Thanos, The Joker and the 25 greatest superhero movie villains of all-time

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 22: A Joker costume from the 2008 film The Dark Knight worn by actor Heath Ledger and designed by Lindy Hemming is on display at the DC Comics Exhibition: Dawn Of Super Heroes at the O2 Arena on February 22, 2018 in London, England. The exhibition, which opens on February 23rd, features 45 original costumes, models and props used in DC Comics productions including the Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman films. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) /

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17. The Winter Soldier

Film: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War

Sometimes the best kinds of enemies are those which have a personal connection to their respective hero because, on those occasions, it highlights that there’s a very fine line between love and hate. As someone as pure of heart Steve Rogers didn’t particularly have any direct enemies (especially after spending decades in the ice), it made sense that the-powers-that-be in the MCU picked from those close to him instead.

Steve’s discovery that his thought-to-be-dead best friend was actually the demon sniper he had been battling throughout Captain America: The Winter Soldier was one of those moments that sent chills up and down our spines. In a way, Bucky Barnes had died all those years ago because, after all the experiments that had been done on him in the years that followed, there were no shreds of humanity left. And yet that discovery kick-started a tale of how one man was destined to get his best friend back.

A trained fighter that physically matched Captain America at every turn and also had an emotional advantage over him, Bucky was the ultimate unstoppable soldier. But more than that, he was an emotionally complex and almost tragic character that transcended typical villainy to become so much more.

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