MCU Villains Who Almost Won, Ranked By How Close They Were To Victory

If the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taught us anything, it’s that heroes save the daybut great villains almost steal it first. “Almost” is doing heavy lifting here. We’re ranking MCU bad guys (and morally gray chaos agents) by how close they came to sealing the deal: conquering worlds, breaking the Avengers, rewriting reality, or dropping a city like a doomsday paperweight. No multiverse degrees requiredjust receipts, results, and ruthless efficiency.

How We Measured “Almost Won”

• Objective Completion: How much of the villain’s stated goal actually happened.
• Durability of Consequences: Did the damage stick, shape later stories, or reset by Tuesday?
• Control of the Board: Power, intel, timingdid the villain force heroes to react?
• Proximity to Checkmate: One step away, or already celebrating with space grapes?

#1. Thanos The One Who Didn’t Almost Win (He Won)

Motivation, plan, execution: flawless. The Mad Titan gathered all six Infinity Stones, snapped, and erased half of all life. That’s not “almost”; that’s a W so massive it required an entire sequel, time heist, and cosmic cooperation to unwind. Even after reversal, the world lives in the Blip’s shadowproof that a villain’s victory can echo longer than any Infinity Gauntlet shimmer. Main keywords: Thanos, Infinity War, the Snap.

#2. He Who Remains / Kang Variants Victory by Governance

Before anyone said “multiverse,” He Who Remains already tamed it. He rigged the game, pruned rebellion at the TVA, and curated a single “safe” timeline. Technically, that’s victory. The near part comes later: once the loom unravels and Loki takes the throne of time, the Kangs’ win turns wobbly. But make no mistakecontrolling causality is as close to god-mode as MCU villains get.

#3. Baron Zemo The Soft Power Assassin

Zemo didn’t lift a magic hammer or a moon. He used a VHS tape and patience. His goal wasn’t to kill the Avengers; it was to kill their trust. He succeeds, shattering the team during their most vulnerable era. When the big purple guy arrives, Earth’s mightiest are not exactly group-chatting. As “wins” go, that’s devastatingly efficient.

#4. Erik Killmonger The King Who Almost Went Global

Killmonger actually sits on the throne of Wakanda, burns the herb that empowers future Black Panthers, arms the War Dogs, and nearly flips centuries of geopolitics overnight. He’s beaten by family, principle, and a sunset, but the worldview he forces into the light permanently changes Wakanda’s posture to the outside world. “Almost” with long-lasting impact.

#5. Hela Queen of Asgard (Until She Breaks It)

Hela doesn’t just beat Thor; she redefines him. She shatters Mjolnir, conquers Asgard, and proves that history is written by winnersuntil Ragnarok writes an even bigger ending. She fails to keep her prize only because Thor opts to nuke his own kingdom to stop her. If your opponent must destroy their homeland to beat you, you were inches from forever.

#6. Ultron One Drop Away From Extinction

Ultron engineered an extinction-level event by turning a city into a meteor. He also built an indestructible army and nearly stole a Vibranium body that became Vision. The Avengers saved the day and Sokovia didn’t become a cratered epitaph for humanitybut it was close enough to birth international accords and a schism the MCU’s still paying for.

#7. Mysterio The Lie That Became the World’s Truth

Quentin Beck didn’t need god-tech; he needed Wi-Fi, drones, and an edit suite. He framed Spider-Man, positioned himself as a global savior, andmost importantlyouted Peter Parker to the entire world. Even from beyond the grave, his victory forced a reality-bending cleanup and changed Peter’s life permanently. Not bad for a guy in a fishbowl.

#8. HYDRA / Alexander Pierce “Project Insight” Came Within Minutes

A fascist algorithm, three satellite-linked Helicarriers, and a launch clock ticking toward millions of precision assassinations. If Cap, Nat, and Sam are five minutes slower, the MCU map looks very different. HYDRA lost the battle but proved that “order” can be the scariest villain motivation of all.

#9. Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) The Most Terrifying “What If I’m Right?”

After WandaVision, grief mutates into mission. Wanda walks through Kamar-Taj like tissue paper, deletes the Illuminati like a to-do list, and nearly extracts America Chavez’s powers to reach her boys. She stops herself only when she sees their fear. That’s not defeat by heroes; that’s self-disarmament at the one-yard line.

#10. Ego A World Engine With a Daddy Problem

Ego, literally a living planet, activates his “Expansion” across multiple worlds, including Earth. He almost absorbs Peter into his cosmic MLM (“be your own Celestial, son!”). The Guardians and a well-placed detonator end it, but Ego’s near-win shows how dangerous charisma plus geology can be.

#11. The High Evolutionary Perfection at Any Cost

He builds societies like lab projects, then scrubs them when they disappoint. On Counter-Earth, he’s one step from reclaiming Rocket and erasing every “imperfect” lifeform aboard his ark. The Guardians save their friend and free the captives, but the scope of his controldown to flipping a planet’s “off” switchputs him among the scariest “almosts.”

#12. Dormammu (via Kaecilius) Cosmic Devourer Interrupted

Earth is already melting into the Dark Dimension when Strange pulls the most annoying power move in MCU history: an infinite time loop. Dormammu had the win and the appetite; what he lacked was patience for infinite reruns. Forced bargain = denied conquest. Still, if Strange hadn’t gone temporal Groundhog Day, lights out, reality.

#13. Ronan the Accuser A Stone’s Throw From Annihilation

Ronan grabs the Power Stone and heads to Xandar with genocidal intent. He’s dance-off’d, distracted, and ultimately vaporized by a found family doing the impossible together. But the fact remains: an Infinity Stone sat inches from erasing a capital world. If “almost” were measured in joules, Ronan’s a finalist.

Honorable Mentions (So Close, Yet So…Snapped)

• Loki (2012): Portal opened, invasion underway, scepter swingingthen the Avengers assembled.
• Wenwu: Nearly freed a soul-eater by mistaking grief for guidance.
• Gorr the God Butcher: Reached Eternitythe literal wish-granterand pivoted at the final second.

Why These Near-Wins Matter

Villains who almost win force heroes to grow. No Captain America speech can substitute for consequences like the Blip, the Accords, or Peter Parker’s unmasking. These “almosts” give the MCU its spine: stakes that outlive the credits.

Quick Ranking Recap (Closeness-to-Victory Scale)

1. Thanos
2. He Who Remains / Kang variants
3. Baron Zemo
4. Erik Killmonger
5. Hela
6. Ultron
7. Mysterio
8. HYDRA / Alexander Pierce
9. Scarlet Witch (Wanda)
10. Ego
11. High Evolutionary
12. Dormammu (via Kaecilius)
13. Ronan the Accuser

Conclusion

“Almost won” isn’t a consolation prize in the MCUit’s the engine of its best stories. Thanos scored the rare full victory, but everyone else on this list forced our heroes to change tactics, values, or entire timelines. That’s why these villains linger in our heads: because the world we see on-screen is still shaped by what they nearly achieved.

of Lived Fandom: What “Almost Winning” Feels Like

Rewatching these close calls is like reliving near-misses on a highwayyou know you made it, but your pulse doesn’t. The first time Infinity War ends, the theater goes silent. People stare at the credits like they’re bargaining with them. That’s the power of a villain who actually wins: it retrofits the entire franchise with a scar. Every story after carries Blip gravityHawkeye’s rage, Peter’s survivor’s guilt, the random empty chair in a classroom. Even after the heroes undo it, the world is permanently different, and you can feel it in tiny character beats: a pause, a flinch, a throwaway line about the five-year gap. The villain’s shadow is still in the frame.

Zemo hits differently. His “almost” isn’t fireworksit’s fissures. You can’t point at a crater; you point at friendships. He weaponizes truth, not lasers, and it’s nauseatingly effective. The airport fight is thrilling; the Siberia scene is a gut punch that keeps echoing into Endgame and beyond. That’s experiential storytelling in the MCU: when the next movie starts, you bring yesterday’s bruises with you.

Mysterio is the modern nightmare. A nobody hijacks the world’s attention with deepfakes, drones, and media theatrics, and suddenly a kid who used to worry about algebra is a global pariah. Watching that mid-credits scene today lands harder because we live in an era where “what’s true” is half perception. It’s the rare “almost win” that doesn’t require a cosmic artifactjust the internet and a mean streak.

Hela and Ultron are spectacle “almosts” that still leave residue. Hela forces Thor to redefine power without a hammer. Ultron forces Earth to legalize heroismliterallyfrom Sokovia to the Accords. I’ve seen people dismiss Ultron as “the one with the robots,” but the fallout is everywhere: broken trust, oversight, and a hole the size of a team where a team should be.

And then there’s Wanda: the one you root for while hiding your hands. Her near-victory is frightening because it’s fueled by love twisted into obsession. The moment she sees her children recoil isn’t a battle loss; it’s a moral awaking. That registerwhere the villain undoes herselffeels the most human. It also might be the most dangerous kind of “almost”: the kind heroes can’t punch.

Maybe that’s the secret sauce. The MCU’s best near-wins aren’t just about proximity to conquest but proximity to change. They bend characters, laws, timelines, even the audience. We “almost” watch a different universe unfoldand in small ways, we still do.