Top 20 Worst Movie Villains of the Century (So Far)
#20: The Mandarin
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“Iron Man 3” (2013) Initially, it seemed like Ben Kingsley was portraying the diabolical Mandarin character in “Iron Man 3”. However, Tony Stark eventually discovers that the villain everyone saw on tv was actually an actor working for the real and wealthy mastermind named Killian. Unfortunately, the rich crime lord's motivations come down to little more than greed and a petty grudge against Stark. Killian’s shallow character was coupled with the fact that Kingsley’s considerable talent was dedicated to comedy instead of drama. The entire Mandarin ruse felt like a cruel bait and switch. Admittedly, Mickey Rourke's Whiplash from "Iron-Man 2" was another pretty bad “Iron Man” villain. (xref). But the Mandarin was such a letdown that the studio made fun of him in “Shang-Chi”.
#19: Sister Summersisle & Her Followers
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“The Wicker Man” (2006) In “The Wicker Man,” remake, Nicolas Cage became a meme for his glorious overacting in the film. But he wasn’t the only one. When Cage’s Malus character arrives on a mysterious island looking for a missing girl, he runs into various members of a secretive cult. But none of these antagonists are all that distinct. They all pretend to be nice while obviously being sinister, have no personal motivations and have no distinct character traits. Even their leader, played by the great Ellen Burstyn, couldn’t shine above the rest. When she and her minions eventually capture the hero, the whole finale feels more like a comedy than the horror it was going for. These over-the-top villains don’t deserve the honey they sacrificed Malus for.
#18: Parallax
“Green Lantern” (2011) A Hal Jordan played by Ryan Reynolds went up against the evil Parallax in this hated adaptation of the DC comic. Since the fear based villain is mostly composed of CGI effects, there's no part of this villainous entity that feels real or tangible. The otherworldly essence could've helped bring an interesting climax to this adventure. However, it just participates in a bland action sequence. It certainly doesn’t help that Parallax’s extremely generic goals of world destruction make his actions incredibly boring. As the final nail in the coffin, Parallax’s servant Hector Hammond gives a Razzie worthy performance that never comes off as threatening. The only thing scary about these villains is how quickly they made the movie tank with audiences.
#17: Toymaker
“Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” (2003) For the third entry in director Robert Rodriguez’s “Spy Kids” series franchise, the story added a big bad named Toymaker who was played by Sylvester Stallone. Seeing the action star in a kids’ movie is already jarring. But it’s his persona that feels the most out of place here. While it’s usually fun to see Stallone’s intimidating demeanor, it doesn’t fit in with the goofy energy of the piece. To make matters worse, he also shows up in additional roles where he has to talk to himself in a variety of strange voices. None of Stallone’s attempts at comedy elicit so much as a chuckle from us. We’d like to return this Toymaker to the store.
#16: Slender Man
“Slender Man” (2018) Filmmakers were hoping to translate all of the terror of the creepypasta character Slender Man to the screen. This take on the viral fable follows girls who try to confront the title character. While Slender Man might be interesting in an internet post or video game, he doesn’t necessarily translate well to this specific film. The movie investigates the mysteries surrounding the supernatural villain without ever really finding his true potential. While cast members like Joey King are convincingly afraid of the giant, Slenderman himself isn’t all that spooky on his own. For those who want a truly terrifying experience, it's best to go back to the source material.
#15: Green Goblin
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“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014) “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” has a trio of lackluster villains. While Electro’s design was cool, his odd characterization made him unrelatable. (xref) He came in after Paul Giamatti used a ridiculous Russian accent to annoy us while yelling most of his lines. (xref) However, it's the Green Goblin that let us down the most. The audience is supposed to be sympathetic for Dane DeHaan’s Harry Osborn because he’s a close friend of Peter’s who’s dying of a mysterious illness. But since we barely spend any time with him, we feel nothing. And his Osborn comes off like a privileged and impatient child whenever he’s actually on screen. By the time DeHaan suited up and attempted a creepy laugh, we were already over his Green Goblin.
#14: Laurel Hedare
“Catwoman” (2004) “Catwoman” didn’t exactly impress audiences with its zany interpretation of the titular character. If you somehow look past the problems with her, you’ll find Sharon Stone’s turn as Laurel Hedare impossible to ignore. During the film, she discovers a beauty creme can give her nearly impenetrable skin. But it also risks ruining a face forever if it isn’t used regularly. For some reason, Hedare thinks getting people hooked on a product that could make them threats is a good plan. Outside her baffling business idea, her obsession with her own beauty and money makes her an incredibly shallow antagonist. Hedare predictably fails at everything she tries to achieve. But she did succeed at being the worst part of 2004’s “Catwoman”.
#13: Blackbeard
“Pan” (2015) For this prequel of J.M. Barrie’s tale, Hugh Jackman was tasked with bringing life to the infamously menacing pirate. Although he has the acting chops to play a really strong villain, it never quite clicks in a compelling way in this fairy tale. His Blackbeard never feels like a true terror of the seas. There’s also a misguided attempt to cater to fans of Jackman’s musical chops. While there's nothing wrong seeing the actor belt out a tune, there’s something strange about seeing Blackbeard singing along to "Smells Like Teen Spirit." This tonal inconsistency made it impossible to take him seriously. Even Jack Sparrow comes off as more intimidating than this version of Blackbeard.
#12: Enchantress
“Suicide Squad” (2016) Many DC fans wish they could forget the 2016 version of "Suicide Squad." While there’s a bunch of villains that disappointed us, Enchantress danced her way onto our radars immediately. This villain freed herself from imprisonment by possessing the body of an innocent archaeologist. Despite the interesting premise, Enchantress is incredibly generic. She instantly decides to destroy the world within a few minutes of taking control. Additionally, most of her scenes are full of obscene amounts of CG. And the less that’s said about her weird magical dancing, the better. Cara Delavigne did her best to make the flat character compelling. But in the end, many people found Enchantress as the worst antagonist in a squad full of villainous duds.
#11: Malekith the Accursed
“Thor: The Dark World” (2013) Do you remember the villain of “Thor: The Dark World?” If not, you wouldn’t be alone. Malekith the Accursed is far from the most memorable villain in the MCU. He got off to a rough start when his backstory saw him sacrifice his own people when he was losing a war. After failing to win us over in the beginning, he spends most of the movie standing around with a blank expression. Even though Christopher Eccleston is no slouch as an actor, he can’t make Malkeith interesting. Maybe it would’ve been better if he embraced a more humorous side to stand out among all the CG and confusing plot. If he had, maybe we wouldn’t have so much trouble remembering this villain even existed.
#10: Lucien Crown [AKA Milo]
“Morbius” (2022) The issues surrounding “Morbius” and its release became the source of many memes. Matt Smith’s role as Lucien AKA Milo is among the reasons this movie became an ironic watch for people. Counter to some of the film’s darker imagery involving vampires, the villain is shown in a variety of moods that make us question the tone of the overall piece. His most famous scene is a dance that whipped up the internet into a frenzy. When Milo isn’t dancing with himself, he’s preying on victims for vague reasons. But it’s hard to even take those scenes seriously. His silly villain drove a stake right through the heart of the serious tone the movie tried to maintain.
#9: The Bye Bye Man
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“The Bye Bye Man” (2017) “The Bye Bye Man” failed to garner many positive reviews upon its release in 2017. One of the biggest reasons a horror film will fail is because the main villain is either over or underdeveloped. In this case, there’s definitely way too much backstory. The main characters have to deal with an apparent curse that drives people mad. After destroying people’s lives, the king of bad vibes finally makes an appearance after the cast struggles to understand the lore behind him. The final reveal isn’t particularly exciting either. Unfortunately, the Bye-Bye Man’s form isn’t that unique when compared to other horror characters. Thanks to his uninspired appearance and convoluted story, this villain had to say bye bye to any chance at a franchise.
#8: Steppenwolf
“Justice League” (2017) 2017’s “Justice League” was a controversial release in the DC universe for making a number of controversial choices. At the top of its pile of problems stood Steppenwolf. Actor Ciarán Hinds brings a lot of gravitas to the role with his vocal performance. However, it’s all made meaningless by a character who doesn’t seem to have a clear motivation for miles. We never fully understand why the baddie is trying so hard to unite three plot devices into one. Thankfully, Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” put a lot more effort into explaining what Steppenwolf was about. Fans should definitely stick to watching that version of the antagonist instead of the paper thin alien in the 2017 version.
#7: Loki
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“Son of the Mask” (2005) A major reason why “Son of the Mask” is one of the worst comedy sequels of all time comes down to its big bad. During the story, they had a great idea to make the trickster god Loki into the villain. He was mainly focused on trying to get his hands on the iconic mask to appease his dad Odin. Despite having all the powers of a god, he strangely struggles to achieve a single task. We’d be able to accept that if Loki’s failures were at least funny. But despite being played by the awesome and hilarious Alan Cumming, we found ourselves frowning more than laughing.. By the time we reached the underwhelming climax, we wished Odin would’ve forced Loki to leave earth earlier.
#6: Venom
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“Spider-Man 3” (2007) After the triumph of the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, fans were disappointed that he had to juggle too many villains in the third installment. The most hated and least effective rogue in that film had to be Venom. Topher Grace’s performance as Eddie Brock works well enough until he finds himself bonded with an alien symbiote. His transformation into Venom happens way too late in the film to give his story the attention it deserves. And although Eddie’s supposed to be a strong villain, he comes off as a whiny nerd. The antagonist also receives a sudden sendoff that makes the screen time he stole from the other two villains more insulting. Venom was truly a parasite to this film.
#5: Balem Abrasax
“Jupiter Ascending” (2015) Actor Eddie Redmayne managed to win a best actor Oscar and worst performer razzie back to back. As the villain of “Jupiter Ascending,” the actor’s performance is memorable for all of the wrong reasons. He tries to make big and bold choices in every one of his scenes. However, Redmayne’s line delivery and emotions are so all over the place that his scenes rarely ever work. He often made what should be heavy and weighty scenes feel like soap opera parodies. On one hand, Redmayne’s ridiculous attempt at villainy made parts of “Jupiter Ascending’s” story interesting. But that fact can’t hide that he’s objectively terrible at being a villain.
#4: Doctor Doom
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“Fantastic Four” (2015) While there are a multitude of problems with this film, Doctor Doom ultimately spelled, well, doom for this movie. This update of the Marvel mastermind doesn’t make a significant impression in the first half of the movie. Since the bulk of the narrative focused on giving the central quartet attention, the villain feels like an afterthought at times. By the time the plot circles back to Doom, he’s given some bland scenes to try out his powers. The CGI that prevents him from making expressions is paired with a vocal effect that muffles his voice. To top it all off, his generic goal is to, say it with us now, destroy the world. Doom’s bad characterization ensured this movie went out with a whimper.
#3: Terl
“Battlefield Earth” (2000) John Travolta’s passion project “Battlefield Earth” often ranks low on the legend’s filmography. This is partly due to Travolta’s terrible attempt at playing the villainous Terl. Whenever he is on screen, he chews up every bit of scenery that he can find. Terl’s bizarre speaking pattern and constant overreactions to small inconveniences make it difficult to see him as anything but a clown. Outside of questionable acting, Terl also has the burden of trying to explain all the complex ins and outs of the source material. It’s hard to understand either the dialogue or Travolta’s acting choices in this infamous sci-fi bomb.
#2: The Joker
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“Suicide Squad” (2016) Since a few people had made iconic turns as the Joker before him, Jared Leto was facing an uphill battle when he joined “Suicide Squad.” He ended up falling far below expectations when he appeared onscreen. Before the film even came out, Leto was said to have pranked and antagonized his co-stars in the true spirit of the fictional clown. Whether that helped him build the role or not, the actor’s method approach didn’t seem to benefit his performance. Leto’s gestures and vocal performance are way too over-the-top to be taken seriously. His version of the supervillain doesn’t make great use of the limited screen time either. While Jokers usually steal the show, many wished this performance was just edited out of the movie..
#1: Lex Luthor
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“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016) Jesse Eisenberg wasn’t necessarily an obvious choice to play Superman’s intimidating nemesis. While the Academy-Award nominated actor is good at playing geniuses, he failed to capture the scarier aspects of Lex Luthor. Although Eisenberg tries to inject hints of menace into all of the villain’s monologues, it just mainly sounds like he’s making random choices to keep things interesting. It’s truly impossible to tell if we’re going to get a quirky Lex or heinous supervillain until Eisenberg starts a scene. And despite the fact that he’s supposed to be extremely intelligent, his grand plan doesn’t feel like it makes much sense. If “Man of Steel 2” takes flight in the next few years, we’re not sure this poorly-received Luthor will be there to oppose Superman.
