The MCU Phase 1 started relatively grounded with villains like Iron Monger, Red Skull, and the younger Loki, but as Marvel’s heroes grew more numerous and more experienced, bigger threats emerged to challenge them. There’s little doubt that future villains like more Kang variants and whoever fights the X-Men will up the ante even further, but for now, these villains are unprecedented in their violent accomplishments.

11Dar-Benn Rips A Hold In Space-Time

The Marvels (2023)

The Marvels’ villainous Dar-Benn desires to unify the Quantum Bands, and she does just that in the film’s third act. While the lone bangle that she acquires at the start of The Marvels lets her accomplish impressive feats like absorbing energy blasts from Captain Marvel, Dar-Benn seemingly unknowingly accomplishes her greatest and most destructive display of power when she finally wears both Quantum Bands. The Kree Accuser tears a hole in space-time, creating a destructive breach between the MCU and a hitherto undefined world with active X-Men. The only reason the feat isn’t more impressive is that it killed Dar-Benn in the process.

10Ultron Turns Part Of A City Into A Weapon

Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015)

Ultron’s reign of terror may not have lasted terribly long in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but he accomplished a wildly impressive feat in the film’s climax in an attempt to wipe out organic life on Earth and begin a new age of metal. Ultron attempts to create his own extinction event, using a massive array of machines to dig out a piece of Novi Grad, Sokovia, fly it up into the air, then smash it back into Earth like a meteor. The scale of his feat is truly massive, only dampened by his inability to properly safeguard his plan from the Avengers blowing the chunk of Earth up before it made impact.

9Ronan Defeats The Nova Corps Blockade With The Power Stone

Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

Though a few Infinity Stones had already been introduced in the MCU by the time Guardians of the Galaxy was released, it was still impressive to see Ronan wield one and showcase its devastating power. The Kree Accuser was supposed to gather the stone for Thanos, but he instead inserted it into his Universal Weapon and set out to personally destroy Xandar. Though the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is full of powerful villains, Ronan using the Power Stone to instantly destroy the entire Nova Corps fleet is the single biggest display of strength in the franchise.

8Scarlet Witch Kills The Illuminati

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022)

Scarlet Witch has had a complex MCU journey, going from antagonist, to Avenger, to multiverse villain. While the Darkhold-corrupted Wanda Maximoff shows incredible strength throughout Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, no single scene reveals her power like the ease with which she dispatches Earth-838’s Illuminati. That world’s Avengers replacement, which features Mister Fantastic, Professor X, Black Bolt, Captain Marvel, and Captain Carter, are killed in surprisingly brutal fashion for the MCU. The only think holding the scene back from being even more impressive is that the heroes’ hubris stopped them from being properly prepared for the fight.

7Hela Destroys Mjolnir

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Up until Thor: Ragnarok, Mjonir seemed indestructable. It had been the bar with which worthiness was measured and had no trouble smashing through Frost Giants and Chitauri alike. However, this is exactly what makes Hela’s grand entrance so impressive and intimidating. When Thor throws the hammer at Hela, she palms it and effortlessly shatters the weapon with seemingly minor effort. However, it’s unclear exactly how she can hold the hammer or what lets her destroy it.

6Doctor Strange Absorbs His Own Variant

What If…? (2021)

Doctor Strange is undoubtedly one of the most powerful Avengers, but one of his variants finds even greater strength. In Marvel’s What If…? one version of Stephen Strange loses Christine Palmer in the car accident that damages the main MCU Strange’s hands. Heartbroken, the future master of the mystic arts dedicates himself to getting stronger at all costs to undo the tragedy. Tapping into the dark side of magic, this Strange begins absorbing other entities to gain their strength. His final target is a variant of himself, dominating the more morally upright Strange and triggering the collapse of his reality as a whole.

5Thanos Destroys A Moon And Uses It As A Weapon

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

One of the coolest things about Avengers: Infinity War is the ingenuity employed in the film’s various fight scenes. However, as a subset of Avengers tries to take down Thanos on Titan, the latter showcases the incredible destructive potential of the Infinity Stones used in tandem. Thanos uses the Power Stone to destroy a moon, then the Time Stone portals the debris closer to hit Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It’s not Thanos’ most incredible display of power in the MCU, but it’s close and shows the creativity that accentuates the villain’s newfound power.

4Surter Destroys Asgard

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Surter is introduced in the beginning of Thor: Ragnarok as a being prophesied to destroy Asgard, but the threat is played off as a joke. However, as Thor later realizes he’s incapable of killing Hela – who gets her power from Asgard itself – the hero frees Surter to carry out his destiny. In an incredible display of power, Surter stabs his massive sword into the ground and Thor and the surviving Asgardians watch their home blow up from an escape pod. Killing a powerful Asgardian and Asgard itself in one quick motion is a feat most MCU villains can only dream of.

3Scarlet Witch Keeps An Entire Town & It’s People Under Her Spell

WandaVision (2021)

Unfortunately, Scarlet Witch’s power increases as she’s slowly overcome by the grief she’s encountered, culminating in the graphic death of Vision in Avengers: Endgame. In a tragic failure to find the help and support she needs, Wanda puts the entire town of Westview under a hex, visually changing the area to match her memories of American sitcoms and trapping the inhabitants in television-style “roles.” The fact that she can keep the hex going (and affecting what seems to be hundreds of people) without direct concentration as she lives her life is Wanda’s most impressive – and terrifying – display of power in the MCU so far.

2Thanos Snaps Away Half Of All Life In The Universe

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Several villains have temporarily succeeded in the MCU, but none have done so in as shocking of a fashion as Thanos. Finally utilizing the power of all six Infinity Stones in tandem, Thanos wipes out half of all life in the entire Earth-616 universe. What’s more terrifying about the event is that it proves Thanos could have been even more devastating if he wanted to, fully capable of killing any or all living things if he saw fit. The effect isn’t quite the most impressive in the entire MCU given its limit to one reality, but it’s certainly unprecendented in the reality in which it occurs.

1Infinity Ultron Battles The Watcher Through Multiverse Timelines

What If…?

This version of Ultron attains the body and Soul Stone that went to Vision on Earth-616, which leads him to collect all 6 Infinity Stones. This Infinity Ultron transcends his reality and becomes aware of The Watcher – a nearly om,nicient being who observes all realities. Ultron then travels though different multiverse planes in an all-out brawl with the cosmic being, proving to be too strong for The Watcher. During the fight, Ultron shows near-limitless power, even growing to unfathomable size and playing Galactus as he bites down on an entire Galaxy. So far, no other MCU villain has done anything quite so impressive.