10 MCU Villains Whose Ultimate Form Was Too Powerful for the Movies

Since 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought some of Marvel Comics’ greatest villains to the big screen, testing the Avengers’ ability to safeguard Earth again and again. However, in this grounded take on Marvel lore, it’s often the case that heroes and villains have to lessen their power level significantly to fit in. That means that even in the case of some of Marvel’s most iconic villains, movie fans didn’t actually get to see them at their most awe-inspiring.

Here, then, are 10 MCU villains who possess wildly powerful ultimate forms which didn’t make it to the movies. Including some fusions of iconic villains and evil-doers wielding weapons that exist in the MCU, this selection of foes turned the power up to 11 and kept going, often taking on multiversal significance.

10 MCU’s Green Goblin Became… Ghost Goblin

Norman Osborn’s ‘Ultimate Comics’ Form Was Also a Huge Upgrade

Introduced in Sam Raimi’s 2002 movie Spider-Man, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin entered the MCU in Spider-Man: No Way Home with memorable results. However, despite a number of big-screen appearances, he never made it beyond being a physically enhanced fighter with a weaponized glider. Indeed, his ultimate comic form the Ghost Goblin wouldn’t even consider that Norman worth killing. Introduced in Jason Aaron and Iban Coello’s Free Comic Book Day 2021: Avengers/Hulk #1 as one of the Multiversal Masters of Evil, Ghost Goblin commands the immense powers of Ghost Rider.

The Multiversal Masters of Evil travel from reality to reality killing entire worlds and taking revenge on variants of their Avengers nemeses. In the case of the Ghost Goblin, another reality’s Norman Osborn became so powerful that he was able to bring Eldritch monstrosities under his control, seizing the Spirit of Vengeance. Since then, Ghost Goblin has gone from world to world killing rival Ghost Riders and taking their heads to use as incendiary grenades – an incredibly Metal origin, but one too extreme for an MCU that’s only just beginning to explore the multiverse.

The Green Goblin of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe also deserves a name-check here – while not powerful on a multiversal level, the character totally rewrote what it means to be Green Goblin. Possessing a Hulk-like physique and able to generate superhot plasma from his body, this Goblin’s greatest power was to be fully, truly immortal, healing from death multiple times.

9 MCU’s General Ross Became… The Red Hulk Ghost Rider

Red Hulk Claimed the Powers of Venom & Ghost Rider

General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross was introduced in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk and has appeared multiple times since, with rumors that the recast Harrison Ford will become the comic-book Red Hulk in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World. However, even Ross’ Hulk form pales in comparison to his upgrade in ‘Circle of Four’ – a mini-event taking place across volume 2 of Venom, courtesy of Rick Remender, Tony Moore, and more.

In this story, Laura Kinney’s X-23, Venom, Ghost Rider, and Red Hulk unite to face down Blackheart. To take on one of Marvel’s most powerful demons, the four share their powers, creating a towering new form of Red Hulk who wields both the Venom symbiote and the Spirit of Vengeance. Red Hulk’s new power level combines the strength of the Hulk with supernatural fire and alien shapeshifting, with Ross even possessing a ‘Penance Punch’ – a Hulk-level blow that forces the victim to relive all the suffering they’ve caused others. In a comic world where all the constituent heroes are well-known, it’s an awesome combo, but one that’s a little too involved for the movies.

8 MCU’s Erik Killmonger Became… King Killmonger

Black Panther’s Nemesis Wields Asgard’s Greatest Weapon

The Ghost Goblin’s ally on the Multiversal Masters of Evil, King Killmonger is a version of Black Panther’s nemesis who conquered Asgard and took ownership of the all-powerful Destroyer armor. Despite the villain wielding a Vibranium ax named ‘Stormslayer,’ King Killmonger’s armor gives him the strength and durability to kill a god with his bare hands, and he can also emit incredible amounts of energy from the armor – indeed, he does so via an array of glowing scars, making a new one whenever he kills a new reality’s Thor.

7 MCU’s Malekith Became… The Thor Butcher

Asgard’s Nemesis Claimed the Venom Symbiote and the MCU’s All-Black

One of the MCU’s most forgettable villains, Thor: The Dark World‘s version of Malekith – played by Christopher Eccleston – suffered due to totally diverging from his depiction in the comics. A smirking, gleefully sadistic villain, Malekith was likely a little too close to the MCU’s Loki, becoming a stony-faced warlord on film. However in the comics, Malekith got to unleash his full potential, especially in Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman’s War of the Realms. Having cut off Thor’s arm, Malekith gathers the evil armies of the Ten Realms under his banner, empowered by the Black Bifrost, which allows him to teleport his forces anywhere in creation.

However, Malekith’s biggest power-up is the being known as Svartalfvenom. Using eldritch magic, Malekith takes control of the Venom symbiote, using its connection to the King in Black to manifest All-Black the Necrosword – the weapon previously wielded by Gorr the God-Butcher, as well as creating a direct link to empower his elite Dark Elf warriors. Malekith’s god-killing power-up as “the Thor Butcher” is so intense, it takes four versions of Thor to beat him – a young Odinson, the future King Thor, Jane Foster, and the modern Thor, who reforges Mjolnir to finally strike the winning blow. Sadly, Malekith’s poor first impression in the MCU means he’ll never reach these heights in the movies.

6 MCU’s MODOK Became… MYTHOS

Ant-Man’s MCU Enemy Harnessed the Power of the Bifrost

Portrayed by Corey Stoll, the MCU’s CGI-heavy MODOK is the final form of Darren Cross, though the two are different characters in the comics. There, MODOK is the head of Advanced Idea Mechanics, and one of Marvel’s deadliest villains. Despite his comical appearance, MODOK is a genuine genius with no moral code, and has invented some truly terrifying devices, as well as creating powerful servants like the Red Hulk. However, it’s in Thor Annual #1 that he takes his ultimate form.

In Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Ibraim Roberson’s ‘Mythos,’ MODOK harnesses the power of the shattered bifrost, aka the Asgardian Rainbow Bridge. He uses its power to rewrite reality, turning himself into a titanic being named Mythos who battles Thor across New York, hurting the God of Thunder like few before him. Thor ultimately manages to reclaim this power source and restore reality to its previous state, but for one shining moment, Mythos ruled the Ten Realms as a self-made god.

5 MCU’s Red Skull Became… Red Onslaught

Red Skull Used Xavier’s Brain and Magneto’s Wrath to Ascend

The Red Skull got a surprisingly great arc in the MCU despite Hugo Weaving not returning to depict the Nazi villain’s final, immortal fate as the exiled guardian of Vormir. However, in comics nothing ever ends, and after several complex rebirths, Johann Schmidt became the Red Onslaught. In X-Men comics, the original Onslaught is a being of limitless psionic power created when the worst elements of Professor X and Magneto’s personalities combined. Following Xavier’s death, Red Skull stole his brain, using it to give himself telepathic powers. When he tricked Magneto into executing him out of rage, the circuit was complete, and Red Skull became a new version of Onslaught.

With immense psionic powers and gigantic tentacles made of pure darkness, the Red Onslaught was the star of the AXIS event, from Rick Remender, Adam Kubert and more. It was also revealed that Red Skull had used his telepathy to force Tony Stark to build two gigantic adamantium Sentinels programmed with all the Avengers and X-Men’s weaknesses, meaning that a gigantic team-up of heroes couldn’t even scratch him. Thankfully, Magneto was able to assemble an army of villains to do the job, however during his time as the Red Onslaught, the Red Skull was unbeatable, causing mass violence across the planet as he radiated hatred on a cosmic level.

4 MCU’s Ultron Became… All-Father Ultron

In Asgard’s Darkest Future, the Mad Android Replaces Odin

When Ant-Man tried to lock away Ultron forever, he ultimately ended up sending the villain forward 400 years in time. When the Avengers later visit this time period in Al Ewing and Alan Davis’ Avengers: Ultron Forever #1, they discover the lethal android used time travel to master magic, conquering humanity and eventually stealing Odin’s All-Father powers for himself. Having become a literal god, Ultron created his own team of Avengers based on his old enemies, and ruled this reality as lord and master until opposed by the modern-day Avengers and Doctor Doom. Odin has near-complete control over reality, making All-Father Ultron unfathomably powerful, and the villain wasn’t actually destroyed – just pushed outside reality by Thor, who allied with his future self to wield two versions of Mjolnir against the villain.

All-Father Ultron continues to influence the Marvel Universe despite existing outside of reality, and recent events in Avengers Inc. saw him create a new ‘son’ named Victor Shade, who ultimately rejected him to join the Avengers. The MCU’s usual ‘one and done’ approach to its mainline movie villains means Ultron is highly unlikely to ever unseat Odin, who was already killed off on the big screen.

Kang Stole the Cosmic Power of Galactus to Rule the Multiverse

Played by Jonathan Majors in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Kang is a master of divergent realities in the movies, but the undisputed conqueror of time in the comics. Appearing as the main villain of Exiles vol. 3 (from Saladin Ahmed and Javier Rodriguez), Kang the Time-Eater is an alternate reality version of Kang who – having beaten every worthy opponent in his reality – killed Galactus and stole the Power Cosmic. Kang the Time-Eater then continued to slay other versions of Galactus, gathering enough power to consume entire realities.

Kang the Conqueror usually has no inherent powers, but as the Time-Eater, he can consume the very building blocks of reality, aiming to literally become the multiverse itself. Thankfully, posing such a major threat made Kang the Time-Eater the target of an infinite army of heroes, though even then, he almost triumphed.

2 MCU’s Adam Warlock Became… the Living Tribunal

Guardians of the Galaxy’s Inept Superman Evolved into Marvel’s Second Strongest God

The Living Tribunal is Marvel’s second most powerful being, overseeing all matters of cosmic law and governing the actions of beings like Galactus and Eternity. Serving the One-Above-All, the Living Tribunal is one of Marvel’s Universal Abstracts – beings above even the gods, who embody the essential aspects of reality. However, when Marvel’s original Living Tribunal was killed by the Beyonders, a replacement was needed.

Played by Will Poulter in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Adam Warlock is very different in the comics. In the movies, he’s an inept superhuman still coming to terms with his power, but in the comics, he’s one of Marvel’s most expert heroes, fighting to safeguard reality on the very highest level. In Thanos-creator Jim Starlin’s Thanos: The Infinity Revelation, a conflict between Thanos and Adam Warlock ends up destroying their reality. Adam petitions Marvel’s supreme being the One-Above-All to undo the disaster, and the deity agrees to recreate Earth-616 (along with its own Adam Warlock) if the Warlock making the deal will become the new Living Tribunal. Being the hero he is, Warlock agrees, abandoning his selfhood to become a multiversal god. It’s a jaw-dropping saga, but the MCU has yet to show any interest in depicting power on the scale of the Living Tribunal.

1 MCU’s Thanos Became… Eternity

Thanos Absorbed Marvel’s Gods to Become Truly All-Powerful

In Jim Starlin and Alan Davis’ Thanos: The Infinity Conflict, the Mad Titan comes into possession of a cosmic artifact known as the Astral Regulator – a device which the One-Above-All uses to keep the multiverse in order. Taking control of the device, Thanos used it to absorb every one of Marvel’s Universal Abstracts, first taking the powers (and role) of Death, then absorbing Galactus, Master Order, Lord Chaos, and more, as well as wearing the Infinity Stones as decoration. Finally, Thanos rose to the level of Eternity – literally becoming everything in the universe.

Having conquered all of existence and still not found meaning, Thanos resolved to obliterate himself (and all of reality with him.) Thankfully, an alliance of Starfox, Kang, and an alternate version of Thanos himself managed to rewrite the timestream, stopping this omnipotent version of the Mad Titan from ever technically coming to be.

While it’s unlikely fans will ever encounter these jaw-dropping villains in the MCU, they tested the Avengers and other Marvel heroes to their limits, showing just how ambitious Marvel’s comic stories can get, and why fans of the films should check out the original stories for the ultimate forms of their favorite evil-doers.