It has been known since the mid-credits scene of the first Avengers movie in 2012 that Thanos is the “big-bad” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. The Mad Titan’s involvement has since seen him appear in Guardians of the Galaxy and the mid-credits scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron and will culminate in the villain facing off with the Avengers and their allies in the two Avengers: Infinity War movies at the end of Phase 3.

Those movies won’t indicate the end of the franchise as a whole, though. Assuming they aren’t a huge financial failure (which they won’t be), the MCU will continue into a fourth phase and someone will have to take over Thanos’ mantle. However, it will take a special kind of villain to replace him as the big-bad of the franchise. Let’s take a look at five who could.

Norman Osborn

For a lot of people (namely casual movie-goers), Norman Osborn is nothing more than a rich guy who becomes the Spider-Man villain known as Green Goblin. However, he is so much more than that – and, now that Sony and Marvel Studios have agreed a deal, he will undoubtedly appear in the MCU and could become a big player.

In the comic books, Osborn’s influence is such that he has been the main antagonist of a number of huge world-altering arcs, including the likes of Dark Reign and Siege.

He isn’t physically powerful enough to work alone against all of the heroes of the MCU but, if the movies were to follow past comic book stories, he could potentially create the evil alliance called the Cabal, he could form the Dark Avengers with nefarious intentions, or he could lead an all-out assault on Asgard with allies like Sentry/The Void in tow.

Essentially, Osborn would represent a very different kind of villain – a human with bags of financial, political and emotional influence – who could use the service of others to be his muscle while operating in the background (the latter of which would be similar to Thanos).

Count Nefaria

Count Nefaria is a character that most people won’t actually know unless they’re fans of Marvel’s comic books – but he is actually a major Avengers villain whose power is such that he can be a threat to the entire roster on his own.

He is Luchino Nefaria – a wealthy Italian aristocrat whose desire for wealth and power led to him joining the criminal organisation known as the Maggia. He was thwarted by the Avengers many times, until he underwent a procedure performed by one of Baron Zemo’s scientists (Zemo being a character who is coming to the MCU) which gave him the combined powers of Living Laser, Power Man and Whirlwind.

His feats of power include casually blocking Mjolnir with one hand and taking on entire teams of Avengers on his own, but he has also led teams of villains in battle against the heroic group (the Ani-Men, Death Squad and Lethal Legion, for example) and would therefore present threats on a number of levels that could be implemented over several movies.

Kang the Conqueror

While it has recently been stated that Kang the Conqueror is not currently available to Marvel Studios, there is always a chance that these things can be worked out – just look at the Spider-Man situation with Sony Pictures for evidence of that.

It’s something the likes of Kevin Feige and his colleagues should definitely make a point of looking into, because Kang is a villain who is an essential part of Avengers history and he would be an awesome character to introduce in the movies.

He is Nathaniel Richards – a man from the future whose ancestors include both Doctor Doom and Mister Fantastic (both of whom are tied up in Fox Studios but, given that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver have been presented as Magneto’s children in the comic books for years but were still able to join the MCU, that shouldn’t be too difficult a problem to overcome).

Kang would represent a completely new kind of villain – an advanced futuristic human whose main weapon is his intellect. As a result, his technology would make the likes of the Iron Man armour seem obsolete (his armour is packed with esoteric gadget and makes him very powerful) and his ability to mess with the timeline would cause the movie Avengers all kinds of problems.

The Masters of Evil

Really, when it comes to taking over from Thanos as the MCU’s big-bad, very few individual characters can match the Mad Titan’s might and power, so what better way to do it than by replacing him with the most formidable team of villains in Marvel comic books?

The Masters of Evil have had many incarnations in the comics, but they all have one thing in common – they’re a credible threat to the Avengers.

Marvel Studios could use the opportunity to unite existing villains in the MCU (Loki, Abomination, Brock Rumlow, Justin Hammer), some that were thought dead (Ultron, Red Skull, Ronan, Malekith) and some new villains (the real Mandarin, Doctor Octopus, the Leader the upcoming Baron Zemo) to form a formidable team capable of matching the Avengers member for member.

The entirety of Phase 4 could focus on assembling them – just like the Avengers slowly assembled in Phase 1 – and the final movie could see the two teams face-off in an epic climatic battle.

Dormammu

Without utilising the truly cosmic entities from Marvel comic books (the likes of the Celestials, the Beyonder, the In-Betweener, Death, Chaos, Hate and Oblivion), one of the only individuals who is genuinely as much of a threat as Thanos is Dormammu.

Dormammu is classically a Doctor Strange villain, but he has faced the Avengers as a team several times in the past and, with Doctor Strange imminently coming to the MCU, there’s every chance Dormammu could be following him.

The Faltine character would represent a completely different kind of threat to the MCU’s heroes, as they have yet to encounter someone truly supernatural and mystical.

Dormammu’s power easily outmatches the Avengers as a combined unit and defeating him would prove every bit as difficult as their impending battle with Thanos – especially if he utilises powerful artefacts like Thanos is doing with the Infinity Stones.

What do you think? Have you got any ideas for potentially great villains to replace Thanos? Have your say below.