Marvel Comics‘ heroes have always been a little different from their distinguished competition. Instead of making their superheroes into exemplary humans with the power of minor (and sometimes major) gods, they made them from normal people thrust into insane situations with powers that are something beyond human. Giving them feet of clay allowed readers to empathize more with them and their struggles, and it also led somewhere pretty interesting as well. Marvel heroes make pretty convincing villains with very little work. Their lives are always filled with problems, often intensified by their struggles with evil, and it would make a lot of sense for some of them to fall to darkness.
Over the years, many heroes have reached places where if they became villains, it would actually be pretty awesome. They could work well on both sides of the moral divide, but at that point they would be cooler villains. These seven Marvel heroes should turn to evil, becoming the next great enemies of their allies.
Cyclops is the mutant Captain America, the standard bearer for the battle against the oppression of homo superior. Over the years, the character has went from a more straight-laced boy scout to a darker character, one more pragmatic and willing to do whatever is needed to save his people. That right there could be the genesis of him as the next Magneto. Marvel has teased him becoming more revolutionary in the past, and it would be awesome to see him go full Silver Age Magneto, attacking humanity for their crimes against his people and mowing down anyone who stands in his way.
The Vision is an iconic Avenger who has helped save the world numerous times, so it’s easy to forget that he was originally meant to be a weapon against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Over the years, he has become a villain at least once, but is usually reprogrammed or has the problem fixed somehow. However, the character doesn’t just have to be a goody two shows robot hero, as evidenced in the brilliant series The Vision, and it honestly wouldn’t be all that hard to make him into a convincing villain. There are several ways to make the idea work, and all of that could lead to him becoming one of the most dangerous villains in the Marvel Universe.
Black Bolt is one of the most frightening beings on Earth. His powers allow him to control electrons and his voice can level mountains. Add in his quiet, steely countenance and he’s someone who it is easy to be intimidated by. What would happen if he decided that the Inhumans had had enough and declared war on the rest of the planet? There’s something about the character that would work so well as a villain. He’s one of the most powerful beings in the world, and could run through so much of the superhero community with very little trouble. He’d make an amazing big bad, and it’s honestly sad that Marvel hasn’t tried it yet.
The Ghost Rider is the Spirit of Vengeance, and it would be a cake walk to make him into a villain. It’s been established that the Penance Stare works on just about everyone who has any guilt in their lives, so having him start to punish everyone would be a surefire way to make him into a bad guy. He’s one of the most powerful characters around (back in the day, a lot of fans latched onto Stan Lee saying he’s Marvel’s most powerful hero), and he could be a grave danger to the entire superhero community if he went rogue. It’s honestly such a good idea that hopefully someone at Marvel will take the chance and pull the trigger on it.
Damian Hellstrom was introduced in the ’70s, when horror comics were coming back into vogue. The son of Satan was something of an anti-hero, a hellfire-powered magic user who wanted to destroy his father for his own purposes. Over the years, he’s mostly been a Z-list occult character, showing up in the bottom barrel of books and then disappearing again. However, the road to stardom for him has always been pretty easy – just make him a villain. Maybe he decides that he wants to control Hell because it will make him more powerful than ever and that’s something he wants now. It doesn’t matter how you get him there, as long as he does. He has all the potential in the world and it’s being wasted.
The Hulk is the strongest one there is, and he’s been a quasi-villain for a long time if you take his whole history into account. The Jade Giant is a monster at the end of the day, one who cannot control his anger past a certain point, and has gone on destructive rampages that have made him a problem for the world. He’s battled every major hero and team in the Marvel Universe and there have been several major story lines centered on stopping him from destroying everything in his path. Currently, Infernal Hulk is giving readers an evil Hulk, but it’s because his body is being controlled by an elder god. That’s kind of a cheat. We’ve seen Banner go villainous in numerous futures, and it would be cool to see that sort of change in the main Marvel Universe, making the Green Goliath into the most evil one there is.
The Punisher is one of Marvel’s greats. He helped usher in the age of the anti-hero and has become massively popular. In a lot of ways, he’s already villain; however you slice it, Frank Castle is a mass murderer, he just chooses the “right” targets. It wouldn’t hard to take him all the way. You still have him kill criminals, obviously, but this time have the heroes are more active in trying to stop him. You could still have him as the main character of the book, but it’s all about him committing greater and greater acts of murder, with the heroes of New York City trying to get ahead of him and end his rampages. It would be a unique kind of Punisher story, using everything about the character in the perfect ways, to make him New York’s most dangerous criminal.
What Marvel heroes do you think would be great villains? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
