For Every Hero...

A hero is nothing without his villains; the sole purpose of a hero is to fight of threats that no one else can. In this instance, and it pains me to type this, some of the most interesting villains are from the DC franchise. However, these villains are all exclusive to one hero…Bat Man.

Bat Man has an amazing line up of foes threatening Gotham city, from the Joker to Two Face to Mr. Freeze to Scarecrow to the Riddler they are interesting characters and I give credit where credit is due. But go outside the Bat Man franchise and you have…Lex Luthor…Sinestro…um…Brainiac…awkward.

Even within Bat Man the villains rarely threaten anything but the city itself. They arm themselves with bombs, toxins, high-tech weapons, or just brute strength to terrorize only within Gotham (did not one of them think about leaving the city and moving somewhere that’s Bat Manless). The best Marvel villains threaten entire countries, the human race like or simply life itself.

I could go on about all my favorite villains but instead I’ll focus on my absolute favorites.

 Eric Lehnsherr is a mutant with the ability to manipulate metal with his mind, you probably know him as Magneto. His past as a Holocaust survivor makes him one of the most sympathetic villains in comic books. His objective of Mutant supremacy, his incredible powers and his brotherhood of evil Mutants (including some of my other favorite villains such as Mystique, Juggernaut and Sabertooth) instills fear, awe and not a small amount of trouble for the X-Men.

 Loki brother of Thor, made famous by his film portrayal by Tom Hiddleston is Marvel’s answer to the Joker. Granted, the Joker is not a villain that you can compare many others to, but Loki has his own intrigue. Beside the fact that he is the god of mischief straight out of Norse mythology, being Thor’s brother creates an intriguing hero/villain relationship between the pair. Plus he the primary villain in the AVENGERS (best movie ever).

Finally, the villain to end all villains (and heroes for that matter) Galactus. The unstoppable force who’s only goal is to devour planets. Originally a villain for the Fantastic Four his massive size and power makes him the end-all villain (literally). He is often only defeated by a group of heroes fighting together. I would like to see Joker beat that.

These are only a few of the many heroes Marvel has to offer. I didn’t even mention Ultron, Dr. Doom, Red skull, Venom, Dr. Octopus, Abomination, the Mandarin and many others. We may love the heroes but the villains are sometimes the best part of a franchise.

Excelsior, Marc out.