The MCU is currently enjoying its 14th year of producing mega-hit movies. Yet, for all the appeal of Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, and Thor, a central component of Marvel’s expansive cast of characters has been missing since day one. Of course, we’re talking about mutants.

Marvel Comics probably would have never become the comic book juggernaut it is today were it not for the X-Men. Initially released in September 1963, X-Men would grow to become one of the preeminent comics of all time. The series has introduced myriad heroes and villains that have come to define the superhero genre.

Marvel Studios is finally making moves that will incorporate not only Fox Studios’ iteration of the titular team but allow them to finally develop an MCU X-Men squad of their own. While recent announcements have revealed that Hugh Jackman will play Wolverine in Deadpool 3, a recent episode of She-Hulk also teased the X-Men in a credits image. Fox’s X-Men franchise introduced many mutant villains, including Magneto, Sabertooth, and Mystique. Still, the pages of X-Men are filled with threatening foes that continue to await their debut on the silver screen.

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Let’s take a look at some top contenders for mutant villains we need to see in the MCU.

Mr. Sinister

     Marvel Comics

Nathaniel Essex, the man who would become Mr. Sinister, was born in Victorian England during the 19th century. He was considered a genius scientist by some, while others regarded him as a dangerously obsessive man. After the death of his young son, Essex loses himself to his work and eventually discovers that humanity is on the verge of an evolutionary breakthrough.

In the comics, this would come to be known as the X-Factor. He is approached by renowned X-Men villain Apocalypse, who offers to give him incredible abilities if Essex helps him rise to power. After further tragedy strikes, Essex agrees to the terms and is born anew as Mr. Sinister.

Mr. Sinister is arguably the highest-tier villain yet to appear in an X-Men film. Introducing a new threat with the clout of Mr. Sinister early in Phase 7 would show fans that the MCU is far from safe. His fanatical obsession with genetics and mutation also provides a relevant starting point as mutants begin to take a larger portion of the Marvel pie.

Magneto

     20th Century Fox

Magneto has become a super-villain staple for a reason. He possesses all the strength and disquieting power to level cities while, at the same time, his worldview and overall goals are hard to argue with.

Born Max Eisenhardt sometime in the 1920s, Max suffered terribly at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. Due to their Jewish heritage, Max and his family were shipped to Auschwitz, where his parents were eventually executed.

Magneto was indelibly shaped by his experiences during the Holocaust. He refuses to idly watch by as mutant kind is subjected to similar treatment at the hands of prejudiced and closed-minded humans. To this end, he uses all his powers and abilities to develop a safe world for mutants. If the building of such a world requires the extinction of humanity, so be it. Much like Thanos, Magneto is a villain with a goal in mind. He’s not out to destroy the world or run the galaxy. He simply wants to build a safe home for others like himself – a world without the prejudices and injustices that lead to Auschwitz.

Though we have seen a fair amount of Magneto within Fox’s film offerings, it will be important for the MCU to establish its own version rather quickly. Additionally, Magneto is the father of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, better known as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Introducing Wanda’s long-lost father as one of the strongest mutants on the planet would make for compelling character arcs and stories fans would line up to see.

Emma Frost

Though Emma Frost made a brief appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, her only real screen time was in X-Men: First Class. Played by January Jones, Emma Frost was underrepresented in the film, where she merely served as an underling to Sebastian Shaw. The MCU owes Emma Frost a chance to show how potent of a character she can truly be.

Emma Frost was born to an abusive father and a drug-abusing mother. She learned self-reliance from a young age and that others rarely seemed worthy of her trust. As her telepathic abilities began to grow, Emma discovered her keen ability to manipulate and work the system to her benefit.

Emma Frost is one of the few comic book characters who can expertly walk the line between good and evil. On the one hand, she is instinctively crafty, constantly devising plans to elevate her status with mutants. At the same time, she sincerely cares about her pupils as well as her on-again and off-again teammates.

When mutants finally begin to reveal themselves within the MCU, a middleman like Emma Frost could prove a multidimensional and complicated character, whether she appears as an opponent or an ally.