History VillainHasAPoint / MarvelUniverse

* In the wake of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan2013'', when Doctor Octopus took over his body for a time, Pete Parker has to acknowledge that some of Otto's moves weren't too bad. For example, Otto actually waited for backup from the police when taking on some criminals and using his technology for some advantages rather than Spidey's usual [[IndyPloy half-written plan]].

** When he's accused of "plagiarizing" Otto's work, Pete is stripped of his degree. At first upset, Peter realizes Otto was right as going around with a degree he never actually earned wasn't ethical and tries for one on his own.

* Gorr the God Butcher from ''ComicBook/ThorGodOfThunder2012'' is one the most effective examples of this. While Gorr is a monster and psychopath his proclamations that Marvel's gods are [[JerkassGods corrupt and ineffectual deities]] that who hurt and neglect the very people whom pray to them is ultimately true and something Thor himself begrudgingly agrees with, even while fighting Gorr to the death.

* ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'': In "X-Ternally Yours", the Assassins Guild and Thieves Guild have to regularly pay tribute to a being called the X-Ternal or be destroyed. In a ploy to eliminate the Thieves Guild, the Assassins kidnap Bobby, who hold the Thieves' tribute. When they release him, they empty the box. When the Thieves find out almost too late about the trick and confront them, the Assassins call them stupid for not looking in the box.

** While conversing with Thor before the FinalBattle of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', Hela points to the history Odin hide away as a sign that he covered up anything he found unpleasant. Thor doesn't deny it.

** Loki had a legitimate point in ''Film/{{Thor}}'', in that his brother ''wasn't'' ready for the throne. It is only because Loki let the frost giants into Asgard, leading to Thor being banished by Odin for recklessly seeking revenge against them, that Thor learns humility and grows into being a worthy future king and protector of the Nine Realms. A deleted scene also shows that, by that point, Loki is made the legitimate king of Asgard while Odin sleeps. In ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', Thor has emotionally matured to the point that he openly states Loki was right, and even more, Thor doesn't have (nor wants to have) the ability to be as ruthless as the king of Asgard sometimes has to be. He also correctly points out one of the problems with Thor's relationship with Jane: its MayflyDecemberRomance aspect, since Jane is a normal mortal and Thor is an Asgardian who could live for thousands of years. [[spoiler: (As of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' Jane and Thor have broken up, though it's not explained why.)]]

** ''Film/BlackPanther2018'': Part of Erik Killmonger's motivation is the hardship that he has seen and experienced African minority communities undergo in places like America, where their historical presence stemmed from slavery. He condemns Wakanda's isolationism policy, pointing out that the country has had the resources to assist these people in need for centuries and could have alleviated a lot of people's suffering if they intervened instead of continuing to silently support the status quo by doing nothing. [[spoiler:He inherited this attitude from his father, N'Jobu, who tried to smuggle vibranium out of Wakanda to arm African minorities and lead a violent uprising.]] T'Challa does ''not'' agree with his methods nor his ultimate goal of [[spoiler:committing mass genocide of non-African and African descended people to establish a new world order where he's in charge]], but does come to agree that Wakanda has an obligation as an African AdvancedAncientAcropolis to help out Africans in other nations who are struggling. [[spoiler:He decides to begin opening Wakandan community centers specifically for this purpose.]]
** ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'': When the government agency "Damage Control" took over Toomes' contract and forced him off the cleanup site, they inflicted financial hardship on him and jeopardized his ability to support his family. Toomes points out to Peter that he's young and doesn't understand that the "rich and powerful, they do whatever they want" and just don't care about "guys like us". He even points out that Tony Stark himself first made his fortune as a weapons manufacturer and ultimately claims that everything he has done has been to secure his family's future. Peter, driven by his high moral standards points that selling weapons to criminals is still wrong and while he doesn't relent in stopping Toomes' plans, it does appear some part of what he said resonated with Peter as reflected in his decision to turn down Stark's offer to join the Avengers and remain someone "to look out for the little guy".

** As said under ''Comics'' above, Magneto himself, especially in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' when the actual moment of the [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable break]] between him and Charles happens because he wants to retaliate against people who have just tried to kill all the mutants (including the ones to whom they are allied), in an attack solely motivated by fear of what they ''might'' do with their power rather than because the mutants were in any way aggressive towards them at the time. Charles protests that the men Magneto's immediately targeting were JustFollowingOrders, which unsurprisingly does not make the Holocaust-survivor relent.
** In fact throughout the entire movie series, Magneto is proven right time and time again about the potential danger humans pose. ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' saw him state the cure for mutations would be weaponized, and he was right. Now we saw it used against Magneto and his followers, mutant supremacists, but in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' the humans developed Sentinels that possessed an AdaptiveAbility to mutant powers. This led to the movie's BadFuture where mutants and any humans who sympathize with them are rounded up into internment camps in scenes remiscient of the Holocaust. In ''Film/{{Logan}}'', humans used GMO food[[note]] Corn syrup, to be specific[[/note]] to neutralize the X-gene.

** Magneto in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' when the actual moment of the [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable break]] between him and Charles happens because he wants to retaliate against people who have just tried to kill all the mutants (including the ones to whom they are allied), in an attack solely motivated by fear of what they ''might'' do with their power rather than because the mutants were in any way aggressive towards them at the time. Charles protests that the men Magneto's immediately targeting were JustFollowingOrders, which unsurprisingly does not make the Holocaust-survivor relent.
** In fact throughout the entire movie series, Magneto is proven right time and time again about the potential danger humans pose. ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' saw him state the cure for mutations would be weaponized, and he was right. Now we saw it used against Magneto and his followers, mutant supremacists, but in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' the humans developed Sentinels that possessed an AdaptiveAbility to mutant powers. This led to the movie's BadFuture where mutants and any humans who sympathize with them are rounded up into internment camps in scenes remiscient of the Holocaust. In ''Film/{{Logan}}, humans used GMO food to neutralize the X-gene.

-->'''Gorr''': At last I understand you, little god. The old you, the king, has always been fuelled by regret. He thinks if he kills me he can erase his em history of wretched failure. And the young one, the Viking god uses arrogance and shame to mask crippling shame. But you I could never figure out until now. ''You know I'm right''. That's why you fight so hard. Why you try so desperately hard to seem noble. Because you see just how petty and useless your kind truly are. You know what I know. That the gods have never created or cared for anything except themselves.

* Often the case with ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, and the main reason why he [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor so often swings between]] being an enemy or an ally of the ComicBook/XMen, and even as an enemy, he seldom completely loses the sympathy and grudging respect of the X-Men. This carries over to [[Film/XMenFilmSeries the films,]] where it is indeed usually humanity (or, at least, ''a'' human), who escalates the human-mutant conflict, but his possibly-justified retaliation crosses the line by targeting innocents as well as the guilty.

* In the wake of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', when Doctor Octopus took over his body for a time, Pete Parker has to acknowledge that some of Otto's moves weren't too bad. For example, Otto actually waited for backup from the police when taking on some criminals and using his technology for some advantages rather than Spidey's usual [[IndyPloy half-written plan]].

* Begrudgingly pointed out by [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], Mephisto does have justification why he doesn't want [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter]]'s soul in ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay''. The souls he collects would have the satisfaction that they have sacrificed themselves for the greater good, and Mephisto would lose any joy in making them suffer.

* ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'': The Imperator might be a KnightTemplar MageKiller, but he has this to say about his story (being orphaned by Shuma-Gorath followers):
-->I don't blame the demon for being a demon. I blame the men and women who served it. Who sacrificed their own ''children'' to appease it. All for the lure of power. ''Magical'' power.
* In ''ComicBook/DominoMarvelComics'' Vol. 3 Issue #1, [[BornLucky Domino]] and [[SuperStrength Outlaw]] subdue Greywing, another mutant whose power is to shapeshift into a horrific monster [[PowerIncontinence whether he wants to or not]]. After he turns back, he chastises the CursedWithAwesome two for claiming he and the other BlessedWithSuck mutants are like them, telling them that they're not mutants, they're celebrities (before being told ShutUpHannibal).
-->'''Greywing''': [[MostCommonSuperpower You both look like models.]] Your powers are like [[SuperpowerLottery winning the lottery]] every ''day''. Imagine having ''this'' happen involuntarily. I can't hold a ''job''. I can't have a ''family''.

* Often the case with ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, and the main reason why he [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor so often swings between]] being an enemy or an ally of the ComicBook/XMen, and even as an enemy, he seldom completely loses the sympathy and grudging respect of both the X-Men and the audience. This carries over to [[Film/XMenFilmSeries the films,]] where it is indeed usually humanity (or, at least, ''a'' human), who escalates the human-mutant conflict, but his possibly-justified retaliation crosses the line by targeting innocents as well as the guilty.

* In ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'', Pymtron, the fusion of Hank Pym and the homicidal robot Ultron, tears into both HYDRA!Cap and AI!Tony and their respective teams over their constant fighting, especially since people will blindly follow whoever might fix the mess ''du jour'' that month, specifically pointing out Tony allowing the [[ComicBook/CivilWar Superhuman Registration Act to pass]] and [[ComicBook/HouseOfM using Wanda to fix the world]]. He ultimately tells them that he/Ultron doesn't have to kill humanity because ''humanity will do it for him''.

** When Otto goes bad again to join Hydra, he demands Peter give control of Parker Industries to him. When Peter refuses as "it's my company," Otto points out that Peter wouldn't ''have'' a company (let alone an actual scientific degree) if not for Otto gaining both under Peter's name.

* In ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan,'' Norman Osborn is arrested by Nick Fury for the crime of intentionally and illegally giving himself super-powers, which is a crime in the Ultimate Universe (the fact that he uses said powers to commit multiple murders doesn't exactly help). But once arrested, Norman (and the other villains SHIELD takes into custody after Peter defeats them) are not provided with legal counsel, representation, or are even allowed any form of contact with the outside world. Nick Fury flat-out says he has no problem detaining them in a SHIELD prison facility indefinitely unless they agree to work for him. Osborn naturally points out that whether they altered their DNA or not, they still have human rights (Fury claims otherwise) and that holding them without trial or even contact with the outside world is highly illegal. All good points, though the moral high ground is lost when coming from Osborn, who inevitably goes on a killing spree every single time he escapes custody. The one time he escaped and used the chance to make a media shitstorm by telling everyone he was illegally detained, it was derailed when he flew into a homicidal rage and burned his own attorney to death.

** ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
*** In Episode 3 of Season 1, "The Asset", genius billionaire Ian Quinn, who is revealed as morally corrupt in the same episode and later becomes even more villainous, warns Skye against SHIELD, as he is trying to recruit her to work for him. He tells her that she fits the "profile" of people SHIELD usually recruits: "You're a criminal. You have a warrant somewhere. Specialized skill set. No family. I'm sorry, I didn't meant to hit the nerve, but that's what these people do. SHIELD. They prey on loneliness and fear and desperation, and then they offer home to those who have no one else to turn to." One can't deny the truth in his words, especially after after we get to see Ward's backstory later in the season. Coulson also seems to partially fits the profile as he lost his father early and has no living family.
*** Jiayang initially seems to overreact in Season 2 at the idea of the Inhumans cooperating with SHIELD, but that SHIELD had already been revealed to have been infiltrated by HYDRA gave her some justification, moreso when it's later revealed in Season 3 that [[spoiler:HYDRA was trying to bring back a creature called Hive who could control Inhumans, and in retrospect when a listing of registered Inhumans is used as a kill-list (also in Season 3), something she had explicitly warned of.]]
** Hela the BigBad of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' wants to take over Asgard and conquer everything in sight. While her would be followers scoff at her, Asgard only became so powerful and influential because she and Odin already did it once before. Odin was a warmonger before becoming the benevolent king everyone knows him as now. [[WrittenByTheWinners He changed history to make himself and Asgard look better]], removing all evidence of the war. and went as far as to move all the Asgardian warriors who died from their honored halls to a dark crypt to be forgotten. While he was right to imprison Hela when her desire for conquest grew insatiable, it was he who set her down that path by waging war on the other realms and making her DaddysLittleVillain in the first place. Despite her megalomania all her arguments are fairly justified.
*** While conversing with Thor before the FinalBattle, Hela points to the history Odin hide away as a sign that he covered up anything he found unpleasant. Thor doesn't deny it.

** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Features a subversion. Thanos's entire motivation is that he believes that the whole universe would soon suffer from OverpopulationCrisis like his own planet did unless he personally steps in and does something about it. It sounds like an example of this, but then one actually thinks about it, and the whole thing can be seen as [[TheyCalledMeMad insane]], [[InsaneTrollLogic short-sighted and idiotic]]. For reference, according to [[https://populationmatters.org/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_image/public/Historical%20human%20population%20growth%20-%20no%20logo_3.png?itok=Hjwf0HYI this graph]] if the world's population was cut in half it would take it about 40 years, a ''molecule'' of time compared to the age of the world, to recover, and that's ''not'' taking into account the more advanced medical technology we have today that didn't exist in the 70's that would speed it up considerably. How he expected this one-time fix-all solution to do anything more than ever-so-slightly delay the inevitable shows how deluded he truly is. The subversion is taken further in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler: when 2014 Thanos discovers that the [[GenocideSurvivor surviving grief-stricken Avengers]] are trying to reverse the damage his Prime-Timeline self did in ''Infinity War''. Once he realizes that his original plan won’t work because nobody would accept half the universe’s population being killed off, he changes his plan to [[OmnicidalManiac using the Infinity Stones to destroy the universe and recreate it how he sees fit]], because he now thinks this universe is a lost cause and [[EvilCannotComprehendGood he believes that the inhabitants of the new universe having no memory of those who get culled would result in them being "thankful" for Thanos's actions]]. This proves that ultimately Thanos is nothing more than a genocidal, power-hungry monster who's been trying to justify his countless bloodbaths. The subversion is taken even further when one considers that, since the Infinity Gauntlet can apparently create an entire universe, Thanos could have simply doubled the number of available resources instead of halving the universe’s population, which would have worked just as well without turning an entire universe against him]].
*** ''Film/{{Eternals}}'' subverts and PlayedWith the seemingly madness of Thanos' plan by retroactively showing it to have some merit and rationale to it. ''Eternals'' made a whole lot of small holes in Thanos' backstory make sense and recontextualized. How could Thanos's planet Titan destroy itself so quickly and why couldn't they mass migrate from their home planet to another planet, when they clearly had the advanced technology to do so? And why would Thanos suggest something like a random genocide to cull half of the planet's population in order to solve the overpopulation problem? Because the reason why Titan and the people of Titan got wiped out so quickly is because their growing population led to the Emergence of a new Celestial. ''THAT'' is why Thanos was obsessed with wiping half of all life in the universe, because he wanted to stop the Emergence of more new Celestials. Which certainly complicates how truly deluded Thanos' plan really was, especially when put in the context of preventing the Emergences of new Celestials.

** The villain in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' is so extremely anti-mutant that he would experiment on and enslave his own son to exterminate them all. In the process he enslaves another mutant to attack the president of the US, just so he can offer a target for the president to authorize an attack on. Before the strike, though, an objection is made that the target is a school. The villain responds sarcastically "Sure it is," showing x-ray imagery of a secret jet underneath the school's basketball court. A dispassionate observer should note that that is actually extremely suspicious. Normally schools don't have military-grade equipment hidden in their facility, and after all "schools" in some parts of the world have been used as recruiting centers/supply bases/etcetera by terrorist organizations before -- both for the purpose of camouflage, and making attacks on them politically troublesome. Not to mention, locations protected by the [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar Law of Armed Conflict]], like churches, schools, and historically important locales, ''forfeit that protection'' if they're used for a military purpose and Xavier's school would be a legally valid military target. The president then orders a non-lethal infiltration and capture mission, which from his position is entirely reasonable.
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' presents the inverse of the situation seen in ''[=X1=]''. This time, it's the government who takes the side of the mutants at Trask's Senate hearing and refuse to give the funding he needs to create the Sentinel program. The problem is that Trask has very well-founded fears that the audience can sympathize with. He correctly points out that the U.S. and Russia nearly went to war in the course of a single battle as a result of mutant intervention (which they officially deny, but are later seen to have removed several pieces of clothing and technology from and stored). After the Paris Peace Accord incident, he then points out that the participants include a man who can direct metal (and is the prime suspect/convicted prisoner in the death of a sitting U.S. President), another who believes that mutants will drive humanity into extinction, and a third who can shapeshift into anyone and order a nuclear strike if she felt like it. It doesn't justify his genocidal tendencies towards mutants, but these are some very real fears.
*** Trask went to a lot of trouble to convince {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s that mutants do exist, that they can be dangerous, and that America needs some kind of protection from them... and Magneto proved that Trask was ''[[TheExtremistWasRight completely right]]''.
** As said under ''Comics'' above, Magneto himself, especially in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' when the actual moment of the [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable break]] between him and Charles happens because he wants to retaliate against people who have just tried to kill all the mutants (including the ones to whom they are allied), in an attack solely motivated by fear of what they ''might'' do with their power rather than because the mutants were in any way aggressive towards them at the time. Charles protests that the men Magneto's immediately targeting were JustFollowingOrders, which unsurprisingly does not make the Holocaust-survivor relent.

!!Western Animation
* Unintentionally so in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', when Peter is torn between buying a new camera and giving the money to Aunt May to pay her outstanding bills. It's something ''The Shocker'' of all people says that hammers home what he is supposed to do:
--> '''Shocker:''' Ain't nothin' personal, Hoss. The simple truth is, if a man's a man he honors his responsibilities. [[ImpliedDeathThreat And you're one of mine.]]
--> '''(Later)'''
--> '''Peter:''' But... if a man's a man he honors his responsibilities. [[IronicEcho You're one of mine]]. Aunt May, please, let me help.

** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Features a subversion. Thanos's entire motivation is that he believes that the whole universe would soon suffer from OverpopulationCrisis like his own planet did unless he personally steps in and does something about it. It sounds like an example of this, but then one actually thinks about it, and the whole thing can be seen as [[TheyCalledMeMad insane]], [[InsaneTrollLogic short-sighted and idiotic]]. For reference, according to [[https://populationmatters.org/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_image/public/Historical%20human%20population%20growth%20-%20no%20logo_3.png?itok=Hjwf0HYI this graph]] if the world's population was cut in half it would take it about 40 years, a ''molecule'' of time compared to the age of the world, to recover, and that's ''not'' taking into account the more advanced medical technology we have today that didn't exist in the 70's that would speed it up considerably. How he expected this one-time fix-all solution to do anything more than ever-so-slightly delay the inevitable shows how deluded he truly is. The subversion is taken farther in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler: when 2014 Thanos discovers that the [[GenocideSurvivor surviving grief-stricken Avengers]] are trying to reverse the damage his Prime-Timeline self did in ''Infinity War''. Once he realizes that his original plan won’t work because nobody would accept half the universe’s population being killed off, he changes his plan to [[OmnicidalManiac using the Infinity Stones to destroy the universe and recreate it how he sees fit]], because he now thinks this universe is a lost cause and [[EvilCannotComprehendGood he believes that the inhabitants of the new universe having no memory of those who get culled would result in them being "thankful" for Thanos's actions]]. This proves that ultimately Thanos is nothing more than a genocidal, power-hungry monster who's been trying to justify his countless bloodbaths. The subversion is taken even further when one considers that, since the Infinity Gauntlet can apparently create an entire universe, Thanos could have simply doubled the number of available resources instead of halving the universe’s population, which would have worked just as well without turning an entire universe against him]].