Google “best mcu villains” and you’ll get the usual suspects (Collider, Empire, Nerdist, Mashable, etc.) listing the usual suspects. The top three on these sort of lists are nearly invariable. Thanos gets one of those spots because he’s around a lot, people really dig the last two Avengers movies, there’s an emotional kick to him as the Big Bad Who Was Promised. Loki gets one of those spots too. He is the MCU’s version of a complicated character. First, he’s good-looking and says funny stuff, which is far cry from the regular villain who scowls a lot and has evil written all over him. Second, he’s a character who is complicated in the only way that any MCU character can be “complicated.”

Killmonger usually gets the third spot, and since he’s really only in one of these movies (the Wakanda Forever appearance is not much more than a cameo), that’s pretty impressive compared to the long list of credits Thanos and Loki have. I’ve cooled a lot on Michael B. Jordan’s performance here since my first go-round with Black Panther; once I thought about how I’d be so much more interested in Daniel Kaluuya’s interpretation of the part, Jordan’s approach to the character seemed bloodless. There’s a lot of barking, so much so that even the scene where it appears that he’s killed T’Challa doesn’t make him seem all that threatening. This is a long way around saying that I’m not all that interested or impressed with Killmonger, but he does have a quality brought out by “Is this your king?” which genuinely makes him stand out among villains in these movies.

When Thanos or Loki (or Kang or Ego or Hela or Ultron…) are condescending, it makes sense. These are all godlike figures, in some cases just god figures, and if their reaction to normies is to say something like “You are made for me to rule because you are all puny humans,” there’s a logic behind it. It’s not a logic that we have to or are supposed to agree with, but you can see, from this Dark Ages perspective, where they’re coming from. Killmonger is a very successful soldier who hails from urban America. We’re not talking about the same kind of individual as Thanos here. Nor does he lead off with braggadocio when he comes to Wakanda and makes his challenge. He is supremely confident, but it’s about how cool and ready he feels more than it is about trash talking prematurely. “Is this your king?” is a declaration of victory, not a declaration of intent. He saves this lance to Wakanda’s pride until he knows it’s going to impale his audience for a long, long time.