When will get a proper Masters of Evil?

[Michael Watkins]

I feel as if they've promised one, recently. but I could hardly call that uncoordinated mass of villains that Zemo had in cold storage a Masters of anything. how about some quality over quantity, for a change?

[Michael Watkins]

oh and R.I.P Man-Killer. we hardly knew thee.

[Rincewind]

I feel as if they've promised one, recently. but I could hardly call that uncoordinated mass of villains that Zemo had in cold storage a Masters of anything. how about some quality over quantity, for a change?

The best version of the Masters of Evil was the team from the Under Siege storyline by Roger Stern. It had Helmut Zemo amass a huge force of villains, including Whirlwind, Mr, Hyde, Grey Gargoyle, Absorbing Man, and many others.

Looking at the picture above, I'm not seeing what the problem is.

[Huntsman Spider]

I think the problem is that they were used primarily to distract and wear down the superheroes while HYDRA-Cap was staging his takeover of the U.S. and put on ice afterwards. Waste of a potentially good plot; a la Dark Reign, we could have seen villains walking out in the open, being rewarded with power and prestige under the new regime just as promised by Zemo (and/or HYDRA-Cap), portrayed as the heroes who helped liberate America from an era of corruption and weakness and usher in a return to true greatness. Instead, they were treated as disposable pawns and then put on ice when then they were no longer needed, except as possibly diversionary cannon fodder to make the HYDRAvengers look better in the eyes of the (increasingly brainwashed) public.

[Shinglepants]

I liked the Masters of Evil Hopeless put together on his Avengers Undercover run. Zemo, Madame Masque, Constrictor, Daimon Hellstrom and Death Locket. The last I saw them they were setting off in a stolen SHIELD Helicarrier but I don't think they've shown up since.

[scribbleMind]

Is Zodiac still around? If they were to make a serious Masters of Evil, I'd like that guy to be at the head.

[Michael Watkins]

The best version of the Masters of Evil was the team from the Under Siege storyline by Roger Stern. It had Helmut Zemo amass a huge force of villains, including Whirlwind, Mr, Hyde, Grey Gargoyle, Absorbing Man, and many others.

Looking at the picture above, I'm not seeing what the problem is.

they weren't used as a Masters of Evil. they were just set loose in Manhattan without a game plan. once Stevil took over, they were put in some kind of coma state. feels more like a Lethal Legion, to me.

[Huntsman Spider]

I liked the Masters of Evil Hopeless put together on his Avengers Undercover run. Zemo, Madame Masque, Constrictor, Daimon Hellstrom and Death Locket. The last I saw them they were setting off in a stolen SHIELD Helicarrier but I don't think they've shown up since.

Hellstrom popped up again (or was at least mentioned) in The Defenders, and Constrictor unfortunately died of health complications, leaving Diamondback going into stripping and then reluctantly joining "Serpent Solutions" to pay the medical bills and funeral costs in the first arc of Sam Wilson: Captain America by Nick Spencer. Madame Masque has been antagonizing Kate Bishop in the recent Hawkeye series starring Kate, Zemo was a major part of Secret Empire and its buildup, and it's a shame nobody else has picked up Deathlocket yet.

[Michael Watkins]

Is Zodiac still around? If they were to make a serious Masters of Evil, I'd like that guy to be at the head.

well, he's not dead; at least. I'm not sure where he or the zodiac key went. they had some new guy show up in Spider-man's title as Scorpio; wielding what I'm guessing is another Zodiac key. I think he was last scene recruiting Egghead from the Young Masters. but they never followed up on that.

[Michael Watkins]

I liked the Masters of Evil Hopeless put together on his Avengers Undercover run. Zemo, Madame Masque, Constrictor, Daimon Hellstrom and Death Locket. The last I saw them they were setting off in a stolen SHIELD Helicarrier but I don't think they've shown up since.

I liked Zemo's alliance with Hellstrom. it was carried over from the Fear Itself storyline, irrc. and Madame Masque is always fun. they never did quite explain why she was tracking down magical artifacts. I thought that was going somewhere (or related to her former boyfriend, the Hood, doing the same).

[DJ1107]

Master of Evil will only be a reality again when A. Marvel remembers it has Villains, & B. Stuffy f***'s stop pretending all these Criminals, Murderers, & Scumbags somehow all of a sudden have a standard in their villainous activities because Zemo's a Nazi or Nazi-lite.

[Rincewind]

I think the problem is that they were used primarily to distract and wear down the superheroes while HYDRA-Cap was staging his takeover of the U.S. and put on ice afterwards. Waste of a potentially good plot; a la Dark Reign, we could have seen villains walking out in the open, being rewarded with power and prestige under the new regime just as promised by Zemo (and/or HYDRA-Cap), portrayed as the heroes who helped liberate America from an era of corruption and weakness and usher in a return to true greatness. Instead, they were treated as disposable pawns and then put on ice when then they were no longer needed, except as possibly diversionary cannon fodder to make the HYDRAvengers look better in the eyes of the (increasingly brainwashed) public.

We've seen villains take over a country with the Bagalia country in Secret Avengers and Avengers Undercover. The fact that Hydra Cap and Zemo used the villains as fodder makes sense for the characters and the story they were telling. Zemo in particular has a history of scheming and manipulating others who work for him.

[Michael Watkins]

Master of Evil will only be a reality again when A. Marvel remembers it has Villains, & B. Stuffy f***'s stop pretending all these Criminals, Murderers, & Scumbags somehow all of a sudden have a standard in their villainous activities because Zemo's a Nazi or Nazi-lite.

but he isn't even that anymore. it's in his pedigree. but he's mainly just an elitist and chaotically neutral (whatever the hell that means). Norbert has never seemed to mind.

[Zero Hunter]

As much as I loved Egghead's Masters of Evil (Moonstone, Tiger Shark, Radioactive Man, Beetle, Shocker, Whirlwind, and Scorpion) the best version will always be Zemo's Under Siege Masters. That was a team put together with just one goal in mind and that was to @#%$ up the Avengers period.

Baron Zemo, Moonstone, Mister Hyde, Tiger Shark, Wrecker, Piledriver, Bulldozer, Thunderball, Blackout, Absorbing Man, Screaming Mimi, Fixer, Goliath, Grey Gargoyle, Titania, Yellowjacket, and Whirlwind. Pound for pound strength wise that is one of the toughest groups the Avengers have ever gone up against. This team was all brute force.

[Michael Watkins]

We've seen villains take over a country with the Bagalia country in Secret Avengers and Avengers Undercover. The fact that Hydra Cap and Zemo used the villains as fodder makes sense for the characters and the story they were telling. Zemo in particular has a history of scheming and manipulating others who work for him.

sure. but i think that you're overplaying his backstabbiness. he's also someone who likes to keep a posse. he pursued the Thunderbolts out of nostalgia. he's also considers himself a patron to other villains. he went to great lengths to make Andreas Strucker into Swordsman, Barney Barton into Trickshot, and Janice Lincoln into Beetle. I'm good with him using a lot of these guys as cannon fodder. but I think he needs an inner circle again; some Masters that won't take me 10 minutes to name.