10 Greatest Marvel And DC Comics Supervillains Of All-Time

Marvel and DC Comics are responsible for the creation of some of the greatest villains in all of fiction, but which among them is the best? Here, you'll find the ten who are easily the most evil and iconic...

By JoshWilding - Apr 08, 2016 09:04 AM EST

Filed Under: Comics

Everyone loves a good villain, right? After all, without their bad guys, superheroes would be nothing, but some characters definitely have better rogues galleries than others. So, as we've already taken a look at the ten greatest superheroes ever created, it's now time to decide which supervillain stands out as the best of literally the thousands who have graced Marvel and DC's comics since the 1930s.

Here, you will find the ten villains - ranked in order - who I believe to be the greatest of all-time. Featuring an equal number of names from both companies (there's no bias here, don't worry), it wasn't easy picking just ten OR selecting the supervillain who placed at #1, but hopefully you'll understand where I'm coming from with each of these iconic creations. To get started, hit NEXT!

10. Reverse-Flash

Some of you may only be familiar with the Reverse-Flash from The Flash TV series, but his comic book counterpart is every bit as f***ed up as Harrison Wells! Eobard Thawne may not have posed as a mentor to Barry Allen in the source material, but he did manipulate the Scarlet Speedster into travelling back in time where his actions - saving his mother's life - broke the timeline and ultimately led to the New 52 reboot.

That's just one of his many crimes of course, and he's spent years finding new ways to to torture The Flash and prove that he's the real Fastest Man Alive (when he's not basically destroying entire realities). Other villains have held the mantle, but it's Thawne who is the real deal and a bad guy so evil that he'll happily travel through time to destroy his foe.

The God of Mischief's feelings towards his adoptive brother Thor has inevitably led to him clashing with Earth's Mightiest Heroes on multiple occasions, something which backfired on him when his schemes led to the formation of The Avengers. Of course, he's got revenge many times in the decades which have followed, often working behind the scenes in an attempt to bring down the heroes.

While he's had something of a change of heart recently after serving as a member of the Young Avengers, Loki will no doubt soon find himself once again drawing the ire of The Avengers as he plots to destroy Thor. After all, he's always working on some sort of dastardly plan, and while his motivations are forever changing, the jealousy Loki feels towards his brother is unlikely to just go away.

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8. Sinestro

Despite starting off as a hero of sorts in the Green Lantern Corps, everything changed for Sinestro when Hal Jordan joined their ranks and exposed the brutal way his mentor was keeping his home planet in check. That led to his dismissal from the Corps, and so began a rivalry which has spanned decades. Sinestro's hatred for Hal would ultimately lead to the formation of the Sinestro Corps, and the war which followed remains one of the most epic and far reaching DC Comics events to date.

In recent years, Sinestro has acted a little more heroically, but his feelings toward Green Lantern haven't altered all that much and likely never will in all honesty. However, that's part of what makes this villain so great, and he's more emotionally complex than many of the other bad guys listed here.

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7. Red Skull

The Red Skull isn't immortal, but he may as well be when you look back at how many years he's been torturing Captain America. Whether it's in the bodies of clones or with time travel, the Nazi always finds a way to come back and make Steve Rogers' life a hell, and the world has felt his wrath on equally as many occasions.

He's the man responsible for orchestrating the patriotic hero's death after the events of Civil War, and very nearly ended up stealing Captain America's body in the process. Recently, the Red Skull has found a new enemy in the form of the X-Men after he dug up Professor X's remains and grafted part of the hero's brain to his own, gaining psychic powers in the process and later becoming a new version of Onslaught who nearly destroyed the Marvel Universe.

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6. Darkseid

The villain who Marvel basically ripped off to create Thanos, Darkseid could take The Mad Titan out in a heartbeat. This is after all an alien dictator who rules over his own planet (rather ominously known as Apokolips) and spends his free time travelling between alternative Earths and brutally murdering the different versions of Superman he comes across until he can get his hands on the real deal.

As if that wasn't impressive enough, Darkseid is also responsible for killing Batman, and even when a team of Godlike beings such as the Justice League come together to face him, they only ever really seem to succeed if luck is on their side. He's a true force to be reckoned with, and with his big screen debut just around the corner, expect to see Darkseid's profile increase dramatically.

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5. Magneto

Magneto may be a hero of sorts these days as he fights alongside the X-Men he once tried to destroy, but that still doesn't really make up for the fact that the Master of Magnetism spent decades as a bad guy leading a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Responsible for almost countless deaths, Magneto's many crimes include tearing the Adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton and putting Charles Xavier in that wheelchair, all while lashing out at the humans he so despises for the crimes they've committed against his people.

While he may have earned forgiveness for that, you just know that a return to his evil ways is inevitable for Magneto somewhere down the line, and Erik returning to his old ways actually feels long overdue, especially as he's at his best when fighting the X-Men.

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4. Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor's hatred (or should that be obsession?) for Superman is so great that he will do anything to bring down the Man of Steel, but other members of the Justice League also aren't immune from his schemes. That's evident from the way the villain has blackmailed his way into the ranks of the Justice League, using Batman's secret identity as a bargaining chip.

Luthor is such a master manipulator that he even managed to become the President of the United States for a short time, and as soon as he steps into that green and purple power suit of his, Lex becomes powerful enough to go toe to toe with Superman in battle, something which definitely makes him stand out from other human villains who lack the means of going toe to toe with those who have superpowers.

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3. Green Goblin

I'm sure some of you may disagree with the Green Goblin placing so highly here, but when you take into account everything Norman Osborn has done to Spider-Man over the years, you might just change your minds about that!

We're talking about the guy who murdered Peter Parker's teenage girlfriend, faked the death of Aunt May to try and drive him insane, and even made the hero doubt his very existence when he tricked Spidey into believing he was a clone (and when Peter formed a brotherly bond with Ben Reilly, the Goblin killed him too). In recent years, he's further cemented his position in the Marvel Universe as one of its big bads by taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. and forming the Dark Avengers, a team responsible for killing Ares and destroying Thor's home of Asgard, no easy feat.

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2. Doctor Doom

This Latverian dictator has been plaguing the Fantastic Four since before they even became a team, and Doctor Doom has since committed some truly horrific acts in his quest to bring down Reed Richards.

A never ending quest for power - mystically and otherwise - has seen him become an enemy of the entire Marvel Universe (just look at last year's Secret Wars event for proof of that), but it's when he takes aim at the Fantastic Four that Victor is at his most hateful. That's because things between them are so personal, and whether he's putting Reed and Sue's children in danger or orchestrating the death of members of the team, the things Doom has done to them makes him stand out as one of the most despicable villains in not just comics, but fiction in general.

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1. The Joker

He may not have taken over the world and is lacking the kind of superpowers which would allow him to go toe to toe with the likes of Superman in a one on one battle (though he managed to break even him in the controversial events of video game Injustice: Gods Among Us), but when it comes to sheer villainy, who better personifies that than The Joker?

Whether it's Death in the Family, The Killing Joke, or even newer stores in The New 52, the Clown Prince of Crime has committed a long list of twisted and despicable acts, singling himself out as Batman's greatest enemy and a bad guy who is more evil than every other character listed here combined. The Joker may be totally insane, but when it comes to making the Dark Knight's life a living hell, he knows exactly what he's doing.

Do you agree with this ranking of Marvel and DC's best comic book supervillains? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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139 Comments

1 2 3 4

SuperCat - 4/8/2016, 9:09 AM

"Next" button Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TheGoat - 4/8/2016, 9:11 AM

@SuperCat - DONT DO IT!!!! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!

TheSnyder - 4/8/2016, 9:12 AM

In before all the crying, lmao

ThedamnBatman - 4/8/2016, 9:12 AM

lost me at the button

Clark4President - 4/8/2016, 9:13 AM

I'm not clicking the f*cking next button, but hope that the Joker is #1.

TheEpicJuicebox - 4/8/2016, 9:13 AM

Surprised Joss Whedon and Zaxk Snyder didn't make the list

MiopTop - 4/8/2016, 9:14 AM

DJRock93 - 4/8/2016, 10:16 AM

@MiopTop - This made my day

WellDrawn - 4/8/2016, 9:15 AM

No Marvel Villain will ever be as iconic or influential as DOOM.
Represent.

leethario - 4/8/2016, 9:21 AM

@WellDrawn - i liked that volume of Ultimates, but then it went to sh*t.

ENigmaShow - 4/9/2016, 9:42 AM

@WellDrawn - Frickin A. That is amazing. SIGH. Words cannot describe how saddened I am that my favorite Marvel team has yet to have a good movie and Doom has yet to be realized on the big screen....

1 2 3 4

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10 Greatest Marvel And DC Comics Supervillains Of All-Time

Marvel and DC Comics are responsible for the creation of some of the greatest villains in all of fiction, but which among them is the best? Here, you'll find the ten who are easily the most evil and iconic...

10. Reverse-Flash

9. Loki

8. Sinestro

7. Red Skull

6. Darkseid

5. Magneto

4. Lex Luthor

3. Green Goblin

2. Doctor Doom

1. The Joker

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