15 greatest Marvel Cinematic Universe rivalries
By Mark Lynch
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has produced some intense rivalries over the years, but which rank as the best of the best?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had some incredible battles over the years. The action in these fights made for intense moments; however, it isn’t just the action that makes these fight scenes and moments great. A lot of the time it’s the rivalries at the heart of the battles which help them stand the test of time.
When people fight, there’s usually some meaning behind it. Sometimes super-powered beings meet and start punching before talking. Those are fun, but it’s not as good as when they have a fierce hatred for each other or their emotions are running high.
When Iron Man first put his suit on to fight the terrorists in the other country, it was a great moment because he was angry. Not only because of what they were doing to innocent people. It was personal. Tony remembered what they did to him and how they were using his weapons. He now had a reason to go after them.
We’re taking a look at the best rivalries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some of them are extreme because of competition. Others come from pure hatred due to a traumatic event. Then there are the few more one-sided rivalries where only one person knows there’s a competition going on.
Best Marvel Cinematic Universe rivalries
15. Tony Stark and Justin Hammer
Iron Man 2 will never be looked at as one of the better projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, it could be considered the worst of the three Iron Man movies. There was, however, a bright spot in the film: Justin Hammer attempting to best Tony Stark.
Hammer is Tony Stark if Stark was an incompetent sleazeball. Instead of trying to create something of his own, he tried to replicate the Iron Man armor and killed one of the people testing it. When that didn’t work, he hired Whiplash: a criminal who tried to kill Tony Stark. As expected, that backfired.
Then there’s the Hammer Tech missile that he gave Rhodey for his War Machine armor. It wouldn’t even make a decent paperweight. This was flat-out funny.
Hammer didn’t just want the fame and fortune that Stark had. It looked like he wanted to be Tony Stark. This was a rivalry, but it was definitely one-sided. Justin Hammer thought he was Tony Stark’s equal. Stark doesn’t even look at Hammer as anything except a joke.
14. Drax and Ronan the Accuser
You can chalk this up to another one-sided rivalry, but it was one nonetheless.
Ronan came to Drax’s planet and killed his family. Ever since, Drax wanted to get his hands on Ronan. He got his wish, it’s just too bad Drax wasn’t physically in Ronan’s league. To quote Doctor Strange in World War Hulk, “Your anger means nothing to me” and it meant nothing to Ronan.
Ronan destroyed Drax both times they fought. The first time, Ronan told Drax he didn’t remember killing his family. An insult to say the least. Eventually, Ronan was defeated, but not by Drax’s hands alone.
Drax wanted to kill Ronan so badly that put an entire planet at risk. He forced someone to call Ronan and tell him that the Infinity Stone he was looking for was on Knowhere. Drax was blinded by emotion. We can all agree that it’s understandable. If someone killed your family you’re going to want to get revenge as well.
When Ronan was defeated, that didn’t end Drax’s need for payback. Drax transferred his hatred to Thanos, saying it was Thanos that he really needed to kill.
13. The Kree and the Skrulls
The Kree could be looked at as the most intelligent beings in the universe. They’ve created technology and civilization that other planets may not even be able to dream of. Their advanced intelligence has given them a sense of hubris that’s become narcissistic.
During the Kree/Skrull war, the Kree invaded their planet and tried to abolish the Skrulls. Thankfully, some of the Skrulls escaped. The Kree then made it look like the Skrulls were invaders seeking to ruin planets. Meanwhile, the Skrulls used their ability to shape-shift and fit into wherever they could. Moving from planet to planet avoiding death at the hands of the Kree.
The Kree are jerks plain and simple. What kind of beings just go around imposing their will with violence just because they can?