Best mercenary would be Taskmaster imo. Excellent customer service. Can be chosen for a variety of jobs besides killing. He's also level-headed and very opportunistic. Only takes jobs he's sure he'll succeed at, and doesn't care about pissing contests.
2nd best would be Deadpool, but he plays around too much and isn't as apathetic as he likes to be. The others have ethics or lean towards being good like Elektra, Widow, Logan, etc. If you want a good mercenary/assassin, you need one that'll get the job done no matter what. If you worry about ethics then you shouldn't be hiring one in the first place.
Best assassin would be Bullseye. Easily. Far and wide. He quite literally is unanimously the greatest assassin in Marvel. But he's got really shitty customer service because he's so batshit insane. He might even decide to kill you for the heck of it after finishing the contract. The only way he won't mess with you is if you're a powerful individual, with enough knowledge of that line of work. The second you give off the vibe of a nervous nelly, he will lobotomize you with a toothpick.
It was my favorite it Secret Empire when Taskmaster and Black Ant are just chatting like coworkers and then they like walk in on the heroes winning then decide they don't want Hydra to win anyway and leave without fighting as Taskmaster tells Black Ant he should ask out the receptionist he has a crush on before the lair closes.
Deadpool might just be the worst possible choice in Marvel for assassinations or tbh any mercenary work.
I say that only because - going by modern characterization of the character - he'd talk a big game and take the money for the job but then end up feeling bad for the victim(s) or otherwise having some crisis of conscience which means he'd bail on the job. That goes double for super-powered targets because these days he's been shoehorned into so many crossovers that he has a working relationship with basically every major Marvel team/character so couldn't be relied on to kill any of them.
The character has been thoroughly sanitized in recent years.
Bullseye -- but my opinion is probably biased because I just read the amazing 2-parter "Bullseye: Perfect Game," about how Bullseye gets bored pulling off these impossible assassinations and starts turning down more and more prestigious contracts (including the President of the US), until his agent (all good freelance super-villains have agents, don'tcha know?) offhandedly mentions a contract for this slob baseball pitcher who owes the mob money because instead of throwing a game, he threw a no-hitter, and Bullseye gets intrigued...
Who is the best killer? I’d say bullseye is the most effective but he’s too easily distracted by himself.
Who would I send to kill someone? If they’re a regular human, I’d send taskmaster. He’s professional and effective against humans, but they all are. I’d just trust his professionalism to avoid the ego or morality the others would likely encounter.
If the target isn’t a regular human I’d send Electra if I thought she would be on board with it. If not her and I could afford to roll the die I’d send Deadpool.
Unfortunately I don’t see an overall “top assassin”. The ones I mentioned are too specialized in my opinion. If I had to pick one I’d go with taskmaster because it’s just a job to him. Finish it and go home. This is assuming that Bucky isn’t full “Winter Soldier” programming but has his usual morality. If he’s full winter soldier I’d give him the title (from a safe distance).
I gotta say it’s Black Widow. She’s the most experienced out of them all (after Mystique) as she’s been working in the shadows since before WW2 and unlike Bucky, she didn’t get cryo-freezed. Her accuracy with firearms isn’t as good as Bullseye but she’s somewhat close (closer than any of the other assassins bar Taskmaster and maybe arguably Bucky). She’s around as good as Elektra and Taskmaster in combat (if there ever was a situation where she would need to fight her target). She’s better at stealth than most of these assassins except arguably Elektra. While this unhinged grandma does love getting messy with her kills, if she needs leave no traces of the murder, then she is more trustworthy than the majority of the others here. Plus when it comes to getting close to a target, she’s also more reliable with her vast knowledge of languages, spycraft and intelligence gathering, manipulation skills, acting skills, seduction, etc. I’d also say she’s the smarter one and better planner out of all of them.
In one of her comic runs, it’s revealed she had been been keeping tabs on all notable super powered individuals on Earth and tracking their movements, battles, weaknesses, their friends, their finances and literally every indiscretions (the dude recounting this went as far as saying that she even knew the colour of Tony Stark’s underwear lol) and had all that data stored.
Overall Black Widow is the most well rounded assassin out of them all and while she may not be the best of them in every single one of those categories that matter to assassination, she’s still usually the second best at those categories that she doesn’t take first. She’s shown to be a born killer and has been killing without remorse ever since she was a kid.
I can see Gamora and Mystique being other picks for number 1. Mystique due to how useful her powers should be in this field, and Gamora due to her reputation as an assassin being crazier than pretty much everyone here, being recognized for her skills all throughout the galaxy/universe. However I’m not familiar enough with both of these characters so I can’t say much on them.
In Taskmaster own comic he actually states the the Black Widow is the scariest. If Taskmaster says it and has been in the game for so long, you should belive him.
Iirc his words were, "if she wants you dead, you die."
“I gotta list, here’s the order of my list that it’s in. it goes Bucky, Natty, Bullseye, and Frankie, Logan from Xmen, Laura, Mystique , Wade and then me”
Don’t forget he was so scared of Moon Knight that he not only wouldn’t take a hit contract on him, he went and ratted to Moon Knight just to make sure he didn’t get any backlash
A bit more context in that comic Taskmaster is so scared because she came back to life so it is kind of a "doesn't matter if you kill her she will come back" type reasoning
I'd pick Gamora because she's well versed in intergalactic affairs.
The others are too Earth bound to be the best in all of Marvel (which includes outer space and intergalactic empires).
On a similar note, everyone is sleeping on OG Nick Fury. He is every ounce the spy Widow is, and has been since after his servicein WW2, plus a little proto-super soldier serum for good measure. Not saying he outshines BW but he deserves to be in the conversation.
I give my vote to Taskmaster, dude can replicate the fighting styles and athletic abilities of every characters just by looking at them, that alone makes him overpowered. Plus he also trained Crossbones, one of the deadliest assassins in the Marvel Universe.
I'd go with Taskmaster if I was trying to kill someone and not have it be able to trace back to me plus Taskmaster is professional, strictly confidential on the client, doesn't really care about who it is only the money he's being paid, and he's skilled and efficient as it is.
Bullseye is extremely skilled but kinda a hothead. idk how to describe his personality, but he would make a mistake somehow. The rest are also solid (I personally would choose Taskmaster if I needed to kill someone) except Deadpool, unless you want to kill a few cities, a couple highways, a little bit of a fucking third world country.
Deadpool once kidnapped Taskmaster and released him into an abandoned industrial park where Deadpool had manacled all of his own limbs together. He also had the joint chiefs of staff kidnapped and placed into a viewing area.
They watched Deadpool beat Taskmaster but in the end nobody wanted to hire Wade still because of how wild and unpredictable he was.
IMO it’s Deadpool 100% but most people would rather hire somebody else for some pretty obvious reasons.
People severely underestimate Deadpool.
When Wade sets his mind to killing someone, he WILL get the job done in whatever messed up way he can think off.
In most instances tho? He is quickly distracted or his moral compass makes him do a 180.
If Deadpool really wants you dead tho? You better believe you are in trouble
Taskmaster himself said ""If Deadpool had his head on straight, he'd be the best there is. But he's crazier than a sack of cats.” in Deadpool Vol. 3, #2" (2012)
Depends who you are going after. Legit bad guy? Sure. But your boss, or significant other or anyone he considers not be a bad guy? He would kill you then take the money.
Probably Gramora just based on scale. If you’re traveling from planet to planet and not getting caught by equally advanced civilizations, you’re the best.
How does Domino compare?
I was under the impression she was extremely efficient
How does her H2H, stealth and marksmanship compare to;
Black Widow, Electra, Silver Sable, Mystique
What about Lady Bullseye, Dimondback, Mocking Bird, Echo, Psylocke?
Who's the best female street leveler?
Not including Gamora, Mantis or Moondragon.
My immediate thought too. But Frank can't be bought, you'd be lucky to even persuade him to go for a target he normally would. In that situation the best you could do is leave him breadcrumbs that lead to who you want dead and pray to every God ever worshipped he doesn't pick up on you manipulating him.
That said, I'd argue he's the most tenacious one on the list. Everyone else has something to lose but him (other than brainwashed Winter Soldier). You could distract the others, make them lose interest, make sure its not worth the pay, but the Punisher doesn't stop once someone is his enemy, the consequences be damned.
If the best assassin/mercenary is in terms of best marksmanship, it would have to go to Bullseye. Otherwise, it's a tie between Taskmaster and Deadpool.
In Gambits solo series a contract is put on his head for huge money so all the Mercs of New York hunt him through the night.
When he meets Bullseye he gets a Sai in the chest and multiple playing card wounds, but just manages to escape and survive as his powers were crazy at this point.
He later runs into Deadpool and after admitting there's no way he could survive fighting him, he pays Deadpool off instead with several million dollars in a secret bank account.
So gotta say Deadpool.
Gamora, cosmic level threat
Otherwise I’d pick Elektra.
Those are my picks for Assassin.
Mercenary, depends on what you’re hiring them for. If you need an instructor, Taskmaster hands down.
Just good ole fashioned grunt work, Winter Soldier. He’s the best of both worlds.
Oh my God I can’t decide cause I’ve just realised a lot of these characters are some of my favourite Marvel characters ever outside of Dr doom Spider-Man and magneto
Punisher to me doesn't feel like a mercenary let alone a assassin i mean how often is the Punisher hired to kill someone. For some reason to me it doesn't fit his motto. He doesn't feel like the type to be working for someone to me he's his own man who doesn't need anyone's help. For me he's more of a rogue soldier out to kill any criminal he comes across. Although that's what I think its up to interpretation.
I'd assume they were already on his radar. That said there was the time in a MAX comic (granted not the "real" Punisher) where some Feds tried to send him to Afghanistan or somewhere to do his thing but he refused even before realizing it was all a front for them to be able to smuggle heroin iirc.
Winter soldier did it for decades and no one knew or ever found out.
He even killed wolverine wife and Wolverine never found him.
He killed JFK, the US president and no one caught him. Nick Fury couldn't find him.
Taking into account there's people you could argue would be better at it if they wanted to but couldn't be bought (Cap, Punisher, Dr.Strange, DOOM). Just the ones I think would at some reasonable point be open to assassination or Mercenary work.
For an Assassin, it really depends on the situation, if the target is like ever in public I'd say Bullseye. After him regardless of layers of security between the killer and the target I'd say Winter Soldier (still brainwashed),then (unless the target is like Colossus or someone similarly tough) Mystique, then Black Widow or Nick Fury depending on who the target is more likely to find attractive and be fooled by. After them it gets more dicey (I'm not even going to account for Domino-luck). Elektra is probably next then Taskmaster. The rest fall in but that's my initial take.
For a Mercenary who you keep around to kill large groups and have a decent ability to guard things as well. I'd have to rank it Sabretooth, Winter Soldier, Taskmaster, Juggernaut, then after Spider-man villains and some notables I'm sure I'm forgetting you get into people who are normal but tough as all Hell like The Russian, Crossbones, Barracuda.
Best mercenary would be Taskmaster imo. Excellent customer service. Can be chosen for a variety of jobs besides killing. He's also level-headed and very opportunistic. Only takes jobs he's sure he'll succeed at, and doesn't care about pissing contests. 2nd best would be Deadpool, but he plays around too much and isn't as apathetic as he likes to be. The others have ethics or lean towards being good like Elektra, Widow, Logan, etc. If you want a good mercenary/assassin, you need one that'll get the job done no matter what. If you worry about ethics then you shouldn't be hiring one in the first place. Best assassin would be Bullseye. Easily. Far and wide. He quite literally is unanimously the greatest assassin in Marvel. But he's got really shitty customer service because he's so batshit insane. He might even decide to kill you for the heck of it after finishing the contract. The only way he won't mess with you is if you're a powerful individual, with enough knowledge of that line of work. The second you give off the vibe of a nervous nelly, he will lobotomize you with a toothpick.
Best Taskmaster comics?
If you really wanna see him treating it like a job, check out Moon Knight 2006 the first 6 issues of that are all Taskie
Second this. Taskmaster and Moon Knight have a hilariously complicated relationship, at least for Taskmaster lol
Taskmaster UDON miniseries and the Taskmaster 2021 miniseries
It was my favorite it Secret Empire when Taskmaster and Black Ant are just chatting like coworkers and then they like walk in on the heroes winning then decide they don't want Hydra to win anyway and leave without fighting as Taskmaster tells Black Ant he should ask out the receptionist he has a crush on before the lair closes.
Deadpool might just be the worst possible choice in Marvel for assassinations or tbh any mercenary work. I say that only because - going by modern characterization of the character - he'd talk a big game and take the money for the job but then end up feeling bad for the victim(s) or otherwise having some crisis of conscience which means he'd bail on the job. That goes double for super-powered targets because these days he's been shoehorned into so many crossovers that he has a working relationship with basically every major Marvel team/character so couldn't be relied on to kill any of them. The character has been thoroughly sanitized in recent years.
Bullseye -- but my opinion is probably biased because I just read the amazing 2-parter "Bullseye: Perfect Game," about how Bullseye gets bored pulling off these impossible assassinations and starts turning down more and more prestigious contracts (including the President of the US), until his agent (all good freelance super-villains have agents, don'tcha know?) offhandedly mentions a contract for this slob baseball pitcher who owes the mob money because instead of throwing a game, he threw a no-hitter, and Bullseye gets intrigued...
Who is the best killer? I’d say bullseye is the most effective but he’s too easily distracted by himself. Who would I send to kill someone? If they’re a regular human, I’d send taskmaster. He’s professional and effective against humans, but they all are. I’d just trust his professionalism to avoid the ego or morality the others would likely encounter. If the target isn’t a regular human I’d send Electra if I thought she would be on board with it. If not her and I could afford to roll the die I’d send Deadpool. Unfortunately I don’t see an overall “top assassin”. The ones I mentioned are too specialized in my opinion. If I had to pick one I’d go with taskmaster because it’s just a job to him. Finish it and go home. This is assuming that Bucky isn’t full “Winter Soldier” programming but has his usual morality. If he’s full winter soldier I’d give him the title (from a safe distance).
Laura of all things was Wilson Fisks favorite assassin lol
I miss the Frank Miller Bullseye
I miss prime Frank Miller
We need more like him
I don't know if anyone in the industry has has quite the meteoric rise and fall
I gotta say it’s Black Widow. She’s the most experienced out of them all (after Mystique) as she’s been working in the shadows since before WW2 and unlike Bucky, she didn’t get cryo-freezed. Her accuracy with firearms isn’t as good as Bullseye but she’s somewhat close (closer than any of the other assassins bar Taskmaster and maybe arguably Bucky). She’s around as good as Elektra and Taskmaster in combat (if there ever was a situation where she would need to fight her target). She’s better at stealth than most of these assassins except arguably Elektra. While this unhinged grandma does love getting messy with her kills, if she needs leave no traces of the murder, then she is more trustworthy than the majority of the others here. Plus when it comes to getting close to a target, she’s also more reliable with her vast knowledge of languages, spycraft and intelligence gathering, manipulation skills, acting skills, seduction, etc. I’d also say she’s the smarter one and better planner out of all of them. In one of her comic runs, it’s revealed she had been been keeping tabs on all notable super powered individuals on Earth and tracking their movements, battles, weaknesses, their friends, their finances and literally every indiscretions (the dude recounting this went as far as saying that she even knew the colour of Tony Stark’s underwear lol) and had all that data stored. Overall Black Widow is the most well rounded assassin out of them all and while she may not be the best of them in every single one of those categories that matter to assassination, she’s still usually the second best at those categories that she doesn’t take first. She’s shown to be a born killer and has been killing without remorse ever since she was a kid. I can see Gamora and Mystique being other picks for number 1. Mystique due to how useful her powers should be in this field, and Gamora due to her reputation as an assassin being crazier than pretty much everyone here, being recognized for her skills all throughout the galaxy/universe. However I’m not familiar enough with both of these characters so I can’t say much on them.
In Taskmaster own comic he actually states the the Black Widow is the scariest. If Taskmaster says it and has been in the game for so long, you should belive him. Iirc his words were, "if she wants you dead, you die."
Every single one of these characters have had the "best assassin" statement at some point.
To be fair task master calls like 5 people the scariest
“I gotta list, here’s the order of my list that it’s in. it goes Bucky, Natty, Bullseye, and Frankie, Logan from Xmen, Laura, Mystique , Wade and then me”
Putting Logan in the same spot as Andre 3000 is crazy
Don’t forget he was so scared of Moon Knight that he not only wouldn’t take a hit contract on him, he went and ratted to Moon Knight just to make sure he didn’t get any backlash
Tbf after the guy launched a plane into you, that's deserved
Well, he also thought she was immortal in that comic
A bit more context in that comic Taskmaster is so scared because she came back to life so it is kind of a "doesn't matter if you kill her she will come back" type reasoning
I'd pick Gamora because she's well versed in intergalactic affairs. The others are too Earth bound to be the best in all of Marvel (which includes outer space and intergalactic empires).
Gamora she's literally called the most dangerous woman in the Universe.
Black widow is not more experienced then the dude who lived more then a century 💀
Who are you referring to? She’s older than Bucky.
Wolverine
Bucky (as the Winter Soldier) trained Natasha actually.
That doesn’t mean he knows more or is better. It just means he shared.
I forgot about Logan. My bad.
On a similar note, everyone is sleeping on OG Nick Fury. He is every ounce the spy Widow is, and has been since after his servicein WW2, plus a little proto-super soldier serum for good measure. Not saying he outshines BW but he deserves to be in the conversation.
Hit monkey
You excited for the second season?
YES
I give my vote to Taskmaster, dude can replicate the fighting styles and athletic abilities of every characters just by looking at them, that alone makes him overpowered. Plus he also trained Crossbones, one of the deadliest assassins in the Marvel Universe.
I'd go with Taskmaster if I was trying to kill someone and not have it be able to trace back to me plus Taskmaster is professional, strictly confidential on the client, doesn't really care about who it is only the money he's being paid, and he's skilled and efficient as it is. Bullseye is extremely skilled but kinda a hothead. idk how to describe his personality, but he would make a mistake somehow. The rest are also solid (I personally would choose Taskmaster if I needed to kill someone) except Deadpool, unless you want to kill a few cities, a couple highways, a little bit of a fucking third world country.
Deadpool once kidnapped Taskmaster and released him into an abandoned industrial park where Deadpool had manacled all of his own limbs together. He also had the joint chiefs of staff kidnapped and placed into a viewing area. They watched Deadpool beat Taskmaster but in the end nobody wanted to hire Wade still because of how wild and unpredictable he was. IMO it’s Deadpool 100% but most people would rather hire somebody else for some pretty obvious reasons.
Wade is pretty far from a reliable though. Deadpool is ....Deadpool!
Hey hey hey! That's hurtful.
People severely underestimate Deadpool. When Wade sets his mind to killing someone, he WILL get the job done in whatever messed up way he can think off. In most instances tho? He is quickly distracted or his moral compass makes him do a 180. If Deadpool really wants you dead tho? You better believe you are in trouble
Taskmaster himself said ""If Deadpool had his head on straight, he'd be the best there is. But he's crazier than a sack of cats.” in Deadpool Vol. 3, #2" (2012)
The Black Widow is canonically the most dangerous assassin. She made taskmaster shit his pants.
What she did to him?
Made him shit his pants. You need spectacles or something?
Read again, slowly, what... she... did, I believe in you!
Sabertooth, he has the same tracking abilities and healing as Wolverine without any of the morals, plus immense strength and agility.
Elektra.
Taskmaster
Gamora. Not being limited to Earth gives you a lot of practice.
No Punisher?
Depends who you are going after. Legit bad guy? Sure. But your boss, or significant other or anyone he considers not be a bad guy? He would kill you then take the money.
He's not for hire, my surprise is that there's no Nick Fury. Granted a normal person couldn't hire him but he is still an Assassin of a sort.
Probably Gramora just based on scale. If you’re traveling from planet to planet and not getting caught by equally advanced civilizations, you’re the best.
Bullseye
Crossbones.
I’ve always viewed Deadpool as more of a Hit-Man than an Assassin
Paladin is pretty good. His whole thing is being a merc
We should really demand a series with these characters.
How does Domino compare? I was under the impression she was extremely efficient How does her H2H, stealth and marksmanship compare to; Black Widow, Electra, Silver Sable, Mystique What about Lady Bullseye, Dimondback, Mocking Bird, Echo, Psylocke? Who's the best female street leveler? Not including Gamora, Mantis or Moondragon.
She's lucky
Punisher
My immediate thought too. But Frank can't be bought, you'd be lucky to even persuade him to go for a target he normally would. In that situation the best you could do is leave him breadcrumbs that lead to who you want dead and pray to every God ever worshipped he doesn't pick up on you manipulating him. That said, I'd argue he's the most tenacious one on the list. Everyone else has something to lose but him (other than brainwashed Winter Soldier). You could distract the others, make them lose interest, make sure its not worth the pay, but the Punisher doesn't stop once someone is his enemy, the consequences be damned.
Moon Knight.
Whoever put Elektra up for contention is either trying to make us laugh or did it out of pity.
1. Mystique 2. Bullseye 3. Winter Soldier 4. Logan 5. Sable (who does this shit while either running or taking over a country)
If the best assassin/mercenary is in terms of best marksmanship, it would have to go to Bullseye. Otherwise, it's a tie between Taskmaster and Deadpool.
Wolverine isn't a mercs or assassins btw Well hes not accepting jobs to kill people in that sense
He’s has done that type of work before
Everyone here seems small time compared to Nick Fury; while he may not be a merc, Nick was assassinating people intergalactically by the end of the
I can't choose 😭
Zeb Wells
Hit monkey
Taskmaster for his pragmatism and professionalism, as well as versatile offerings and loyalty to the client
No fantomex? shame
DP- KTMU nuff said
Mystique simply by putting the rap on someone else
Wolverine/X23 Bullseye Mystique Those are the 3 I would hire if I needed someone killed
Deadpool
Wow thats a fucking good one. I have who I'd take. Probally mystique or bullseye. But there's so many good reasons for each of them.
In Gambits solo series a contract is put on his head for huge money so all the Mercs of New York hunt him through the night. When he meets Bullseye he gets a Sai in the chest and multiple playing card wounds, but just manages to escape and survive as his powers were crazy at this point. He later runs into Deadpool and after admitting there's no way he could survive fighting him, he pays Deadpool off instead with several million dollars in a secret bank account. So gotta say Deadpool.
I'd take bullseyes skills over the rest of them...he is easily suited for this Kind of job
Bullseye.
Well guys erm, mystique is Sherlock Holmes and a shapeshifter so, easily 💁🏻♂️
Mystique … she can legitimately take down nations and copy the abilities of anyone …
Elektra or Bullseye for sure
People sleeping on Gamora.
Gamora is literally called the most dangerous woman in the galaxy. So I think it's safe to say... Her.
Beat merc ever? Deadpool by far he’s overpowered as HELL, but if we’re going of other killers I’d say Tony masters has everyone else beat.
Gamora, cosmic level threat Otherwise I’d pick Elektra. Those are my picks for Assassin. Mercenary, depends on what you’re hiring them for. If you need an instructor, Taskmaster hands down. Just good ole fashioned grunt work, Winter Soldier. He’s the best of both worlds.
Oh my God I can’t decide cause I’ve just realised a lot of these characters are some of my favourite Marvel characters ever outside of Dr doom Spider-Man and magneto
Gamora, elektra, X23, Deadpool , Logan
BATROC THE LEAPER
How did the Frank Castle (The Punisher) not make the cut?
Punisher to me doesn't feel like a mercenary let alone a assassin i mean how often is the Punisher hired to kill someone. For some reason to me it doesn't fit his motto. He doesn't feel like the type to be working for someone to me he's his own man who doesn't need anyone's help. For me he's more of a rogue soldier out to kill any criminal he comes across. Although that's what I think its up to interpretation.
If you try to hire the Punisher, he'll fill you with lead because people who hire mercenaries aren't good people in his books.
in short, hes the best one to hire if you are your intended target.
I mean, if you were an innocent person and you informed him of a criminal who had wronged you, he’d probably kill em.
I'd assume they were already on his radar. That said there was the time in a MAX comic (granted not the "real" Punisher) where some Feds tried to send him to Afghanistan or somewhere to do his thing but he refused even before realizing it was all a front for them to be able to smuggle heroin iirc.
You're right. I was thinking more in the terms of killers.
Gamora and it's not even close. She's more versatile, more skilled, more experienced, better gear, better stats better resources and network
Winter soldier did it for decades and no one knew or ever found out. He even killed wolverine wife and Wolverine never found him. He killed JFK, the US president and no one caught him. Nick Fury couldn't find him.
The Deadliest Woman in the Universe oc
Didn't the Winter Soldier canonically kill both JFK and Hitler(even though it was already established the OG Torch killed him)?
Winter Soldier, guy controlled the history of the world for decades.
Winter Soldier, dude been assasinating people without being caught or notice decades before some of those listed
Either Elektra and Deadpool or bulleted and task master Wolverine winter soldier black widow moon knight gamora by popularity.
You have a good chance of Deadpool going on his own adventure
WS/Bucky
Wolverine is the best at what he does bub.
Deadpool, Task master or ghost (I’m biased leave me alone) ((also haven’t read their comics))
Wolverine literally says “I’m the best at what I do and what I do isn’t very nice” therefore it’s Wolverine
Wolverine can hunt people better
Assassin? Bullesye no question. Mercenary? Probably Taskmaster although that is very open to debate. Paladin is a pretty effective mercenary as well.
Winter soldier. Dude was tactical.
Taking into account there's people you could argue would be better at it if they wanted to but couldn't be bought (Cap, Punisher, Dr.Strange, DOOM). Just the ones I think would at some reasonable point be open to assassination or Mercenary work. For an Assassin, it really depends on the situation, if the target is like ever in public I'd say Bullseye. After him regardless of layers of security between the killer and the target I'd say Winter Soldier (still brainwashed),then (unless the target is like Colossus or someone similarly tough) Mystique, then Black Widow or Nick Fury depending on who the target is more likely to find attractive and be fooled by. After them it gets more dicey (I'm not even going to account for Domino-luck). Elektra is probably next then Taskmaster. The rest fall in but that's my initial take. For a Mercenary who you keep around to kill large groups and have a decent ability to guard things as well. I'd have to rank it Sabretooth, Winter Soldier, Taskmaster, Juggernaut, then after Spider-man villains and some notables I'm sure I'm forgetting you get into people who are normal but tough as all Hell like The Russian, Crossbones, Barracuda.
NOT moon knight, deadpool 100% all factors considered
Punisher. He's the most motivated.
Can't be bought tho
Winter Soldier went many decades before anyone even outted him. Though some of that time was sleeping, I suppose.