Several Marvel villains are appearing in Phase 4 of the MCU, some of which being characters receiving their live-action debut, whereas others are familiar faces viewers will recognize from previous movies. This list is certain to grow longer as time goes on, since there’s no word yet on who will be the villain of Thor: Love and Thunder and Spider-Man: Homecoming 3.

Phase 3 introduced several major Marvel Comics villains into the MCU. Among the most important villains added in Phase 3 were Hela from Thor: Ragnarok, Dormammu from Doctor Strange, Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming, Zemo from Captain America: Civil War, and Mysterio from Spider-Man: Far From Home. Other notable inclusions were Killmonger, Man-Ape, a gender-swapped Ghost, the Black Order, Shocker, and Executioner.

Some of these villains will be back for Phase 4, but they won’t be alone. They’ll be joined by more iconic villains from the comics. The number of comic book villains in Phase 4 is expected to be great indeed, even though Phase 4 is only said to extend over a period of two years, beginning with Black Widow and ending with Thor: Love and Thunder. This time, Marvel’s plan for the MCU is made up of movies and TV shows, as eight shows set in the MCU are coming to Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+. So looking at both the movies and the shows, here’s every Marvel villain appearing in Phase 4 of the MCU.

Taskmaster

The first Phase 4 villain is Taskmaster, a key villain from the comics. The MCU’s Taskmaster will be going up against Scarlet Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff in Black Widow, but in the comics, he doesn’t actually belong in any one character’s rogues’ gallery. Taskmaster is known for his ability to copy the skills of anything he sees, like Hawkeye’s archery and Captain America’s shield-throwing. As for who’s hiding behind the mask, the identity of the MCU character is still a carefully guarded secret (but it’s definitely not Rachel Weisz).

Morbius

Through the Morbius trailer, Sony confirmed that its Marvel movies are part of the MCU. Its second Spider-Man spinoff will center on Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius, better known to comic book fans as Morbius the Living Vampire. Morbius, who was created by science rather than by supernatural means, is driven by a thirst for blood. This need has resulted in numerous clashes with his nemesis and occasional ally, Spider-Man. But for his live-action debut, he’ll be the protagonist instead of the antagonist.

Vulture

It was a cameo from Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Vulture (Michael Keaton) that erased any lingering doubts about Morbius being in the MCU. What he’s doing in Morbius isn’t explicitly clear, but it could be that Vulture’s intention is to recruit Morbius for the Sinister Six. How much of a presence he’ll have in the movie is yet to be determined. His role may be limited to a last-minute cameo intended to set up a Sinister Six team-up in the future.

Baron Zemo

Baron Zemo is easily one of Captain America’s biggest villains in the comics, but his legendary animosity for Steve Rogers wasn’t represented in Captain America: Civil War. In the movie, his purpose was to instigate conflict between Captain America and Iron Man. Civil War never let Zemo become his comic book counterpart, but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will transform him into the character fans know from the comics, complete with his purple mask and title of “Baron”.

Carnage

A release date for Venom 2 hasn’t been confirmed, but the assumption is that it will fall into Sony’s October 2020 release slot. After a brief appearance in Venom’s post-credits scene, Woody Harrelson’s serial killer Cletus Kassidy will gain his iconic red symbiote to become Carnage and serve as the main villain of Venom 2.

Shriek

Carnage’s partner in crime in the comics is Shriek, a mutant criminal whose powers allow her to create sound waves and manipulate emotions. After falling in love with Shriek, the two villains joined forces. Shriek will be played by Naomie Harris in Venom 2.

Druig

The synopsis for Marvel’s Eternals confirms that the heroes will take on the Deviants in the movie, but one of the Eternals could actually end up serving as either the main or secondary antagonist. Druig - who will be played by Barry Keoghan in the MCU - has orchestrated schemes to defeat his own people and become the leader of the Eternals. Even when he’s on their side, Druig is typically depicted as an outsider with his own goals and ambitions that tend to conflict with the ideals of his people.

Loki

Unless Thanos makes a surprise appearance in a Phase 4 movie, Loki will be the only villain to be included in all four phases of the MCU. Though Loki met his end in Avengers: Infinity War, an alternate timeline version of Loki escaped with the Space Stone in Avengers: Endgame. This version of the character will be headlining his show, Loki, on Disney+.

Mandarin

Marvel infamously faked out fans in Iron Man 3 with Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery, an actor who essentially turned Iron Man’s biggest villain into a joke. Later, a short film clarified that there is a real Mandarin hiding somewhere in the MCU. He’ll finally take center stage in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Played by Hong Kong super star Tony Leung Chiu-wai in his first Hollywood movie, the MCU’s Mandarin is believed to be the father of Shang-Chi. In the comics, Shang-Chi was trained to be the Master of Kung Fu by Fu Manchu, but it would seem that Mandarin is taking Fu Manchu’s place in Shang-Chi’s story.

Nightmare (Rumored)

Though it hasn’t been confirmed, Nightmare is heavily rumored to be the villain in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a movie which will pair Benedict Cumberbatch’s titular Sorcerer Supreme with Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. In the comics, Nightmare is a powerful enemy of Doctor Strange who exists in the Dream Dimension, which allows him to appear in people’s dreams, hence the name “Nightmare”. Nightmare’s very nature would make him the perfect fit for a horror-themed Marvel movie, and Derrickson’s ties to the horror genre made it clear why the director had an interest in Nightmare for Doctor Strange 2. Even though Derrickson is out as the Doctor Strange 2 director, this is unlikely to change the villain of the story, since filming is set to begin as early as May.

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  • Black Widow Release Date: 2021-07-09 The Eternals Release Date: 2021-11-05 Shang Chi Release Date: 2021-09-03 Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness Release Date: 2022-05-06 Thor: Love and Thunder Release Date: 2022-07-08 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Release Date: 2022-11-11 Morbius Release Date: 2022-04-01