The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to unleash one of its strongest villains of all time in Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom, who is on the verge of attaining godlike powers. Doctor Doom will be just the latest in a long line of mighty villains to menace the multiverse in the MCU, but he could be the one to bring everything crashing down around him.
Before Doom’s arrival, the MCU has introduced plenty of powerful villains in the Multiverse Saga. Over the last five years, audiences have met villains with the power to destroy planets, conquer universes, and even rewrite reality. Many will go down as the strongest villains in the history of the MCU.
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Namor Has the Power of Talokan on His Side
Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor in Black Panther Wakanda ForeverImage via Marvel Studios
Namor the Sub-Mariner, played by Tenoch Huerta Meija, finally makes his MCU debut in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Namor is the leader of the underwater kingdom of Talokan, which is built upon a deposit of Vibranium off the coast of Central America. During the events of Wakanda Forever, Namor and his people wage war against the people of Wakanda when they refuse to join in their rebellion against the surface world.
Namor is a mutant whose abilities include breathing underwater, incredible strength, and flight. When in contact with water, Namor is nearly invincible, making him one of the strongest new villains to join the MCU. It has been confirmed that Namor will return in Avengers: Doomsday, allowing him to test the true measure of his strength against Doctor Doom.
The Red Hulk Is as Strong as His Green Counterpart
Harrison Ford makes his debut as President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World. While the late William Hurt’s iteration of Ross has been a part of the MCU since 2008, the character doesn’t embrace his full villain potential until he is transformed into the monstrous Red Hulk. In a battle with Sam Wilson/Captain America, the Red Hulk lays waste to Washington, D.C., culminating in a final duel under the cherry blossoms.
Red Hulk may have only been active for a single afternoon, but he did enough damage in that time to prove himself as one of the MCU’s strongest new villains. Like his green counterpart, the Red Hulk has incredible strength that could easily level a city if left unchecked. While Red Hulk has yet to prove himself against the original Hulk, it seems safe to conclude that his strength is about equal to that of his predecessor, which makes him incredibly dangerous.
The Super-Skrull Has the Powers of Multiple Avengers
The 2023 Disney+ original miniseries Secret Invasion introduces the Super-Skrull, a shapeshifting alien who uses a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. project known as The Harvest to obtain incredible superpowers. The Harvest included blood samples from the most powerful heroes present at the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame. Thus, the Super-Skrull becomes an amalgamation of some of the MCU’s most powerful characters.
In the series finale of Secret Invasion, the Super-Skrull wields cosmic abilities like those of Captain Marvel, the scientifically enhanced powers of Extremis, the natural strength of Groot and Drax, and many more powers. This power set may not make sense in or out of the universe, but it still makes the Super-Skrull among the strongest new characters in the MCU. However, Secret Invasion’s negative reception makes it unlikely that anyone will ever mention the Super-Skrull again.
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Dar-Benn Destroyed Entire Planets to Save Her Own
2023’s The Marvels introduces Dar-Benn, a Kree warlord, to the MCU. Played by Zawe Ashton, Dar-Benn collects two ancient bangels that give her the power she needs to save her homeworld after it was decimated by Captain Marvel decades earlier. Dar-Benn uses these bangels to steal resources from planets, dooming them to destruction in exchange for her people’s lives.
Unfortunately for Dar-Benn, the power she wielded at the end of The Marvels exceeded her understanding. The combined might of the two bangels proved to be too much for her, and it was her undoing. Unbeknownst to her, Dar-Benn tampered with the very fabric of the multiverse, perhaps setting in motion the events of Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Gorr the God Butcher Slayed Some of the Most Powerful Beings in the Universe
Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) in Thor: Love and ThunderImage via Marvel Studios/Everett Collection
Christian Bale makes his MCU debut as Gorr the God Butcher in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder. Once a devout man, Gorr’s faith left him after the gods failed to intervene on behalf of his daughter, Love. Wielding the Necrosword, Gorr goes on a murderous rampage in hopes of wiping out all the gods in the known universe.
Gorr is one of the MCU’s most impressive new villains. Thanks to the abilities afforded by the Necrosword, he manages to kill dozens of deities far more powerful than he (though most of these kills occur off-screen, much to Love and Thunder’s detriment). He is also the first person in the MCU to fight his way into the presence of Eternity, a cosmic being whose existence maintains the universe itself. Gorr may not have been successful in his quest to kill all the gods, but he is still one of Marvel’s most powerful new villains.
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Cassandra Nova Is an Incredibly Powerful Mutant
Emma Corrin stars as the villainous Cassandra Nova in the 2024 film Deadpool & Wolverine. Cassandra Nova is the long-lost twin sister of Charles Xavier and possesses many of the same mutant abilities. Using these powers, she builds an empire for herself in the Void at the end of time, including an army of pruned mutants like Juggernaut, Psylocke, Azazel, and Pyro.
Cassandra Nova is an Omega-level mutant whose abilities are strong enough to destroy the world–or even the multiverse. By the end of Deadpool & Wolverine, Cassandra gains access to a TVA machine that nearly allows her to destroy every reality in the multiverse save for her own. While Deadpool and Wolverine manage to stop the mutant before she causes irreversible damage to the multiverse, she still stands out as one of the Multiverse Saga’s strongest villains.
The Void’s Full Powers Could Destroy the World
Bob Reynolds, played by Lewis Pullman, finally makes his first MCU appearance in 2025’s Thunderbolts*. The product of an inhuman series of scientific experiments, Bob has the power of a thousand exploding suns, allowing him to become the superhero known as the Sentry. However, Bob’s internalized trauma creates a secondary personality known as the Void, who proves to be even more powerful than the Sentry.
The Void has all the powers of the Sentry and more. The villainous alter-ego seems to have created its very own pocket dimension, where it traps its victims in “shame rooms” that force them to relive their most traumatic and horrific moments. The Void manages to trap all of New York City in its grasp in a matter of seconds. If left unchecked, this new villain could conquer the world in a single day.
Kang the Conqueror Is a Multiversal Threat
Kang the Conqueror was the original big bad of the Multiverse Saga. The first Kang variant, He Who Remains, made his debut in the first season of Loki, while other variants appeared in later projects, including Immortus, Scarlet Centurion, Pharaoh Rama-Tut, Victor Timely, and Kang the Conqueror himself. While the MCU has moved away from the Kang storyline in favor of Doctor Doom, Jonathan Majors’s villain is still a major threat facing the Marvel multiverse.
Each Kang variant is incredibly strong in its own right, but they are stronger when united. The Council of Kangs is nearly undefeatable, thanks to their vast weaponry and knowledge from across the multiverse. It’s a shame that MCU fans will most likely never see the Council of Kangs at full force. Even so, Kang the Conqueror could still return to prove himself as the biggest threat to ever face the MCU.
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Galactus Is a Cosmic Being Who Devours Entire Planets
Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, has finally arrived in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ralph Ineson plays the cosmic planet-eating entity in 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. After making a play at kidnapping the powerful Franklin Richards as his replacement, Galactus is defeated by the Fantastic Four, who manage to send him across the universe via Reed Richards’s teleportation machine.
Galacrus is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. A cosmic entity with no variants in the multiverse, Galactus is as necessary to the flow of the universe as Death or Eternity. Audiences are sure to see much more of the Devourer of Worlds in the next saga of the MCU, but his debut in First Steps is enough to place him high on the list of the franchise’s most dangerous new villains.
Mephisto May Be Marvel’s Most Powerful Villain Yet
Sacha Baron Cohen is Mephisto in Ironheart.Image via Marvel Studios
After years of theories pointing toward his debut, Mephisto finally joined the MCU in the 2025 Disney+ series Ironheart. Sacha Baron Cohen plays the ruler of Hell, who makes a deal with Riri Williams to bring her loved ones back to life, though this comes at an unknown cost. It is unclear what Mephisto’s future in the MCU might be, but he may already be the franchise’s most powerful villain of all time.
Viewers just see a fraction of Mephisto’s powers in Ironheart, but even these alone are impressive. He has the power to effortlessly shape and distort reality as he sees fit and even grants powers to individuals like Parker Robbins. As the ruler of Hell, Mephisto is one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe–and the heroes of the MCU had best thank their lucky stars that he doesn’t choose to take a more active role therein.