Marvel fans have a surprising pick for the "most brilliant" villain in the MCU – and it's an underrated character

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Fans are sharing the love for Daniel Brühl's Zemo

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
(Image credit: Disney/Marvel)

Marvel fans are sharing the love for an underrated MCU villain: Helmut Zemo, played by Daniel Brühl.

"Can we talk about how Zemo is lowkey one of the most brilliant villains in the MCU?" wrote one Reddit user. "He didn’t need a fancy suit, superpowers, or an alien army. He literally broke the Avengers with nothing but strategy, patience, and a well timed video. I mean, the guy is dangerous because he’s so real. No world domination plans, no big speech just pure vengeance and a crazy amount of discipline."

Another wrote, "To this day, he absolutely endures as one of the MCU’s best villains. His conversation with T’Challa at the end of Civil War is brilliant, just oozing with character and insight into who this guy is."

"I love how they set it up to make you think he has something to do with Bucky’s backstory or the other super soldiers in Siberia but then he’s just a guy who had a family in Sokovia and hated the Avengers and wanted to send a message," added someone else. "Civil War really is one of the best in the series."

Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.