Top 10 Movie Villains
With certain genres of film, the villains can make or break a movie. And while antagonists aren’t exclusively villains, the two usually go hand in hand. I can really appreciate a well crafted villain, whether they’re an adaptation or an original creation. In this list I’ll be counting down my ten favorite villains. By this I mean the villains I personally would say are the best, not that they’re likable. Most of them aren’t likable, which is the entire point. First I want to hit some honorable mentions. I elected to only choose one villain from the MCU so my runner ups for that epic saga are the God of Mischief, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) & Erik Stevens AKA Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). I also want to shoutout the T-Rex from ‘Jurassic Park,’ commonly known as Rexy who is just cool cause it’s a dinosaur. Finally we have two Quentin Tarantino villains, Calvin Candie & Hans Landa, played to perfection by Leonardo DiCaprio & Christoph Waltz, respectively. The reasons they didn’t make the list is because having more realistic (e.g. a slave owner and a literal Nazi) on a list of your favorite anything just feels wrong.
Darth Vader (James Earl Jones/Hayden Christensen) from ‘Star Wars’- I actually was hesitant to put Vader on this list because I know Darth Vader himself is a villain, but Anakin Skywalker is not. But I decided to include him because we don’t know that Vader is going to be redeemed throughout the original trilogy. Though I didn’t mention his name in the beginning David Prowse should receive some credit for giving Vader such an imposing physical presence, Sebastian Shaw plays his redeemed, maskless self in ‘Return of the Jedi,’ and of course James Earl Jones shines with just his voice. I also wanted to include Hayden Christensen who, I think, portrays the transition from Anakin to Vader brilliantly.
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler) from ‘Dune: Part Two’- The most recent addition to this list, Feyd-Rautha, AKA Space Elvis, is the perfect foil to Paul Atreides. Though Paul himself does not end the story as a hero, Feyd is definitely a villain. Austin Butler brings such a sadistic presence that makes the character so unhinged. I have yet to watch the original ‘Dune’ film by David Lynch, but the fact that Sting plays Feyd is hilariously incredible.
Gollum (Andy Serkis) from ‘The Lord of the Rings’- Another entry I thought about excluding because I think Gollum is really just misunderstood. He was corrupted by this evil force, but I don’t think was inherently evil himself. But he definitely is a pest who does some villainous things. As a kid, Gollum was my favorite part of the Middle-Earth franchise and I even have a little statue of him in my room. In other news, I am incredibly excited for the Gollum-centered film helmed by the man himself, Andy Serkis.
Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) from ‘Die Hard’- While I’m not a fan of Severus Snape (even after he gets redeemed) I think few people can consistently play a better villain than Mr. Alan Rickman. He takes the role of Hans Gruber and really makes it his. While John McClane is a great protagonist, ‘Die Hard’ AKA the greatest action movie ever, would not be what it is without Hans. He’s cunning, conniving, intelligent, and for most of the film it feels as though he will be successful in his plans.
Harry & Marv AKA The Wet Bandits (Joe Pesci & Daniel Stern) from ‘Home Alone’- A slightly different entry due to the hilarity of these two common criminals. Pesci & Stern have electric chemistry and the way they oppose a 10-year old Macaulay Culkin is so comical. I also think that ‘Home Alone 2’ builds upon the first and makes them even more sinister. It is important to note that Harry & Marv must have some sort of superhuman abilities to absorb the beating they take from young Kevin McAllister.
Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) from ‘Rocky IV’- The next entry is a literal ape and he talks significantly more than Ivan Drago. Huge props to Dolph Lundgren who manages to execute such an intimidating force with so few words. I think there are few villains (esepcially in a grounded, realistic film) who feel like such an imposing threat and the set up to getting there (having him kill a fan favorite character) is great story telling. I want to give flowers to the filmmaking team of the Rocky films for always managing to make Rocky, the World Champion, the underdog.
Koba (Toby Kebbell) from ‘Planet of the Apes’- The Internet’s current darling. I think Koba should be in every movie. Not just every ‘Planet of the Apes’ movie, just every movie. He is so sly and the way he works from under Caesar’s nose is so nefarious. The scenes where he acts dumb to fool some humans are some favorite moments of mine. And having his memory come back to haunt Caesar in the third film was a great choice.
Joker (Heath Ledger) from ‘The Dark Knight’- I mean come on. This is like the elite film antagonist. I feel like I don’t really need to say too much because it’s Heath Ledgers’s Joker. From ‘The Dark Knight.’
Lil Ze/Lil Dice (Leandro Firmino/Douglas Silva) from ‘City of God’- Both of the actors that play this character, as a man and kid, respectively, did so well. Douglas Silva lets you know that this young boy from the slums is deranged and will do anything for his own gain. Then Leandro Firmino builds upon that, transitioning the character from Lil Dice to Lil Ze, a full grown crime boss.
Thanos (Josh Brolin) from ‘The Avengers’- He would inevitably be on this list. Ha get it? One of those compelling villains with compelling motivations. He does what he does, not because he’s inherently evil, but because he thinks he knows what’s best. He quickly becomes the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes most formidable foe and (unlike most on this list) was actually successful in his plan for quite some time. If it weren’t for that rat pulling Ant-Man from the Quantum Realm he would’ve gotten away with it!
