My Problem with Marvel's Villains

The Marvel Cinematic Universe does not have particularly interesting villains. Now, before you go nuts, yes, there is Loki - he is all kinds of interesting. What about the rest though?

Remember these guys? Me neither.

Abomination, Iron Monger, Whiplash, Red Skull, Mandarin, Malekith, Ronan the Accuser - how many of these guys really struck a chord with the audiences of their respective movies? In a good, non-they-totally-ruined-the-Mandarin, memorable kind of way. I don't think any of them made that much of an impression, which seems puzzling. Okay, Iron Monger and Whiplash are just guys in variations of Iron Man's armor and Blonsky just turns into an uglier, brown version of the Hulk, but the other guys, particularly Red Skull, Malekith and Ronan have great designs. Their look is very creative, very distinct and just all around really cool. Even if not all of the villains look that great, they are all played by critically acclaimed actors (most of them British - quite a bold move by Marvel Studios to cast British actors as villains, I wonder if it will catch on). We're talking heavyweights like Jeff Bridges and Ben Kingsley, established names like Christopher Eccleston, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, up and coming new actors like Lee Pace etc. All of the villains also pose a legitimate threat to their respective heroes. Whether they plan to destroy a city, a nation, the world, the galaxy or the whole universe, all of these guys have power and can stand their own against the likes of Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy alike. So we have a bunch of menacing, dangerous villains, half of which look really cool, unique and badass, all of which are played by great actors and all of them almost completely forgettable. Not boring, but not really that interesting either. What's the problem here?
Well, they're all too one-dimensional. Think about it. Blonsky wants the power of the Hulk, Iron Monger is after the money, Whiplash wants revenge, Red Skull is a Nazi, Mandarin wants revenge and power, Malekith wants revenge and power and Ronan wants revenge and power. Not that there's anything wrong with simplistic, straightforward goals, but for most of these guys, those goals are their entire character. The rest is just hints. Blonsky has a hint of pining after the energy of his lost youth and getting off on the power of the Hulk like an addict. Whiplash and Mandarin have a hint of a deeply held personal hatred for Tony Stark that drives them to extremes. Ronan has a hint of deeply held personal hatred for Zandarians, who have caused the death of many in his own family. Red Skull has a hint of being a Nazi... no wait, he is a Nazi. Anyway, the point is, these hints are usually established early on in the movie for about a minute or two and might be casually referenced here and there during the rest of it, but for the most part, the villains are there to be the threat, the boogeyman that the hero fights during the climax. Heck, if the actors playing them weren't so good, we might not even have picked up on those hints. In The Incredible Hulk, Tim Roth has a scene that barely lasts a few seconds of him just looking at his reflection in a bathroom mirror. In those few seconds, he manages to convey a look of pure, ravenous hunger, a harrowing, all-consuming lust for power, trapped inside of a gaunt shell of a man. Why couldn't we see more of this? Why was it only a few seconds?
Again, the problem is not with the goals themselves. If you look at Loki, his goals can also be boiled down to wanting revenge and power, but with him, you really get to know why he's after those things. We know his full backstory, not just hints. We know his pains, his struggles. We are intimately familiar with the demons that haunt him and that makes him easy to relate to and all the more memorable. His frustration and desire to be someone of worth, someone powerful and respected is something we understand, because we see where it's coming from. In a a lot of ways, Loki is just as pathetic as he is menacing, just as worthy of pity as he is of scorn and that's what makes him interesting.

You just want to give him a hug and then punch him.

In the words of a wise green ogre, he has layers! All good characters need layers, villains included. Not just hints of layers. Blonsky's thirst for power could have been just as compelling and tragic as Loki's. Ronan's desire for vengeance could have been explored much deeper, delving into his personal tragedy, allowing Lee Pace to emote something besides righteous, over-dramatic anger.
The strength of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been its heroes, and not its villains. Just because Ronan is a bit lackluster, at least in terms of character, doesn't make Guardians of the Galaxy any less enjoyable, because the Guardians themselves are great characters. Just because the Iron Man villains are mostly dull doesn't mean the Iron Man movies are bad, because Robert Downey Jr. The thing is, the villains don't have to be dull, lackluster or simply one note. They can be so much more than just evil people doing evil things for the sake of being evil or angry. There really is no excuse for that when Marvel has such great actors and creative designs at their fingertips. If they can pull it off with Loki, why not the others? Let's hope Thanos and Ultron mix things up a bit in future Marvel installments.


P.S. I'm not counting The Winter Soldier, because he was basically brainwashed and was more of a glorified henchman, at least so far. It would be like counting Hawkeye from the first half of The Avengers as a villain.