The Marvel Cinematic Universe has always done a phenomenal job in developing its characters, particularly its villains. Throughout the franchise’s cinematic tenure, audiences have had their hearts broken by the tragic backstories of iconic villains. Those backstories were necessary for the characters to become as legendary and much-loved as they are. While some films in the MCU had a harder time fully developing their villains, due to short screen-time or casting choices, the MCU has improved immensely in bringing villains to the screen that the audience may not necessarily root for but can definitely feel for.
Wenwu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
Despite being a warloard for a thousand years before the events of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wenwu (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) ultimately found love that pulled him from the darkness of war and crime. Upon his marriage to Ying Li and the eventual birth of his children, he left beind a life of villainy and violence, including putting the magical rings to rest. It wasn’t until his wife was murdered because of his past mistakes that Wenwu regressed into a villainous role. In fact, most of his evil-doing in the film came from his desperation to be reunited with his deceased wife. Wenwu believed his wife was alive and kept captive in her magical hometwon village of Ta Lo. In a world where magic exists, death isn’t always final, and ressurection can happen with the snap of a finger, it’s no wonder that Wenwu did everything in his power, dark as it may be, to be reunited with one of the only people he ever truly loved.
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Ghost (Ant-Man and The Wasp)
Ghost (RaeLynn Bratten) was definitely one of the more underutilzed and sympathetic MCU villains. As a small child, Ava Starr watched as both of her parents were killed in a horrible scientific accident, which not only left Ava with quantum-related powers, but also put her in an unbearable amount of pain. At an early age, her powers were taken advantage of by SHIELD and she was thrown into dangerous situations as a stealth operative. Although it’s thought that Ghost’s major motivation is revenge in Ant Man & The Wasp, being that Hank Pym was the one that fired her father and drove him to test quantum experimentation on his own, the more understandable motive is that her molecules were breaking apart one-by-one, and with the help of Bill Foster, she had find a way to stop her inevitable and extremely painful death. In short, she just trying to survive, and she was suffering from the aftermath of tragic events she had no control over.
Sylvie Laufeydottir (Loki)
Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) may be the most tragic variant of all the Loki variants. She was abducted as a child by the TVA (Time Variance Authority) for the predicted Nexus event that she would cause, and her timeline, including her life and everyone she ever loved, was reset. Unlike many other variants, Loki never showed that Sylvie would become the warmongering and devious ruler that the others would. She escaped the TVA and hid during traumatic Nexus events in the timeline for years, constructing her plan of revenge. The only love Sylvie ever knew was taken from her by an organization that played God, and the audience feels for her every step of the way.
Vulture (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
With an incredible performance by Michael Keaton, Spider-Man: Homecoming moved away from the classic anti-aging comic storyline of Adrian Toomes, and instead built his character from the destruction caused by the final battle in The Avengers. Indeed, Toomes was just your normal middle-class everyman who had his livelihood stripped away in the aftermath of the Battle of New York by SHIELD. In order to continue providing for his family and make up for money already spent on construction crews, Toomes turned to weapons theft, manufacturing and distribution. He had no real villainous motivation other than the financial care and protection of his family, but Spider-Man found himself in Vulture’s crosshairs when he interfered with that. Of course, Toomes’ nonchalant reaction to accidentally murdering Shocker takes away from his sympathic motives; however, upon Vulture’s capture, he has the opportunity to give up Peter Parker’s name to Scorpion but keeps it a secret. That has to count for something.
Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man: No Way Home)
Granted this is a bit speculative until Spider-Man: No Way Home releases, we’re assuming this is the same Doc Ock from the Spider-Man 2 (2004) universe. It’s hard to hold Dr. Octavius completely responsbile for his actions due to the combination of grief from losing the love of his life and the sentience that his robotic arms take on. By the end of Spider-Man 2, and when we see him in Spider-Man: No Way Home, his mind has almost been completely taken over by the arms. We even see him use his final act to try and stop the chaos he started. He almost belongs in the same wheelhouse as The Winter Soldier, who had no control over his evil actions.
Killmonger (Black Panther)
In Black Panther, Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) is not wrong in his motives of wanting to correct the systemic oppression of race in his country, he just goes about his reparations in the wrong way. In his eyes, Wakanda has the wealth and technilogical ability to help the oppressed, but ultimately turned a blind eye in order to keep their secrecy. His ideas of weaponizing and militarizing the people in hopes of taking over an oppressive system may be going a little too far, but from his perspective, and as we’ve learned throughout history, seldom does systemic change come when violence isn’t included. Add that to the fact that his father was murdered by his own relatives, which set Erik on a path of personal vengeance.
Electro (Spider-Man: No Way Home)
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Much in the way we’re speculating about Doc Ock, we’re assuming the Spider-Man: No Way Home version of Max Dillon is the same as the one from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This means the character has been regularly bullied, overlooked, unseen, and ultimately scared before becoming the villain known as Electro. His transformation was completely at the fault of Oscorp’s disregard of him and negligence of his safety. In fact, Spidey was successfully de-escalating the situation with Max before the NY police screwed things up. Of course, Max let the power (no pun intended) go to his head, and we have no clue why he has an arc reactor in Spider-Man: No Way Home yet, but Max should never have been put in this situation.
Baron Helmut Zemo (Captain America: Civl War, Falcon & The Winter Soldier)
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Zemo’s (Daniel Brühl) tragic backstory probably makes him the most sympathetic villain in the MCU, as his motives were strictly tied to the wreckless creation of Ultron by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Zemo’s family was crushed to death when Ultron attempted to use Zemo’s homeland of Sokovia as a catastrophic, world-ending missile. Zemo fed on his own grief and hatred to manipulate the Avengers into fighting each other in Captain America: Civil War and to use the Winter Soldier as a killing tool. Obviously, his terroristic actions can’t be justified, but it’s clear he feels he has nothing to live for (as evidenced by his imprisonment and, later, plans for revenge in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier). The sudden loss of his family, due to supposed superhero actions, would be too much to bear for anyone.
