10 Most Irredeemable MCU Villains

Some of the villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have redeeming qualities, but there are some who are truly irredeemable. From the very beginning of the MCU’s movie timeline, the franchise has made use of its formula of pitting good against evil. This has seen many heroes fighting many villains, with the MCU’s antagonists often proving complex characters who are written with nuance to have relatable or understandable motivations.
However, this isn’t always the case. In fact, the movies and TV shows of the MCU occasionally introduce a villain who appears to be entirely evil, or close enough to it that they cannot be redeemed. Though the franchise has brought multiple satisfying redemption arcs for its villains to fruition, there are still plenty of antagonists for whom that could never be done. With that in mind, here are the 10 most irredeemable villains in the MCU.
10 Ulysses Klaue Had No Moral Compass First appearance: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Close Though he was never a primary antagonist in the movies of the MCU, Ulysses Klaue played a role in two important narratives within the franchise. Featuring in both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Black Panther, Andy Serkis’ Klaue served as comic relief as well as a secondary antagonist. Closely examining the character highlights that he’s simply irredeemable within the context of his MCU story and characterization.
Klaue is a character with no moral scruples, and is shown on multiple occasions to care only for profit and power. In fact, he’s happy to have dealings with Ultron and the Maximoff twins despite their dark reputation, and he has no qualms about killing innocents during his criminal activities either. His support for Killmonger’s attack on Wakanda in Black Panther only further proves this, and demonstrates exactly why Klaue is irredeemable in the MCU.
9 Ego Was Happy To Sacrifice Entire Worlds First appearance: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Close The MCU has introduced only a handful of cosmic villains, but one of the most powerful was Ego. Revealed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Peter Quill’s biological father, Ego introduces himself as a Celestial before later disclosing his ulterior motive for bringing Star-Lord to his home. Though he spends much of the movie acting as a father to the hero, he is, in fact, a villain far beyond redemption.
Ego’s grand plan involved spending countless years implanting seeds on various planets around the universe, with the eventual goal of assimilating them into his own being. His end goal was to effectively merge with the entire universe, making himself a god over all of existence and ending immeasurable lives in the process. This, combined with his off-handed admission of having murdered Quill’s mother, contributes to Ego being one of the MCU’s most evil villains.
8 Thanos Thought He Could Justify Mass Genocide First appearance: The Avengers (2012) Close Thanos remains by far the most substantial villain as yet introduced into the MCU, and his role as the main antagonist of the Infinity Saga cemented his place as a hugely important figure for the franchise. His role was teased and hinted at before he was fully established on-screen, with his conflict with the Avengers coming to a head in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Unsurprisingly, the Mad Titan also ranks as one of the MCU’s least redeemable villains.
Thanos’ plan for amassing the Infinity Stones in the MCU was to use them to eradicate half of all life in the universe as efficiently as possible. He attempted to justify his actions by insisting that it was a necessity, despite there being clear evidence to the contrary. Thanos is inarguably one of the MCU’s most dangerous and powerful villains to date, and his genocidal plan makes him one of the franchise’s most evil characters, too.
7 Todd Phelps Was An Underhanded Misogynist First appearance: She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (2022) Close Though She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was far from one of the most popular projects in the MCU, it established many characters within the franchise. While he wasn’t fully revealed as the villain until shortly before the ending of She-Hulk, Todd Phelps served as the show’s main antagonist. Though he was shown transforming into HulkKing, it was his actions as a human that made him completely irredeemable.
Todd Phelps is a misogynist who is revealed to have schemed against She-Hulk, attempting to destroy her reputation simply because she was female. Phelps’ entire character is written to be as abrasive and unpleasant as possible, highlighting the ways in which he cannot be redeemed. Though She-Hulk itself might not have told the MCU’s best-loved story, it did feature a villain who was thoroughly reprehensible in almost every conceivable sense.
6 Hela Wanted Nothing More Than Death And Destruction First appearance: Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Close Many MCU antagonists are irredeemable due to the villainous choices they make or the unpleasant methods they choose to employ, but this isn’t always the case. Thor: Ragnarok introduced Hela into the franchise, and Thor’s previously secret older sister was revealed as a hugely powerful villain. As the Goddess of Death, Hela arrived not only with a claim to Asgard’s throne, but also leaving a trail of bodies and devastation in her wake.
What makes Hela irredeemable is that she is, by nature, an evil character. Thor: Ragnarok makes it clear that Hela was the product of her upbringing, and that her destiny was simply to be a hugely powerful and utterly terrifying force of death and destruction. Though it may not have been Hela’s choice to be that way, her actions in the MCU leading up to her death make her effectively impossible to redeem.
5 Mysterio Was One Of The MCU's Most Spiteful Villains First appearance: Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) Close Although Spider-Man"s timeline in the MCU has seen him face many villains of different calibers, none are as irredeemable as Mysterio. Quentin Beck was first introduced into the MCU in Spider-Man: Far From Home, arriving as a supposed hero in the wake of Iron Man’s death in Avengers: Endgame. After gaining Peter Parker’s trust and manipulating him into giving over Stark’s legacy, Mysterio reveals himself as the movie’s true villain.
Mysterio may have only made the one MCU appearance that ended with his death, but he will never be redeemed by the franchise. Not only was his manipulation of a grieving child despicable, but his final act before dying from an accidentally self-inflicted gunshot being to frame Parker for his death and reveal his identity was another level of evil. Even in death, Mysterio was the MCU’s most spiteful villain, and it appears he’ll never find redemption in the franchise.
4 Ultron Believed His Purpose Was To Eradicate Humanity First appearance: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Close Introduced as one of the MCU’s Avengers-level threats, Ultron played a surprisingly small role in the franchise before his apparent death and subsequent decade-long absence. Created by a chaos magic-influenced Tony Stark with the express intention of protecting the Earth, Ultron immediately went rogue, interpreting his programming as permission to eradicate humanity. The ensuing battle was one of the Avengers’ toughest, and it established Ultron as one of the franchise’s least redeemable villains.
Ultron’s nature as a rogue AI makes any form of redemption for the character essentially unthinkable. Ultron was programmed to achieve a task, and he pursues it in what he deems to be the best way possible, all the while being devoid of any humanity. With no human element to appeal to, it seems there’s absolutely no way that the MCU can ever offer Ultron redemption of any kind.
3 Cassandra Nova Attempted To Destroy Reality First appearance: Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) Close The cast of Deadpool & Wolverine featured many heroes, villains, and other Marvel characters, but heading them all as the movie’s main antagonist was Emma Corrin’s Cassandra Nova. The twin of Charles Xavier exercised a telepathic tyranny over the Void, ruling over its Marvel characters and later enacting a plan to tear reality apart. The movie pits its heroes against Cassandra Nova, eventually seeing them thwart her plan and earn their place in the MCU.
Cassandra Nova is one of the MCU’s most irredeemable villains due to the destructive nature of her scheme. She was actively seeking the deaths of countless innocents, for no real reason than for her love of destruction and chaos. Cassandra Nova’s sadistic streak and absolute faith in her own abilities makes her not just one of the MCU’s most ruthless and dangerous villains, but also one of its most irredeemable characters.
2 The High Evolutionary's Cruelty Was Unprecedented First appearance: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) Close Introduced into the MCU as the main villain of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the High Evolutionary quickly established himself as one of the most deplorable figures in the franchise. The movie explained that the High Evolutionary was responsible for the creation of the Sovereign, as well as Rocket Raccoon and various other experimental life forms. Considering the way he is portrayed in the movie, he is a figure who is clearly beyond any form of MCU redemption.
The High Evolutionary’s treatment of those he perceives as his inferiors is incredibly telling, as he treats them with contempt while also attempting to affirm his own intelligence. He expects others to treat him as a living god, while also casually killing and torturing life forms in his attempts to “perfect” them. The fact that the High Evolutionary sees no issue with his villainy is by far his worst trait, and proves just how irredeemable he is.
1 General Dreykov's Methods Were Truly Abhorrent First appearance: Black Widow (2021) Close Though the character was referenced multiple times in the earlier stages of the MCU, it wasn’t until 2021’s Black Widow that Dreykov made his first appearance. The former General turned operator of the Red Room served as the overseer of all the Black Widows, conditioning and brainwashing them to become his private army of assassins. Dreykov’s role in the movie is undeniably that of a villain, but his true evil nature goes far deeper than his place in Black Widow’s story.
Dreykov is inarguably one of the most despicable and deplorable characters in the entire MCU. His trafficking of children, subjugation of women - including his own daughter - and underhanded tactics all make him one of the most abhorrent figures in the entire franchise. Dreykov’s role in the franchise might have ended with his death at the hands of Natasha Romanoff, but his legacy as arguably the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most irredeemable villain endures.

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