Marvel's Mount Rushmore of Villains

[Kisinith]

is fantastic four even a major property anymore? the movie's not even in the casting phase yet.

Are we talking about the MU or the MCU, not the same. To the MU narrative there are few properties more important. In fact I'd argue that in-spite of the massive movie synergy of the last decade or so the Avengers is a lesser property than the FF, Spider-Man or the X-Men. (possibly even the Hulk though that last is debatable)

Personally I'm not that huge of a fan of the FF, I've never really liked or disliked them but I can't argue their relevance.

edit; Also just to be clear, I'm talking about overall narrative importance not commercial success.

[Iron Maiden]

Are we talking about the MU or the MCU, not the same. To the MU narrative there are few properties more important. In fact I'd argue that in-spite of the massive movie synergy of the last decade or so the Avengers is a lesser property than the FF, Spider-Man or the X-Men. (possibly even the Hulk though that last is debatable)

Personally I'm not that huge of a fan of the FF, I've never really liked or disliked them but I can't argue their relevance.

edit; Also just to be clear, I'm talking about overall narrative importance not commercial success.

I agree. The Fantastic Four is where the Marvel Universe started. Or maybe I should say res-started since we had Captain America, Namor and the android Human Torch in the Golden Age. Namor was brought into the present MU in the Fantastic Four. Some of the most iconic characters made their debut in the pages of the Fantastic Four like Galactus, Black Panther, Doctor Doom, the Silver Surfer. When a new comic made their debut, Stan would promote them to the readers by having them appear in the Fantastic Four.

[Kingsw00d]

Here are the updated vote tallies...


Doctor Doom: 38

Magneto: 34

Green Goblin: 29

Loki: 28

Red Skull: 24


Ultron: 15

Thanos: 12


Kang: 6

Apocalypse: 4

Mandarin: 4

Doctor Octopus: 3

Mephisto: 2

Bullseye: 2

Juggernaut: 1

Dark Phoenix: 1

Maximus: 1


Galactus: (disqualified; seen more as anti-hero/force of nature by most)

[your_name_here]

Doom, Magneto, Red Skull, Norman Osborn

[Kingsw00d]

Doom, Magneto, Red Skull, Norman Osborn

Solid choices ...and for your fifth?

[your_name_here]

Solid choices ...and for your fifth?

Loki. 10 characters

[Michael Watkins]

Are we talking about the MU or the MCU, not the same.

either

To the MU narrative there are few properties more important. In fact I'd argue that in-spite of the massive movie synergy of the last decade or so the Avengers is a lesser property than the FF, Spider-Man or the X-Men. (possibly even the Hulk though that last is debatable)

it all sounds debatable to me. i haven't read Fantastic Four in a long time. and it doesn't seem as if i have missed much. the Avengers is currently kind of useless/reads like bad fanfic some time. but the individual characters are still prominent/driving the narrative. the FF are still explorers right? that's just not as relevant as it used to be. the New Mutants are currently hopping around the space. and there plenty of heroes who also act as celebrities. as for the family aspect, the Summers clan all live together now.

Personally I'm not that huge of a fan of the FF, I've never really liked or disliked them but I can't argue their relevance.

you might be misunderstanding me. i should have bolded 'anymore.' i'm well aware of how old the Fantastic Four is. i just think that they are also dusty at this point. they no longer feel like the first family. they certainly won't be in the cinematic universe.

[Michael Watkins]

Doom, Magneto, Red Skull, Norman Osborn

this is a very common list. i think that most people can easily agree on Doom and Magneto. Red Skull's just kind of iconic. he's the most prolific of the war era supervillains. and Loki, thanks to the cinematic universe, is practically a rock star. it's just that 5th spot that's really in contention, imo. i agree with your choice of Norman. but i could make a case for that spot being a rotating one. does Norman really have more cache than Thanos? is the goblin glider any more recognizable than the Mandarin's rings or Doc Ock's tentacles? isn't Kingpin, arguably, more influential within that universe? what of Galactus? is he even considered to be a villain? are guys like Mephisto just too big for this list?

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Marvel Villains: A look at the best, the worst, and the underutilized

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

History and Origin of Marvel's KANG THE CONQUEROR!

[Mutant God]

Red Skull, Ultron, Thanos, Carnage, Kingpin

[mikelmcknight72]

Going with the characters I think of as the big villains of each major franchise/character that actually has one. They may not be totally exclusive to that franchise, but are most well known for causing trouble. I'm going bigger than four, but I'm excluding characters who are more sympathetic or who waffle between anti-hero/anti-villain and villain. So, Loki, Magneto, and the like are out of contention.

Avengers - Thanos. Cosmic Cube saga, Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity, etc. Just not sympathetic enough to get an exemption.
Captain America - Red Skull. No explanation required.
Fantastic Four - Dr. Doom. No explanation required.
Spider-Man - Green Goblin. Between all the trouble he gives the ol' Webhead and Dark Reign? No question in my mind.
Thor - Hela. Always evil, always ambitious.
X-Men - Tough call. Going with a Sentinel as a symbolic representation of unreasoning prejudice.

Iron Man just doesn't have a villain that rises to the level of the others.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #1 Mar 1975
"Encounter at Land's End!"
Dr. Doom's body crashes to Earth, his unconscious body crashing in the ocean.
He is found by the Sub-Mariner, who takes the Latverian monarch into his submarine

and uses it's equipment to revive him.

At first Dr. Doom considers Namor an enemy, however the Atlantean monarch convinces Doom not to fight

and they begin to ponder over the possibility of having an alliance together.

Script by Roy Thomas. Pencils by John Buscema. Inks by Joe Sinnott.

[H-E-D]

[Nods]

I think we should look at era's

Silver - Dr. Doom
Bronze - Magneto
90's - Venom
MCU - Thanos