Superhero movies live and die based on how good their villains are – so it’s lucky for the genre that it’s had some truly stellar examples of antagonists over the years. While figures like Superman and Spider-Man are more famous than their foes, every good hero is defined by their enemies, and which figures they are placed against most prominently.
This is as true in the world of movies as it is in the world of comics, if not perhaps even more so, since superheroes tend to have far fewer movie outings. Thankfully, the past few decades have provided a range of phenomenal depictions of comic antagonists for many superhero movies, making the matter of which are best a challenging one.
Kurt Russel’s Ego The Living Planet
Compared to the franchise’s biggest heavy-hitter villains – who also tend to be around for more than one lone film – it’s easy to overlook Ego the Living Planet when it comes to the MCU’s roster of antagonists. However, Ego’s story in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has a little bit of everything a good villain needs.
The concept of a sentient planet who’s able to transform and replicate the beings of the other worlds he visits – and who seeks to destroy other planets and thus conquer them – is one that’s hard to not find fascinating. Kurt Russell is also able to nail the characterization of Ego, and how his inhuman nature makes him a compelling villain.
Ego’s early setup in the film as a father reuniting with his long-lost son gives us enough positive screentime that the revelation Ego is responsible for killing Star-Lord’s mother is truly the plot twist it deserves to be – flipping the story we knew on its head, and providing one of the easiest to hate supervillains in superhero movie history.
Paul Dano’s Riddler
Much as The Penguin cemented its titular lead as one of the most interesting superhero show villains in the genre’s history, The Batman focused on a version of the Riddler that was a truly fascinating take on the character, and demonstrated why the villain has been such a lastingly popular member of the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery.
Paul Dano’s Riddler is shown to be staggeringly smart throughout the movie, leading not just Gotham’s police but also the Caped Crusader on a wild goose chase of sorts throughout the city, broken up by the revelations of more puzzles for them to solve, and more harrowing Saw-esque traps that those the Riddler deems guilty have been placed in.
The fact that Dano’s Riddler so clearly believes he and Batman are on the same side for most of the movie makes this story all the more gripping, and all the more nerve-wracking when the villain has a breakdown upon realizing this isn’t the case – underlining his ego while also reiterating the issues with how Batman has operated thus far.
Tom Hiddleston’s Loki
Loki’s villain story is complex to look back at now, given the character has spent the past few years more squarely in the hero category instead – especially since the Loki season 2 finale caps off with the character sacrificing himself to serve as a living conduit who keeps the multiverse together and intact.
However, the fact Loki was capable of this trajectory after his introduction as an all-out villain is a testament to the way the MCU employed him. While Loki does despicable things in The Avengers, it’s made clear he does care deeply for Thor and his family, albeit in a troubled way that’s particularly warped when we’re introduced to him.
That said, Loki’s capacity for change is teased from his earliest moments, and his growth over the course of the MCU pays off in terms of showing a clearly defined character arc from villain to hero twice over – once in the main MCU timeline, and once with the variant of the character who takes over for the events of Loki.
Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor
There have been several talented actors who have lent their talents to the role of Lex Luthor over the years, with Michael Rosenbaum’s young Luthor being prolific and iconic, and Nicholas Holt’s Lex Luthor being a stellar modern reimagining of Superman’s iconic rival on-screen. However, Gene Hackman’s is perhaps the most lastingly important.
Hackman’s Luthor managed to be menacing while also keeping the classic and more playful charm of the original Superman movie series, and served as the perfect foil for Christopher Reeve’s Superman – both in the villain’s cynical, self-serving outlook, and the way in which the actor underlines Lex’s ego and contempt for the Man of Steel in his every moment on-screen.
Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin
Spider-Man’s movie roster has few bad villains, leaving plenty of room for competition when it comes to which Spider-Man movie villain did things best. That said, it’s hard to not say that Willem Dafoe’s performance as Norman Osborn – and then, of course, as the Green Goblin – is the strongest of the lot.
While Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus is also rightfully praised – alongside a range of other film antagonists – the Green Goblin role is arguably the hardest to pull off, as it requires a clear delineation between Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin, that at points needs to be conveyed solely through a look or vocal tone, which isn’t necessarily an easy task.
However, Dafoe pulls this off not just in his original Spider-Man movie debut, but also in his reprisal of the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home – which required notable nuance from both the actor and script, since No Way Home needed the twist of the Green Goblin taking control to be suitably shocking and yet also almost inevitable in hindsight.
Michael B. Jordan’s Kilmonger
Black Panther‘s reputation as one of the MCU’s best movies to this day is in no small part because of the dimension and emotion Michael B. Jordan’s Kilmonger adds to the movie’s story. Complex and empathetic, Kilmonger’s hopes and charisma make him a truly multifaceted antagonist, and someone who audiences can feel for even during his worst movie moments.
The conflict that arises between Kilmonger and Black Panther is a perfect example of what a superhero movie’s conflict between hero and villain should be – particularly in the way this struggle provides great character growth for T’Challa, and eventually convinces him to make one of the biggest steps in the MCU’s in-universe history by revealing Wakanda to the wider world.
Kilmonger’s significance in the MCU was also great enough that the villain manages to return posthumously, and his scenes with Shuri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are some of the film’s most significant – emphasizing the conflict Shuri herself undergoes internally in the film, and providing a substantial throughline for the movie series that helps define it.
Jack Nicholson’s Joker
Batman‘s Joker is one of the most easily recognizable superhero movie villains of all time. Of course, some of this is down to how recognizable the Joker is, but a lot of this can be attributed to how well the design team nailed the villain’s look and costume, and how well the Joker works in the movie more broadly speaking.
Nicholson’s Joker is a stellar blend of serious and silly, serving as the complete balance between goofier Clown Princes of Crime like Cesar Romero’s take, and more serious iterations of the antagonist like Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. However, make no mistake – Batman‘s Joker is just as intense as any of his counterparts in every single scene the character gets.
With iconic quotes like “you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?“, and plenty of scenes that are equal parts action-packed and perfect demonstrations of the Joker’s unique and chaotic personality, Nicholson’s Joker is perhaps the closest we’ve come to having the main comic version of DC’s most famous villain in a live-action movie.
Ian McKellen’s Magneto
Few villains are as effective at being sympathetic antagonists as Magneto – and few actors are able to give Erik Lehnsherr as much of a three-dimensional presence as Ian McKellen. Combine these concepts together, and it’s clear why McKellen’s performances as Magneto have been almost universally praised over the course of their history.
Magneto’s tragic youth and desire to protect people who are persecuted for being mutants immediately make him a complex figure, and his decades-long bond with Professor X adds the kind of dimension and emotional layers that Fox’s X-Men timeline arguably hinged on.
Without Ian McKellen’s Magneto, it’s hard to say the Fox X-Men movies would have been anywhere near as good as they ended up being – and this may also end up being a concept that holds true once more when Magneto reappears in Avengers: Doomsday, since the film will likely draw on the intricacies and emotional stakes the prior movies established.
Josh Brolin’s Thanos
There’s little to say about Josh Brolin’s Thanos that hasn’t already been said ten times over in various people’s praise. As the first overarching villain of an entire Saga of the MCU, Thanos was a character who certainly needed to resonate in a big way to feel suitably grand enough for the likes of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Over time, the MCU ensured not only that Thanos felt like a character of some considerable stature, but also that he would be so significant in the superhero movie world that his impact would go on to essentially haunt the narrative for years afterward. Even in 2025 – 6 years after Avengers: Endgame – this concept still holds true.
The MCU’s Thanos is a character of dualities – effectively torturing his adoptive daughters and yet being shown to care for at least Gamora despite it all, and someone whose concern for the galaxy leads to him becoming its biggest and most dangerous threat.
Altogether, the effective demonstration of the nuances of Thanos’ character make him an impeccable movie villain, and one the MCU may never top.
Heath Ledger’s Joker
Of course, no list of the best superhero movie villains is complete without a discussion of Heath Ledger’s Joker. In many ways, The Dark Knight was the movie that proved to modern audiences that superhero films could be deeper, more artistically-valued releases, and a huge part of what made this possible was the performance of Heath Ledger.
Ledger’s Joker is a character who feels immensely lived-in and thought out, and thus who it’s easy to feel has had a life outside of the confines of the events of The Dark Knight itself. This spawned almost infinite interest in the movie character, and cemented his status as one of the best of all time.
Despite being one of the darkest ever on-screen versions of the Joker, Ledger’s Joker never feels needlessly edgy, matching the grounded tone of the Dark Knight trilogy even while being its most striking and unusual villain. As such, it’s clear that the legacy of Heath Ledger’s Joker performance will continue to define the superhero genre for years to come.
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