How can i make these villain expies work and not get sued?

My story is kinda complicated, so i'll explain it sometime later. My aim is to make a vague implication that it's universe is some alternate version of Marvel (some characters have similiar names / powers).

I already have names and other basics, but appearances of the characters are a problem, as i intend to make them kind of remind the readers of characters they're expies of, but not similiar-looking enough to get sued over.

The villains i'm making expies of are Whiplash (similiar weapon, but wolverine claws instead of whips), Venom (similiar power, living tattoos), Red Skull (the story originally was anthro dog comic and he had his snout skinned off, but i don't think the look would work for a human), Doctor doom (technopath who has access to magic through tools), Magneto (telekinesis or something? I also need a name for him), Abomination (he looks so ******* simple, he doesn't even have clothes), Ultron, and Baron Zemo.

Any ideas?

EDIT: The problem is that i can't think of their designs.

Edited by Nukeli on Nov 22nd 2018 at 8:10:11 PM

It's entire possible to base characters on preexisting ones, so long as it is clearly an homage. You have to show you're referencing the previous characters and not just copying them. One way to do this is to parody these characters or provide some meta commentary, like by deconstructing some of these characters.

If this is a written story, which it sounds like it is, I don't think having a super sepcific character description will necessarily alleviate the comparisons readers might make. I'd focus on giving each character a unique name that doesn't resemble the source of inspiration, and maybe one physical feature that is easy to remember, like a signature article of clothing, a unique facial feature or noticble body type. What happened in between is really in the mind of the reader.