MCU Wastes Promising Villain 5 Times Over 17 Years

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has once again wasted a villain who has been squandered five times in the 17 years since the franchise began. For all its acclaim, the MCU timeline has long faced one recurring criticism: its villains rarely get the spotlight they deserve. Time and again, Marvel introduces antagonists with immense potential, only to kill them off immediately.

With only a handful of exceptions, the MCU’s villains haven’t been allowed to grow across multiple films, let alone reach the kind of status comic book fans associate with recurring nemeses. Even the ones who have survived often return in altered roles, more sympathetic than menacing, leaving the franchise with a shortage of truly enduring threats.

This has created a pattern where audiences get only a taste of compelling characters before they’re discarded. Few villains highlight this problem more clearly than the one. One who Marvel has managed to waste in five different ways over 17 years, including 2025’s must-watch superhero series.

2025 Marks The Latest In A Long Line Of Ways The MCU Has Wasted 1 Villain

Spoiler alert! This article contains spoilers for Marvel Zombies episode 2.

The latest example of wasted villain potential comes with Marvel Zombies episode 2 in 2025, which features Xu Wenwu in all his formidable glory – only to kill him off almost instantly. His reappearance briefly showcases just how powerful and fascinating a character he is, but within moments he’s dispatched, shutting the door on potential storylines yet again.

It’s emblematic of how Marvel has mishandled the character since the very beginning. The seeds were planted back in Iron Man (2008), where the Ten Rings terrorist organization was teased as part of Tony Stark’s origin. Hints continued in Iron Man 2 and even Ant-Man, quietly building a mystique around the shadowy group.

Instead of paying that off directly, Iron Man 3 (2013) pulled a bait-and-switch with the infamous Mandarin twist. Then Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) finally delivered the real Mandarin, renamed Xu Wenwu, as a complex, magnetic figure. This truly showed the villain’s potential, before he was unceremoniously killed off.

His appearances in What If…? have been equally frustrating. “What If… Hela Found the Ten Rings?” presented Wenwu’s immense potential. However, he was largely relegated to the sidelines, and he even leaned toward a heroic portrayal rather than fully exploring his villainy.

Later, in “What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?”, he appeared just long enough to hand the Ten Rings over to Kahhori during a massive battle. Time and again, Marvel finds ways to tease how vital Wenwu could be, only to undercut it. Marvel Zombies continues that pattern in the most abrupt fashion yet.

Xu Wenwu’s Marvel Zombies Death Is A Particularly Potent Waste

Xu Wenwu wielding the powerful Ten Rings in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Marvel Zombies episode 2 finally set the stage for a dramatic Wenwu return. As survivors fought desperately against the undead, helicopters bearing the Ten Rings appeared, raining firepower down on the horde. From there, Xu Wenwu himself descended into battle, commanding the rings with his signature authority. It was a thrilling reintroduction.

The scene truly flaunted just how formidable and commanding he could be as both a fighter and a leader. The episode even offered an emotional reunion between Wenwu and his son Shang-Chi. However, within seconds, Wenwu uses the rings to save Shang-Chi, leaving him defenseless to the undead swarm.

In less than a minute of screen time, the story cut him down yet again. It’s one of the most glaring examples of the MCU giving Wenwu an opportunity to shine before yanking it away just as quickly. It’s almost becoming a running joke, with Marvel Zombies having a laughably abrupt turnaround from heroic entrance to grisly defeat.

Considering that his main-timeline arc already ended sharply in Shang-Chi, the brevity of his Marvel Zombies appearance underscores how wasted the character’s potential has been. Wenwu could have served as a recurring multi-film antagonist. Instead, audiences keep getting glimpses of his brilliance before the MCU closes the book on him.