All 11 Major Supervillains Who Have Children in the MCU, Ranked By Power

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe features several supervillains who are also parents, though they’d likely be terrible to raise you. Over the past 17 years, Marvel Studios has frequently touched on the idea of family, and it’s a major motivation for many of the MCU’s most dangerous villains. They often go to great lengths—even extreme ones—to protect their children.

Eleven major villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have children, and surprisingly, many of those kids – even the ones who’ve become heroes or villains themselves – probably wish they had different families. These villains have been part of the MCU for a long time, appearing in films as early as the first Iron Man in 2008 and as recently as Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in 2025. Despite some being incredibly powerful – even the most powerful characters in the MCU – that doesn’t make them good parents.

11) Eleanor Bishop (Kate Bishop)

Eleanor Bishop, played by Vera Farmiga, was introduced in the 2021 series Hawkeye as the mother of Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). After her husband’s death, Eleanor took control of his agreement with Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), which pulled her into New York City’s criminal world. She presents a unique take on the trope of a villainous parent with a heroic child, being the only mother-daughter pairing on this list. Despite her actions, Eleanor is a relatable villain – she’s trapped by a deal with Kingpin that she wants to escape, and her only real power comes from her wealth.

10) Najma (Kamran)

The Disney+ series Ms. Marvel faced some challenges, particularly with the portrayal of the ClanDestine, a family of magical beings led by Najma (Nimra Bucha). As Djinn with powers stemming from the Noor Dimension, the ClanDestine weren’t fully explored before most of them were killed off. Najma ultimately gave her life to seal a gateway to the Noor Dimension, passing her abilities—which mirrored those of Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani)—to her son, Kamran (Rish Shah). While Kamran used these hard-light powers more aggressively, he eventually sought safety with the Red Daggers in Pakistan.

9) Obadiah Stane’s Iron Monger (Ezekiel Stane)

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Obadiah Stane (played by Jeff Bridges) was the first major villain in Iron Man. He stole Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) ideas and built his own powerful suit of armor, the Iron Monger. Motivated by jealousy and a desire for wealth, Stane first tried to kill Stark and repeatedly plotted against him, ultimately damaging his reputation as a weapons industry leader. This rivalry continued with Stane’s son, Ezekiel Stane (Alden Ehrenreich), who had a complicated relationship with Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) in Ironheart, sometimes helping and sometimes opposing her.

8) Adrian Toomes’ Vulture (Liz)

A major surprise in Spider-Man: Homecoming was the reveal that Adrian Toomes, the villain known as the Vulture (played by Michael Keaton), is the father of Liz (Laura Harrier), Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) girlfriend. This connection created a lot of tension and ultimately led to some of the film’s most powerful and unforgettable moments. Toomes stole alien technology to support his family, making him an unusual Marvel villain – a dedicated parent, even if his actions were illegal and dangerous.

7) General Dreykov (Antonia Dreykov)

General Dreykov (Ray Winstone), though not a particularly well-known villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, played a significant role as the leader of the Red Room and all its Black Widow assassins. This included his daughter, Antonia (Olga Kurylenko), who gained the power to flawlessly copy others’ movements after a near-fatal encounter with Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) during Natasha’s escape to SHIELD. While the Black Widow film ended Dreykov’s control over the assassins, freeing Antonia to act independently as the Taskmaster in Thunderbolts, she was quickly killed off.

6) Thaddeus Ross’ Red Hulk (Betty Ross)

The second Marvel Cinematic Universe film, The Incredible Hulk (2008), first introduced the dynamic between Thaddeus Ross and his daughter, but this connection wasn’t explored again for many years. Thaddeus Ross, played originally by William Hurt and later by Harrison Ford, was introduced as a powerful general determined to capture Bruce Banner (Edward Norton). For years afterward, he clashed with the Avengers. His strong dislike of superheroes created tension in his relationship with Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), but after he became the Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World, Betty reappeared, possibly hoping for a change in his perspective.

5) Norman Osborn (Harry Osborn)

Although it’s not officially part of the main Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline, the animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man beautifully portrays the complex relationship between Norman and Harry Osborn. Norman, the powerful CEO of Oscorp and future Green Goblin, mentors Peter Parker. His son, Harry, becomes Spider-Man’s friend, but feels neglected as his father seems more interested in Peter. This father-son dynamic will be a major focus in season 2 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

4) Xu Wenwu (Xu Shang-Chi & Xu Xialing)

The Ten Rings organization and its leader, the Mandarin, have been hinted at throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it wasn’t until the 2021 film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings that the villain was fully introduced. Xu Wenwu, played by Tony Leung, gained long life and special abilities from the ten mystical rings. However, these rings also led him to become a controlling and demanding father to his children, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), pushing them to become highly skilled fighters. Wenwu was a loving father when he wasn’t using the rings, but he resumed wearing them after the death of Ying Yi (Fala Chen).

3) Agatha Harkness (Nicholas Scratch)

The relationship between Agatha Harkness and her son, Nicholas Scratch, is one of the most heartbreaking stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When Nicholas was born, Death intended to take him, but Agatha pleaded for more time – just a few years. Sadly, Nicholas became ill and died, which sparked a long-lasting feud between Agatha and Death. Agatha cherished a song she and Nicholas had written together and transformed it into “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road,” using it to manipulate other witches for years. She even refused to move on after her own death, unwilling to face Nicholas in the afterlife, and instead became a ghostly guide for Billy Maximoff’s Wiccan.

2) Ego (Peter Quill)

Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord, always knew his mother was human, but the identity of his father was a secret until the movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The film revealed that his father was Ego (Kurt Russell), a tremendously powerful Celestial being who disguised himself as a human to travel the universe and carry out a plan called the Expansion. Ego eventually fell in love with Peter’s mother, Meredith Quill (Laura Haddock). Peter inherited some of Ego’s incredible power, but lost it when he and the Guardians defeated Ego, stopping his Expansion and leading Peter to seek therapy back on Earth.

1) Thanos (Gamora, Nebula & Children of Thanos)

In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos (Josh Brolin) became the most powerful being in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after gathering all six Infinity Stones. Long before this, the intergalactic warlord traveled the cosmos, eliminating half the population of numerous planets with his powerful army. During these conquests, Thanos took in orphaned children from different worlds, raising them as his own and training them to be fierce warriors. This group, known as the Children of Thanos, included the dangerous Black Order – Ebony Maw (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), Cull Obsidian (Terry Notary), Proxima Midnight (Carrie Coon), and Corvus Glaive (Michael James Shaw) – as well as Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), who later joined the Guardians of the Galaxy and turned against their adoptive father.

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2025-12-16 01:43