The MCU has a massive rogues’ gallery that has accumulated across its 38 films and many TV shows, shorts, and more, with nearly every one introducing a new antagonist. Some of these villains were small potatoes (borrowing phrase from current Black Widow Yelena Belova) when they were first introduced, such as villains who debuted in projects like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and even secret cameos in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Others have been major overarching threats who have appeared in multiple projects, such as Loki in Thor, Thanos in The Avengers, or Wilson Fisk in Daredevil.
However, for some MCU villains, it was clear that their threat level was much larger than the average antagonist, only for them to disappear without a trace. The MCU is constantly changing plans, so it isn’t surprising that villains occasionally fall through the cracks. However, it is odd that these four have seemingly been forgotten, with their stories and fates remaining incomplete.
Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture, was the MCU’s first Spider-Man villain, kicking things off with an incredible start. Although Spider-Man previously appeared in Captain America: Civil War, this was the first threat he had to face on his own. Vulture’s technology and intelligence make him a large enough threat on his own, but what makes him particularly dangerous is that, by the end of Homecoming, he knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Homecoming‘s post-credits scene teases that this plot point will play a major role in a future MCU project, with Scorpion Mac Gargan meeting Toomes in prison and saying that he knows Toomes is aware of Spider-Man’s secret identity.
Unfortunately, this story was never paid off. Vulture hasn’t been seen again in a proper MCU project, although the mid-credits scene in Morbius reveals that Toomes has been transported to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe due to the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Now that the SSU is dead, this Vulture setup may have died with it. If Vulture made his way back to the proper MCU, Doctor Strange’s spell means that he doesn’t remember who Peter Parker is, making him a much smaller threat. The question of Vulture’s fate may never be answered, meaning that he is still missing in the MCU.
Benicio del Toro’s Collector was introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy, with the Guardians learning that he has the Reality Stone in his collection on Knowhere. While the Collector isn’t the main villain of the film, he is definitely an antagonistic force, with him enslaving aliens in his collection and acting as an obstacle to the Guardians. The Collector appeared again in Avengers: Infinity War, with Thanos stealing the Reality Stone from him and creating an illusion in order to fool the Guardians.
Since we only see Thanos’ illusion on Knowhere, we don’t know what actually happened to the Collector after his encounter with Thanos. Many fans theorize that Thanos killed the Collector, explaining his absence in future projects. However, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special reveals that the Collector sold Knowhere to the Guardians, meaning that he must have survived. Hopefully the Collector reappears at some point, as it’s a shame for a massive cosmic force like him to have an ambiguous fate.
While Surtur is mostly treated as a joke and plot device in Thor: Ragnarok, many MCU fans don’t realize how significant a threat he is. Thor uses the massive fire demon as a weapon against Hela, with him destroying Asgard at the end of the film. He is the reason why Asgard is gone, and why the survivors had to relocate to Earth, with this being one of the biggest changes in the MCU.
Unfortunately, we have no idea what happened to Surtur after his destruction of Asgard. The MCU has never shown the aftermath of Ragnarok, and the Asgardians seem to be happy with their new home on Earth. It is shocking that no Asgardians have attempted to rebuild their world, with this likely a symptom of the MCU’s mishandling of the Thor franchise in recent years. While he was used by Thor, Surtur is still a villain, so it’s shocking that he hasn’t been mentioned in years.
Kang the Conqueror was meant to be the Thanos of the Multiverse Saga, with Jonathan Majors’ take on the character making his debut in Loki before reappearing in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The multiversal threat was going to be the main villain of his own Avengers movie, that being Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, something that was set up by Loki and Sylvie liberating the multiverse at the end of season 1. Loki season 2 reveals that the TVA is now tracking Kang variants who are popping up across the multiverse, setting up an exciting battle in a future project.
Then, plans changed. The MCU and Jonathan Majors parted ways, and the franchise pivoted to Robert Downey Jr.’s Doom being the main villain of the Multiverse Saga. While we know the real-world reasons for Kang’s disappearance, the MCU still hasn’t explained why the Kang variants have disappeared. It is possible, but unlikely, that Avengers: Doomsday explains Kang’s fate, and after the end of the Multiverse Saga, the character and his variants may disappear forever.
