Avengers: Endgame will find the remaining heroes once again taking Thanos, their most formidable foe. The Mad Titan has already wiped out half the universe, so there’s no telling what kind of destruction he’ll cause this time.
Thanos’ return for a rematch is somewhat unusual for the MCU. While their output of villains has vastly improved since their early days, they still seem hesitant to keep any of the baddies around for too long. Most of the villains have been one-off threats, getting killed in their first appearance or simply never being seen again. However, there are a few characters so bad they managed to pop up more than once. Here are the villains with the most appearances in the MCU.
Armin Zola – 2
Armin Zola was first introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger as the cowardly assistant to Johann Schmidt (aka The Red Skull). He was instrumental in creating Hydra, harnessing the power of the Tesseract and seemed to have some other secret experiments going on the side. He was eventually apprehended by Captain America and turned on his former boss.
Zola reappeared, to some extent, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Having died years earlier, Zola’s consciousness was uploaded to a super computer in a clever nod to his comic book look. After explaining that Hydra has secretly infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. for years, he appears to have been permanently deleted when the facility was destroyed.
Crossbones – 2
Here is another Captain America foe that was directly tied to Hydra’s secret society. Brock Rumlow first appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the head of STRIKE, a special ops team. He worked side-by-side with Cap before it was revealed he was one of many secret Hydra agents.
Rumlow reappears in Captain America: Civil War with a major vendetta. Having suffered serious injuries in his first fight with Cap, he adopted an enhanced combat suit and a disguise that closer resembled his “Crossbones” costume from the comics. Though he is killed trying to take-out Cap, there are rumors he’ll soon make a reappearance.
Klaue – 2
Ulysses Klaue proved to be a pretty skilled mercenary in his two short appearances in the MCU. He was maybe the only outsider to infiltrate Wakanda and get out alive, along with a whole lot of stolen vibranium. It was because of that supply of the highly valuable metal that Ultron sought him out in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which led to the temperamental robot severing Klaue’s arm.
Klaue reappeared in Black Panther where he was still being hunted by the Wakandans for his past crimes. Unfortunately, Klaue is taken out by the film’s main villain Kilmonger, putting an end to Andy Serkis’ fun performance.
Ronan – 2
Ronan the Accuser is generally not considered one of the MCU’s better villains, and yet he still managed a couple of appearances. He made his debut in Guardians of the Galaxy as a Kree zealot. He was seen as a bit of a lackey for Thanos until Ronan himself acquired the Power Stone. But that would be the only stone he got his hands on as he was destroyed by the Guardians.
Ronan recently made his second appearance in Captain Marvel, which took place years before his run-in with the Guardians. While a cool connection to the other films, Ronan’s role in Captain Marvel proved pretty pointless.
Korath – 2
Korath seems to be a bit of a package deal with Ronan and, despite being played by the always excellent Djimon Hounsou, he is equally as forgettable. Just as with Ronan, Korath was first seen in Guardians of the Galaxy before showing up in Captain Marvel.
In Guardians, he is simply one of Ronan’s henchmen who is memorable for being the only person to call Peter Quill Star-Lord. In Captain Marvel, he is one of the Kree members of Star Force. Sadly, even with two appearances, Housou’s talents were terribly wasted.
Red Skull – 2
Red Skull is one of Captain America’s most iconic villains and one of Marvel’s best bad guys. With such a strong history of causing trouble, a measly two appearances doesn’t seem to do the character justice.
He made his debut alongside his long-time foe in Captain America: The First Avenger as the founder of Hydra. He was last seen in that film getting vaporized up into space by the Tesseract. For years, fans questioned if he was alive or not, until he made a surprise reappearance in Infinity War. Recast from Hugo Weaving to Ross Marquand, Red Skull was now cursed as keeper of the Soul Stone.
The Collector – 3
The Collector doesn’t pose much of a threat in his three appearances in the MCU, but he’s clearly up to no good which qualifies him as a villain. He is actually one of the few villains to first appeared via a post-credit scene in Thor: The Dark World where we saw him being given the Reality Stone for safe keeping.
His Infinity Stone quest continued in Guardians of the Galaxy, when he almost got the Power Stone. Unfortunately for him, Thanos wanted to stones more and, in Avengers: Infinity War, the Mad Titan pays him an unfriendly visit. While never confirmed, it’s safe to say The Collector is no more.
General Ross – 3
General “Thunderbolt” Ross might not be the world-ending kind of villain but given his frequent attempts to throw our heroes in prison, it’s clear he’s one of the bad guys. General Ross first appeared in The Incredible Hulk, the MCU’s forgotten child. But in a nice bit of recognition for that film, he reappeared years later in Captain America: Civil War. In the meantime, he had received a promotion to Secretary of State, despite unleashing The Abomination in New York City.
His pestering of the Avengers continued into Avengers: Infinity War. In that short appearance, he proved to be as stubborn as ever, deciding it was better to lock up the heroes than allow them the satisfaction of saving the world.
Thanos – 4
The MCU’s current big bad has slowly been teasing his big move in the MCU for years, peppering in several small appearances before throwing down the gauntlet in Avengers: Infinity War.
He made his first exciting and word-less appearance in the post-credit scene for the first Avengers, played by Damion Poitier. Josh Brolin played the Mad Titan for the first time in a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy, then further teased us in the post-credit scene for Avengers: Age of Ultron. With his game-changing appearance in Infinity War, he just might pop up again in the MCU before too long.
Loki – 5
For a long time, Loki was looked at as the only worthwhile villain the MCU had produced. Maybe it’s not surprising then that they kept him around for so long.
Audiences first fell in love with Loki (and Tom Hiddleston) in the first Thor film. He was such a hit, he was brought back to take on all the heroes in the first Avengers. Since then, he has appeared in both Thor sequels and Avengers: Infinity War, where he seemingly met his end. Of course, Loki being Loki, you never can be too sure.
