Marvel Studios is starting to have an issue in developing their villains. Perhaps they always have, but the trouble is getting more and more evident.

This may come as a surprise so soon after Black Panther, which showcased Killmonger, one of the best villains the Marvel Cinematic Universe has produced (I would go so far as to say he may be the best movie villain. The distinction of best overall MCU villain still belongs to Kilgrave). But Killmonger, along with Spider-Man: Homecoming's Vulture, are the exceptions to what's becoming a distressing pattern.

This pattern is apparent in Iron Fist, the second seasons of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, and Ant-Man and the Wasp, and stretches all the way back to the original Thor and the first Avengers movie. Marvel Studios increasingly (A) making their villains more multidimensional, to the point of being sympathetic and relatable, and (B) involving their heroes in internal struggles rather than external conflicts.

The Vulture is the best example of strategy A working well. He's ruthless and aggressive, and has no qualms about harming innocent people, but, at the same time, he's an everyman who's just trying to provide for his family and secure a future for his daughter, whom he genuinely loves. Additionally, his resentment of the various metahumans in the MCU is almost understandable, if not relatable. The strategy worked because he was still a genuine threat to public safety because of his arms trafficking, and because he didn't hold anything back in his clashes with Spider-Man.

T'Challa is the best example of success using strategy B. We see him fighting to protect Wakanda in his tussles with Ulysses Klaue, and later in his fight to foil Killmonger's plans and reclaim his throne, but all the while Killmonger's rhetoric compels him to question the history and future of his nation and of their place on the global stage, ultimately resulting in him changing his mind and ending Wakanda's xenophobic isolation. This worked because T'Challa is still placed in conflict with a villain, with the fate of Wakanda and, ultimately, the world at stake, but that conflict begins to affect him internally and color his decisions.

Both narratives are still hero versus villain, still good versus evil – the heart of any superhero story. Marvel’s able to make both that good, and that evil, complex, while not straying too far from what it's all about.

The strategies work well in these cases, but there are many more examples of them missing the mark. Ant-Man and the Wasp’s Ghost was made so sympathetic that she barely registered as a villain, leaving the story with little sense of dramatic stakes until the literal ticking clock introduced in the third act. In the second season of Luke Cage, the motivations and machinations of its protagonist and antagonists got so muddled, and developed so unevenly, that the result was a slow-moving, maudlin mess that led to a thoroughly unsatisfying conclusion. Jessica Jones's second season spent a few episodes hyping up a mysterious antagonist, only to reveal that the shadowy assassin picking off failed IGH experiments is none other than Jessica's own mother, leaving the rest of the series completely without an antagonist, shifting the focus to Jessica's struggles with her inner demons and the question of what to do with her mother. Tragic? Yes. Engaging? No. Amid Iron Fist's myriad issues was the absence of any primary antagonist and a slew of pitifully underwhelming secondary ones – a necromanced businessman and a cult leader doing his best Ra's al Ghul impression. Hardly riveting. Even Loki, a longtime fan favorite since the beginnings of the MCU, presented a similar problem – he was always far too likable to be a true antagonist, and subsequent more sympathetic renderings – playing up his status as a bastard son and black sheep of the Asgardian royal family – didn't help (This was one of Ragnarok's strong points; finally just giving in and making him an antihero).

It's likely that this approach stems from a desire for MCU sequels and second seasons to do more than retracing the same territory as their predecessors had and avoid relying too heavily on one-dimensional villains. These are worthy aspirations, but Marvel Studios' track record of successful attempts versus failures in this regard isn't looking too great, and at this point the balance has been thrown off and needs to be restored. One-dimensional villains can be just as fun and compelling when drawn right. For every Killmonger, Vulture, and Ghost, you've got to have a few Red Skulls, Ultrons, and Helas.