There is 0 indication whatever to suggest Shanks is even a villain, forget about the final villain. Even if he is an antagonist, we have little to no reason(s) to think he's going to be more of an antagonist than Im, Blackbeard, and even Akainu for that matter. That's highly unlikely even for a far-fetched scenario. Even if we're to assume the worst-case scenario and say Shanks is going to be a villain, what makes you think Mihawk would team up with evil Shanks of all people? Is he secretly evil too? Does that not sound like reaching?
Since we love throwing around the "what if" scenarios, how about we come up with a more realistic scenario that goes in line with what we know of these characters? What if Shanks is the same good guy who sacrificed his potential for Luffy? What if Mihawk and Shanks operate separately until the very end like they always have? What if Zoro and Luffy fight Shanks and Mihawk in two different arcs?
Sure, Shanks has nothing to do with Zoro, and that in turn has nothing to do with Zoro surpassing Shanks. Shanks doesn't have to be related to Zoro for him to be surpassed by Zoro.
Since we love throwing around the "what if" scenarios, how about we come up with a more realistic scenario that goes in line with what we know of these characters? What if Shanks is the same good guy who sacrificed his potential for Luffy? What if Mihawk and Shanks operate separately until the very end like they always have? What if Zoro and Luffy fight Shanks and Mihawk in two different arcs?
Sure, Shanks has nothing to do with Zoro, and that in turn has nothing to do with Zoro surpassing Shanks. Shanks doesn't have to be related to Zoro for him to be surpassed by Zoro.
Never even stated Shanks is evil. Antagonist does not equate an evil villain. That's better reserved for Blackbeard or Im or Akainu. And that's not at all what im talking about.
If Mihawk were to ally with Shanks, i would assume it would be because Mihawk knows Shanks and Luffy are on a collision course, thereby being the highest chance for Zoro and him to encounter each other.
Think about this, what other faction is there a place for Mihawk? He 100% will not ally with Blackbeard, whom already has a Swordsman as his 2nd command. He just got booted from the Shichibukai, so the Marines and WG are also out of the question. What is left, but the only rival he has?
And if the other option is "Zoro and Mihawk will randomly fight somewhere in the EoS" than that goes heavily against how Oda even sets up faction based fights in this series. Fights aren't random. They are always tied to the crew vs another faction. Mihawk won't be some special irrelevant fight outside of the main plot, he WILL be part of the main plot