Marvel has changed the way readers see superheroes and supervillains over the decades. The publisher took the idea of superheroes and injected realism and pathos into it, making characters that the readers could understand in ways that they couldn’t with the more mythic heroes like Superman and Batman. This has also extended to villains as well, and the House of Ideas has created some of the best villains ever, powerful and compelling antagonists who have starred in a variety of great stories. The best villains have a certain spark to them right off the bat, with readers hoping to see more of them. However, this doesn’t always happen.
Marvel has created loads of popular villains, but not every cool villain gets a lot of spotlight. The most popular villains suck up all of the air in the room, and the cool new villains don’t actually get a chance to shine, like they deserve. These seven Marvel villains are awesome, but they haven’t made nearly as many appearances as they should have.
7) Michael Korvac
The Avengers have fought some amazing villains over the years, but few of them have done to the team what Michael Korvac has done. A human slave from the 30th century who gained godlike power, he starred in “The Korvac Saga”, where he killed the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, and has since barely made any appearances. In fact, his recent return in Christopher Cantwell’s Iron Man was the first time he had a major appearance in years. Korvac is a powerful enough villain to fight anyone, and could be a much more popular villain if Marvel put the work in.
6) Emperor D’Ken
Emperor D’Ken is a character with an important legacy in the X-Men comics; Cyclops and Havok don’t become members of the team without him. The Emperor of the Shi’Ar Empire in the opening stages of Chris Claremont’s landmark X-Men run, he was the stereotypical evil emperor and he worked perfectly. His power had driven him mad, which is something of a cliche. However, the reason it’s cliche is because it’s an entertaining trope, and D’Ken is certainly entertaining. D’Ken didn’t even survive his first story, and since then has mostly appeared in alternate universe stories. He was resurrected in “The Rise and Fall of the Shi’Ar Empire”, and was also killed in that story. It’s a shame, because he would play well in the cosmic portions of the Marvel Universe as a mad king.
5) Chimera
Chimera first appeared in Wolverine (Vol. 2) #97, hired by Cable’s son Genesis to help him get his hands on Wolverine. Her mutants powers allowed her to manifest ectoplasmic dragons. She throws energy dragons at her enemies, which is awesome, and has a cool, sarcastic personality that could make her a winner if she actually made appearances more. She’s a complete blank slate of a character, with cool but undefined powers. It’s honestly kind of strange that she hasn’t shown up more; she didn’t even appear in the Krakoa Era (and if she did, no one realized it at the time). Chimera is a character with all of the potential in the world, and it would be cool if someone decided to make her the next big thing.
4) Genocide
Genocide is a pretty interesting character. He’s the son of Apocalypse and the the first Horseman Famine (not the First Horseman Famine, but the first Famine to appear when Apocalypse appeared), and is pattered after “The Age of Apocalypse” Holocaust (they could be multiversal versions of each other, but Holocaust was older and we never found out who his mother was). He played a role in “The Dark Angel Saga” in Uncanny X-Force, and that’s pretty much the extent of his major appearances. What makes the villain so interesting is his attitude. Young William isn’t a monster, he’s a young man who wants people to like him, and will do what he’s told to get the kind of opinion he wants; he’s been told that he was Apocalypse’s heir for years and wants to earn that place in the world. There’s a lot that can be done with him, and has just the right look to be a villain fans would love.
3) Bloodscream
Wolverine faces off against dangerous villains, with his best foes being the ones that he has some kind of personal grudge with. All of his best villains have this little something extra to them, and their relationship with the ol’Canucklehead makes things more interesting. Bloodscream is a villain that has the beginnings of a cool grudge with the hero, but for some reasons it’s never really developed as well as it could be. The vampire wants to drink the Canadian mutant’s blood so he can be relieved of his vampiric curse, and he’s made numerous short appearances in his existence, which has spanned almost 40 years already. He’s starred in several entertaining stories, and could very easily become a bigger villain if anyone wanted to try with him.
2) Morlun
Morlun first appeared in the first story of the best 21st century Spider-Man run from writer J. Michael Straczynski. He’s an energy vampire, and he hunts down people who use the power of the Spider-totem, the totemic energies that empower Spider-Man. He had a tremendous first tussle with the Wall-Crawler, killed the hero in “The Other” then defeated by a revitalized and resurrected Peter, and has played roles in several stories like “Spider-Verse”, where it was revealed that he was one of many beings who travel the multiverse and kill the Spiders. Morlun has been around for close to 25 years now, and is honestly pretty important to the Spider-Man mythos, but his appearances don’t even hit double-digits, which doesn’t feel right for a character like him.
1) The Apocalypse Twins
The Apocalypse Twins are my favorite underappreciated Marvel villains. They are the children of Archangel and the Final Horse Pestilence; Eimin and Uriel were kidnapped by Kang and brought to the Red Skull’s concentration camp in the future to be raised there where they would be toughened up. The time-traveling villain wanted to use their temporal-based mutant powers and Celestial enhancements to destroy the Avengers and take over the world, but they had their own plans. They broke away from him and enacted a scheme that would see the Earth destroyed by the Celestials, creating an alternate future were mutants have their own planet. The Avengers Unity Squad, thanks to Havok, Beast, and the Wasp, were able to go back in time to stop them, and that’s pretty much the only time they’ve appeared. They’re amazing villains with great powers, and could be huge enemies for the X-Men and the Avengers if only Marvel cared.
Who are you favorite Marvel villains who don’t show up a lot? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
