The latest Marvel Studios release saw the bad guys come out on top, marking another instance that the villains have reigned triumphant in the MCU. The comic book nature of superhero films often sees the heroes defeating the villain, but that hasn't always been the case in the MCU, particularly in Ironheart. The Disney+ series follows Riri Williams' (Dominique Thorne) journey to create her own Iron-Suit legacy, and to do that, she teams up with some surprising allies.
After struggling to find the funds to fuel her inventions, Riri teams up with the elusive Parker Robbins/The Hood (Anthony Ramos) in Ironheart, who promises her wealth in exchange for helping him and his gang complete a series of heists. Riri turns on Parker upon learning of his sinister intentions and the dark magic tied to his enchanted hood. However, when Parker's master, Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen), finally reveals himself, he abandons the Hood and comes to Riri instead, offering to grant her deepest desires.
In a twist ending, Riri is revealed to have accepted Mephisto's offer, which results in her dead best friend Natalie (Lyric Ross) returning to life. While there was no climactic battle or world-ending conflict, Ironheart's finale did involve a clash of wills between its hero and villain. The ending confirms that Mephisto won this battle against Riri, as he successfully coerced her into accepting his offer and joining his side.
This is one of the few instances that a Marvel villain has bested the titular hero, ending Phase 5 of the MCU on a dark note.
5 Times the Villains Have Won in the MCU
Zemo - Captain America: Civil War
The secret orchestrator of the schism between the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War was Helmut Zemo, who bombed the signing of the Sokovia Accords and pinned it on Bucky Barnes. He then revealed to Tony Stark that the Winter Soldier killed his parents, resulting in Iron Man going on a warpath to get vengeance on Bucky, and Captain America being forced to step in between his two friends.
Zemo's mission was to get the Avengers to turn on each other, gaining vengeance upon the team for the death of his family in Sokovia during Avengers: Age of Ultron. With Stark and Rogers left fighting, Zemo had completed his mission. He was prepared to commit suicide, but Black Panther arrived to arrest him before that could happen.
Surtur - Thor: Ragnarok
The Fire Demon Surtur existed to enact Ragnarok, aka the prophesied event in Norse Mythology that spells the doom of Asgard. Despite Thor and Loki initially fighting to stop that from happening, the duo eventually allow Surtur to win, knowing that Ragnarok is the only thing strong enough to stop the rampage of their sister, Hela. This results in the destruction of Asgard, leaving its people refugees, and Surtur victorious.
Thanos - Avengers: Infinity War
The shocking ending of Avengers: Infinity War will go down in MCU history. After the Avengers spent the movie fighting to stop Thanos from uniting all the Infinity Stones, the closing moments of the film see Josh Brolin's villain triumphant. Thanos snaps his fingers and enacts his plan to eliminate half of all life in the universe, which turns several Avengers team members into dust.
Avengers: Infinity War was one of the most memorable examples of a villain winning in the MCU and showed what happens when Earth's mightiest heroes fail their mission.
He Who Remains - Loki Season 1
After Loki and Sylvie successfully arrive at the Citadel beyond the Void, they encounter He Who Remains, the founder of the TVA, who created the Multiversal agency to prevent war from breaking out between his variants. He Who Remains offers Loki and Sylvie a choice of either killing him and risking a new Multiversal war, or taking his place and maintaining order with the TVA.
Sylvie ultimately falls into the trap of killing He Who Remains, sparking the unravelling of the TVA and unleashing chaos on the Multiverse. Ultimately, He Who Remains wanted to retire and didn't mind whether that resulted in his death, so he stood to win no matter which choice Loki and Sylvie made.
Death/Rio - Agatha All Along
After the surprising reveal that Rio was Marvel's manifestation of Death in disguise, the character gives the protagonists in Agatha All Along a choice. Following the revelation that Teen is actually Billy Maximoff reincarnated, Death is set on taking his life because he is upsetting the cosmic balance.
When Agatha refuses to let that happen, Death gives them a choice of who comes with her. Agatha ultimately sacrifices her life for Billy's, allowing Death to win as she gets her promised soul.
