Best Villains In Marvel Rivals

Key Takeaways

• Villains provide strong and entertaining gameplay styles in Marvel Rivals, allowing heroes to shine.
• Each villain in the game has unique pros and cons and are worth mastering to expand character options.
• Characters like the Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, and Venom offer diverse playstyles and strengths.

With a roster of 33 “heroes” to choose from, Marvel Rivals has a mixture of Superheroes and Villains in its playbook. While they are a little outnumbered, the villains in the game make for some of the most entertaining play styles and some of the strongest characters. Throughout Marvel’s history, from all different mediums, these “bad guys” allow for conflicts that permit heroes to shine.

Whether a player wishes to play Vanguard, Duelist, or Strategist, there are several great options when it comes to using a villain, with hopefully many more to join soon. Each villain has their pros and cons in Marvel Rivals, and they are all worth learning for the opportunity to broaden the characters available, just in case an ally locks in the hero the player wants.

8 Winter Soldier

A Reprogrammed Hydra Assassin

• Duelist
• Difficulty: 3 Stars

Bucky Barnes is an interesting character, having played the role of both hero and villain throughout his history. He started as Steve Rodger’s best friend and ally during the Second World War, became a deadly assassin for Hydra thanks to intense brainwashing and mental conditioning, and finally returned to his role as a hero.

In Marvel Rivals, the Winter Soldier is a powerful DPS, hitting hard with both his blaster and biotic arm. He requires some level of accuracy and can easily get caught out due to his close-range play style, but the payoff for learning him is well worth it.

7 Scarlet Witch

A Powerful Threat To The Multiverse

• Duelist
• Difficulty: 1 Star

The Scarlet Witch has been both hero and villain throughout her history, more one than the other depending on the iteration. Most players will most likely be familiar with the version of the character present in the MCU, with her most recently appearing as a villain in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

In the game, Scarlet Witch is a hyper-mobile Duelist, able to output easy damage, stun enemies, dodge in and out of combat, and unleash a huge burst of energy that can easily wipe out a whole team. She can be the bane of many Strategists’ games, thanks to just how difficult she can be to deal with.

6 The Punisher

The Killer Of Killers

• Duelist
• Difficulty: 1 Star

Frank Castle is a big man, with an even bigger arsenal, and he is the quintessential antihero. No matter which iteration of the character is in the game, all of them occupy the role of a murderer of murderers, a vengeful vigilante who will go to lengths most heroes wouldn’t dream of. Thanks to this lack of a moral compass, The Punisher is easy to regard as a villain.

In the game, The Punisher is the closest thing to a standard third-person shooter hero out of all the characters available. His abilities all revolve around guns, from an assault rifle and a shotgun to a mounted turret and a huge mini-gun. The Punisher is the easiest character for a new player to pick up and doesn’t have the skill ceiling of the other Marvel Rival villains.

5 Magneto

Mutant Master Of Magnetism

• Vanguard
• Difficulty: 2 Stars

Magneto is a sympathetic villain, doing all he does to provide a world of safety for all of mutant-kind. The main issue with this is that it involves massacring humans to rid the world of their hatred for anything different. He is a powerful mutant who holds no mercy for his enemies and is a major antagonist in many versions of X-Men.

As a Vanguard, Magneto is a tank, boasting high HP and abilities revolving mostly around shielding himself and his allies. His main attacks are ranged and can deal substantial damage. However, he is relatively slow-moving and can be easily overwhelmed by a team if caught out on his own.

4 Namor

King Of Talokan

• Duelist
• Difficulty: 2 Stars

Namor is another morally ambiguous antihero, flipping back and forth between his alliances, taking the side of the heroes and villains of the Marvel universe as and when it suits him. As the ruler of an underwater nation, Namor has been seen as both a benevolent leader, and an invading threat, and he is most closely tied to the story of the Black Panther.

As a Dualist, Namor uses his trident to launch powerful attacks and command an army of aquatic creatures that he uses to flood the battlefield. If a team is not careful, Namor’s Monstro spawn can easily overwhelm an objective and deal surprising chip damage, which can often be the difference between a successful duel and one that leads to his death.

3 Hela

Asgardian Goddess Of Death

• Duelist
• Difficulty: 3 Stars

Hela is an ambitious force of death, commanding the nether realm and the souls it has claimed. In most iterations, Hela is intent on expanding her power and claiming the throne of Asgard, and her appearance in Marvel Rivals is no exception.

Her abilities in the game offer her impressive maneuverability and almost unrivaled damage. Her main attacks are devastating, and her ultimate can clear the battlefield in an instant. She can even stun enemies, should she be caught on her own, leading to her being one of the hardest Duelists in the game to deal with.

2 Venom

An Unstoppable Symbiotic Beast

• Vanguard
• Difficulty: 1 Star

One of the most recognizable Marvel villains of all time, Venom appears in yet another game as a hulking brute that can feel impossible to kill. From his first-ever appearance, Venom has caused havoc for the heroes of Marvel, despite becoming somewhat of an antihero in recent years.

Venom is another Vanguard villain, sporting a huge health pool and abilities that buffer his health and lock down his enemies. If a Venom player can get into the enemy backlines, they can easily cause chaos, picking apart the team with consistent damage and an impressive ability to ignore the damage dealt back to him.

1 Loki

The God Of Mischief

• Strategist
• Difficulty: 4 Stars

The final villain currently playable in Marvel Rivals is Loki, the only Strategist in the villain lineup. Despite having had a redemption arc in the MCU, Loki has always been a villain and a direct contradiction to Thor’s strength and virtue. As the god of mischief, Loki has tried time and time again to take the throne of Asgard and has used his powers of illusion to cause chaos throughout the multiverse.

In Marvel Rivals, Loki can use his powers of illusion to create multiples of himself, which attack in tandem with his main attacks. He can swap places with them, use them to heal, and turn himself invisible to sneak away. His ultimate allows him to become a copy of a target hero, using their abilities against them to overpower them with their might.