A villain complaint that has persisted throughout all five Phases of the MCU may have been left behind by Marvel Studios’ latest release.

The MCU may finally be moving past a frustrating villain trend as proven by the franchise’s latest release: Echo. Since the MCU began, the franchise has fluctuated regarding the quality of its villains. While some are among the best in the genre such as Thanos, Killmonger, or Loki, others have been frustratingly forgettable. When watching the Marvel movies in order, the more compelling villains have tended to be included towards the latter two Phases of the Infinity Saga and the beginning of the Multiverse Saga.

Many are hoping that this will continue, especially with the promising villains confirmed for the MCU’s Phase 5 thus far. That said, regardless of the quality of each individual villain’s writing, there has been one complaint that has often prevailed throughout Marvel Studios’ franchise regarding antagonists. This complaint pertains to whether the MCU’s villains are left alive or dead by the end of their appearances, though the most recent release in the franchise may show Marvel is moving beyond this frustrating criticism for upcoming projects.

The MCU Has Long Been Criticized For Killing Off Villains Prematurely

The MCU’s villains are rarely allowed the chance to shine beyond debut appearances.

Before exploring how the MCU’s most recent release has moved past one of the franchise’s common villain complaints, it is worth detailing what exactly that complaint is. Since the franchise began, the MCU has long been criticized for killing off villains before their full storytelling value has been exploited. This has been summed up in Phases 4 and 5 recently, despite some of the villains in such Phases being well-written antagonists.

Of the movies released in Phases 4 and 5 of the MCU, only three of them have kept their antagonists alive by the story’s ending. These three projects were Spider-Man: No Way Home, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The rest of the theatrical releases in these Phases – Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Marvels – killed their primary antagonists by the end of each one.

That said, the MCU has a long history of failing to utilize villains after the first movie they debuted in, though a recent release may prove this is changing.

Even in Phase 3 of the MCU, seven of the 11 feature films released had villains who were killed off. This is a criticism that has long been attached to the MCU as audiences wish to see villains live on, either to face the heroes of the franchise again or to see their stories become much more complex. That said, the MCU has a long history of failing to utilize villains after the first movie they debuted in, though a recent release may prove this is changing.

Echo Is Right To Keep Kingpin Alive

Kingpin’s continued journey will prove Echo’s storytelling decision to be the right choice.

The most recent release in the MCU was Echo, a Marvel Studios Disney+ show. By the end of Echo‘s five episodes, the show’s main villain – Wilson Fisk/Kingpin – was kept alive. Interestingly, this spawned from the prior show in which Kingpin appeared, Hawkeye. At the end of Hawkeye, it seemed as though Echo killed Kingpin only for Marvel Studios to reveal that the two would face off again in the former’s solo series. This allowed Echo to have a great deal of anticipation behind it due to the promise of seeing Kingpin, a beloved Marvel villain, return.

This was then capitalized on in Echo with Kingpin’s role. The villain was one of the best parts of Echo‘s story, partly due to Vincent D’Onofrio’s fantastic performance but also because of the foreshadowing of his future MCU journeys. Therefore, Echo has proven that it was the right decision to keep Kingpin alive as it shows the MCU may be moving past the aforementioned criticism of killing villains off prematurely.

How Kingpin Shows The Value In Keeping Villains Alive

Kingpin’s incredibly exciting future appearances in MCU projects would not be possible if he was killed off early.

Concerning how Echo and its treatment of Kingpin shows the value of letting villains live on, it is mainly through the promise of Fisk’s future appearances. Firstly, Echo‘s ending still managed to feel like a satisfying endpoint for Maya Lopez/Echo’s journey without killing Kingpin. Concerning the villain in question, Echo marks his fifth appearance in the MCU after three seasons of Daredevil and Hawkeye, meaning the character is already as well fleshed out – if not more so – than some of the franchise’s heroes.

This holds a great deal of value in the MCU, as it means a villain can be just as compelling as the heroes they face. Rather than a villain being a one-and-done character with little to no lasting value, Kingpin proves villains can be long-lasting characters in the franchise. This is proven by the character’s future confirmed appearances in Daredevil: Born Again and even rumored further roles in projects like Spider-Man 4 and the MCU’s street-level productions. All of this shows the value of keeping villains alive, something Echo hopefully proves Marvel Studios has learned from the franchise’s past.