The world and the Marvel Cinematic Universe need more awesome female super-villains. We’ve had a couple so far, but who else is waiting in the wings? Who are some awesome lady villains that Marvel can put into their movies and TV shows? There are a ton of such characters available in the comics, and I’ve definitely got some favorites to mention. I’m talking really villainous roles, characters who aren’t going to switch to the good guys in the long run.

As we all know, Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter is a horrible, sexist person who put his foot down about women getting any sort of leading role, be it hero or villain. He famously made them change the villain of Iron Man 3 to not be Maya Hansen, even though she would have been a great villain. Thankfully, Perlmutter is gone, and Marvel women can let their evil flags fly! We’ve already had Hela, Ghost, Agatha Harkness, Ravonna Renslayer and gender-flipped Flag Smasher and Taskmaster, but that list is way too small. Who are some other options?

Join me after the jump for six of Marvel’s best choices for new female villains for the MCU!

6. Deathbird

Deathbird is traditionally an X-Men villain, what with her being tied closely to the Shi’ar aliens. She’s the sister of Empress Lilandra. But there’s no reason Deathbird has to stay linked to the X-Men. The MCU has a lot of cosmic stuff going on these days, and Deathbird would make a cool foe to put up against the Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor or someone else out there in the cosmos. She’s tough, she’s deadly, and she could bring the whole Shi’ar with her. Imagine an MCU where the Shi’ar are introduced first, and then the X-Men get to meet with them later on down the line.

5. Screwball

Screwball is a recent addition to Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, and she was interesting enough to get added to the recent Spider-Man games, so she has some legs. Screwball is obsessed with social media attention, and became a super-villain to challenge Spider-Man for the clicks and views. Considering how much social media has continued to evolve even after her introduction, I think she could be used in the next Spidey trilogy. Will TikTok still be around them? I suppose she could become very dated very quickly, but surely if she clung to just the general concept of social media, she’d be fine.

4. Moonstone

Is Moonstone going to be in The Marvels? I haven’t been keeping too close a track. But she’s a great choice to take on Captain Marvel and her crew. She’s bonded with a Kree gravity stone, granting her all sorts of random powers. She’s been a Thunderbolt, and in the comics, she posed as the evil version of Captain Marvel when Norman Osborne built his Dark Avengers. She’s also a psychiatrist, so that’s a fun wrinkle. Plenty of material to turn Moonstone into an ongoing threat across multiple heroes/teams.

3. Poundcakes and the Grapplers

The MCU needs to have fun every once and a while. And it’s always fun to have somebody you can just punch. Poundcakes fits the bill perfectly, along with the whole team of Grapplers. They started out as an all-woman professional wrestling stable who grew bitter with the fact that they didn’t make as much money as their male counterparts. That’s current! Then they got wrapped up in crime and Poundcakes was given special boots that could cause vibrations in the ground. She’s pretty much just a cool grappler with a fun name, and is so obscure that Marvel could do a lot with both her and her team! Also, for added fun, Screaming Mimi was one of the original Grapplers! What a perfect place to introduce the character who can someday become Songbird!

2. Enchantress

Enchantress is a classic Thor villain, and it’s rather surprising that she still hasn’t made an appearance across four movies. Heck, Thor: Ragnarok used her primary henchman, the Executioner, without even a word about the Enchantress. So there’s still plenty of time to put her to good use, especially since the Loki TV show doubles up opportunities for Asgardian villainy. The Enchantress is just that, an enchanting sorceress who can bewitch Thor and his pals with her magic. Plenty of opportunity for someone like her.

1. Lady Octopus

Honestly, I’m not entirely convinced I’m not trolling with this entry. But at the very least, I am a legitimate fan of Carolyn Trainer, the female Doctor Octopus. Would she work in Marvel and Sony’s next Spider-Man trilogy? I honestly do not know. Marvel is likely to never recast the regular male Doctor Octopus, especially not after Spider-Man: No Way Home. So why not bring in that tentacle goodness with the second version, the lady version? But then she’s entirely different from the female Doctor Octopus who appeared in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. So this character would probably be very, very, very confusing to viewers. She’d still be cool, though.

Honorable Mention: Lady Stilt-Man

Someone from the Stilt-Man family needs to show up in the MCU someday, why not make it Lady Stilt-Man? This character is just waiting to take off, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe could be her big break! It’s way past time for Lady Stilt-Man to get her due!

—————-