Interlude
Before I finish the Top Ten Supervillains, here are the Honorable Mentions, followed by the Hall of Shame. All of the Honorable Mentions did a good job as their respective villains, they just didn't set a standard for future villains. And the Hall of Shame, well, they get their license to appear in future superhero movies yanked.
Honorable Mentions:
Cassanova Frankenstien
Geoffrey Rush
Mystery Men
The Mystery Men were jokes of superheroes. Most of the villains in the movie were no better. But Cassanova Frankenstien was a viable villain in any world.
The Scarecrow
Cillian Murphy
Batman Begins
Good mask. Good personality. Utterly chilling. But a minor player in the film.
Catwoman
Michelle Pfeiffer
Batman Returns
She wasn't really a villain in this movie, but Michelle Pfeiffer replaced Ertha Kitt as the sexiest Catwoman for me based on this movie.
Anton Arcane
Louis Jourdan
Swamp Thing, Return of the Swamp Thing
They were only so-so movies, but Arcane's performance stands out in both films, and they actually hold up better than you might expect.
William Stryker
Brian Cox
X2
Stryker had a great plan, and Cox played the part to a tee. But his failure came too easily.
Top Dollar
Michael Wincott
The Crow
Top Dollar runs his city with an iron fist. Wincott has the look and the voice for the ultimate crime boss. And he sleeps with his half-sister who is also a witch. And he almost wins.
Shiwan Khan
John Lone
The Shadow
If he had been a little less silly, Shiwan Khan would've made a classic villain. Even with his silliness, he has an impressive plan, personal magnetism, a good tie into the hero's history and a wonderful set of abilities. This movie has a soft spot in my heart, even with his light-hearted moments.
Lord Zedd
Mark Ginther
Power Rangers: The Movie
I know I lose all credibility by including him, but Lord Zedd was scary. Far scarier than the villain on a kid's show really should have been, I think. Twenty years from now, someone will revamp the Power Rangers the same way that He-Man and Voltron have been revamped, and Zed will be a truly terrifying force. Mark my words.
Neville Sinclair
Timothy Dalton
The Rocketeer
He was a Nazi. He does his own stunts. He's a former Bond, and he could've been Iron Man ten years ago. Not to mention, he nearly gets Jennifer Connelly, and for that alone, he deserves credit.
The Hall of Shame
The Kingpin
Michael Clarke Duncan
Daredevil
I don't object to them making the Kingpin a black man. I object to him being an idiot. I object to him losing a fist-fight to Daredevil. And I object to the notion that you need to "put the fear into" the Man Without Fear in order to kill him. Try a gun, I'm told they're remarkably effective.
Catwoman
Halle Berry
Catwoman
Yeah, she wasn't the actual villain in this movie. That honor (?) goes to Sharon Stone's character. But... but... the damage she did to superhero movies with this film makes her the worst of the worst among supervillains.
David Banner/The Absorbing Man/Zzaxx
Nick Nolte
The Hulk
You know, there was a pretty good Hulk movie inside this movie. You just need to take out all of the scenes involving David Banner.
The Red Skull
Scott Paulin
Captain America
Hey, here's a great idea. We'll make the Red Skull Italian! And then he'll try to diguise his appearance in the present! And he won't even really look like he had a skull for a face! Oh, and let's have him fight a Captain America in a rubber suit with fake plastic ears and a plastic shield.
Ivan Ooze
Paul Freeman
Power Rangers: The Movie
I said that Lord Zed was scary, and I meant it. Even Rita was acceptable as a villain for the Power Rangers. But Ivan Ooze? Ivan Ooze? Are you fricking kidding me?
Mr. Freeze/Poison Ivy/Bane/Two-Face
Arnold Schwartzeneger, Uma Thurman, Jeep Swenson, Tommy Lee Jones
Batman & Robin/Batman Forever
Jim Carrey and Danny DeVito weren't good as the Riddler and the Penguin. But they didn't make me want to throw things at the movie screen. The others on this list did. Hollywood, let me explain this simply. Stars are acceptable in superhero movies if they fit the role. If you're just using a star in the hope that it'll make people come see the movie, it will not work. Please stop.
Edited by the author to correct the entry for Neville Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair was the villain in The Rocketeer, not The Shadow, as I originally wrote, and blame on sloppy cutting and pasting.
Honorable Mentions:
Cassanova Frankenstien
Geoffrey Rush
Mystery Men
The Mystery Men were jokes of superheroes. Most of the villains in the movie were no better. But Cassanova Frankenstien was a viable villain in any world.
The Scarecrow
Cillian Murphy
Batman Begins
Good mask. Good personality. Utterly chilling. But a minor player in the film.
Catwoman
Michelle Pfeiffer
Batman Returns
She wasn't really a villain in this movie, but Michelle Pfeiffer replaced Ertha Kitt as the sexiest Catwoman for me based on this movie.
Anton Arcane
Louis Jourdan
Swamp Thing, Return of the Swamp Thing
They were only so-so movies, but Arcane's performance stands out in both films, and they actually hold up better than you might expect.
William Stryker
Brian Cox
X2
Stryker had a great plan, and Cox played the part to a tee. But his failure came too easily.
Top Dollar
Michael Wincott
The Crow
Top Dollar runs his city with an iron fist. Wincott has the look and the voice for the ultimate crime boss. And he sleeps with his half-sister who is also a witch. And he almost wins.
Shiwan Khan
John Lone
The Shadow
If he had been a little less silly, Shiwan Khan would've made a classic villain. Even with his silliness, he has an impressive plan, personal magnetism, a good tie into the hero's history and a wonderful set of abilities. This movie has a soft spot in my heart, even with his light-hearted moments.
Lord Zedd
Mark Ginther
Power Rangers: The Movie
I know I lose all credibility by including him, but Lord Zedd was scary. Far scarier than the villain on a kid's show really should have been, I think. Twenty years from now, someone will revamp the Power Rangers the same way that He-Man and Voltron have been revamped, and Zed will be a truly terrifying force. Mark my words.
Neville Sinclair
Timothy Dalton
The Rocketeer
He was a Nazi. He does his own stunts. He's a former Bond, and he could've been Iron Man ten years ago. Not to mention, he nearly gets Jennifer Connelly, and for that alone, he deserves credit.
The Hall of Shame
The Kingpin
Michael Clarke Duncan
Daredevil
I don't object to them making the Kingpin a black man. I object to him being an idiot. I object to him losing a fist-fight to Daredevil. And I object to the notion that you need to "put the fear into" the Man Without Fear in order to kill him. Try a gun, I'm told they're remarkably effective.
Catwoman
Halle Berry
Catwoman
Yeah, she wasn't the actual villain in this movie. That honor (?) goes to Sharon Stone's character. But... but... the damage she did to superhero movies with this film makes her the worst of the worst among supervillains.
David Banner/The Absorbing Man/Zzaxx
Nick Nolte
The Hulk
You know, there was a pretty good Hulk movie inside this movie. You just need to take out all of the scenes involving David Banner.
The Red Skull
Scott Paulin
Captain America
Hey, here's a great idea. We'll make the Red Skull Italian! And then he'll try to diguise his appearance in the present! And he won't even really look like he had a skull for a face! Oh, and let's have him fight a Captain America in a rubber suit with fake plastic ears and a plastic shield.
Ivan Ooze
Paul Freeman
Power Rangers: The Movie
I said that Lord Zed was scary, and I meant it. Even Rita was acceptable as a villain for the Power Rangers. But Ivan Ooze? Ivan Ooze? Are you fricking kidding me?
Mr. Freeze/Poison Ivy/Bane/Two-Face
Arnold Schwartzeneger, Uma Thurman, Jeep Swenson, Tommy Lee Jones
Batman & Robin/Batman Forever
Jim Carrey and Danny DeVito weren't good as the Riddler and the Penguin. But they didn't make me want to throw things at the movie screen. The others on this list did. Hollywood, let me explain this simply. Stars are acceptable in superhero movies if they fit the role. If you're just using a star in the hope that it'll make people come see the movie, it will not work. Please stop.
Edited by the author to correct the entry for Neville Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair was the villain in The Rocketeer, not The Shadow, as I originally wrote, and blame on sloppy cutting and pasting.
posted by Aaron at 10:25 AM
2 Comments:
Minor correction, you accidentally put Neville Sinclair in "The Shadow".
You're line in Shiwan Kahn's entry about a "good tie into..." are you slipping a joke in on the whole clothing conversation Cranston and Kahn had? That bit worked surprisingly well for me in the movie.
Whoops. This is what I get for copying and pasting. Thanks for the catch.
And yeah, that was a bit of a joke on that scene, which I did enjoy as well. I liked their dinner conversations. But it's also true that Shiwan Khan and Cranston share history, which is always a nice element for any given hero/villain rivalry.
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