Post by Nalkarj on Feb 11, 2019 5:35:05 GMT
Did we have a thread like this? I can delete it if we did. (I know @forceghostackbar had a thread requesting a Darth Vader-level baddie, with which I’m completely on-board.) The thread about Spider-Man: Homecoming got me thinking about the MCU’s best villains… Who are your favorites? I know they’re often criticized, sometimes fairly, sometimes not, so—who do you think is the best bad guy in the series? Or even a top 5?
For me:
1. Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford, Captain America: The Winter Soldier)—the best Marvel villain in the best Marvel movie (even if I still have more of a soft spot for Iron Man). Redford is superb, his dialogue is juicy, he gets many scenes of real villainy, and he’s just fun to watch on-screen. (His very presence, too, instantly elevates the movie and tells us the filmmakers know what they’re doing.) Who could ask for anything more?
2. Vulture (Michael Keaton, Spider-Man: Homecoming)—as I mentioned in that SMH thread, I’m disappointed by the way the movie treated Spider-Man, but I have no qualms with Michael Keaton’s villain. It’s a full, vigorous, not unsympathetic, human performance, one that didn’t need to be in the movie but that adds so much to it.
3. Thanos (Josh Brolin, Avengers: Infinity War)—a really good baddie and, as Ackbar pointed out, a step in the right direction toward Vader-worthy villains. I particularly liked how the writers and directors didn’t make him a senseless and/or power-hungry brute, as DC’s very similar Darkseid is often depicted; Thanos is not really evil even when he does truly evil things, which makes him much more interesting. He’s essentially a philosophizer rather than a philosopher—akin a participant in college dorm-room philosophical discussion—and he’s calm and even caring while committing mass murder. A friend said that in some ways he can be called the picture’s protagonist—and I can’t actually disagree with that.
4. Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges, Iron Man)—not as much a great character as a welcome performance from a great actor. Still, when he’s talking to a paralyzed Robert Downey, Jr., he creates a memorable villain.
5. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke, Iron Man 2)—OK, so I liked this movie! Or at least I did when I saw it in theaters. And Rourke was the most memorable part, marching down the racetrack with those whips. He’s so much fun to watch that the performance bolsters an underwritten characterization.
Probably the most conspicuous exception from my list is Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. While I like Mr. Hiddleston’s performances, the character has to be the most ill-defined villain in the history of the movies. Making him an all-out, threat-to-earth-as-we-know-it villain in one movie and a humorous anti-hero in the next just means the writers don’t know what they’re doing (or can’t get on the same page).
So, what say you?
For me:
1. Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford, Captain America: The Winter Soldier)—the best Marvel villain in the best Marvel movie (even if I still have more of a soft spot for Iron Man). Redford is superb, his dialogue is juicy, he gets many scenes of real villainy, and he’s just fun to watch on-screen. (His very presence, too, instantly elevates the movie and tells us the filmmakers know what they’re doing.) Who could ask for anything more?
2. Vulture (Michael Keaton, Spider-Man: Homecoming)—as I mentioned in that SMH thread, I’m disappointed by the way the movie treated Spider-Man, but I have no qualms with Michael Keaton’s villain. It’s a full, vigorous, not unsympathetic, human performance, one that didn’t need to be in the movie but that adds so much to it.
3. Thanos (Josh Brolin, Avengers: Infinity War)—a really good baddie and, as Ackbar pointed out, a step in the right direction toward Vader-worthy villains. I particularly liked how the writers and directors didn’t make him a senseless and/or power-hungry brute, as DC’s very similar Darkseid is often depicted; Thanos is not really evil even when he does truly evil things, which makes him much more interesting. He’s essentially a philosophizer rather than a philosopher—akin a participant in college dorm-room philosophical discussion—and he’s calm and even caring while committing mass murder. A friend said that in some ways he can be called the picture’s protagonist—and I can’t actually disagree with that.
4. Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges, Iron Man)—not as much a great character as a welcome performance from a great actor. Still, when he’s talking to a paralyzed Robert Downey, Jr., he creates a memorable villain.
5. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke, Iron Man 2)—OK, so I liked this movie! Or at least I did when I saw it in theaters. And Rourke was the most memorable part, marching down the racetrack with those whips. He’s so much fun to watch that the performance bolsters an underwritten characterization.
Probably the most conspicuous exception from my list is Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. While I like Mr. Hiddleston’s performances, the character has to be the most ill-defined villain in the history of the movies. Making him an all-out, threat-to-earth-as-we-know-it villain in one movie and a humorous anti-hero in the next just means the writers don’t know what they’re doing (or can’t get on the same page).
So, what say you?
