MCU Villains You Forgot Were Still Alive

Every superhero needs a supervillain, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is absolutely crawling with bad guys and gals who want to take over the world. Granted, the MCU has had quite a few unimpressive villains — we're looking at you Whiplash, with your weird bird obsession — but for all the Dark Elves out there, we've got amazing characters like Killmonger and Thanos.

Of course, being a villain in the MCU means chances are good that you're going to wind up dead. Ultron, Hela, and Ego all bit the proverbial dust when facing off against the Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the same goes for the likes of Alexander Pierce, Ronan the Accuser, and Darren Cross. In fact, it seems like most of the memorable villains have shuffled off this mortal coil after throwing down against Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor.

However, not every villain who goes head-to-head with Earth's Mightiest Heroes winds up in the morgue. In fact, there are quite a few who've survived their encounters with the Avengers, albeit with a little wear and tear for their efforts. So who are these rogues, where are they, and will they ever come back? Well, here are some MCU villains you forgot were still alive ... and how they might get their revenge one day. 

The abominable Emil Blonsky wasn't the only Hulk foe introduced in The Incredible Hulk. You might recall that throughout the movie, Bruce Banner communicates online with a mystery companion code-named "Mr. Blue." Together, the two hope to discover a cure for Banner's condition. When they finally meet in person in the film's third act, Mr. Blue is revealed to be none other than Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), who in the comics becomes the nefarious Leader after gamma radiation gives him super intelligence, as well as a Hulk-sized forehead to go with it.

Although the film planted seeds of Sterns' potential evil mutation, he's since seemingly fallen through the cracks. His only reappearance since The Incredible Hulk actually came on the page as opposed to the screen. In the Fury's Big Week comic run, which was printed as a prelude to The Avengers, Sterns is discovered by none other than Black Widow, who shoots him in the leg and takes him into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. He's presumably still locked away in one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure holding facilities, but with a confirmed She-Hulk series coming to Disney+ at some point, perhaps the Leader would provide a suitable gamma-powered match for the jolly green family.

If you forgot the fact that Georges Batroc, better known in the comics as Batroc the Leaper, actually made an appearance in 2014's Captain America: The Winter Solder, no one can really blame you. The film was chock-full of memorable villains, including Alexander Pierce, Crossbones, Dr. Arnim Zola, and Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier himself. However, out of all of them, Batroc is now the only one who's still a villain and still alive and kicking in the current timeline of the MCU.

Played by the Canadian UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre, Batroc went toe-to-toe with Captain America on a hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. ship in the first act of Winter Soldier, but he was ultimately no match for the star-spangled Avenger. Although he evaded capture after their scuffle, he was later arrested in a "not-so-safe house" in Algiers. He's presumably been in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody ever since.

In early 2020, rumors started circulating about St-Pierre's potential return to the MCU in Disney+'s upcoming The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In the comics, Batroc the Leaper actually joined the Thunderbolts for a brief period, so he'd be a sensible choice to add to that squad's roster should Marvel actually be planning on introducing them in future MCU projects.

In 2014, Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King offered an inside look at what prison life was like for Iron Man 3 villain Trevor Slattery, lovably played by Sir Ben Kingsley. Shot as a documentary, the footage showed that life inside Seagate Prison was pretty sweet for the Mandarin impostor. He seemed genuinely adored by his fellow inmates and even had his own personal butler.

However, things went downhill quickly for Trevor when the documentary was revealed to be a farce put on by the actual Ten Rings terrorist group in order to bust Slattery out of prison and take him to meet the real Mandarin, who was less than pleased with Trevor's impersonation. Sounds like imitation isn't always the sincerest form of flattery when dealing with powerful terrorist syndicates.

Although it seems unlikely that Kinglsey ever returns to the MCU, the confirmation that an actual Mandarin exists in the universe was huge news. Then, in 2019, it was announced that the villain will finally make his official MCU debut in the upcoming Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, played by The Grandmaster's Tony Leung.

Although the Avengers spend a good portion of 2016's Captain America: Civil War punching each other, it's important to remember that Daniel Brühl's sly Helmut Zemo is actually the one behind all of the chaos. Motivated by the death of his family during the battle of Sokovia in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Zemo attempts (and succeeds) to turn the Avengers on each other, framing Bucky Barnes for bombing the United Nations and shedding light on his dirty past.

In the end of Civil War, Zemo, proud of his vengeance, attempts to kill himself but is stopped by Black Panther, who takes him in to the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. He's last seen in a secure holding cell under the watch of the CIA's Everett Ross, confident that his plan have ruined the Avengers for good.

At the 2019 San Diego Comic Con, Marvel revealed that Brühl's Zemo will return to the MCU in Disney+'s The Falcon and the Winter Solider, and that he will even don his iconic purple mask, thus completing his comic book look. With such a smart villain at play, Sam and Bucky better bring their A-games!

In 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker goes toe-to-toe with Michael Keaton's villainous Adrian Toomes and his flying Vulture suit. Although Spidey ultimately defeats him, Toomes learns Spider-Man's true identity, making him a potentially very serious threat to Parker and his friends. Fortunately, Toomes seems to respect young Pete, and it seems as though he will remain tight-lipped, even while behind bars. After all, Spidey did save his daughter when they were in DC, right?

Although Keaton's future in the MCU seems up in the air, the fact that Toomes is both alive and aware of Spider-Man's secret makes him hard to write out. Maybe the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home change things, given that Mysterio shares Spidey's true identity with the world, but it's hard to imagine Marvel forgetting about such a memorable villain. Plus, Keaton seems to be crossing the franchise aisle, showing up as the Vulture in Sony's Morbius. On top of all that, when we last saw him in the mid-credits scene for Homecoming, we learned Vulture was locked up with the Scorpion, a fellow Spidey foe. So no matter what, it seems Toomes will have a part to play in Spider-Man's story moving forward.

Walton Goggins' eccentric restaurateur, Sonny Burch, may not have posed the biggest threat in 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp, but his origin is still largely unknown. Introduced as a black market dealer, Burch wanted to acquire Hank Pym's quantum technology for an anonymous buyer. That buyer's mysterious identity is still one of the largest unanswered questions remaining from Phase 3 of the MCU. Who exactly was Sonny Burch working for?

Some fans theorize that Burch was working for one of the various evil organizations already existing in the Marvel universe, such as HYDRA, AIM, or maybe even the Ten Rings. Others even argue that possibly Norman Osborn has something to do with it. Burch and his henchmen were arrested at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp after being dosed with their own "truth serum" and inadvertently confessing to their crimes, but it's extremely likely that they'll return in a future MCU installment.