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* While a complicated and controversial character, Wanda Maximoff's more overzealous fans often downplay her more villainous actions, due to a combination of her sympathetic backstory, charisma, and Creator/ElizabethOlsen's good looks. In ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', she willing tried to help Ultron kill the Avengers before turning to the side of good due to disgust with Ultron's plan. However, while she does join the heroes, a lot of fans like to downplay her misdeeds, such as forcing the Hulk to attack a populated city, with some even trying to claim that Ultron forced her to do it even when there is no evidence of that. This returned with a vengeance when she became the BigBad in ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness''. A lot of fans like to portray her as the true hero of the movie due her main goal being wanting to reunite with her children. However, this ignores the fact that to achieve this goal, she plans to kill an innocent girl and slaughters anyone in her path.
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* While a complicated and controversial character, Wanda Maximoff's more overzealous fans often downplay her more villainous actions, due to a combination of her sympathetic backstory, charisma, and Creator/ElizabethOlsen's good looks. In ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', she willing willingly tried to help Ultron kill the Avengers before turning to the side of good due to disgust with Ultron's plan. However, while she does join the heroes, a lot of fans like to downplay her misdeeds, such as forcing causing the Hulk to attack a populated city, with some even trying to claim that Ultron forced her to do it even when there is no evidence of that. This returned with a vengeance when she became the BigBad in ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness''. A lot of fans like to portray her as the true hero of the movie due her main goal being wanting to reunite with her children. However, this ignores the fact that to achieve this goal, she plans to kill an innocent girl and slaughters anyone in her path.
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* Erik Killmonger of ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', who not only has EvilIsSexy going for him but is also a JerkassWoobie with more than a few shades of VillainHasAPoint. Regardless of that however, his more zealous fans tend to completely overlook the fact that he's still a remorseless killer who would have no qualms with letting innocent people (even [[WouldHurtAChild children]]) die for the sake of [[spoiler:instigating a massive race war that wouldn't so much put Wakanda at the top in as much as it would just destroy the whole world, on top of destroying the purple flowers that grant the Black Panther lineage their abilities, and even shot his partner-in-crime/girlfriend without a second thought [[ShootTheHostage during a hostage situation]]]].\\
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* Erik Killmonger of ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', who not only has EvilIsSexy Evil Is Sexy going for him but is also a JerkassWoobie with more than a few shades of VillainHasAPoint. Regardless of that however, his more zealous fans tend to completely overlook the fact that he's still a remorseless killer who would have no qualms with letting innocent people (even [[WouldHurtAChild children]]) die for the sake of [[spoiler:instigating a massive race war that wouldn't so much put Wakanda at the top in as much as it would just destroy the whole world, on top of destroying the purple flowers that grant the Black Panther lineage their abilities, and even shot his partner-in-crime/girlfriend without a second thought [[ShootTheHostage during a hostage situation]]]].\\
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* Helmut Zemo from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' is charming and AffablyEvil, yes, and he did care deeply about his [[MoralityChain family]], but he's still a TokenEvilTeammate with a checkered past as a member of a [[NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed stand-in]] version of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpions_(paramilitary) an infamous real-life perpetrator of war crimes]], and who engages in extreme methods - including cold-blooded murder - that leave behind collateral damage to accomplish his goals of DisproportionateRetribution. But because he's attractive and charismatic his fans tend to gloss over it in favor of portraying him as a tortured woobie whose revenge is justified, who is more straightforwardly heroic than Karli (who, despite her villainous methods, does have a noble goal to speak of), an innocent victim of abuse by [[RonTheDeathEater Sam]], or even a gentle lover whose efforts to deliberately upset Bucky are treated as sweet courtship if not outright RomanticizedAbuse.
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* Helmut Zemo from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' is charming and AffablyEvil, yes, and he did care deeply about his [[MoralityChain family]], but he's still a TokenEvilTeammate with a checkered past as a member of a [[NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed stand-in]] version of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpions_(paramilitary) an infamous real-life perpetrator of war crimes]], and who engages in extreme methods - including cold-blooded murder - that leave behind collateral damage to accomplish his goals of DisproportionateRetribution. But because he's attractive and charismatic and does a funny dance, his fans tend to gloss over it in favor of portraying him as a tortured woobie whose revenge is justified, who is more straightforwardly heroic than Karli (who, despite her villainous methods, does have a noble goal to speak of), an innocent victim of abuse by [[RonTheDeathEater Sam]], or even a gentle lover whose efforts to deliberately upset Bucky are treated as sweet courtship if not outright RomanticizedAbuse.
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* Loki was getting a lot of leather pants treatment from Fandom after the release of ''Thor''. It helps that he is depicted quite sympathetically with a decent FreudianExcuse and is played by the good-looking yet melancholy Creator/TomHiddleston. He even does wear leather pants. An it's not just the fandom -- Tom Hiddleston himself ''frequently'' speaks in interviews about how he believes Loki needs a hug and some self-esteem, and that he's doing everything he does in ''The Avengers'' because he needs someone to [[LoveRedeems fix him with love]].
to:
* Loki was getting a lot of leather pants treatment from Fandom after the release of ''Thor''. It helps that he is depicted quite sympathetically with a decent FreudianExcuse and is played by the good-looking yet melancholy melancholic Creator/TomHiddleston. He even does wear leather pants. An it's not just the fandom -- Tom Hiddleston himself ''frequently'' speaks in interviews about how he believes Loki needs a hug and some self-esteem, and that he's doing everything he does in ''The Avengers'' because he needs someone to [[LoveRedeems fix him with love]].
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* While a complicated and controversial character, Wanda Maximoff's more overzealous fans often downplay her more villainous actions, due to a combination of her sympathetic backstory, charisma, and Creator/ElizabethOlsen's good looks. In ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', she willing tried to help Ultron kill the Avengers before turning to the side of good due to disgust with Ultron's plan. However, while she does join the heroes, a lot of fans like to downplay her misdeeds, such as forcing the Hulk to attack a populated city, with some even trying to claim that Ultron forced her to do it even when there is no evidence of that. This returned with a vengeance when she became the BigBad in ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness''. A lot of fans like to portray her as the true hero of the movie due her main goal being wanting to reunite with her children. However, this ignores the fact that to achieve this goal, she plans to kill an innocent girl and slaughters anyone in her path.
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* Helmut Zemo from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' is charming and AffablyEvil, yes, and he did care deeply about his [[MoralityChain family]], but he's still a TokenEvilTeammate with a checkered past as a member of a [[NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed stand-in]] version of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpions_(paramilitary) an infamous real-life perpetrator of war crimes]], and who engages in extreme methods that leave behind collateral damage to accomplish his goals of DisproportionateRetribution. But because he's attractive his fans tend to gloss over it in favor of portraying him as a tortured woobie whose revenge is justified, who is more straightforwardly heroic than Karli (who, despite her villainous methods, does have a noble goal to speak of), an innocent victim of abuse by [[RonTheDeathEater Sam]], or even a gentle lover whose efforts to deliberately upset Bucky are treated as sweet courtship if not outright RomanticizedAbuse.
to:
* Helmut Zemo from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' is charming and AffablyEvil, yes, and he did care deeply about his [[MoralityChain family]], but he's still a TokenEvilTeammate with a checkered past as a member of a [[NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed stand-in]] version of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpions_(paramilitary) an infamous real-life perpetrator of war crimes]], and who engages in extreme methods - including cold-blooded murder - that leave behind collateral damage to accomplish his goals of DisproportionateRetribution. But because he's attractive and charismatic his fans tend to gloss over it in favor of portraying him as a tortured woobie whose revenge is justified, who is more straightforwardly heroic than Karli (who, despite her villainous methods, does have a noble goal to speak of), an innocent victim of abuse by [[RonTheDeathEater Sam]], or even a gentle lover whose efforts to deliberately upset Bucky are treated as sweet courtship if not outright RomanticizedAbuse.
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As discussed on the MCU and cleanup threads in the forums, pages like these should only be for examples which can't be confined to a single YMMV work page. Half of these characters only feature in one entry of the MCU, not multiple.
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* Ivan Vanko in ''Film/{{Iron Man 2}}'' has a sympathetic background, but a surprising amount of people considered him ''justified'' in going after Tony after learning said background, with some suggesting that Tony was the ''real'' villain. This is despite Tony having nothing to do with what happened to Vanko's father. On top of that, Vanko kills at least half a dozen people over the course of the movie, including at least one prison guard and several civilians at the Monaco Grand Prix, as well as unleashing a small army of heavily-armed Hammer drones on the densely-crowded Stark Expo and then subsequently blew them all up in massive detonations when he lost as a final act of spite.
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* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': Some fans portray Wanda as a complete victim who was forced by Tony to seek revenge, even though she expressed a desire to hurt all of the Avengers including the ones who had done her no wrong. Comments from the writers of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' that implied they believed Wanda was less guilty for her actions in [=AoU=] than the Winter Soldier was, despite the former having chosen to do them then regretting them afterwards, while the latter was explicitly BrainwashedAndCrazy and forced to do things he never wanted to, opened the floodgates once more.
* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': Despite the fact that he was revealed to be [[spoiler: a HYDRA infiltrator, Sitwell]] still gets plenty of love from fans. It's helped by ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' revealing that [[spoiler:some HYDRA agents were brainwashed, which could well be the case with Sitwell as he's a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the comics]], although [[spoiler:''Film/AvengersEndgame'' portrays him as having been a HYDRA mole since at least around the time of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'']].
* Adrian Toomes from ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' has developed a fanbase which overlooks the fact that he sells crazy dangerous weapons to street-level criminals, and steals the hardware to do this from an organization which is supposed to prevent this very thing, all because Damage Control negated his salvage contact. Even if he was in bad financial shape at the time, and had justifiable grievances, he certainly isn't anymore given the luxury that he lives in, and the fact that despite having a family, he still takes crazy jobs despite the FBI, Iron Man, and a young superhero on his tail.
!!TV shows:
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': Agent Grant Ward, who in the episode "Turn Turn Turn" is revealed to be a double agent working for Hydra. The character has drawn sympathy from abuse survivors under the Stand With Ward hashtag whom want him to be redeemed due to a perception that the media has often neglected or vilified abuse survivors. This is due to his sympathetic backstory of having been abused as a child by his parents and older brother, and then taken in by a HYDRA agent as an impressionable teen. In the aforementioned episode, he outright murders Agent Hand and spends the next five episodes storming S.H.I.E.L.D. compounds and killing his former allies willy-nilly. It gets even worse late in season 2 where he has gone on to kill more people, brutally torture a member of Coulsen's team, and laid a trap to kill even more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He has even taken over [[ANaziByAnyOtherName HYDRA to avenge the murder of his girlfriend]]. Which, to be fair, he was tricked into committing. ...While trying to murder May. It doesn't help that while most of his behavior is just as bad as anything he was subjected to, the protagonists also decry him for killing his abusive parents, which many fans consider not to be an evil thing to do at all. Or that Bobbi refuses to apologize for leaking the location of the aforementioned girlfriend, Agent Kara Palamas's, safehouse to HYDRA to maintain her own cover, which led to her being captured and brainwashed before Ward helped restore her personality. Something that most people would consider requires an apology.
* ''Series/WandaVision'':
** Director Tyler Hayward has many fans who paint him as a DesignatedVillain, their main argument being that Wanda took Westview hostage due to a mental breakdown and he's trying to stop her. They point out that, by monitoring the show, Hayward is aware that the twins are hex creations so his drone missile and pistol attack were not directed at any real people beyond Wanda who he was trying to take down. This conveniently ignores that Hayward violated Vision's will (and according to Jimmy, the [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Sokovia Accords]] as well) and Wanda's wishes to rebuild him as Project Cataract. Furthermore, when he discovers he can use Wanda's residual energy from the attack drone to power Project Cataract, he is quite willing to ensure Wanda is killed so the world thinks ''she'' was the one who violated Vision's will and revived him.
** Many fans have invested heavily in Agatha Harkness and think of her as an {{Antihero}} that is trying to stop the FallenHero Wanda. This ignores the sadistic glee Agatha takes in tormenting Wanda and her own villainous acts, such as taking two children hostage, {{Mind Rap|e}}ing Ralph into playing the role of "Fake Pietro", and killing an adorable dog, all just to provoke Wanda.
* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': Despite the fact that he was revealed to be [[spoiler: a HYDRA infiltrator, Sitwell]] still gets plenty of love from fans. It's helped by ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' revealing that [[spoiler:some HYDRA agents were brainwashed, which could well be the case with Sitwell as he's a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the comics]], although [[spoiler:''Film/AvengersEndgame'' portrays him as having been a HYDRA mole since at least around the time of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'']].
* Adrian Toomes from ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' has developed a fanbase which overlooks the fact that he sells crazy dangerous weapons to street-level criminals, and steals the hardware to do this from an organization which is supposed to prevent this very thing, all because Damage Control negated his salvage contact. Even if he was in bad financial shape at the time, and had justifiable grievances, he certainly isn't anymore given the luxury that he lives in, and the fact that despite having a family, he still takes crazy jobs despite the FBI, Iron Man, and a young superhero on his tail.
!!TV shows:
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': Agent Grant Ward, who in the episode "Turn Turn Turn" is revealed to be a double agent working for Hydra. The character has drawn sympathy from abuse survivors under the Stand With Ward hashtag whom want him to be redeemed due to a perception that the media has often neglected or vilified abuse survivors. This is due to his sympathetic backstory of having been abused as a child by his parents and older brother, and then taken in by a HYDRA agent as an impressionable teen. In the aforementioned episode, he outright murders Agent Hand and spends the next five episodes storming S.H.I.E.L.D. compounds and killing his former allies willy-nilly. It gets even worse late in season 2 where he has gone on to kill more people, brutally torture a member of Coulsen's team, and laid a trap to kill even more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He has even taken over [[ANaziByAnyOtherName HYDRA to avenge the murder of his girlfriend]]. Which, to be fair, he was tricked into committing. ...While trying to murder May. It doesn't help that while most of his behavior is just as bad as anything he was subjected to, the protagonists also decry him for killing his abusive parents, which many fans consider not to be an evil thing to do at all. Or that Bobbi refuses to apologize for leaking the location of the aforementioned girlfriend, Agent Kara Palamas's, safehouse to HYDRA to maintain her own cover, which led to her being captured and brainwashed before Ward helped restore her personality. Something that most people would consider requires an apology.
* ''Series/WandaVision'':
** Director Tyler Hayward has many fans who paint him as a DesignatedVillain, their main argument being that Wanda took Westview hostage due to a mental breakdown and he's trying to stop her. They point out that, by monitoring the show, Hayward is aware that the twins are hex creations so his drone missile and pistol attack were not directed at any real people beyond Wanda who he was trying to take down. This conveniently ignores that Hayward violated Vision's will (and according to Jimmy, the [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Sokovia Accords]] as well) and Wanda's wishes to rebuild him as Project Cataract. Furthermore, when he discovers he can use Wanda's residual energy from the attack drone to power Project Cataract, he is quite willing to ensure Wanda is killed so the world thinks ''she'' was the one who violated Vision's will and revived him.
** Many fans have invested heavily in Agatha Harkness and think of her as an {{Antihero}} that is trying to stop the FallenHero Wanda. This ignores the sadistic glee Agatha takes in tormenting Wanda and her own villainous acts, such as taking two children hostage, {{Mind Rap|e}}ing Ralph into playing the role of "Fake Pietro", and killing an adorable dog, all just to provoke Wanda.
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** Many fans have invested heavily in Agatha Harkness and think of her as an {{Antihero}} that is trying to stop the FallenHero Wanda. This ignores the sadistic glee Agatha takes in tormenting Wanda and her own villainous acts, such as taking two children hostage, {{Mind Rap|e}}ing Ralph into playing the role of "Fake Pietro", and killing an adorable dog, all just to provoke Wanda.
to:
** Many fans have invested heavily in Agatha Harkness and think of her as an {{Antihero}} that is trying to stop the FallenHero Wanda. This ignores the sadistic glee Agatha takes in tormenting Wanda and her own villainous acts, such as taking two children hostage, {{Mind Rap|e}}ing Ralph into playing the role of "Fake Pietro", and killing an adorable dog, all just to provoke Wanda.Wanda.
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The many villains of the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' often get the DracoInLeatherPants treatment from the fans, either due to charisma, good looks, tragic backstory, or by having a point.
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!!Films:
* Ivan Vanko in ''Film/{{Iron Man 2}}'' has a sympathetic background, but a surprising amount of people considered him ''justified'' in going after Tony after learning said background, with some suggesting that Tony was the ''real'' villain. This is despite Tony having nothing to do with what happened to Vanko's father. On top of that, Vanko kills at least half a dozen people over the course of the movie, including at least one prison guard and several civilians at the Monaco Grand Prix, as well as unleashing a small army of heavily-armed Hammer drones on the densely-crowded Stark Expo and then subsequently blew them all up in massive detonations when he lost as a final act of spite.
* Loki was getting a lot of leather pants treatment from Fandom after the release of ''Thor''. It helps that he is depicted quite sympathetically with a decent FreudianExcuse and is played by the good-looking yet melancholy Creator/TomHiddleston. He even does wear leather pants. An it's not just the fandom -- Tom Hiddleston himself ''frequently'' speaks in interviews about how he believes Loki needs a hug and some self-esteem, and that he's doing everything he does in ''The Avengers'' because he needs someone to [[LoveRedeems fix him with love]].
** In ''The Avengers,'' some fangirls jumped off from the Loki worship because of his [[MoralEventHorizon actions]]. He kills Agent Coulson, the film-original character who's been present since Iron Man, and he brainwashes multiple S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and Hawkeye, then has them fight their own comrades. But for many, the Loki love was still pretty high, some even theorizing that he was brainwashed and mind-controlled during ''The Avengers'' and wasn't responsible for any of his actions. His getting the tar smacked out of him by the Hulk, while one of the funniest and awesomest parts of the film, enacted the FlorenceNightingaleEffect on many viewers.
** Come ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', all the traits he had revoked by his actions in ''The Avengers'' were undone and no one really needed to make excuses anymore. He's clearly upset by his mother's death, giving him back any sympathy he lost from ''The Avengers'', and he seemingly dies heroically saving Thor. His gleeful prodding of Thor during their escape from Asgard brings back his lighthearted side from ''Thor'' and he still proves he's a cunning master with his not-death and quiet usurping of the throne by the end of the film.
** This gets a FandomNod in ''Ragnarok'', where we see Loki's version of the final events of ''The Dark World'' (which he's commissioned as a play after having faked his death). Loki is written as a woobie [[HerCodeNameWasMarySue who just wanted his family to love him.]] Most of the audience is sobbing, while the real Loki, lounging on his throne in disguise and eating grapes, finds the whole thing hilarious.
** In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' and ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', [[spoiler:Loki performs a HeelFaceTurn when he arrives with TheCavalry to save the day in the first film and performs a HeroicSacrifice in the second one.]] He thus drops the "Draco" part.
** Ten years later, ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' deconstructs his character and uses some of the justifications fandom made for Loki back in the day. It states that his viciousness in ''The Avengers'' was largely an act to cover up his insecurity, and he only posed as evil and sadistic because he subconsiously believed in ThenLetMeBeEvil while being completely un-self-aware. While his fans used to gloss over his crimes, the story makes no attempt to downplay them and inflicts a TraumaCongaLine to karmically punish Loki for them. However, in all other aspects it [[AscendedFanon officially adopts the treatment fans gave to him as canon]] -- Loki was never inherently evil, and all he really needed was someone to listen to him and to show him some love.
* Erik Killmonger of ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', who not only has EvilIsSexy going for him but is also a JerkassWoobie with more than a few shades of VillainHasAPoint. Regardless of that however, his more zealous fans tend to completely overlook the fact that he's still a remorseless killer who would have no qualms with letting innocent people (even [[WouldHurtAChild children]]) die for the sake of [[spoiler:instigating a massive race war that wouldn't so much put Wakanda at the top in as much as it would just destroy the whole world, on top of destroying the purple flowers that grant the Black Panther lineage their abilities, and even shot his partner-in-crime/girlfriend without a second thought [[ShootTheHostage during a hostage situation]]]].\\
This is deconstructed in ''Westernanimation/WhatIf2021'', where an AlternateHistory [[Recap/WhatIfS1E6WhatIfKillmongerRescuedTonyStark focused on Killmonger]] seems a downright indictment on his MisaimedFandom by really showing his negative side with no sympathy. He starts off well, [[Film/IronMan1 rescuing Tony Stark and uncovering how Obadiah Stane tried to kill him]]. And then Killmonger is uncovered as a ManipulativeBastard [[spoiler:who through EngineeredHeroics and playing up several parties (Stark, Klaue, the US military and Wakanda), gets in Wakanda's graces while also having provoked the US and Wakanda into a state of war, along the way killing three heroes (Rhodey, T'Challa, and Stark) with little remorse.]]
* Thanos in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' is given more depth than a typical MCU villain as he [[JerkassWoobie garners a large amount of sympathy]] and has a noble goal of trying to prevent an overpopulation crisis that would doom the universe. However, many people still forget that regardless of his motivations and backstory, Thanos is still a [[OmnicidalManiac genocidal madman]] whose ultimate plans involves killing half of the population of the universe as soon as he possesses the means to do so. In particular, they offer him a ''lot'' of sympathy because he's sad after [[spoiler:Gamora]] dies, completely ignoring the fact that he himself willingly sacrificed her for power. Then there's the fact that his ultimate plan of depopulation is [[ArtisticLicenseBiology scientifically unsound]] and [[InsaneTrollLogic logically unsound]], which would only cause needless deaths, and with the [[{{Superweapon}} Infinity Gauntlet]] he could do literally ''[[RealityWarper anything else]]'' to solve overpopulation, yet stuck to his plan of murdering half a universe. And when the Avengers are attempting to undo said genocide, he decides to erase the ''whole'' universe instead out of the deluded belief that the population will be "grateful" for his act. This gets a nod in ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'' where Thanos repeatedly attempts to justify his plans the way fandom did it before only for other characters InUniverse to shut him down with "it's still genocide" argument.
* Helmut Zemo from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' is charming and AffablyEvil, yes, and he did care deeply about his [[MoralityChain family]], but he's still a TokenEvilTeammate with a checkered past as a member of a [[NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed stand-in]] version of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpions_(paramilitary) an infamous real-life perpetrator of war crimes]], and who engages in extreme methods that leave behind collateral damage to accomplish his goals of DisproportionateRetribution. But because he's attractive his fans tend to gloss over it in favor of portraying him as a tortured woobie whose revenge is justified, who is more straightforwardly heroic than Karli (who, despite her villainous methods, does have a noble goal to speak of), an innocent victim of abuse by [[RonTheDeathEater Sam]], or even a gentle lover whose efforts to deliberately upset Bucky are treated as sweet courtship if not outright RomanticizedAbuse.
* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': Some fans portray Wanda as a complete victim who was forced by Tony to seek revenge, even though she expressed a desire to hurt all of the Avengers including the ones who had done her no wrong. Comments from the writers of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' that implied they believed Wanda was less guilty for her actions in [=AoU=] than the Winter Soldier was, despite the former having chosen to do them then regretting them afterwards, while the latter was explicitly BrainwashedAndCrazy and forced to do things he never wanted to, opened the floodgates once more.
* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': Despite the fact that he was revealed to be [[spoiler: a HYDRA infiltrator, Sitwell]] still gets plenty of love from fans. It's helped by ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' revealing that [[spoiler:some HYDRA agents were brainwashed, which could well be the case with Sitwell as he's a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the comics]], although [[spoiler:''Film/AvengersEndgame'' portrays him as having been a HYDRA mole since at least around the time of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'']].
* Adrian Toomes from ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' has developed a fanbase which overlooks the fact that he sells crazy dangerous weapons to street-level criminals, and steals the hardware to do this from an organization which is supposed to prevent this very thing, all because Damage Control negated his salvage contact. Even if he was in bad financial shape at the time, and had justifiable grievances, he certainly isn't anymore given the luxury that he lives in, and the fact that despite having a family, he still takes crazy jobs despite the FBI, Iron Man, and a young superhero on his tail.
!!TV shows:
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': Agent Grant Ward, who in the episode "Turn Turn Turn" is revealed to be a double agent working for Hydra. The character has drawn sympathy from abuse survivors under the Stand With Ward hashtag whom want him to be redeemed due to a perception that the media has often neglected or vilified abuse survivors. This is due to his sympathetic backstory of having been abused as a child by his parents and older brother, and then taken in by a HYDRA agent as an impressionable teen. In the aforementioned episode, he outright murders Agent Hand and spends the next five episodes storming S.H.I.E.L.D. compounds and killing his former allies willy-nilly. It gets even worse late in season 2 where he has gone on to kill more people, brutally torture a member of Coulsen's team, and laid a trap to kill even more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He has even taken over [[ANaziByAnyOtherName HYDRA to avenge the murder of his girlfriend]]. Which, to be fair, he was tricked into committing. ...While trying to murder May. It doesn't help that while most of his behavior is just as bad as anything he was subjected to, the protagonists also decry him for killing his abusive parents, which many fans consider not to be an evil thing to do at all. Or that Bobbi refuses to apologize for leaking the location of the aforementioned girlfriend, Agent Kara Palamas's, safehouse to HYDRA to maintain her own cover, which led to her being captured and brainwashed before Ward helped restore her personality. Something that most people would consider requires an apology.
* ''Series/WandaVision'':
** Director Tyler Hayward has many fans who paint him as a DesignatedVillain, their main argument being that Wanda took Westview hostage due to a mental breakdown and he's trying to stop her. They point out that, by monitoring the show, Hayward is aware that the twins are hex creations so his drone missile and pistol attack were not directed at any real people beyond Wanda who he was trying to take down. This conveniently ignores that Hayward violated Vision's will (and according to Jimmy, the [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Sokovia Accords]] as well) and Wanda's wishes to rebuild him as Project Cataract. Furthermore, when he discovers he can use Wanda's residual energy from the attack drone to power Project Cataract, he is quite willing to ensure Wanda is killed so the world thinks ''she'' was the one who violated Vision's will and revived him.
** Many fans have invested heavily in Agatha Harkness and think of her as an {{Antihero}} that is trying to stop the FallenHero Wanda. This ignores the sadistic glee Agatha takes in tormenting Wanda and her own villainous acts, such as taking two children hostage, {{Mind Rap|e}}ing Ralph into playing the role of "Fake Pietro", and killing an adorable dog, all just to provoke Wanda.
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!!Films:
* Ivan Vanko in ''Film/{{Iron Man 2}}'' has a sympathetic background, but a surprising amount of people considered him ''justified'' in going after Tony after learning said background, with some suggesting that Tony was the ''real'' villain. This is despite Tony having nothing to do with what happened to Vanko's father. On top of that, Vanko kills at least half a dozen people over the course of the movie, including at least one prison guard and several civilians at the Monaco Grand Prix, as well as unleashing a small army of heavily-armed Hammer drones on the densely-crowded Stark Expo and then subsequently blew them all up in massive detonations when he lost as a final act of spite.
* Loki was getting a lot of leather pants treatment from Fandom after the release of ''Thor''. It helps that he is depicted quite sympathetically with a decent FreudianExcuse and is played by the good-looking yet melancholy Creator/TomHiddleston. He even does wear leather pants. An it's not just the fandom -- Tom Hiddleston himself ''frequently'' speaks in interviews about how he believes Loki needs a hug and some self-esteem, and that he's doing everything he does in ''The Avengers'' because he needs someone to [[LoveRedeems fix him with love]].
** In ''The Avengers,'' some fangirls jumped off from the Loki worship because of his [[MoralEventHorizon actions]]. He kills Agent Coulson, the film-original character who's been present since Iron Man, and he brainwashes multiple S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and Hawkeye, then has them fight their own comrades. But for many, the Loki love was still pretty high, some even theorizing that he was brainwashed and mind-controlled during ''The Avengers'' and wasn't responsible for any of his actions. His getting the tar smacked out of him by the Hulk, while one of the funniest and awesomest parts of the film, enacted the FlorenceNightingaleEffect on many viewers.
** Come ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', all the traits he had revoked by his actions in ''The Avengers'' were undone and no one really needed to make excuses anymore. He's clearly upset by his mother's death, giving him back any sympathy he lost from ''The Avengers'', and he seemingly dies heroically saving Thor. His gleeful prodding of Thor during their escape from Asgard brings back his lighthearted side from ''Thor'' and he still proves he's a cunning master with his not-death and quiet usurping of the throne by the end of the film.
** This gets a FandomNod in ''Ragnarok'', where we see Loki's version of the final events of ''The Dark World'' (which he's commissioned as a play after having faked his death). Loki is written as a woobie [[HerCodeNameWasMarySue who just wanted his family to love him.]] Most of the audience is sobbing, while the real Loki, lounging on his throne in disguise and eating grapes, finds the whole thing hilarious.
** In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' and ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', [[spoiler:Loki performs a HeelFaceTurn when he arrives with TheCavalry to save the day in the first film and performs a HeroicSacrifice in the second one.]] He thus drops the "Draco" part.
** Ten years later, ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' deconstructs his character and uses some of the justifications fandom made for Loki back in the day. It states that his viciousness in ''The Avengers'' was largely an act to cover up his insecurity, and he only posed as evil and sadistic because he subconsiously believed in ThenLetMeBeEvil while being completely un-self-aware. While his fans used to gloss over his crimes, the story makes no attempt to downplay them and inflicts a TraumaCongaLine to karmically punish Loki for them. However, in all other aspects it [[AscendedFanon officially adopts the treatment fans gave to him as canon]] -- Loki was never inherently evil, and all he really needed was someone to listen to him and to show him some love.
* Erik Killmonger of ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', who not only has EvilIsSexy going for him but is also a JerkassWoobie with more than a few shades of VillainHasAPoint. Regardless of that however, his more zealous fans tend to completely overlook the fact that he's still a remorseless killer who would have no qualms with letting innocent people (even [[WouldHurtAChild children]]) die for the sake of [[spoiler:instigating a massive race war that wouldn't so much put Wakanda at the top in as much as it would just destroy the whole world, on top of destroying the purple flowers that grant the Black Panther lineage their abilities, and even shot his partner-in-crime/girlfriend without a second thought [[ShootTheHostage during a hostage situation]]]].\\
This is deconstructed in ''Westernanimation/WhatIf2021'', where an AlternateHistory [[Recap/WhatIfS1E6WhatIfKillmongerRescuedTonyStark focused on Killmonger]] seems a downright indictment on his MisaimedFandom by really showing his negative side with no sympathy. He starts off well, [[Film/IronMan1 rescuing Tony Stark and uncovering how Obadiah Stane tried to kill him]]. And then Killmonger is uncovered as a ManipulativeBastard [[spoiler:who through EngineeredHeroics and playing up several parties (Stark, Klaue, the US military and Wakanda), gets in Wakanda's graces while also having provoked the US and Wakanda into a state of war, along the way killing three heroes (Rhodey, T'Challa, and Stark) with little remorse.]]
* Thanos in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' is given more depth than a typical MCU villain as he [[JerkassWoobie garners a large amount of sympathy]] and has a noble goal of trying to prevent an overpopulation crisis that would doom the universe. However, many people still forget that regardless of his motivations and backstory, Thanos is still a [[OmnicidalManiac genocidal madman]] whose ultimate plans involves killing half of the population of the universe as soon as he possesses the means to do so. In particular, they offer him a ''lot'' of sympathy because he's sad after [[spoiler:Gamora]] dies, completely ignoring the fact that he himself willingly sacrificed her for power. Then there's the fact that his ultimate plan of depopulation is [[ArtisticLicenseBiology scientifically unsound]] and [[InsaneTrollLogic logically unsound]], which would only cause needless deaths, and with the [[{{Superweapon}} Infinity Gauntlet]] he could do literally ''[[RealityWarper anything else]]'' to solve overpopulation, yet stuck to his plan of murdering half a universe. And when the Avengers are attempting to undo said genocide, he decides to erase the ''whole'' universe instead out of the deluded belief that the population will be "grateful" for his act. This gets a nod in ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'' where Thanos repeatedly attempts to justify his plans the way fandom did it before only for other characters InUniverse to shut him down with "it's still genocide" argument.
* Helmut Zemo from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' is charming and AffablyEvil, yes, and he did care deeply about his [[MoralityChain family]], but he's still a TokenEvilTeammate with a checkered past as a member of a [[NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed stand-in]] version of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpions_(paramilitary) an infamous real-life perpetrator of war crimes]], and who engages in extreme methods that leave behind collateral damage to accomplish his goals of DisproportionateRetribution. But because he's attractive his fans tend to gloss over it in favor of portraying him as a tortured woobie whose revenge is justified, who is more straightforwardly heroic than Karli (who, despite her villainous methods, does have a noble goal to speak of), an innocent victim of abuse by [[RonTheDeathEater Sam]], or even a gentle lover whose efforts to deliberately upset Bucky are treated as sweet courtship if not outright RomanticizedAbuse.
* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': Some fans portray Wanda as a complete victim who was forced by Tony to seek revenge, even though she expressed a desire to hurt all of the Avengers including the ones who had done her no wrong. Comments from the writers of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' that implied they believed Wanda was less guilty for her actions in [=AoU=] than the Winter Soldier was, despite the former having chosen to do them then regretting them afterwards, while the latter was explicitly BrainwashedAndCrazy and forced to do things he never wanted to, opened the floodgates once more.
* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': Despite the fact that he was revealed to be [[spoiler: a HYDRA infiltrator, Sitwell]] still gets plenty of love from fans. It's helped by ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' revealing that [[spoiler:some HYDRA agents were brainwashed, which could well be the case with Sitwell as he's a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the comics]], although [[spoiler:''Film/AvengersEndgame'' portrays him as having been a HYDRA mole since at least around the time of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'']].
* Adrian Toomes from ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' has developed a fanbase which overlooks the fact that he sells crazy dangerous weapons to street-level criminals, and steals the hardware to do this from an organization which is supposed to prevent this very thing, all because Damage Control negated his salvage contact. Even if he was in bad financial shape at the time, and had justifiable grievances, he certainly isn't anymore given the luxury that he lives in, and the fact that despite having a family, he still takes crazy jobs despite the FBI, Iron Man, and a young superhero on his tail.
!!TV shows:
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': Agent Grant Ward, who in the episode "Turn Turn Turn" is revealed to be a double agent working for Hydra. The character has drawn sympathy from abuse survivors under the Stand With Ward hashtag whom want him to be redeemed due to a perception that the media has often neglected or vilified abuse survivors. This is due to his sympathetic backstory of having been abused as a child by his parents and older brother, and then taken in by a HYDRA agent as an impressionable teen. In the aforementioned episode, he outright murders Agent Hand and spends the next five episodes storming S.H.I.E.L.D. compounds and killing his former allies willy-nilly. It gets even worse late in season 2 where he has gone on to kill more people, brutally torture a member of Coulsen's team, and laid a trap to kill even more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He has even taken over [[ANaziByAnyOtherName HYDRA to avenge the murder of his girlfriend]]. Which, to be fair, he was tricked into committing. ...While trying to murder May. It doesn't help that while most of his behavior is just as bad as anything he was subjected to, the protagonists also decry him for killing his abusive parents, which many fans consider not to be an evil thing to do at all. Or that Bobbi refuses to apologize for leaking the location of the aforementioned girlfriend, Agent Kara Palamas's, safehouse to HYDRA to maintain her own cover, which led to her being captured and brainwashed before Ward helped restore her personality. Something that most people would consider requires an apology.
* ''Series/WandaVision'':
** Director Tyler Hayward has many fans who paint him as a DesignatedVillain, their main argument being that Wanda took Westview hostage due to a mental breakdown and he's trying to stop her. They point out that, by monitoring the show, Hayward is aware that the twins are hex creations so his drone missile and pistol attack were not directed at any real people beyond Wanda who he was trying to take down. This conveniently ignores that Hayward violated Vision's will (and according to Jimmy, the [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Sokovia Accords]] as well) and Wanda's wishes to rebuild him as Project Cataract. Furthermore, when he discovers he can use Wanda's residual energy from the attack drone to power Project Cataract, he is quite willing to ensure Wanda is killed so the world thinks ''she'' was the one who violated Vision's will and revived him.
** Many fans have invested heavily in Agatha Harkness and think of her as an {{Antihero}} that is trying to stop the FallenHero Wanda. This ignores the sadistic glee Agatha takes in tormenting Wanda and her own villainous acts, such as taking two children hostage, {{Mind Rap|e}}ing Ralph into playing the role of "Fake Pietro", and killing an adorable dog, all just to provoke Wanda.
