5. Grant Ward (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.): While Phil Coulson and his team have gone up against many villains throughout the long running series, none had been as personal and as despicable as Grant Ward. Introduced as a fellow agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ward was seen to be an uptight and by the books officer but still had an affable and easy going side to him that people could relate to. He was shown to be close with Daisy Johnson/Skye and was able to get along well enough with the other main characters. However, once he was revealed to be a high ranking member of HYDRA, Ward was shown to be a ruthless and manipulative individual and had no problem with killing the people he pretended to be friends with. Ward served as Coulson’s most personal enemy during the first three seasons of the show and was finally killed by him in season 3. After all the turmoil that he caused for our main characters and his actions as one of the leaders of HYDRA, it was immensely satisfying to see him suffer a gruesome fate at the literal hands of Coulson.
4. Billy Russo (The Punisher): I think that of all the villains from the Marvel Netflix shows, Billy Russo/Jigsaw is quite possibly the most underrated of them. The former best friend of the show’s titular character, Billy Russo was easily the most personal villain that Frank Castle ever went up against. After playing a role in the death of Frank’s family and participating in a high amount of criminal activity, Russo seeks to cover his tracks before the government (or Frank) finds out about his actions. Russo proves to be a horrible individual throughout the entire series, killing many innocent people in his warpath and tormenting Frank throughout all of it. When Frank permanently scars him at the end of the first season, it does little to stop him from causing problems despite him suffering from a temporary case of amnesia. His role in season 2 is much more sympathetic but it does not make his character any less despicable. His most vicious deed in season 2 occurs when he tricks Frank into thinking that he killed innocent hostages in an effort to mentally break him when in reality it was him. When he is mortally wounded and at Frank’s mercy, he sincerely apologizes for his role in his family’s death only to be gunned down mid-sentence by his former best friend. Despite his sad backstory and sympathetic character arc in season 2, Russo absolutely deserved his fate and it was easy to feel a high level of satisfaction when he died.
3. The Governor (The Walking Dead): In a show like The Walking Dead, there are many humans that prove to be far more deadly and violent than the thousands of flesh eating zombies that are usually seen. Phillip Blake/The Governor is definitely one of the most infamous examples of that within the series. When we first see the Governor, he seems to be a generous and affable leader of a community called Woodbury. However, in reality the Governor is a ruthless and tyrannical man who will kill any innocent person for the smallest of reasons. Underneath the Governor’s confident and warm exterior is an insane warmonger with a kill or be killed mindset. From murdering an innocent group of soldiers for no reason to keeping their severed zombified heads in fish tanks, the Governor commits countless atrocities throughout his time on the show. After finding out about the Prison safe haven that Rick and his group have found, the Governor makes it his goal to capture it. He forms an intense conflict with Michonne, who kills his zombified daughter after he tried to have her murdered. After losing his daughter (as well as his eye), the Governor becomes even more unstable and driven by revenge, killing several people along the way including Daryl Dixon’s hot headed brother Merle as well as his own people when they refuse to fight Rick’s group for him. After burning his community to the ground, the Governor finds another group of people. Instead of using this opportunity to start fresh and have a new life, he instead leads this group to try and take over the prison once again. After murdering the fan favorite character Hershel Greene, the Governor is finally killed when Michonne stabs him through the back. It was a long time coming and absolutely worth it. While many of the villains in The Walking Dead proved to be absolute monsters, the Governor was the first one to show the audience just how terrifying a human could be compared to the actual zombies.
2. Kilgrave (Jessica Jones): In my opinion, Kilgrave is the most repulsive and horrible live-action Marvel character we have seen to this day. A sociopathic individual with the ability to control people by telling them what to do, Kilgrave’s ultimate goal is to be with Jessica Jones after she is able to break free of his control after he forced her to kill someone. The amount of people who have suffered at his hand is stunning. Those who aren’t killed in his endless quest for Jessica are permanently scarred by their experience with him. Even before meeting Jessica, Kilgrave had still killed many people through his powers and never once spared a second thought for it. In addition to killing tons of innocent people, Kilgrave regularly rapes women as if it were another day at the store for him. After Jessica obviously rejects his advances and tries to bring him to justice, Kilgrave attempts to take her down by going after the people closest to her. The most infuriating thing about Kilgrave’s powers is that he is untouchable and is always able to escape capture so easily. When Jessica finally kills him by snapping his neck, it is such a rewarding scene. While he had a tragic childhood, Kilgrave was pure evil when it comes down to it and seeing him finally get what was coming to him was such a satisfying moment.
1. White Dragon (Peacemaker): Perhaps this is just recency bias, but I really feel that of all the villains in comic book tv shows, none of them were as disgraceful and evil as Auggie Smith/White Dragon. The father of Christopher Smith/Peacemaker, Auggie is an extremely abusive father with a deep hatred of his own son. He is the reason as to why Peacemaker is a killer. Not only did he constantly belittle his son and made him kill at such a young age, but he also forced him to fight with his older brother Keith for sport when he was just a child, which resulted in his older son’s death, something that he blamed Peacemaker for even though he was the one who forced his children to fight as if it were entertainment. On top of being a horrible father, Auggie is a massive racist, with him having a hateful comment for anyone who isn’t white. He even leads a KKK-like group called the Aryan Empire as the supervillain called the White Dragon. It goes without saying that he is also a very sadistic individual, as seen when he bursts into a fit of laughter when Peacemaker tells him about Bloodsport’s traumatic childhood. After being framed by Peacemaker’s team for his own son’s actions (something Peacemaker had no idea about), Auggie decides to murder his son once he gets out of prison. After nearly killing his son and critically injuring the latter’s beloved pet eagle Eagly, Auggie is furiously gunned down by Peacemaker after mocking him that he will never be able do it. Despite him being Peacemaker’s father, Auggie was a disgusting human being that absolutely no one will miss. Even after killing his father, Peacemaker is still shown to be haunted by visions of his father who boasts that he will never truly be able to get rid of him. However, Auggie’s death is still so satisfying. While other comic book tv show villains who were killed at least had some sympathetic qualities, Auggie had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. As a father, he showed no love for his son and as a person he was a a horrible racist with a nasty attitude to everyone around him. These qualities are what make Auggie’s death the most satisfying out of all the live action comic book tv show villains who have been killed off.
