MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

So, remember when people kept insisting that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had a giant problem with a lack of memorable villains? Well, Marvel seems to have a made a concentrated effort in the past couple of years to rectify that mistake. Beginning with Michael Keaton’s Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming and continuing all the way to their latest record-breaking smash hit with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel has been on a villain roll lately. Some are ready to crown the purple Mad Titan as their finest villain to date, but what there isn’t any doubt about is that he is the most powerful and destructive villain. I mean, when you snap your fingers and wipe away half of the life in the universe, it is pretty difficult to beat that.

With the snap of his fingers, Thanos managed to exterminate several of the universe’s finest defenders, including Star-Lord (who totally deserved it), Spider-Man (who totally didn’t deserve it), and Gamora. While we only see the snap’s effects on Earth’s people and the heroes, it is likely that some of the villains who have survived the events of Marvel’s television shows and movies bit the dust as well. But until we know for sure, no cards are off the table for who can return for Marvel’s highly anticipated fourth phase of entertainment. These villains run the gamut from city to global to even galactic threats. Here are 20 villains that MCU fans forgot were still a threat.

20 (The Real) Mandarin Is Out There

Here’s a two for one for you, dear reader. In Iron Man 3, one of the villains of the film is The Mandarin. The head of an international terrorist group known as the Ten Rings, the person who we thought was the Mandarin ended up being nothing more than an actor who was compensated very generously to play the part of an international butcher. No biggie, just your average acting gig. To be fair, he did say that “you will never see me coming.”

So, that man known as Trevor Slattery may or may not be alive; we aren’t exactly sure. However, thanks to the Marvel One-Shot All Hail The King which was released on the Thor: The Dark World Blu-Ray, we know that there is an actual Mandarin out there. The problem is that we know nothing about him. He definitely commands a very powerful organization, but we don’t know who he is, if he has superpowers, and if he will even attempt to strike once again because of how powerful Earth’s defenders now are. If he indeed has the ten rings of power which he wields in the comics, he can definitely pose a threat to the mighty Avengers.

19 The Scorpion Could Sting

One of the main complaints about the often maligned Spider-Man 3 is that the film suffers from having too many villains. With New Goblin, the Sandman, and Venom all in play and given significant amounts of screen time, the film cannot find its focus. Technically speaking Spider-Man: Homecoming has more villains in it than Sam Raimi’s third Spidey movie, but the focus is clearly on Michael Keaton’s Vulture. One villain that we know for sure is still around is somebody teased in the end credits of the movie.

For those who didn’t catch it: at the end of the movie, the Vulture finds himself in prison. When in there, a man with a scorpion tattoo on his neck (maybe he’s a fan of yellow-clad ninjas?) greets him. He tells Vulture that he heard a rumor that he knows the secret identity of Spider-Man. Vulture brushes him off, but this all but confirms that the Scorpion exists in the MCU. What we don’t know is if he will get access to his classic battle suit, but he is a dangerous and unstable man if he does. Spidey is just lucky that, for now, the Venom symbiote is off limits for Mac Gargan, as the black goo is stuck in Sony.

18 The Kingpin Still Holds The Cards

While it isn’t as big of a problem now as Marvel has added some truly spectacular villains in the past few years, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin was one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first AMAZING villains. Through the benefits of having a Netflix series to develop his character instead of a film, we were treated to the sad history of Wilson Fisk as he grew up to become New York’s most feared mob boss. Thanks to the efforts of Daredevil, he was put behind bars where he has stayed since the first season of the show. However, all good villains break out, and for somebody with Fisk’s grit and connections, it’s just a matter of time.

He is so good that he could make the leap to the films and nobody would bat an eye.

As we saw in Daredevil Season 2, Fisk doesn’t have too bad of a life in prison as he gets great treatment and has built up an empire on the inside. When he does get out, it is very likely that he will rip apart Matt Murdock’s personal and professional life just as he did in the Born Again storyline from the comics. He was originally a Spider-Man villain, though. Maybe the web-slinger should watch his back…

17 Baron Mordo Has Already Begun His Mission

Doctor Strange was one of the most visually stunning films in Marvel’s catalog, but it suffered from the typical Marvel problem of having a lackluster villain in Kaecilius. In essence, he was just a tool used by Dormammu. The film also seemed more focused on somebody who audiences may not have known is actually a villain but didn’t show his real colors until the end of the movie. That being one of Doctor Strange’s teachers at Hogwarts err… I mean the Kamar-Taj, Mordo.

Although he helps Doctor Strange hold back the Dread Dormammu and defeat the fallen student of the Ancient One Kaecilius, Mordo became disillusioned with magic as he saw realized that his master the Ancient One drew her power from the Dark Dimension and Doctor Strange break the laws of nature by utilizing a time loop to save the world. In the film’s post-credits scene, we see that he has begun a mission to strip sorcerers of their powers, beginning with a man who uses magic so that he can walk again. If he amasses the magical energies of all the sorcerers on Earth, he will be a match even for the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange. I hope the good doctor is ready for a fight.

16 The Grandmaster Is Still At Large

While I personally don’t think that Thor: Ragnarok is quite the masterpiece that other people think it is (you can always @ me on Twitter with your hate mail), even I have to admit that Jeff Goldblum’s performance as the Grandmaster is awesome. You can tell that Goldblum is having a ton of fun playing the role of a twisted ruler of Sakaar who enjoys games. Especially ones where he can pit prisoners against each other in gladiatorial combat, including an Asgardian god and the Incredible Hulk.

Anyone else thinking that Drax and the Grandmaster scenes would be amazing?

We may have seen Asgard go up in flames because of the battle between Hela and Surtur, Sakaar still survived the events of the film. That means that the Grandmaster also survived. Sure, we did see Korg’s revolution surround him and it may have looked like the Grandmaster would be eating a few knuckle sandwiches, but you know the classic rule: if we don’t see a body, he could still be alive. Grandmaster may not be main villain movie material, but he absolutely could make appearances as a cameo or in minor roles inside other heroes’ movies. He’s also very charming, so it could be he talked his way out of the end.

15 Prison Can’t Hold Justin Hammer

Compared to the other people on this list, audiences probably give the least of a darn about Justin Hammer. I’m sorry, dude, but when you’re on a list filled with cosmic entities, sorcerers, and giant monsters, you and your suits are going to seem boring as heck. However, we can’t deny that Sam Rockwell’s smooth but slimly turn as the former CEO of Hammer Industries wasn’t fun while it lasted.

Perhaps Rockwell could transition into a role in one of the Netflix shows.

Jumping in to fill the role left behind by Tony Stark’s decision not to make military weapons anymore, Justin Hammer tried to… hammer Stark even harder by partnering with a U.S. senator to strip Stark of his Iron Man armors. His partnership with the criminal Ivan Vanko was what led to his downfall and thus he was put behind bars. However, rich millionaires never stay prison for long as the real world, unfortunately, demonstrates frequently. If Hammer were to get off for good behavior or some excuse like that, he could easily become a threat once again. We already saw that in the Luke Cage show that his company has created bullets powerful enough to pierce Luke Cage’s skin, so imagine if he were to return.

14 Dormammu Is Waiting For Summoning

Aside from Thanos, Dormammu is easily the most powerful villain on this list. The ruler of his own dimension, Dormammu is the being which Kaecilius attempted to bring to our dimension in Doctor Strange, but thanks to Strange’s endless trolling, we were saved from being burnt into ash. Dormammu promised that he wouldn’t interfere with Earth again, but that doesn’t mean that we are truly safe… after all, are you going to trust the floating creepy spirit of energy that has more power than you can imagine?

Wouldn’t an all-out battle between Thanos and Dormammu be amazing?

For one thing, Strange didn’t actually destroy Dormammu. You can’t really do that to a being of pure energy who rules an entire dimension. The only reason why Dormammu hasn’t come to Earth is because he needs somebody to summon him there, and that Earth has artifacts like the Time Stone to ensure that he wouldn’t be able to pull it off. But the end of Avengers: Infinity War poses an interesting question now as Doctor Strange has perished from Thanos’ finger snap. Does Dormammu sense an opening and is plotting to strike as we speak? We won’t know until later, but it is something to consider.

13 Diamondback Could Be, Well, Back

Well, I’m not going to lie and say that all of the villains on this list are going to winners. While the first major villain of the Netflix show Luke Cage was the tragic and entertaining Cottonmouth, he perishes halfway into the series and we are instead stuck with this bible thumping over dramatic dude Willis Stryker, a.k.a. Diamondback.

Fans may not be clamoring for him to make a return, but that tease all but guarantees it.

After hunting down his half-brother and tormenting his friends, Diamondback challenges Cage to one final showdown in the streets of Harlem where he loses despite being enhanced by a battle suit created by Hammer Industries. Unlike the villain to come before him, he survives the encounter but is confined to a hospital bed. As he’s recovering though, he is visited by the same doctor who experimented on Luke Cage to give him his powers. In the comics, he does get his hands on a substance that bestows him superhuman strength, speed, and durability so that might be where Marvel is heading with his character. Personally, he can stay in that hospital for all I care. He can shout all the Bible verses he wants there.

12 Shockingly, The Shocker Is Out There

If you really think about it, plenty of heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe don’t really have a problem with taking out their foes permanently. Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, and countless others have at some point in their lives taken another’s life. Spider-Man is actually in the minority of those who actually exercise restraint and refuses to take out any one of his enemies for good.

That might come back to bite him though, specifically in this case with the Shocker… the second one, I mean.

Peter probably has the only Stark suit, which hasn’t been used to end a life. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spidey takes on the second Shocker Herman Schultz after the first Shocker perished because of an accidental attack by his boss the Vulture. Schultz tries to take out Peter in the parking lot of his high school, but thanks to the timely assistance of his friend Ned, Peter is able to get the upper hand and webs Shocker to a school bus. The police nab shortly thereafter, but come on, there’s no way that this is the end for him. Especially when we still have the next guy on our list scurrying around on his own and tinkering with a bunch of alien technology…

11 The Tinkerer Might Lead To The Sinister Six

Even as a hardcore Spider-Man fan, I had to do a double take to realize that this character was indeed in the MCU. But sure enough, Phineas Mason was in Spider-Man: Homecoming as the biggest brain behind the Vulture’s gang. Some people might know him better by his supervillain name; The Tinkerer.

The Tinkerer could be the key to the MCU’s Sinister Six.

Introduced all the way back in Amazing Spider-Man #2 back in 1962, Tinkerer is one of Spidey’s oldest foes but for the most part has been a minor villain in Spidey’s books. While his story in the MCU differs quite heavily from the comics, it appears in both iterations that he is a scientific genius which makes him one of the wall-crawler’s most intelligent enemies. Even though the Vulture was captured by the police at the end of Homecoming, Tinkerer was smart enough to evade capture. With all the technology he has his disposal as well, it makes too much sense if Mason designs suits and weapons for all kinds of shady people. How else is Scorpion going to get his battle suit, hmm? Not only that, but other Sinister Six members like Electro and the Beetle can always get their powers through Tinkerer’s tech. Bank on it, Tinkerer is going to matter in the future.

10 Helmut Zemo Wants Vengeance

This entry most of all shows that when I mean most powerful MCU villains that are still alive, I don’t always necessarily mean people who can hurl moons at our heroes. Sometimes a person who has just enough vengeance in his heart and who has the right training to get the job done can bring super soldiers and men in suits of armor to their mental knees. I’m, of course, talking about the main villain of Captain America: Civil War, the Sokovian terrorist Helmut Zemo.

Zemo does become the leader of the Masters of Evil in the comics…

Despite not possessing any superpowers, Zemo pulled off one of the most intricate plans we’ve ever seen in the MCU. By framing Bucky Barnes for being responsible to a crime he didn’t commit, and by showing Tony Stark what really happened to his parents, he managed to tear apart the two leaders of the Avengers in one swoop. Yes, he was captured by Black Panther and the C.I.A., but that doesn’t mean a darn thing when it comes to comic books. If Zemo is still bent on watching the Avengers crumble, then it is likely that his mission will not be over. Perhaps another villain could break him out of prison? Perhaps if Red Skull makes a return to earth, hmmm?

9 Led By The Leader

Unlike some other villains on this list, this character (in his supervillain form at least) has gotten precisely zero screen time, so it’s likely that most don’t even know about his existence. But if you look back to the often forgotten solo Hulk movie from 2008, then you will notice that Marvel was teasing at something with the scientist helping Bruce Banner throughout the movie. That scientist’s name was Samuel Sterns, but comics fans will also know him as The Leader… yeah, alright, not all villain names can be winners, okay?

Near the end of The Incredible Hulk, we see a little bit of Bruce Banner’s gamma-irradiated drip into an open wound in his forehead which since this is a comic book movie grants him superpowers. It grants him super intelligence, but he barely got a chance to use it, as in a prelude comic to the original 2012 Avengers movie he was captured by the Black Widow and placed in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s custody. But if he really is as smart as we know he’s supposed to be, then there’s no way that S.H.I.E.L.D. can hold him forever. If Hulk can survive Avengers 4 and the rift between Banner and Hulk is still present to a degree, The Leader can easily work with that. If only Universal would give up the rights to a solo Hulk movie…

8 The Abomination Did It Once…

If The Hulk was ever turned evil for more than a few minutes (we can’t forget what Scarlet Witch did to him in Age of Ultron), we could be in for some deep trouble. After all, what if Tony Stark isn’t around to use his Hulkbuster armor? That monster could inflict damage to cities that would be unparalleled. Well for that tantalizing narrative, we don’t have to look any further than the main villain of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Emil Blonsky a.k.a. The Abomination.

At the end of that movie, the U.S military took Blonsky into custody, and he’s spent the entire time since that movie inside of a cryo chamber housed by S.H.I.E.L.D. The scary thing about Abomination, though, isn’t just his incredible strength and power, but also the fact that he retains his human intelligence and cunning while in that monstrous form. Sure, he’s obviously unhinged, but he can’t be fooled or tricked in the same way that the Hulk can. If Blonsky was broken out of his prison, he could cause some massive damage to the planet. Let’s face it, anyone who is brave/stupid enough to try and take on the Hulk with only a knock off super soldier serum in his system isn’t somebody to take lightly.

7 The Vulture Could Hold A Grudge

Batman’s rogues’ gallery is the strongest one in comics, and nobody can really argue with that. However, one of the few heroes who can challenge Batman for that title is Spider-Man, and one of the original Spider-Man villains from just his third-ever comic was finally given some love last year with an excellent portrayal by Michael Keaton. That villain was middle-aged Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. The Vulture.

Hero or villain? What will Vulture’s path be going forward?

While his backstory was altered significantly for the MCU, the crew on Spider-Man: Homecoming did such a good job with humanizing him that most Spidey fans didn’t complain. Just as he was going to pull off one final heist, Spider-Man’s interference foiled his plans and he found himself in prison. When he’s in there, he has a chance to give up Peter’s secret identity but decides to keep that information to himself. Is that because he’s trying to protect Peter in exchange for saving his life? Or is he planning revenge and wants to be the one to take out Spidey? We have to wait until later to find out, but this is one MCU villain that I definitely want to see some more of.

6 The Return Of The Red Skull

They finally did it. After years of speculation and fan theories, the Red Skull has finally returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After a seven-year absence in real time and many decades in MCU time, Avengers: Infinity War showed the brief but satisfying return of the noseless World War II terror. As he accidentally teleported to the planet of Vormir through his use of the Soul Stone, he became the guardian of it. He is now a shadowy, floating figure who tells travelers how to obtain the Soul Stone, but they can’t have brought him back just for that…

Let’s think about this for a second. Red Skull’s duty on that planet was to tell travelers how to get the Soul Stone. Thanos now has the stone by throwing his favorite daughter Gamora off the cliff. Is it impossible to imagine that Red Skull is now free of his service and can leave the planet? Of course, that brings up the question of how he could escape, seeing as how he no longer has the means. But these are comic book movies, anything is possible. If Captain America perishes at the end of Avengers 4 but Red Skull returns to Earth, it will be very interesting to see what Johann Schmidt can do.

5 The Second Age Of Ultron

Alright, so maybe I’m being a little bit speculative here. After all, the final Ultron drone was blown to bits by Vision’s Mind Stone at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, right? How could it be possible that this terrifying A.I. can survive that? Well, aside from the fact that this is a comic book movie, Ultron’s whole schtick in the comics is that he can never truly be defeated, as he keeps uploading his consciousness into other bodies.

In the right hands, Ultron could be an even bigger threat than he was in Age of Ultron. But wait a minute, you say, Vision locked out Ultron from the internet, so we should be safe, right? Well, what if Vision had to constantly block Ultron’s attempts from the internet instead of it just being a one-time deal? Now that Vision has bit the dust, perhaps it opens the door for Ultron to plan his comeback. At one point in the comics, Ultron did once gather together the Masters of Evil and attempted to take out the Avengers by disguising himself as one of their own. Perhaps Ultron will take a stealthier approach the next time he tries to take out the world’s mightiest heroes?

4 Thanos The Mad Titan Isn’t Finished

Well, you all saw this one coming. You didn’t really think that Marvel’s most intimidating villain wasn’t going to survive the events of Avengers: Infinity War, did you? No, because when you have the power of omnipotence literally in the palm of your hand, it’s going to take more than a gathering of wizards, scientists, super soldiers, and robots to stop you.

It is all but guaranteed that Thanos will be the villain of Avengers 4. Even though it would be quite a sight to see the heroes all accept defeat and just hope that Thanos never uses his powers again, I highly doubt that’s going to happen. At the same time, however, it’s entirely possible that Thanos really does nothing more than just sit in his grassy field and rest for a very long time. Unless, of course, he decides that more life in the universe needs to be exterminated to achieve this so-called “balance” that he keeps yammering on about. After all, do you really expect somebody called “The Mad Titan” to not change his mind? Let’s just hope that the futurist Tony Stark has a plan to bail the universe out of trouble from a purple alien with magical stones and entirely too many chins.

3 W’Kabi Has Potential

Oh boy, I can hear the people coming with pitchforks right now. I know the people who believe that Kilmonger isn’t a villain might by extension state that W’Kabi isn’t a villain due to him siding with the brief King of Wakanda. But in the context of the movie from a narrative point of view, W’Kabi is definitely framed as an antagonist. As sympathetic as his motivation is, taking up arms against your wife and wanting to become the very thing you hate certainly isn’t the stuff of heroes. Why struggle to create a new villain when you have a ready-made one already?

By the end of the climactic fight in Black Panther, the head of Wakanda’s border tribe surrendered to his wife Okoye and was imprisoned. It’s possible that he might decide to just stay there out of respect and love for Okoye, but at the same time, we know that Black Panther 2 is in the works. With career-making performances in Get Out and Black Panther, who’s to say that Marvel won’t have Daniel Kaluuya escape prison and become the main villain of the sequel? After all, who knows all of Wakanda’s darkest secrets better than W’Kabi?

2 Ayesha’s Plan Is Golden

Because much of the focus from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ended up on Ego The Living Planet (which is correct, how can you ignore a planet that is alive?), people forget that there was another villain in this movie. None other than the leader of the Sovereign and living Emmy award herself, Ayesha. Big things are in this golden woman’s future. Her role in GOTG Vol. 2 is minor and seems mostly to build up to another appearance in the third GOTG movie.

She has plenty of motivation as Rocket Raccoon stole her people’s Annulax (or are they harbulary batteries?) which to a people as stuck up as the Sovereign, is enough for her to pay mercenaries to try and take the Guardians out permanently. When that and even an all-out assault on the Guardians with her drone ships isn’t enough, she commissions the creation of a perfect life form. No, she isn’t creating Cell from Dragon Ball Z, she is creating the uber-powerful Adam Warlock. With someone as vindictive as Ayesha guiding Adam Warlock, she and her “son” can likely not only give the Guardians a run for their money, but any group of heroes in the entire universe.

1 Don’t Forget About Mariah Dollard

While Luke Cage on Netflix was ultimately bogged down in the second half because of the bland Diamondback, the villain side didn’t fall into complete garbage because of the powerful performance of Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard. Mariah’s fall from grace from a New York councilwoman into criminal lord of Harlem is fascinating to watch and is sure to have consequences in Luke Cage Season 2 on Netflix. The tragic upbringing she had to endure makes her a sympathetic villain but she has clearly gone off the deep end after ending the life of her brother Cottonmouth.

Nothing is more certain than politicians wanting corrupt money. Entering into a professional and personal relationship with the unnerving former assistant to Diamondback Hernan “Shades"Alvarez, Mariah has the best partner to help her mold Harlem into her perfect vision. How is she going to be able to do that? Well, let’s think about this. Even if she is a disgraced former councilwoman, she likely still has connections to plenty of people on the “right” side of the law who are sympathetic to her efforts and would likely want a portion of the wealth she is sure to accumulate. It’ll be interesting to see if Harlem is better off before or after crime boss Mariah Dillard is done.