Top 10 Most Satisfying Supervillain Defeats
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Top 10 Most Satisfying Villain Defeats In Superhero Movies
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These supervillains had to go. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 most satisfying villain defeats in superhero movies. For this list, we’ll be looking at the defeats or deaths of villains in superhero films that gave us the the greatest feeling of catharsis while also delivering on the entertainment front. Depressing, somber and/or tragic ones won’t appear here. Because these defeats usually happen near the end of the flicks in which they appear, there will be spoilers.
#10: Aldrich Killian
“Iron Man 3” (2013) A former disgruntled admirer of Tony Stark, Aldrich Killian is a brilliant scientist as well as the “true” terrorist mastermind known as “the Mandarin.” Killian’s actions, which include kidnapping Stark’s girlfriend Pepper Potts and the President of the United States, test Iron Man like never before - in part due to Stark’s own struggles with PTSD. Killian’s final battle with Stark is a fantastic one, boasting a legion of Iron Man suits and spectacular action. In an unexpected twist, it’s Pepper who deals the final blow. Nothing like seeing a villain get smacked mid-brag and then promptly get obliterated.
#9: Deacon Frost
“Blade” (1998) The first revenge story on our list, but certainly not the last, “Blade” sees the titular half-vampire pitted against the slimy night walker who originally bit his mother, Deacon Frost. Frost’s connection to Blade’s origins makes his fight against him personal, and their final battle has them engage in an intense sword fight. Frost gets the upper hand, as he has absorbed the vampiric blood god. Though overpowered, Blade out-thinks Frost by injecting the upgraded vamp with anticoagulant EDTA; leading to a death so explosively bloody that it will quench anyone’s bloodlust. The effects may not have aged gracefully, but it still makes for a devilishly over the top death.
#8: Dormammu
“Doctor Strange” (2016) The ancient, evil being that rules over the appropriately named “Dark Dimension,” Dormammu sets his human acolytes on a mission to give him access to Earth’s reality, which leads him into conflict with Doctor Stephen Strange. The doctor turned sorcerer confronts Dormammu in his dimension and requests a bargain. However, Dormammu kills him. And then, he does it again…and again. Strange reveals that he’s brilliantly used the Time Stone to create a loop, trapping the two of them for eternity and saving Earth, at the cost of his own suffering. Dormammu eventually relents. The defeat is satisfying, as it represents the culmination of Strange’s journey from being self-absorbed to self-sacrificing.
#7: Ra’s al Ghul
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“Batman Begins” (2005) Batman has faced many villains on-screen, but we found the defeat of his first nemesis, at least in the “Dark Knight” trilogy, to be the best. The man who trained Bruce Wayne in the art of fighting in the League of Shadows, Ra’s al Ghul attempts to get Gotham to tear itself apart, using a complicated plan involving fear toxin. He and Batman battle onboard a train, and after beating him, Batman opts not to save his life. Although the death of the Joker from Tim Burton’s original “Batman” film was also very gratifying, we ultimately found Ra’s al Ghul’s death to be more satisfying, intense and poetic.
#6: Ultron
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“Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015) Malevolent AI is everywhere in fiction, but Ultron is something special. Created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner as a means to help create peace, Ultron comes to believe that humanity’s extinction is the only way to create true peace. Given that he was based on Tony’s mind though, the villainous robot has a typically grandiose plan – turning a city into a meteor. The Avengers’ final battle with Ultron and his robot army is long and has many epic and standout moments. He proves himself to be a formidable villain, making his final conversation with Vision, another AI, before being presumably destroyed, very poignant.
#5: Ajax
“Deadpool” (2016) Ajax, or Francis Freeman, is a mutant responsible for experimenting on and/or torturing people into developing mutant powers, including Wade Wilson, the man who would be Deadpool. After disfiguring him in the process of giving him healing abilities, Ajax becomes Deadpool’s fixation for revenge and his goal throughout the film - as well as Deadpool’s only hope for a cure. The adversaries have an impressively epic confrontation, which sees Deadpool come out victorious. However, when Ajax reveals he can’t fix Wade, Deadpool abruptly shoots him while being lectured about heroism. Seeing the smug, evil villain finally killed is satisfying and hilarious. It’s deeply unheroic move on Wade’s part but hey, Deadpool ain’t no hero.
#4: Howard Saint
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“The Punisher” (2004) Speaking of villains pursued with a vengeance, mob boss Howard Saint finds himself in a world of hurt after he orders the death of Frank Castle’s family in retaliation for the death of his son. Castle devotes himself to punishing Saint and goes to elaborate lengths to do so. The Punisher disrupts the Saint family’s business, manipulates Howard into thinking his wife and one of his men are having an affair, leading Howard to kill them both, while Castle kills the remaining Saint son. Castle explains everything he’s done to his nemesis before finally offing the mob boss in a fantastic fashion. Now that’s how you do revenge.
#3: Donald Pierce
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“Logan” (2017) The leader of a group of cyborg mercenaries called the Reavers, Donald Pierce is charged with retrieving wayward mutant children by the shady company Transigen. This leads him into contact and conflict with Logan, whose cloned mutant “daughter” asks for his help in reuniting with her friends. Although brimming with southern charm, Pierce is still a man willing to hunt down innocent children to be experimented upon in horrific ways, so it’s only fitting that he meets his end at the hands of those very kids, who use their mutant powers to kill him.
#2: Ego
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“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2” (2017) A living planet and the father of Peter Quill, Ego is as self-centered as his name implies; he attempts to use Quill for his galactic conquest and even reveals that he gave Quill’s mother the cancer that killed her. The final battle sees Quill using his newfound powers to distract Ego long enough for their bomb to kill him. Although we considered the hilarious yet epic defeat of Ronan in the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” film for this list, we found Ego’s destruction to be more emotionally fulfilling, as it helped give closure to Quill for the loss of his mother…and his Walkman. Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: General Zod “Superman II” (1980) Syndrome “The Incredibles” (2004) Alexander Pierce “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014)
#1: Sebastian Shaw
“X-Men: First Class” (2011) The former Nazi scientist responsible for the death of Erik Lehnsherr’s mother, Sebastian Shaw is the film’s main villain and is pursued doggedly by Magneto throughout. When Erik finally corners Shaw with help from Charles Xavier, he reveals that while he agrees with Shaw’s beliefs in mutant superiority, he still can’t forgive him for the death of his mother. And so he cruelly drives the coin Shaw once forced him to move through the villain’s brain - while Charles is still connected to it. The moment is a defining one for Magneto’s character and is brilliantly shot, acted, and performed, making for one hell of a satisfying villain defeat.
