It is said that a hero is only as great as his villain. Unfortunatly the supervillain has had a harder time translating to the big and small screen than their more heroic counterparts. For every Michael Fassbender Magneto, there are about 6 Jaime Fox Elektros and Jesse Eisenburg Lex Luthors. This is for several reasons like limited screen time, hammy acting and poor writing. But after years of movies and tv shows from Fox, Sony, Disney and Warner Brothers, there have been enough gems among the turds to make a decent top 10 list but before we go there, here are
a few Honorable Mentions: William Dafoe's Green Goblin, Alfred Molina's Dock Ock, Liam Nielson's Ras Al Ghul, Mathew Goode's Ozymandias, Mahnershala Ali's Cottonmouth, Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face and Wentworth Miller's Captain Cold.
10. Loki played by Tom Hiddleston
I’m not gonna lie, I don’t really care for MCU Loki. At all. It says a lot about how shitty the supervillain situation is for the genre, that Loki is here. Yeah I know he’s popular with the fangirls or whatever, but lets get real, he’s [frick]ing overatted. He’s whiny, his motivations aren’t all that original or compelling, and he gets his asskicked easilly by every hero he’s ever fought. He pretty much only gets on the list because Tom Hiddleston does a really good performance and because he is for the most part well written.
9. Helmut Zemo played by: Daniel Brühl
Most people weren’t expecting much of Zemo, the track record for MCU supervillains was terrible at this point and he seemed very different from his comic book counterpart. Fortunately he ended up becoming a pleasant surprise. Zemo’s motivations were not only tragic and sympatheic but they also tied into the consequences of Ultron’s rampage in Sokovia, making good use of the movie’s themes of vengeance and accountability. It doesn’t hurt that he argueably WON, successfully driving a wedge between the avengers and killing T’Challa’s father T’Chakka. Consider this guy the player to look out for in future MCU movies, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him end up surpassing some of the characters above him on this list if Feige plays his cards right…….
7. The Purple Man: played by David Tennant
One of the most depraved characters on this is Killgrave/Purple Man/Kevin Thompson from Netflix’s Jessica Jones. A rapist with the power to make people do what ever he tells them to do, Killgrave became obsessed with superpowered private eye, Jessica Jones, forcing her to do whatever he wanted her to do, against her will, simply by opening his mouth. Admitedly Killgrave, like Loki, is somewhat of a boring character, propped up by good writing and an excellent performance by David Tennant. But unlike Loki, Killgrave was a genuinely terrifying enemy, it was hard to tell just how Jessica was going to be able to defeat such a powerful enemy. It didn’t hurt that the more mature Netflix format allowed Killgrave to comitt some really [frick]ed up shit over 13 episode first season.
8. Hive played by: Brett Dalton
Agents of Shield’s 3
rd season was kickass beginning to end, wheras season 1 was dogshit and season 2 started good but went to crap with the stupid Shield v Shield story. A big reason for the success of the season was Hive, who was played by fan favorite actor Brett Dalton, despite his original character (more on him later) being killed by a pissed off Phil Coulson. Hive was a scary mother[frick]er, turning people into Zombies, brainwashing his fellow inhumans to do whatever he wants (not unlike Killgrave) and stealing the bodies and memories of his victims like a parasite. Despite it all, he genuinely wanted to make the world a better place, so you almost feel bad for him when he gets blown up in space.
6. Lex Luthor played by: Michael Rosenbaum
Despite being one of the most beloved villains in comic books, Superman’s most hated enemy has had a lot of bad luck in the live action department. They usually end up making him into a watered down caricature instead of a complicated well developed character. Smallville, a tv show that followed a young Clark Kent and his friendship, turned bitter rivalry with Lex, did what the bigger profile adaptations failed to do and gave us an truly great version of Lex Luthor (also had the best Lois Lane). While Smallville wasn’t always a great show, but Rosenbaum consistently brought his A-game. Starting out as a seemingly well intentioned rich boy who wanted to do right by the mysterious teenager who saved his life, Lex became increasing obsessed and resentful with his new best friend, trying to unravel what Clark was hiding from him. The more his relationship with Kent deteriorated the more powerhungry and amoral Luthor became.
5. Grant Ward played by Brett Dalton
An original character, who was later adapted into the comics, Ward started out as the most boring characters on the show. That all changed when he turned out to be a double agent working for hydra. We then found out he was far more interesting and evil than could have ever imagined. Ward’s role was constantly changing, as the character became increasingly villainous as the show went on. Part of the appeal for me watching AOS was watching Ward evolve from being a boring good guy, to being a conflicted henchmen, to being something of an anti-hero, to becoming an all-out supervillain, before finally getting his comeuppance in the midseason finale of season 3 (not gonna lie, his absence is a big reason why I haven’t checked out season 4 yet, though I’ve heard good things). He was also really entertaining, having some of the most badass moments on the show. Funny how he was somehow more likable as a villain than when he was a hero.
4. Reverse-Flash played by Tom Cavanagh and Matt Letcher
Zoom and Savitar may be faster, but Eobard Thawne is the true bane of Barry Allen’s existence, having gone back in time, ruining Barry’s childhood and destroying his family. Why did he do it??? Because he [frick]ing hates Barry, that’s why!!! Played to perfection by 2 actors. A lot of this character is still a mystery as we see his story played out non-linearly, making the war between Allen and Thawne all the more interesting. This version is arguably more interesting than his comic counterpart in that they humanize him in ways the source material never did. In a [frick]ed up way, Eobard actually cares about team Flash, after all he spent months getting to know Barry, Caitlin and Cisco, forging close friendships with them. In the end though Eobard couldn’t comprehend that his friends were real people and not historical figures that had been dead for centuries, so he continued to manipulate them so he could use Flash’s speed to get back to his home in the future. After being shoved up reality’s asshole after his ancestor shot himself, Eobard left his dear friend and hated enemy an message giving Barry the means to free his father, while also one last means to torment Barry, claiming that he will never achieve true happiness (even in death he had more of an impact on the hero than Zoom or Savitar ever will). He’s also back somehow, because speedforce or whatever.
3. Magneto played by Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen
Another one who is played by 2 actors. I’m gonna count McKellen and Fassbender as the same iteration even though Fox-Men continuity is confusing as [frick]. Magneto is one of the best Marvel characters, sometimes acting as a hero, an anti-hero or a straight up villain. He may be critisiced for being overused at this point, being in 5 movies since the original film in 2000. But it’s hard to blame Fox since Magneto is just such a great character, in so many ways. Erik Lehnsherr, was a holocaust survivor born with the power to control metal, determined to protect the mutant race from the bigotry of humans. Unforunately he’s much more ruthless than his old friend Charles Xavier, and wants mutants to become the dominant race and not live along side humans, a conflict intentionally mirroring that of Martin Luthor King and Malcom X, just y’know, with white dudes. It’s hard to compare who did Magneto better, Fassbender or McKellen, since they both did terrific jobs, even when the movies they’re in can be hit or miss. I think I personally prefer McKellen slightly, because it’s neat that he manages to be such a threat to all the younger mutants, despite being so old. In the end Magneto is a great villain, not just for his awesome power set, because, as misguilded as he is, you can see where he is coming from and sympathize with what happened to him as a boy.
2. The Kinpin played by Vincent D'onofrio
It was hard picking between Magneto and Fisk, but I picked Fisk for my #2 spot because I think he overall got better material to work with. Also with all due respect to the late and talented Michael Clarke Duncan, Vincent D'onofrio knocks it outta the park as the Kinpin. Season 1 of Daredevil was as much Wilson’s origin story as it is Matt’s, showing a tragic story of a man trying to be the hero, a series of misfortunes to lead him to accept his role as the villain (the speech he made about the good samariton from the bible, is one of the best scenes in the show). Fisk is currently in prison, but it’s only a matter of time before he gets out and reigns hell on NYC and Matt Murdock. If they manage to maintain the quality of the first 2 seasons, I suspect we have a lot to look forward to with Fisk. There is a lot of potential with this character, maybe we’ll also see him fight Punisher and the other defenders, who knows? Maybe we’ll even see him fight Spider-man someday.
1. The Joker played by Heath Ledger
What? Who else could it be? Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning performance as the clown prince of crime is not only the best cbm villain, but maybe the best movie villain in general. There have been other live action adaptations of the Joker but none have come close to leaving as big of an impact as Ledger did. His Joker isn’t exactly traditional, trading the bleached skin for make up, unkempt hair and a glasglow smile, but this version captured the essense of what made him so terrifying in the comics, even if it means getting Batman to kill him. Playing up the nihilist who wants to pressure heroes into droping their moral code directly out of “The Killing Joke.” Joker is less of a character and more of a force of nature, with a lot of ambiguity in the character, even his backstory and name is never revealed. Admittedly the death of Ledger himself played a role in a lot of the hype behind his Joker, he probably wouldn’t have won that Oscar if he was still alive, but I don’t think that means he didn’t deserve it any less. He was practically unrecognizable when playing the Joker, but in a way that seemed natural and not forced or try-hardish (*cough* suicide squad, *cough*).