Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the rest of Marvel's Phase 4Early on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there were clear and repetitive issues regarding the antagonists. Nearly all of them, with the occasional Loki-shaped exception, many of the early villains in the MCU were dull, boring, and forgettable. This wound out working in Marvel's favor as it provided ample opportunity to put the spotlight on the heroes, but the lack of a compelling antagonistic force can put a damper on repeat viewings.
Thankfully, Phase 3 finally started to shake up things for the baddies of the MCU. We easily got some of the most engaging antagonists that we've seen yet in the massive franchise, such as Zemo (Daniel Brühl), Ego (Kurt Russell), Vulture (Michael Keaton), Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), and of course, Thanos (Josh Brolin). What makes all of those characters such a massive improvement is that they have compelling motivations that don't necessarily make their plight justified, but we do at least understand why they are the way that they are.
Phase 4 has continued this trend, doubling down on introducing antagonists with grounded and sympathetic reasoning for their evil deeds. To show how these characters have evolved, we've compiled a list of the top twelve most sympathetic villains in Marvel's Phase 4. Keep in mind, the following villains listed are ranked purely by how sympathetic/justified they are for breaking bad and not by who is the "best" antagonist. (That list can be found below.) In other words, these are the villains we kind of feel bad for (emphasis on kind of).
12. Xu Wenwu in 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'
The MCU has a lot of bad dads, but it's hard to get much worse than Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung). The father of Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Xialiang (Meng'er Zhang) did try to be a great father to his children and husband to his wife, Li (Fala Chen). His genuine love for his family and desire to bring his beloved wife back from the dead and reconnect with his family is ultimately heartbreaking with the knowledge that she is truly gone and his children may be estranged from him forever...but we also can't feel too bad for him since he's also a centuries-old conquering warlord and the leader of an international crime syndicate. Once you factor in that he subjected his son to abusive training, held an actor captive just for impersonating him, and is likely directly responsible for the deaths of thousands, any sympathy for him kind of goes out the window.
11. Ikaris in 'Eternals'
Though he and his fellow Eternals are technically robots, Ikaris (Richard Madden) is the only one who isn't able to escape his programming. He's a clear homage to the archetype of Superman, but while he tries to keep that noble facade afloat, he hides the dark secret that he murdered their leader, Ajak (Salma Hayek), and set the Deviants loose on the world. He does all of this to preserve the celestial Arishem's (David Kaye) plan of creating a new celestial through Earth, which would destroy the planet and everyone on it. Even though he betrays his friends knowing full well what his true purpose is, Ikaris still feels tremendous pain in performing these acts, thinking it necessary for the greater good of the universe. Ultimately, Ikaris does redeem himself somewhat by fulfilling his namesake and flying too close to the sun.
10. Agatha Harkness in 'Wandavision'
It may have been Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) all along, but we would argue that Agatha also did nothing wrong. Yes, she is being corrupted by the dreaded Darkhold and wants to use the power of the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) for her own means, but as she says in the Wandavision finale, all Agatha really did was break the spell that Wanda cast on the town of Westview and it's residents. Though Wanda may have created her sitcom altered reality out of grief, what she did was still unequivocally wrong. Agatha still has a dark past of her own when she was banished from her coven, but she didn't enslave a whole town. Sure, she killed Sparky, but it's not like the dog existed anyway.
9. Doctor Octopus in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'
When the MCU's Peter Parker (Tom Holland) meets Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), he doesn't have the prior context of his origins in the Raimi-verse. Otto was once a brilliant scientist that was putting together a way to put the power of the sun in the palm of his hand, but when his mechanical tentacles malfunction, the AI within them takes over his mind and massively affects his mood. That's why he's such a homicidal curmudgeon when he comes to the MCU since there are four arms screaming in his head, but when Peter fixes his chip, Otto finally is able to find peace and is no longer trapped in his own mind.
8. Najma in 'Ms. Marvel'
Najma (Nimra Bucha) first introduces herself to Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) as the only person who knows what she's going through once she gets her incredible powers. As the leader of the Clandestines, Najma tells Kamala that all that she and the other Djinn want to do is go back home to their dimension, as she believes that's the only place where she and her son Kamran (Rish Shah) truly belong. Unfortunately, Najma has been at this for centuries and is frankly tired, and is completely fine with murdering Kamala's ancestor, abandoning Kamran, and destroying the Earth dimension if it means going home. When her life is nearly at an end, Najma realizes that she forgot what was important in the life she found on Earth.
7. Taskmaster in 'Black Widow'
Much like Doctor Octopus, Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) is trapped inside her own body, but it's made even more tragic by how Antonia Dreykov was only a child when she became an assassin. She was also entirely innocent when Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson) led the assassination attempt on Antonia's father. Dreykov survived and turned his daughter into a brainwashed mercenary capable of replicating some of Earth's mightiest heroes. Natasha and her friends were able to break the spell, but Antonia is likely still haunted by the crimes her father forced her to commit, and having to put those skills to use again in the upcoming Thunderbolts (2024) probably won't help.
6. Green Goblin in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'
Norman Osborne (Willem Dafoe) was something of a scientist himself like Otto Octavius, and he also is tormented by a homicidal voice in his head. Peter gets only a glimpse of the destruction that Norman's Goblin persona is capable of, but when he meets Norman at the homeless shelter, all he sees is a lost and frightened man. Norman jumps at the chance to remove the Goblin from his mind once and for all, but he still gets put on sabbatical by his darker half who then goes on a complete rampage, murdering Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) in the process. Peter and the other Spideys are able to cure Norman, who once again wakes up scared and confused after realizing what he's done.
5. Namor in 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'
Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía) is a mirror of his Black Panther (2018) predecessor, Killmonger, in many ways. He doesn't quite reach the incredible heights that the usurper king did, but like him, he also had a parental figure motivating his hatred for humans. His Mayan ancestors were saved from Spanish persecution by ingesting a miraculous plant that allowed them to live underwater, but when Namor returns to the surface to bury his mother, he sees that not much has changed when it comes to human cruelty. It's easy to see Namor, not as an evil ruler, but rather as a misguided defender of his people.
4. Karli Morgenthau in 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'
Reversing the blip may have been initially perceived as a positive development, but it also completely destabilized many parts of the globe. That's what Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman) and the Flag Smashers are motivated by, feeling that the world's governments have fundamentally failed to serve the will of the people. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) consistently makes attempts to reason with Morgenthau and convince her there's a better way to fulfill her goals without wanton violence and unintended casualties, but she was just far too radicalized by that point and never got the chance to redeem herself before being killed. Still, Wilson does use Morgenthau as an example to show why change needs to happen to benefit all people.
3. Sandman in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'
Frankly, Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) didn't deserve any of what he went through in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Imagine you're Flint Marko after Spider-Man 3 (2007). You made peace with the man whose Uncle you indirectly killed and you're doing your best to provide for your daughter, then all of a sudden, you wake up in another universe and see a different Spider-Man seemingly disintegrate someone. Then when you're about to get sent home, that Spidey fights a wizard and tries to cure you against your will. The other villains were a danger to themselves and others, but literally, all Flint wanted to do was go home and just got beat up and had his powers taken away. That sucks, man.
2. Gorr the God Butcher in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'
Gorr (Christian Bale) devoted his life to his gods, praying to them every day when his civilization was destroyed and his daughter was taken from him. He first thought it was a miracle when he met his god, only to see the cruelty and ambivalence he had for his disciple. This kickstarted Gorr's penchant for god butchering. At first, it seems pretty drastic since we know not every god deserves the death sentence, but when Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and friends head to Omnipotence City, we see that the most powerful gods are also incredibly cruel and even encourage sacrifices. Gorr may look scary, but in terms of bringing peace through the deaths of these evil gods, it may be fair to say he could have saved entire civilizations (and admittedly, the destruction of others).
1. Scarlet Witch in 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'
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Some criticize Wanda Maximoff's turn to the dark side in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as out of character but considering she forced an entire town to be actors in a sitcom and is being corrupted by the Darkhold, those already give ample reason to turn bad. Though the real motivation behind Wanda's madness is what threads most of Marvel's Phase 4 - grief. Phase 4 has been a reaction to Thanos' attack and those who were lost in the aftermath. For Wanda, that was Vision (Paul Bettany), and when she manufactured a family in Westview, she tried to move past the fantasy but then became obsessed with making it a reality. After being an unloved hero for so long, something in Wanda finally snapped and she decided it was time for her to make her own dreams come true, no matter the cost.