The Avengers are the greatest team of heroes in the Marvel Universe. Full of powerful members, the Avengers are the Earth's first and last line of defense against some of the greatest threats the universe has to offer. The villains the Avengers face are some of the evilest and more powerful around, challenging the team in ways that take more than just brute strength to overcome.
However, not every villain the Avengers have faced lives up to their potential. At times, some of these villains show just how formidable they can be but never rise to those heights again, squandering their potential and not posing as great a threat to the team as it seemed they would.
10 Absorbing Man Could Easily Defeat The Team If He were Smarter
Absorbing Man was created by Loki to battle his brother Thor. Gifting Crusher Creel with massive strength and durability, a magical ball and chain, and the ability to absorb the properties of anything he touches, Loki believed he created the ultimate foe for Thor. Absorbing Man would go on to fight the Avengers as a member of the Masters of Evil as well as the God of Thunder but always lose.
Absorbing Man's biggest problem is that while he's definitely powerful enough to beat the Avengers, he's just not smart enough. He doesn't have the brains to put his abilities to their greatest use and this has allowed the Avengers to take him down every time.
9 Purple Man Is Too Obsessed With His Greed To Pose A Big Enough Threat
Purple Man's mind control powers make him a dangerous villain for just about any hero and if he really set his mind to it, he could wreak havoc on the Avengers. While he's battled many of them on an individual basis, he's too obsessed with his own appetites to do too much damage to the Avengers.
His powers would especially be devastating against the Avengers since, more often than not, the team doesn't have any telepaths that could break Purple Man's control over them. If he put his mind to it, Purple Man would easily defeat the Avengers, turning them against each other, and destroying them from the inside.
8 Radioactive Man's Radiation Powers Should Make Him Incredibly Difficult To Defeat
Radioactive Man has been battling the Avengers for a long time, joining the Masters of Evil in their battles against the team. Radioactive Man has a plethora of radiation-based powers and those powers should have made him into a bigger threat to the team; he's super strong, can erect force fields of radiation to protect himself, and fire energy blasts.
However, his most dangerous ability is the power to project radiation. If Radioactive Man picked his spots, he could lay waste to the Avengers but instead, he usually ends up as part of a team and attacks them head-on, which isn't the smartest way to fight the Avengers.
7 Norman Osborn Became An Avengers-Level Threat Then Went Back To Fighting Spider-Man
Norman Osborn has always been a pretty hardcore villain but at one point, he was one of the greatest villains in the Marvel Universe. Put in charge of the Superhero Initiative, Osborn would form his own team of Dark Avengers and stack the Initiative with villains who would do his bidding. What followed was a period of brutality known as the Dark Reign.
After his defeat, Osborn would try to destroy the team again but eventually gave up and went back to fighting Spider-Man. This is pretty unfortunate since Osborn showed just how dangerous he could be to the Avengers and would have made an interesting foil for them for years to come.
6 The Void Has The Power But The Sentry Holds Him Back
The Void is the dark side of Sentry, one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe. The Void was Norman Osborn's secret weapon during his Dark Reign and one of the most powerful threats the heroes faced, able to kill gods. However, even since the Siege of Asgard, the Void has been off the table, and even when he does show up, the Sentry holds him back.
If the Void were to entirely devour the Sentry and take over, he would give the Avengers a run for their money. However, he can never defeat the Sentry long enough to keep control, saving the Avengers and the world from his predations.
5 If Taskmaster Picked His Shots Better, He Would Be Able To Take Out Members Of The Team
Taskmaster is one of the most dangerous villains the Avengers face. His photographic reflexes allow him to copy the moves of the heroes he faces, meaning he can fight as well as Captain America, fire a bow and arrow as well as Hawkeye, and so much more. Even against superpowered foes, Taskmaster is dangerous but he never picks his spots.
Taskmaster's attacks are never very damaging because he doesn't think them out very well. If Taskmaster really planned things out and took on the members of the team piecemeal, he'd have much greater success against them.
4 Enchantress Never Uses Her Powers To Their Fullest Extent
Enchantress has been battling the Avengers for years but hasn't been an actual threat to the team since her earliest days fighting them. This is odd because she has all the bona fides: she's an Asgardian, so she's certainly tough, a powerful magic user, and a master of using her wiles against her foes. However, for whatever reason, she's never been able to put it all together against the Avengers.
Enchantress usually teams up with others and never goes her own way against the team. If she did, it would force her to really cut loose with her powers, a situation that would be very dangerous to the Avengers. She may not be as powerful as Loki but she's no slouch and if she used her powers better, there's no telling what damage she could do to the team.
3 Baron Zemo Basically Gave Up After The Avengers Foiled His Two Biggest Schemes
Baron Zemo holds a unique distinction among Avengers villains in that he was able to enact a plan that handed them one of their biggest defeats ever. As leader of the Masters of Evil, Zemo was able to beat them at every turn, taking over their headquarters and injuring some of the team's most powerful members. Later, as leaders of the Thunderbolts, he came close to finally achieving his goals before being foiled again.
After these two defeats, Zemo basically downgraded himself, going back to fighting Cap and being a lackey of Hydra. Zemo came extremely close to victory and proved just how tough he could be but gave up just as he was hitting his stride.
2 The Hood Peaked & Then Faded Away
The Hood went from the gutters to the stars quickly and then fell again. Given a magical hooded cloak by Dormammu, he would fight his way to the top of the supervillain underworld, leading a group of unaffiliated villains and joining Norman Osborn's Cabal. He would even go so far as to gain the Infinity Gauntlet for a time.
However, his star faded quickly — he would get beaten time and again, lose his power and prestige, and get stripped of his magical cloak. He never really shot his shot when he was on top, going all-in with Osborn instead of playing his own game — and it cost him.
1 Kang Is The Greatest Avengers Villain That Never Was
Some may think it would be impossible to say that Kang wasted his potential, but the proof is in the pudding. While Kang has bedeviled the team for ages, he never really used his time-travel tech to his advantage, his outmoded code of honor holding him back.
On top of that, in recent years, Kang has pretty much done nothing of importance, just about completely disappearing from the Avengers' lives. Someone as powerful and skilled as him should be a much bigger deal than he currently is, but his entire career against the Avengers has been one of squandered potential, unfortunately.
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