Every New Villain We Expect To See In Marvel Phase 5

Marvel has some of the greatest villains in comic book history and some have already made their way to the MCU — for instance, there's interstellar despot Thanos, World War II nasty The Red Skull, and criminal mastermind Wilson Fisk. But as of Phase 4, there are still dozens more that have gone unseen. From what we know of Phase 5, beginning with "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" in 2023, it looks like we're about to see more bad guys make their long-awaited debuts.

Of course, we may still have a long wait until we see stalwarts like the "X-Men" villain Magneto. We also don't quite know when the next "Spider-Man" film will arrive, let alone what kind of adversaries the wallcrawler will face when it does. But we do know a few things about the villains for upcoming projects like "Captain America: New World Order," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and Disney+ series like "Ironheart" and "Secret Invasion." If you're wondering which evil masterminds we'll see next, read on Marvelites.

On the goofier side of Marvel's ever-expanding roster of psychopathic villains is MODOK. Originally an acronym for "Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing," his moniker has been changed over the years to be less murderous. (For example, sometimes he goes by MODOC, and the "C" stands for "conquest." It's a little less explicitly violent but just as menacing.) On the page he begins his story as George Tarleton, a technician working for AIM — an evil organization that often clashes with Iron Man and the Avengers. During the invention of the so-called Cosmic Cube, which is a man-made creation in the comics, poor George is chosen to be mutated in an effort to better examine and further develop the device. Before he knows it, he's a giant head who gets around on a floating chair.

MODOK is a frequent villain in animation, having made appearances (under the MODOK name or otherwise) in the 1994 "Iron Man" cartoon, the 2009 series "Iron Man: Armored Adventures" and "The Superhero Squad Show," and in 2010's "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" among many others. In 2021, MODOK received his own TV series — a stop-motion animated comedy where he's voiced by Patton Oswalt, though it was canceled after a single season in spite of stellar reviews.

For his MCU debut, it seems some significant changes could be made to his origin and his appearance in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." MODOK's presence among the line of "Quantumania" Funko Pops! seems to confirm his presence in the second "Ant-Man" sequel. Rumors suggest that Darren Cross — the nefarious Yellowjacket from the first "Ant-Man" — somehow returns and transforms into the awful ginormous head, but we'll see if that turns out to be true. It sounds plausible, but it wouldn't be the first time an MCU-related rumor turned out to be hogwash. 

Is it possible "Captain America: New World Order" could feature multiple Hulk villains? It is definitely possible. After Thaddeus Ross, the second is the Leader, one of Bruce Banner's oldest foes. Making his presence felt first in the pages of "Tales to Astonish" #62 in 1964, Samuel Sterns is exposed to a kind of gamma radiation similar to what turns Bruce Banner into the Hulk, but instead of turning him into a mountain of muscle, it enhances Samuel's intellect. He goes on to become the green-skinned, behemoth-brained villain the Leader and a prominent member of Hulk's rogues' gallery.

Samuel makes his first showing on the big screen in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk" played by Tim Blake Nelson. At the conclusion of that film, he's exposed to the Hulk's radioactive blood and his transformation into the villain known as the Leader is heavily implied. But with no "Hulk" sequels, the Leader effectively disappears from the MCU and we have yet to see what's become of him. In 2021 though, it was announced that Nelson will be reprising his role as Sterns in "Captain America: New World Order."

For decades, the cosmic hero Adam Warlock was best remembered for his key role in the 1990s "Infinity" sagas — "The Infinity Gauntlet," "The Infinity War," and "The Infinity Crusade." But he started out as an Earthly creation, whipped up in a lab and designed to be the perfect human being, and he was initially known only as "Him."

Warlock, as he quickly became known, was more of an antagonist at first. He soon came into contact with the High Evolutionary, who gave him newfound life and purpose thanks to being bestowed the cosmic soul gem and redubbed Adam Warlock. He has a long and complicated history in the comics and became a cornerstone of Marvel's cosmic stories during the '80s and '90s.

While Adam Warlock sadly plays no part in the MCU's Infinity Saga, he's hinted at in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." For the threequel, it seems Adam Warlock will debut as a genetically superior creation designed to destroy the Guardians of the Galaxy, with actor Will Poulter ("The Maze Runner") snagging the coveted role.

Following the death of Tony Stark in "Avengers: Endgame," the MCU has a new armored hero in the form of Riri Williams. A teenaged super genius who builds her own super-suit, Riri makes her debut in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" played by Dominique Thorne. In 2023, she is due to return in her own Disney+ series "Ironheart." For the series' villain, Marvel has tapped The Hood — a comics villain with an interesting history.

Originally introduced in a Marvel MAX title in 2002, Parker Robbins had a rough upbringing in New York City. His father has previously worked for none other than Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin. Later on, Parker becomes a crook himself, eventually adopting a supervillain persona in his rise to becoming a powerful crime boss. But what makes The Hood unique is his use of magic and his connection to the supernatural — not something you'd expect in a series about a more science-based hero like "Ironheart."

According to The Wrap, actor Anthony Ramos will be playing Robbins, a young thief who dabbles in the dark arts. "I think Parker, almost is a guy who was a misfit," Ramos told the audience at D23. "He wants to take in other misfits and show the world that you looked at us as outcasts but we're going to end up on top."

Though it was recently pushed back a year thanks to losing director Bassam Tariq, "Blade" is still on track to close out Phase 5 some time in 2024. "Lovecraft Country" director Yann Demange was recently announced as Tariq's replacement, and Mahershala Ali remains onboard to star as the titular vampire hunter with shooting expected to get underway early in 2023. Though little is currently known about the plot of the film, we're willing to bet that the Ebony Blade — the weapon wielded by Black Knight in the comics that was seen on-screen at the end of "Eternals" — will factor in somehow. 

As for the villain, even less is known. But nobody's given us a reason why it can't be the Lord of the Vampires himself, Count Dracula. More than just an adaptation of the Bram Stoker classic character, Dracula has been a mainstay in the Marvel Comics for decades, even encountering the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the X-Men over the years in addition to supernatural heroes like Doctor Strange and Man-Thing. With monsters playing an ever-bigger role in the MCU with "Werewolf by Night," the speculation mill has been spinning that Dracula could be the baddie of "Blade," even if he's just a shadowy presence in the background pulling the strings. 

When the first "Captain Marvel" film began production, there was no word on who the villain of the film would be. Guesses were all over the map, with some suggesting that Lee Pace's Ronan the Accuser would be the main villain, with others guessing everyone from MODOK to Moonstone. In the end, it was a lesser-known villain named Yon-Rogg. That revelation might've made fans approach their efforts to forecast the characters of the movie's sequel, due up in 2023, a little differently.

Titled "The Marvels," it will see Brie Larson's Carol Danvers unite with Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau (who was turned into a super-powered hero in "WandaVision") and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan. Also appearing in the film will be Park Seo-joon and Zawe Ashton in undisclosed roles. Recent talk among fans offers a theory that Ashton's character might be Kree General Dar-Benn, who in Marvel Comics sparks a coup on their home world and becomes the Emperor of the Kree Empire. During their reign, Dar-Benn rules alongside fellow former Kree General Ael-Dan, and in theory, it's possible Seo-joon has been cast in that role.

They might still turn out to be wrong, but these guesses still sound much more reasonable than the ones fans threw out there for the first "Captain Marvel" villain.

In the comics, the super-team called the Thunderbolts is a kind of an "anti-Avengers." They're a collection of supposedly reformed villains, and their history is complicated. But in 2022, Marvel announced the Thunderbolts would be headed to the big screen with a roster that included Red Guardian, Ghost, the Winter Soldier, Yelena Belova, U.S. Agent, and Taskmaster. Few other details have been revealed, though we do know it will release towards the tail end of Phase 5. Who the team will face off against, however, remains a mystery.

In terms of wild card villains in Phase 5, there's been recent talk among fans of a long-awaited, oft-rumored baddie who could be making his debut in "Thunderbolts" – Hyperion. The leader of a team of alternate universe superheroes called the Squadron Supreme who were originally intended as a parody of DC Comics' Justice League, Hyperion is one of Marvel's answers to Superman. Since he's a favorite among some fans, Marvelites have been hoping for a Hyperion appearance in the MCU for years, with a popular casting choice being Henry Cavill, though that seems far less likely now that Cavill is back as Superman.