Yahoo Movies 7 MCU villains you forgot were still alive
It's assumed that after Avengers: Endgame, Thanos will be no more in the MCU and there will be a need for a new villain or two in Phase 4.
We still know next-to-nothing about Phase 4 beyond Spider-Man: Far from Home, although perhaps Endgame will set up the new threat to the Avengers going forward. But what if that threat already exists in the MCU and we've just forgotten about it?
Here are the MCU villains who are still alive and, technically, could make a comeback in Phase 4 to cause the Avengers some drama.
(Note: we're just assuming that they survived the Snap.)
1. The Mandarin
Sadly, we don't mean Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) – though he could still be alive – but the actual Mandarin, as his existence was confirmed in Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King.
The short revealed that the Mandarin is a bit annoyed that Trevor has been using his name and now wants to meet him. We didn't see the real Mandarin in the short so, as far as we know, the Mandarin is still out there operating in secret as the Ten Rings leader.
With Iron Man expected to be on his way out of the MCU though after Endgame, there's less chance that the Mandarin will appear – but you can't rule it out entirely.
2. Helmut Zemo
The MCU's take on Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) wasn't exactly the same as the comics, where he's the son of a German Baron and has led HYDRA and the Masters of Evil.
In Captain America: Civil War, Zemo only became evil when his wife and son were killed in the Battle of Sokovia, becoming obsessed with taking down the Avengers in consequence. His (surprisingly successful) plan involved setting the Avengers against each other, leading to Iron Man and Captain America going their separate ways.
Zemo tried to take his own life, but was stopped by Black Panther, so he remains in a cell at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre under the watchful eye of Everett Ross.
3. Abomination
Some people forget that The Incredible Hulk is even part of the MCU, so you might not remember that its villain is still alive and kicking.
Former special-ops commando Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) wasn't quite as lucky as Bruce Banner when he was injected with the original Super Soldier Serum. He went power mad and eventually injected himself with Banner's blood, transforming him into Abomination.
Even though he was now the same size, Abomination was bested by Hulk, captured by the army and put into a cryocell in Alaska. He's still there, but thanks to Marvel One-Shot The Consultant, General Thaddeus Ross did try to put Blonsky into the Avengers, only to be stopped by Coulson and Jasper Sitwell (before he went all evil).
4. The Leader
Talking of The Incredible Hulk, the movie also introduced another villain into the MCU, but if you weren't aware of the comics, you wouldn't have known it.
Dr Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) was trying to help Bruce Banner, but got forced into helping Blonsky's transformation. Unfortunately for Sterns, the process saw a bit of Banner's blood get into his system via a head wound and he apparently to started to mutate into a character called The Leader.
That was the last we saw of him in the movies, although thanks to the Fury's Big Week comic book series, we know that Natasha Romanoff saw him after this incident. She managed to stop him by shooting him in the leg and the last we know, he was in SHIELD's custody.
5. Justin Hammer
Aligning himself with Ivan Vanko to take down Tony Stark didn't work out all that well for Hammer Industries founder Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) in Iron Man 2.
After Vanko double-crossed him and set his new drones to attack at the Stark Expo, Hammer was arrested and vowed revenge on Stark and Pepper Potts. He hasn't got it yet and he's currently in Seagate Prison, or at least he was during the All Hail the King One-Shot.
Hammer Industries continues to operate without its former CEO, using Chitauri technology to come up with weapons like the Judas Bullet that we saw in Luke Cage season one.
6. Georges Batroc
Georges Batroc (Georges St-Pierre) may have only had a brief MCU role to date, but he made a big impact in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
The French-Algerian mercenary was hired by Nick Fury to take control of the SHIELD ship the Lemurian Star, putting him eventually in the sights of Captain America with Batroc going toe-to-toe with Cap.
Last we saw, Batroc – known as Batroc the Leaper in the comics – was in SHIELD's custody, but if he has got out, any bad guy could turn to him for some extra firepower.
7. Ayesha
We know that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is coming (eventually), but it's not clear after the departure of James Gunn that Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) will be involved.
The second movie definitely set up the Golden High Priestess of the Sovereign as the next major villain. She tried (and failed) several times to kill the Guardians after they – well Rocket, anyway – stole from her.
This led to Ayesha creating Adam Warlock in one of the credits scenes to destroy the Guardians, but whether the third movie continues on that path remains to be seen.
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