she stepped down. The Masters had the Avengers near dead to rights till Thor and Captain America turned the tied . .. barely.

   Since that day, the Avengers problems with the Masters were more personal. Facing off with them over and over again till Zemo's Masters became the original Thunderbolts. When some of the Thunderbolts proved themselves worthy of rehabilitation, the Avengers begrudingly gave them a chance. Hawkeye even left the Avengers and became the Leader of the Thunderbolts for a team. The new Masters of Evil, lead by Crimson Cowl, became the Thunderbolts problem, giving way to why the Masters ranked lower.


6 - KREE/SKRULL

   No other 2 species has had such a profound affect on the Avengers in there many forms than these two. The Kree have faced the Avengers time and again but also are the keys to such members as Captain Mar-vell, Ms. Marvel and Crystal.  The Skrulls have fought the Avengers over and over again, always wanting to use them to help them eliminate the Kree. And while the Skulls have been more active with the Fantastic Four, their constant war with the Kree has brought them in the Avengers doorstep over ... and over ... and over again.

   - The Kree/Skrull War was the first galactic war that the Avengers dealt with.

   - Captain Mar-vell (a Kree) & a Skrull Princess gave birth to Young Avenger Hulking.

    -The Kree were responsible for forcing the Kree to go to war with the Shi'ar, which brought forth the Nega Bomb.

   - And the Skrulls were responsible for Secret Invasion, replacing everyone including Mockingbird and long time Avengers butler, Jarvis. Only to be hunted by the Inhuman ruled Kree after the event.

So yeah, the Kree and the Skrull have long be intertwined in the Avengers for a looooooooong time.


5 - LOKI

    The God of Mischief has been a thorn in the side of the Avengers over and over again. He was responsible for putting Hulk under the spell to attack which caused the formation of the Avengers. He causes the Avengers to form in the movies. He causes the Avengers/Defenders War. He helps Norman Osborn's Dark Reign get established. He gives powers to Parker Robbins aka The Hood so that he could still be the Kingpin of Super Criminals. Loki's actions with helping Norman ended up bringing about the fall of Asgard.

  With all that, the reason why Loki isn't # 1 is quite simple; he's got a very sad back story that makes you feel for him and he has since turned to the side of the angels. Before his death during Siege, Loki felt bad for what he did and helped the Avengers fight the Void, only to die. When reborn as a child, Loki has since wanted to make up for his past deeds.


4 - THE SERPENT (ASGARDIAN GOD OF FEAR) & THE WORTHY

   Before I get the "are you kidding me"s, take a moment to reflect. When Sin aka Red Skull II found the first Hammer of the Worthy, she made her way to find the Serpent. When the Serpent was freed, 7 more mystical Hammers came to Earth and that's when the real fun begins. We had Avengers not only fighting mystically charged villains like Absorbing Man, Titania and Grey Gargoyle; we had them fight friends as well as the Hulk and The Thing were both possessed by these hammers and fought against our heroes.

They invaded New York. They invade Washington DC. And over and over again, every attack, with one of the Worthy and other soldiers gave way to more and more devastation. People were dying. Avengers Academy members were forced to kill attacking Neo-Nazis. Thor was forced to "kill" the Thing by putting his hammer through the Thing's chest. Red Skull II had "nearly" killed Bucky Barnes; who was seemingly dead at the time.

 There were vast casualties. And that is what made this all the more frightening. That the Worthy's trail of destruction was just giving more and more dead bodies, forcing the Avengers to go beyond to stop them. If not for the Avengers, the world would have been destroyed twice in a row: once my the Serpent and his Worthy and a second time by Asgard and Odin himself.

    Thor "died", slaying the Serpent but it certainly left lasting marks on the Avengers. Because this was the only time the Avengers went up against the Worthy, that explains its low racking. Because of what happened during the course of Fear Itself, they absolutely were given a spot. High stakes. High reward. And lots of carnage in between. The Avengers over came. The event made Captain America cuss. He NEVER cusses. But this was believable enough to understand why Steve Rodgers would mouth an obscenity.

3 - KORVAC 

  Okay. How do I put this? The man killed the Avengers. Seriously. He killed the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. There were multiple show downs between the Avengers and him till he kills most of them, save for Thor. Each of these showdowns, the battles with Korvac became more and more personal.

   Korvac was a man who ended up becoming a cyborg with godlike powers. And boy, did he ever abuse them. Wanting death to the Badoon, he came from the 30th Century to our century to kill them and the Avengers stood in his way. And while he kills them . .. the team does eventually get resurrected by him before he commits suicide.

    Love and personal loss were a focal point in this storyline and while the Avengers did not survive their first bout with Korvac, they did survive their next couple of battles with him when he returned. Hence why he ranked # 3 and not # 1 or 2.


2 - ULTRON 

  Having one of the highest body counts in Marvel history, Ultron is the evil bastard son of Hank Pym. He is cold, metal and seeks a universe where only metallic beings rule and organic begins are destroyed. And why that goal has had modifications depending on the incarnation of Ultron, his ultimate goal stayed. Ultron became obsessed with Hank Pym and wanting a family of his own, creating 2 different brides: Jocasta, who later became an Avenger and War Toy, who still is a problem in her own right.

  Ultron had decimated countries, taken over Iron Man's body, caused weather problems worldwide and even took over as leader of the remaining Phalanx species out in space. Ultron had become a problem unlike any other but has gone toe to toe again with the Avengers, the Avengers West Coast and even the Guardians of the Galaxy.

  Ultron has killed so many people that his presence is gonna end up citing a war in the future. A war that the Avengers want to stop. But watch out ... cause if the war that is coming is any indication, what he did to the country of Slorenia (killing every last organic thing on it) will be nothing to what will happen next. The ONLY reason why Ultron is not # 1 is because his strange need for family and cause he's responsible for creating the long time Avenger, the Vision.


1 - KANG 

   Kang is from the future. Kang is relentless. He is always learning. Always getting himself prepared for what is next. Kang is a Conqueror and while the Avengers had defeated him and repelled his invasions over and over and over again; eventually, they failed.

That is right. KANG WON.

 KANG CONQUERED EARTH AND DEFEATED THE AVENGERS.

   Kang's Dynasty became the opus of Kurt Busiek's run on the Avengers. Kang cleanly invaded the planet, took down the UN and his armies took over the world. Kang had won. The Avengers spent MONTHS dealing with Kang and freeing the world. Captured Avengers were in camps. Other Avengers were working as freedom fighters. Kang had made Wasp, representing the world and the Avengers, sign over control to the planet to him on world wide television. Yet, it took Ms Marvel to kill the Master of the World and the efforts of nearly every Avenger they had in order to finally take down Kang.

  And Kang still ended up escaping and started a hard war in the future. A war he has now began to orchestrate after manipulating the Avengers recently. A war ... with Ultron. Kang's prove his superiority and while defeated, no other villain has so completely pushed the Avengers as much. Kang's younger self was even a founding member of the Young Avengers, Iron Lad. And the Avengers and his own actions led to the creation of Kang the Conqueror. No other villain had so completely defeated the Avengers. This is why Kang is the Greatest Avengers Villain.




I hope you enjoy Avengers Month. Next week ... News and more from Wizard World Philly.

Take Care Clashers.


 Frankie Rodriguez.

THE TOP 10 GREATEST AVENGERS STORYLINES

As we continue this months' Avengers month, we are gonna to cover the storylines that made the Avengers what they are today. In all of their various incarnations: Avengers, Avengers West Coast, New Avengers, Dark Avengers, Secret Avengers & even Young Avengers, we are gonna to examine the milestone stories that solidified their legend.

10: Under Siege: Avengers #273- #277


    We start with a hard hitting story from the Stern days of penning the Avengers. And it is simple. Baron Zemo was tired of losing. So he reforms the Masters of Evil, invades the Avengers Mansion.

  Sounds simple right?

   Well, Jarvis gets tortured. And then the Masters pick off Avengers left and right till Thor and Captain America arrive. The Masters put Hercules into a coma. Wasp and several other Avengers had to step down from active duty because of how bad the Master beat them. A rare, hard defeat that the Avengers turned into a win. But not without scars.

9:  Ultron Unlimited - Avengers #19-22 (Volume 3)

        Ultron. The robotic creation of none other than Hank Pym, Ultron has always been amongst one of the Avengers greatest enemies. And as such, when Ultron returned with his second mate, the devious android known as Alkhema aka War Toy, ends up giving the most vicious attack he has ever done: slaughtering the Baltic nation of Slorenia. 

      With the entire nation dead, the Avengers move in to attack him but only find that they play into Ultron's hands as he kidnaps Vision, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Eric Williams (aka Grim Reaper) & Wasp to use them to give brain patterns to new children that he has been cooking up. 

     Hank Pym and the rest of the Avengers have a grand showdown, with Justice, Black Panther & even War Toy giving big assists but this nightmare of a storyline by Kurt Busiek & George Perez left the Avengers wondering how they failed as an entire nation was killed by Ultron. 

8: Dark Reign/The Seige: Dark Avengers (Volume 1), New Avengers (Volume 1)

       After Norman Osborn became the top cop on the planet (cause of him doing something on tv during Secret Invasion), he gathered many of his Thunderbolt teammates, the son of Wolverine & Avengers Ares and The Sentry and formed his new Dark Avengers team. And while they were in charge, the New Avengers, lead by Clint Barton (then Ronin), were outlaws on the run from Osborn's H.A.M.M.E.R. (still have NO clue what that means) while still defeating other baddies. 

       After over a year of comics and multiple storylines, it culminated with Osborn,as a member of the Anti-Illuminati known as the Cabal, ordering the strike on Asgard, fooling Loki into thinking that he was doing it in order to help him gain control over it. And boy, was he wrong. The New Avengers, Nick Fury's Secret Warriors and more gathered in secret to help Thor defend his home of Asgard (now over a town in the midwest) being lead by then-former Captain America, Steve Rodgers. The Avengers won the day and took down Osborn but not with out some casualties as Ares was killed by Sentry and Thor ends up killing the Void, who had over taken Sentry's body. 

7: World Trust:  Avengers # 57 - #61 (Volume 3)

    I know people are surprised that this story got on the list. Even more so than other classics like Under Siege, Hank Pym's fall from grace or the Kree/Skrull War. Allow me to explain. World Trust did something very different for the Avengers. When every capital city disappears in another dimension alongside the World's leaders, the UN decides to put the Avengers in charge .... or the entire planet.

  Yep. The Avengers get put in charge of the entire world. Why would they do this? Well, it is cause of a particular victory that is actually on this countdown. Here's a hint ... check #5.  So, the Avengers, with Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, She Hulk, Warbird, Ant Man Scott Lang, Jack of Hearts, Iron Man, Namor and more end up becoming the leaders of the planet while also finding out what was going on.

  Come to find out, a brand new Zodiac is behind the kidnappings and dimension hopping. Each Avenger got to shine as they worked together to not only save the planet from villainy but also, run the planet. And for their service ... Avengers Mansion is considered a sovereign nation of it own. Yep. Avengers Mansion was considered its own country. It was different. It was pretty damn dynamic. And it made being an Avenger that much more important. Yet, this gets thrown all out cause of Dissembled.  

6: The Avengers/Defenders War: Avengers #115-118, Defenders # 8-11

      In a bid to take care of both their enemies and to conquer Earth and have it be absorbed into the Dark Dimension, Loki had teamed up with Dormanmu and set up both groups in order to fight each other. Yes. Avengers vs. X-Men isn't the first time that the team faced another super hero team in a major storyline.

   The Defenders had two former Avengers, Hulk and Namor, in their ranks and they were not happy with Earth's Mightiest Heroes, thanks to the manipulations thanks to both villains. And the Avengers were not pleased with the Defenders either as both teams raced to gain control of the mystical Evil Eye. 

5: The Kang Dynasty: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty # 1, Avengers # 41-55

        I want to say this right now. Kang had won. He had conquered Earth. With the help of his son Marcus, Kang had finally succeeded in his goal of many years against the Avengers. Kang had taken Earth. He had attacked and decimated the United Nations. He had set up prison camps. Kang had truly become the ruler of the planet. 

      In that time, the Avengers continued to fight as the resistance against Kang. For the first time in decades, there was a long standing Avengers storyline that lasted OVER a year. And did the Avengers every assemble for this: Ms Marvel (then Warbird), Thor, Firebird, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Iron Man, Vision, Captain America, Wasp, Wonder Man, Jack of Hearts and more were all apart of this epic storyline as an Avenger killed, friends died and more. 

     And while it ended with a smash mouth battle between Kang and Captain America, the Avengers will always remember one of their biggest defeats. 

4: Operation: Galactic Storm :  Captain America # 398-#400, Avengers West Coast # 80- #82, Quasar # 32- #34,  Wonder Man # 7 -#9, Avengers # 345-#347, Iron Man # 278 & # 279 and The Mighty Thor # 445 & #446 . 

     The Shi'ar Empire and the Kree Empire have gone to war. And their war became so vast that it was going to effect Earth. As Quasar tried to prevent issues of war with the Shi'ar, Wonder Man and other Avengers seem to be having issues with the Kree. 

    So the war has begun and the Avengers ... both East Coast and West Coast Branches had mobilized to stop them. With the Avengers even framed for murder, they teams backs are against the wall and when the Nega Bomb is launched ... their entire galaxy was put into chaos. With manipulations from Kree, Shi'ar & even Skrull, this war takes more and more prisoners from both sides than the Avengers wanted. Yet, how the Avengers overcome these odds prove they are Earth's Greatest Heroes and more.

3:  Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1- #9 
    Funny how dangling storylines end up getting tied up. For years, fans had clamored for more from the Young Avengers since their debut. With the mysterious appearance of the heroes named Wiccan and Speed, Wiccan surmised that they were the missing sons of Scarlet Witch and the original Vision. As time passed, we found that that indeed that they were the sons of the Scarlet Witch, who had lost her memory. When Wiccan and the Young Avengers, alongside grandfather Magneto search and find Wanda, they find Dr. Doom with her ... and in love.

Ewww.

    What ends up happening because of this search? Well, since Scarlet Witch's powers were responsible for the near extinction of mutantkind, some  people, like Wolverine, wanted blood. So we had Avengers vs Young Avengers. We had Avengers vs the X-Men, which served as a prelude to the current AvX maxiseries event. We had the big reveal that Dr. Doom was the guy that drove Wanda insane and made her take away the powers of mutants and caused House of M. We get a resurrected Ant Man and Jack of Hearts (for him, it was like 2 minutes) only to watch in horror as Scott Lang gets to see his daughter die. We see Iron Lad's dark road open towards his destiny as the future Kang. We see Wanda try to make up for her past sin by giving Rictor back his powers. And ... we see a family reunited ... at such a steep price. Stature and the new Vision were killed. The X-Men scoffed at Scarlet Witch. The Young Avengers seemingly disbanded. Through it all, the story proves so many endings and opens new doors as well. And while many felt that the story was lackluster compared to the original Young Avengers series, this proved to be a story which will have impact for decades to come. Fans complained at Bendis over what he did to Wanda and when Heinberg REDEEMS the character, it does seem to be enough. Still, a great story with families at the heart of it all.

2:  The Korvac Saga : Avengers #167-#177 (Volume 1)

     This is arguably the Avengers greatest defeat. And it was all to one man, Michael Korvac. Well, there are issues with Ultron but he's not the main protagonist in this saga. When Quicksilver disappears and the first appearance of young Vance Astrovick (former New Warrior and Avenger known as Justice) get saved by a humanoid named Charlie-27, the things really begin to flare up. Korvac has come. 

 Korvac was a scientist from the 31st century who helped Earth to get enslaved by the aliens known as the Badoon. Yet, after they betray him and graph him to a cybernetic module, all he wants was revenge. He goes back in time to the present day after he fights Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy in the 31st Century. When he does come, he finds Galactus's ship and absorbs data and energy from it, becoming a god-like being with data and cosmic power. 

    As he comes to Earth, he falls in love with The Collector's daughter, Carina. She returns his feelings yet he is determined to destroy the Badoon in the past. The Guardians team with the Avengers to find Korvac ... with Starhawk going off on his own ... and getting killed for his trouble in the astral plane. Yet, Korvac recreates him but makes sure Starhawk's powers can't detect him. 

    The Collector begins to kidnap the Avengers to save them from Korvac but was killed for his help. Then, the Avengers and Guardians took on Korvac ... and DIED. Let me repeat that. Korvac killed the majority of the Avengers & the Guardians of the Galaxy. As Thor, Starhawk, Iron Man & Vision were the only ones left standing, Korvac wanted support from Carina. Yet, she was feeling guilt and doubt. Korvac noticed this and gave him. He COMMITS SUICIDE in his depression, allowing the Avengers to kill him in battle. Carnia then KILLS Iron Man, Starhawk and Vision, leaving Thor alive but she then allows Thor to kill her, cause she didn't want to live without her love. Korvac's final gift is to give enough life in all that died so that Thor's alter-ego, Donald Blake, could bring them all back to life.  

   Remember, this is the greatest defeat in the Avengers history.

1: Civil War  (Various)

    This event changed 616 Earth  . . . honestly, forever. Think about it.  We had government intervention with Super Heroes on such a large scale. We had registration of super heroes. We had Civil Rights trampled on because someone wants to put on a costume and help people. On one side, we had Iron Man, leading heroes who were for registration of heroes. On the other, we had Captain America, who felt that the law that  was being introduced was trampling on the civil rights of the people who were being defended.

   This event caused such a great change in the landscape of Marvel, characters are still feeling its affects. Spider-man being chief among them. Cause let's face it ... if it wasn't for Civil War and his unmasking, there would have NEVER been One More Day.

Let that sink in for a minute.

   Civil War caused One More Day which caused OMIT which caused Dan Slott's current (and Exceptional) run on Amazing Spiderman.

Civil War almost destroyed the Fantastic Four more than any villain ever could. It broke up Sue and Reed Richards to the point where divorce was looming.  And the Thing, not wanting to have anything to do with it, went to France.

  It caused Norman Osborn's rise to power.

  It had pretty much turned the New Warriors into pariahs.

   It had made Tony Stark into one of the biggest douchebags of the Marvel Universe.

   It had Tony Stark, Hank Pym and Reed Richards create a clone of Thor ... who ended up murdering Goliath, which ended up having his nephew join the Anti-Avengers group, The Revengers while the Thor clone, Ragnarok, ended up in Norman Osborn's hands and part of the recent incarnation of the Dark Avengers.

  It caused Luke Cage to step up, becoming leader of the New Avengers for the very first time.

  Captain America Steve Rodgers ended up dying because of these events, which then brought forth Bucky Barnes recent stint as Captain America and which ultimately becomes a catalyst for Steve Rodgers for wanting to form the Secret Avengers.


 And it was the key point Marvel event which created how Marvel events are done from this point on. It effected everyone on Earth. The only escape from Civil War seemed to be in space.