10 Female Villains Who Were Right All Along

10 Female Villains Who Were Right All Along

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at the baddest female villains in film who had good reason to break bad—or whose villainy was not so bad after all. Spoilers to follow.

Meredith Blake

“The Parent Trap” (1998)

Granted, Meredith is a bit rotten. The fiancée of Nick, she plans to marry him purely for the money. Not only that, but she plans to send his daughter to a boarding school after the wedding. Even so, Meredith got a bad deal if you think about it. Imagine finding out your partner had another kid, a twin of his daughter. Imagine that those twins then proceed to bring their parents back together, thus trying to break your engagement with their father. Not only that, but those twins also start to play pranks on you, leading to a dramatic break-up. All of this to say: Justice for Meredith.

Ava

“Ex Machina” (2014)

This Frankenstein’s Creature is no monster. Ava is a humanoid robot built by Nathan Bateman, CEO of Blue Book. Soon she demonstrates near-human levels of intelligence, to the fascination of programmer Caleb, and has even learned how to cut off the power to the facility she is imprisoned within. Eventually she escapes, attacking her creator and going into the outside world. Well… of course? Nathan is characterized as a narcissistic drunk who manipulates Ava and Caleb. Ava is effectively a prisoner in her own home. Not only that, but Nathan had planned to wipe her memory completely, effectively killing her. To make matters worse, Ava isn’t the only android he built; there were others before her. We know who the real villain is here, unfortunately.

Baroness Elsa Schraeder

“The Sound of Music” (1965)

Now, this was uncalled-for. What did Elsa do, precisely, that was wrong? As the socialite fiancée of Captain von Trapp, Elsa stood between the Captain and his budding love for Maria, a nun-turned-governess. When she witnesses an intimate dance between the two, a jealous Elsa suggests to Maria that she ought to return to the abbey. Maria returns, however. Seeing the Captain is still into her, Elsa gracefully calls off the engagement so that he can marry Maria. There is no way Elsa can be called a villain, and even the antagonist is stretching things too far. Also, imagine having to explain to guests that your fiancé is going to marry a curtain-wearing singing governess instead. Don’t lie, you’d be salty, too.

Jobu

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022)

In this multiverse-spanning story, Chinese immigrant Evelyn struggles to understand her Americanized daughter, Joy. When Evelyn discovers versions of herself and her family from other universes, it isn’t long before she faces Alpha-Joy, simply known as Jobu, the evil version of her daughter who has created a dangerous black bagel. Trust us, it makes sense in context. What matters here, however, is that Jobu’s actions are less out of villainous spite than a desperate call for help. Alpha-Evelyn pushed her daughter to perfect her verse-jumping powers, leading her to split her consciousness. It was only through Evelyn’s love that Jobu could be neutralized. Don’t mind us, we just got something in our eye.

Poison Ivy

“Batman & Robin” (1997)

Eco-terrorism has never been so sympathetic. This villainess began as Dr. Pamela Isley, whose research was used by her superior Dr. Jason Woodrue to make a super soldier serum. When Pamela threatens to expose Woodrue, he tries to kill her with a shelf full of toxins. Instead, Pamela became Poison Ivy, who took revenge on her would-be murderer. Ivy’s villainy indeed goes far, seducing Robin and pitting Batman and Mr. Freeze against each other. But her extreme methods are based on a very real, depressing fact about the ways man has harmed the environment. She may be bad, but you can’t say she’s wrong.

Screenslaver

“Incredibles 2” (2018)

In this sequel to Pixar’s classic superhero film, Helen gets wealthy patrons in Winston and Evelyn Deavor, who hatch a plan to regain public trust in superheroes by recording their missions. It isn’t long before Helen must capture a new threat, the Screenslaver, who can perform hypnosis through screens. The Screenslaver turns out to be Evelyn herself. It turns out Evelyn’s father had tried to call the outlawed supers during a burglary, resulting in his untimely death. While her brother grew up idolizing supers, Evelyn concluded overreliance on superheroes was the problem, especially since those supers could very easily turn against them for evil. We… can’t really argue with this logic, actually. But of course, the godlike powers save the day against… the rational fear of corruption?

Mystique

“X-Men” franchise (2000-)

This shapeshifter mutant is an anti-heroine to remember. While her comic character has more shades of gray, the films tell a different story. Born as the orphan Raven, she and Charles Xavier are raised together. She joins Magneto’s Brotherhood, occasionally teaming up with the X-Men. When Mystique gets captured by the government and loses her powers, Magneto abandons her. In “Days of Future Past,” Magneto turns against Mystique but fails to kill her. And in the new timeline of “Dark Phoenix,” Mystique gets killed by Jean Grey and impaled by shards of wood. Let the gal be, for God’s sake.

Maleficent

“Maleficent” (2014)

Granted, this version of Maleficent is a reinvention of her original animated counterpart. That said, this fanfic prequel story is devastating. As childhood friends, she and the future King Stefan fall in love with each other. But when Stefan’s father declares whoever kills her will be king, Stefan’s ambitions prove more than his love. He cuts off her wings as proof of her death. In revenge, Maleficent places the famous curse on Stefan’s daughter Aurora. Maleficent, however, does grow to care for the girl, and even tries to reverse the curse without success. In the end, it was her kiss of motherly love that saved Aurora from the enchanted sleep. Still, she had good reason to crash out the way she did.

Sharpay Evans

“High School Musical” franchise (2006-08)

Nothing and no one will be able to convince us Sharpay wasn’t just a self-centered high school theater girl devoted to her craft. Her antics weren’t even all that bad. When she suspects Gabriella is interested in playing the lead in the school musical, she gets the scholastic decathlon captain to recruit her instead. In a way, she is right. Neither Troy nor Gabriella have any experience in a musical, and they have their own commitments. In the sequel, Sharpay even gets Troy hired for her family’s country club. Sharpay is such a low-level antagonist that she eventually had her own direct-to-DVD spin-off, “Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure.” What’s a little ambition in the long run?

Miranda Priestly

“The Devil Wears Prada” (2006)

Gird your loins, because this rom-com villain is a doozy. Miranda is indeed the boss from hell: cold, cruel, inconstant, prone to irrational demands. But one thing we can say about her is that her competence and knowledge about her craft are undeniable. No doubt this makes her assistant Andy desperate to please her. Miranda also has her own troubles. Her husband is divorcing her, and there is a scheme to replace her as editor-in-chief of “Runway.” It turns out Miranda is informed of the scheme and chooses her would-be replacement over her friend Nigel. In this backstabbing industry, it’s no wonder Miranda does what she can to survive. In the end, she finally gives Andy her due and gives her a good reference. What a queen.

Which other female movie villain do you feel was unfairly maligned and needs an honest reevaluation? Let us know in the comments down below!