Most recent "iconic" Marvel villain

[your_name_here]

The Black Order.
Gorr the God Butcher.
The Gorgon.
As annoying as people find him...The Hood?

[XPac]

The Black Order.
Gorr the God Butcher.
The Gorgon.
As annoying as people find him...The Hood?

I think the thing which potentially hinders the Hood (despite IMO being a very good character) is that he doesn't have an iconic hero he can really say is his arch enemy. And for the most part, iconic villains need that iconic hero to play off of. If you don't have that super hero arch enemy to sort of anchor you, you basically end up a character that randomly floats around book to book when a particular writer decides to use you.

[your_name_here]

I think the thing which potentially hinders the Hood (despite IMO being a very good character) is that he doesn't have an iconic hero he can really say is his arch enemy. And for the most part, iconic villains need that iconic hero to play off of. If you don't have that super hero arch enemy to sort of anchor you, you basically end up a character that randomly floats around book to book when a particular writer decides to use you.

Completely agree. Putting him up against The Avengers was never going to work (arguably he was good up until his comeuppance at the end of Siege, I did not care for the Infinity Gems storyline.)
If anything I feel he would work as the protagonist of the story - a low level crime-boss trying to work his way up against the big leagues such as Fisk.

[MyriVerse]

None mentioned so far in this thread seem remotely iconic to me.

Carnage seems like the most recent.

[XPac]

None mentioned so far in this thread seem remotely iconic to me.

Carnage seems like the most recent.

The thread isn't asking who IS iconic, but rather who has the potential to be iconic.

Though yes, Carnage is a great choice.

[MyriVerse]

Though yes, Carnage is a great choice.

Really don't think any recent writers (like past decade) are even trying. It's almost like they don't expect there to be a future in which to be iconic.

[jump]

None mentioned so far in this thread seem remotely iconic to me.

Carnage seems like the most recent.

I was about to say there were a few 90's guys at least like Carnage, Omega Red, Onslaught etc you could at least consider but then you edited your original post.

[XPac]

Really don't think any recent writers (like past decade) are even trying. It's almost like they don't expect there to be a future in which to be iconic.

In PART I do think writers try less now.

Most comic book writers probably want to save their best ideas for their creator owned stuff. So if they have a great idea for a villain, rather than giving it to marvel or DC they'll keep it for themselves, and just use the pre-existing villains instead.

[jump]

I don't think writers aren't trying or are saving their ideas for their own books, to me it's seems they want to play in the Marvel sandbox. They want to use those iconic villains they use to read rather than making someone up for the sake of it. Even the new villains that do get created aren't followed up on by other writers, it's all well and good this villain make a decent debut if there's no follow it's pointless.

[XPac]

I don't think writers aren't trying or are saving their ideas for their own books, to me it's seems they want to play in the Marvel sandbox. They want to use those iconic villains they use to read rather than making someone up for the sake of it. Even the new villains that do get created aren't followed up on by other writers, it's all well and good this villain make a decent debut if there's no follow it's pointless.

Yeah, follow up is key. And I think that's where having a single writer have a long run on a book helps.

Millar made a pretty cool villain with Gorgon in the Wolverine Enemy of the State book. But then he immediately left the book, and no one really made that big a deal out of the character afterwards. Loeb created that Romulus character in Wolverine, but again he didnt' stick around and Romulus was never made that big a deal afterwards.

A villain being a writers "pet" character will at least give them a sustained push at the start. But because creative teams don't necessarily last, a lot of new characters basically get depushed once the writer who created them moves on.

[Tycon]

Am I showing my Cullen Bunn bias if I say the Poisons. Even though, alone, they are weak as hell and I could probably crush one like an eggshell, once you have a Symbiote on you, you're screwed. Their power is amplified like tenfold and the host is instantaneously killed.

Other answers:

-Muse
-Gorr
-Knull
-Shredded Man
-Queen of Cinders
-Metus (who's probably gonna be a hero if his story is followed up on, post-Cable)
-Vox

Am I just listing current-day villains that I think are really cool? Yeah.

[K7P5V]

Always thought Waid's Ikari was a great addition for Daredevil's series. Too bad he's dead.

[KurtW95]

None mentioned so far in this thread seem remotely iconic to me.

Carnage seems like the most recent.

The thread isn't asking who IS iconic, but rather who has the potential to be iconic.

Though yes, Carnage is a great choice.

I'll also go with Carnage.

[Coin Biter]

The Black Order.

They're a notable group of henchpeople, who played the kind of support role to Thanos in Hickman's run that was typically provided by Darkseid's chums. They've now appeared in a massive MCU movie and had a positive reception.

They have potential. I guess the question is to what extent (if any) they will feature outside of Thanos' immediate orbit, and whether there'll be a breakout character from this villain team.

[Iron Maiden]

Surprised that there is little mention of Hickman's Black Order (besides your_name_here) Of the newer ones mentioned, they were just in a billion dollar box office movie.

Black Swan can go either way. She did go all in with the Black Order and was loyal to Rabam Alal/Doom but she can almost be an anti-hero

And I would say that most would agree that they are pretty tired of the Hood. But maybe a new writer handling him can make him more like Brian K. Vaughn's early stories.