One thing that can be very annoying when it comes to comic book movies is having a villain who doesn’t present a credible threat to the hero.

Take The Avengers in 2012, for example. Loki was inferior to Thor and Hulk individually, so how was he meant to be a threat to the entire Avengers roster? Certainly not by recruiting an army of aliens that the likes of Black Widow and Hawkeye could fairly easily beat in large groups.

Generally, the villain possesses roughly the same level of power as the hero. Hulk and Abomination, Iron Man and Iron Monger, Captain America and Red Skull, and Captain America and the Winter Soldier, for example, were all very evenly matched, and audiences never really got the feeling that the heroes were genuinely in danger as a result.

On the odd occasion, however, the hero is totally outmatched in terms of power, strength, and/or skill levels. This article lists ten such examples.

Ant-Man (Yellowjacket)

Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, aka Scott Lang was the titular character in his 2015 Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, in which he went up against the evil Yellowjacket, aka Darren Cross.

Wearing technology that had previously been worn by Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym many years prior to the events of the film, Lang was vastly outgunned against the more modern armor worn by Cross.

While Lang’s suit did nothing but enable him to shrink, Cross’ suit was more heavily armored, possessed a range of additional weaponry, and gave him the ability to shrink. It really seemed as though Lang had no chance in their final fight, but by taking a huge risk and going subatomic, he was able to edge out an unlikely victory against his more advanced foe.

And on we move to our first DC hero on this list.

Bale Batman (Bane)

Christian Bale’s Batman, aka Bruce Wayne, appeared in three movies between 2005 and 2012. All of which were hugely popular, as Christopher Nolan did an amazing job at the helm. But his toughest opponent came in the third movie, The Dark Knight Rises.

Bane – played by Tom Hardy – was not only physically superior to Batman in every way, he also had the intelligence and tactical nous to match him on a mental level, which is something only a few of Batman’s regular opponents in any media can claim.

Bane was every bit as skilled as Batman; he was also far stronger, more durable, and totally immune to pain. This made him incredibly dangerous and superior to Batman but, as always, the Dark Knight found a way to come out on top, eventually.

Now we move on to Batman’s friend and sometimes rival.

Reeve Superman (Zod, Ursa, and Non)

Christopher Reeve set the bar very high many years ago when it came to live action superhero movies. His depiction of Superman, aka Clark Kent, remains one of most iconic movie superheroes in cinematic history – it may even be the most iconic.

In four movies between 1978 and 1987 (which, sadly, got gradually worse, to the point of being farcical), he portrayed the Kryptonian superhero with charm and charisma – and his biggest threat undoubtedly came in the second movie in 1980.

Terence Stamp’s General Zod and his cronies (Ursa, played by Sarah Douglas, and Non, played by Jack O’Halloran) – all of whom first appeared briefly in the first Superman movie – outmatched Superman by virtue of that fact that they were also Kryptonian, there were three of them, and they were more experienced fighters than Superman. However, he prevailed by outsmarting them.

Of course, Reeve’s Superman wasn’t the only one to face General Zod.

Cavill Superman (Zod and Cronies)

The current big screen Superman is, of course, Henry Cavill. He appeared as the Kryptonian superhero in 2013’s Man of Steel, and will be reprising the role (in the month of this article being published, no less) in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Like Christopher Reeve before him, Cavill faced a Kryptonian threat in the form of General Zod – this time played by Michael Shannon – and this version brought along more cronies than Terence Stamp’s version of the character (too many to name, quite frankly).

This meant that Cavill’s Supes was terribly outmatched. He faced a small army of Zod’s followers, all of whom were far more experienced as warriors than he was – especially Zod himself. Superman was able to win by breaking his own rule and killing Zod by snapping his neck before he could hurt any more innocent civilians.

Let’s get back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for this next entry.

Thor (Kurse)

Thor – played by Chris Hemsworth – has now appeared in four Marvel Cinematic Universe movies since making his first appearance in 2011’s Thor.

More often than not, he has faced villains who really aren’t much of a physical threat to him – Loki, the Frost Giants, the Chitauri, Ultron, and Ultron’s drones, for example – but it was very different in 2013’s Thor: The Dark World.

The main villain was Christopher Eccleston’s Malekith, but we’re not even referring to him here. Kurse – played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje – was totally dominant over Thor, tossing the Asgardian around with ease and completely out-powering him. While he might not have had the versatile range of powers that Thor possesses, his vastly superior physicality was more than enough to ensure he would have beaten the hero had Loki not intervened with a sneak attack from behind.

And now for a completely different kind of Marvel hero.

Blade (All of Them)

Changing the tone somewhat, we now come to Blade. Wesley Snipes starred as the vampire hunter, who is half vampire himself, in a trilogy of movies between 1998 and 2004.

The movies were all filled with profanity and gore and featured a trio of vicious villains – all of whom vastly outpowered the titular anti-hero on paper.

Deacon Frost became La Magra – the blood god – and he was faster, stronger, and more durable than Blade (he was essentially impossible to hurt). Jared Nomak was a super-vampire, whose stats dwarfed Blade’s in every sense. And Drake – the movie world’s version of Dracula – was the oldest vampire in the world, whose physical attributes and experience were vastly superior to Blade’s. However, via various plot devices, the vampire hunter defeated all three of them.

Now let’s move on to a less “adult” Marvel hero.

Garfield Spider-Man (All of Them)

Spider-Man, by his very nature, is the perennial underdog. Time after time, the character has defied the odds to defeat seemingly more powerful opponents – and the movies are no exception in that sense.

In the Amazing Spider-Man movies, Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man (two movies, 2012-2014) came up against three opponents who really should have defeated him, based on their superior physical attributes.

Lizard – played by Rhys Ifans – essentially had all of Spider-Man’s powers (apart from the web-shooters), but amplified twofold. He was, in particular, considerably stronger than Spidey, and his regeneration ability made him so much harder to hurt. Electro – played by Jamie Foxx – on the other hand, was a being of pure electricity, and Spidey couldn’t even touch him without being electrocuted. Even Dane DeHaan’s Green Goblin – who only appeared briefly – had the advantage of flight and ranged attacks over Spidey. Yet Marvel’s flagship hero managed to defeat them both (with help in both cases, however).

Andrew Garfield isn’t the only on-screen Spider-Man to fight tough opponents, of course.

Maguire Spider-Man (All of Them)

Like Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire’s version of the Webbed Wonder before him (three movies, 2002-2007) took on a series of opponents who – on paper at least – should have defeated him handily. In Maguire’s case, the number of such villains was higher, however.

In three movies, Maguire’s Spidey faced no less than four opponents, who should have been able to readily beat him, by virtue of their vastly superior physical attributes.

Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, for instance, had the advantage of flight and ranged attacks over Spidey – as well as being equal in terms of strength and durability. Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus wielded titanium tentacles that could manhandle Spidey like he was a rag doll. Thomas Haden Church played Sandman – a being who was impossible to hurt, because he was made of sand. He could also grow to gigantic proportions and possessed massive super-strength. And then there was Topher Grace’s Venom, who was essentially Spider-Man multiplied by at least two.  Spider-Man prevailed against them all – occasionally with a little assistance.

And now on to our first team entry.

The Guardians of the Galaxy (Ronan)

The first – and only – team we’re including on this list is the Guardians of the Galaxy, who appeared in a brilliant eponymous 2014 movie as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.

The collective might of Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot was fairly impressive – they proved that on numerous occasions throughout the movie – but it was nothing compared to that of the movie’s major villain, as they could barely scratch him between the five of them.

Ronan – played by Lee Pace – was stronger, more durable, and more ruthless than all of the Guardians combined. And when he got his hands on the Orb Infinity Stone, he simply dwarfed them in terms of his power. It was only when the Guardians were able to steal the Orb from Ronan that they were able to defeat him, once and for all.

And now for our final entry, which involves a very popular hero and a hugely unpopular villain.

Wolverine (Deadpool)

Hugh Jackman has played Wolverine in the X-Men movie franchise since 2000. He’s proven to be incredibly popular as the ferocious mutant, and has come up against some powerful opponents – but none more so than the most unpopular character in the entire franchise.

In 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he faced Deadpool – or at least a character who was supposed to be Deadpool. Played by both Ryan Reynolds and Scott Adkins throughout the course of the movie, this version of Deadpool was awful. A mish-mash of mutant powers, he was designed to be a mutant killer, controlled by William Stryker.

But Deadpool was undeniably powerful. He possessed every power that Wolverine had, and more. Healing, adamantium weaponry, optic blasts and teleportation meant that Wolverine had to take an assist from his evil, estranged brother Sabertooth to pull off the victory in the movie’s final scenes.

And that’s that!

What do you think? Were all of these heroes outmatched on paper? Which other movie superheroes were overpowered by their villains? Have your say below!