Great bad guys make great movies. A compelling villain can make or save an average movie and make a good movie great. This summer hasn’t had the richest crop of great screen villains, but there certainly were a few notable ones. So now I present to you The Movie Blog’s top 10 villains of the Summer of 2008. (Remember, this isn’t a list of the best movies or best actors, just the best villains)
 | #1 – JOKER (THE DARK KNIGHT) No doubts. No debate. No close calls and no chance of error. Heath Ledger’s Joker was the crown jewel in this year’s biggest box office movie. Without question Ledger will at the very least get an Oscar nomination (it’s too early to say if he deserves to win or not since there are a lot of movies still to come out this year) and in my opinion was the best comic book movie villain of all time. |
 | #2 – PRINCE NUADA (HELLBOY 2) There is something extra terrifying about villains who believe they are on the side of right. Who believe their cause is just and noble. Prince Nuada had that plus other attributes that make a great bad guy. He could kick your ass and is frighteningly intelligent. Every second he was on screen was great stuff. Too bad he wasn’t in it more. |
 | #3 – TAI LUNG (KUNG FU PANDA) This was one of those movies that totally surprised me. Yes, I expected cute characters with witty little one liners, but what elevated all of that was a legitimately scary and frightening threat… the bad guy of the film Tai Lung. Smooth and slick, beautifully designed and perfectly voiced… Tai Lung almost seemed like he belonged in a more adult film. |
 | #4 – CHUCK “THE TRUCK” WALLANCE (THE FOOT FIST WAY) Differnt types of movies call for difference types of villains. In a movie like The Foot Fist Way, a guy like Chuck “The Truck” Wallace was exactly the type of character you needed. Slimy, dirty, underhanded… and yet hilarious at the same time. He was the best part of this movie. |
 | #5 – EMIL BLONSKY (INCREDIBLE HULK) Even though I appreciated the first Hulk movie for what it was, it was universally agreed upon that one of its biggest weaknesses was the horrible villain… phantom Nolte. If this new Hulk film did nothing else except upgrade the bad guy, it would have been a 25% better movie. Upgrade the bad guy they DID! Even before he become Abomination, Blonsky was a formidable character. Driven. Dangerous and focused. A huge step up from the Hulk daddy of the first film. |
 | #6 – MAHOGANY (MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN) This is a great example of what a solid villain can do for your movie. I personally ended up not enjoying Midnight Meat Train all that much… but without Mahogany the film would have totally sucked. This character alone nearly makes the movie passable. He’s silent, never speaks a word in the movie… and yet that does nothing but add to the creepiness of his presence. Had the film been a bit better, you could have built a franchise around this guy… he could have been the new Jason. |
 | #7 – TED JONES (PINAPPLE EXPRESS) Once again, in a film like Pineapple Express you need a slighly different kind of villain. Has to be legitimately intimidating, but ridiculous at the same time. King dope dealer Ted Jones (how perfect is that name for him!!??!) fit the bill perfectly. Every scene he had he spouted something hilarious, and yet you never doubted he’d kill you in a split second if you inconvenienced him in the slightest way |
 | #8 – SLOAN (WANTED) Just the fact that Morgan Freeman rules is enough to make this character great… but there was a lot more to Sloan that just the actor reciting his lines. The caretaker of a thousand year old fraternity of assassins, cunning, well educated and brilliant. Calm in demeanor and cold in his goals… this is one guy you don’t want to mess with |
 | #9 – KING MIRAZ (PRINCE CASPIAN) King Miraz, a man who killed his own brother to take the throne of Narnia is a cold, calculating strategist who manipulates and deceives to achieve his ends. But as decent as he was, this is another example of when the villain can either make your franchise better or worse. The last Narnia film had the White Queen, who was just amazing. Poor King Miraz could live up to that villain, and so Prince Caspian as a whole couldn’t live up to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. |
 | #10 – OBADIAH STANE (IRON MAN) Stane was a nice little villain and served the film well… up until he became Iron Monger, then he got a silly over the top and silly. Still, up to that point Jeff Bridges served the film well. But here’s the thing, and I know I’ll take a lot of heat for this BUT I STAND BY THIS: If you just switched villains between Iron Man and The Dark Knight… Iron Man instantly becomes the better movie of the two. That’s how much power the villain has in a movie. |
So there you have it. Like I said, it wasn’t the best summer for villains, but man there were a couple of sweet ones. Which ones would you knock off that list (if you knock one off, you’ve got to suggest who should take his place). Which villain did I forget about that you think deserves a spot on there?
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to cf ur crazy! most great villains wear lots of makeup! what does our choice of villains have anything to do with what the world thinks of us?
heath out did jack as joker!
yeah but once you see the dark knight, iron man is…boring. both were good, but Heath owned the summer villains
I’m absolutely convinced that the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 2008 already has Heath Ledger’s name engraved on it. I can’t see the Academy resisting nominating his last full-movie performance, even though it’s a “comic book movie”. That said, TDK was an excellent film but so incredibly dark and depressing it’s hard to watch more than once.
Obadiah Stane is a darned good villain in IRON MAN, and unlike a lot of folks, I didn’t find him silly in the Iron Monger suit, and I enjoyed the battle between Iron Man and Iron Monger. But then, I could watch Jeff Bridges do pretty much anything onscreen and still enjoy it, and I thought IRON MAN was a lot of fun and a very enjoyable, rewatchable movie.
oops!!!!! sorry 4 the repetation
hi john
do you have the list of alltime greatst 10 villians
hi john ,
i am new to this site . do have the list of all time villians??
***Comment WILL contain spoilers***
Ross, I agree with you, wholeheartedly, that In Bruges was a nice, little piece of Cinema (and I’m glad to see there are a few others out there who have seen the movie) but it seems that your perception of the Ralph Fiennes character is somewhat… distorted. Fiennes’s character is not a Hitman but is in fact a Boss in the Firm to which both Gleeson and Farrell are associated. And the character is hardly painted as a “villain” (really, all charcters in the film seemed to be created as nothing more then people…and all people have flaws). He is moral, principaled (attributes Gleeson even mentions during the Belltower scene) and above all else, he cares about the things that matter to him (also displayed in the Belltower scene and with his wife after their “inanimate object” argument). As another matter of fact, Fiennes even sends the two to Bruges as an act of kindness to the one he wanted “hit” (initially Farrell was the only one “contracted”. Remember why?…because he killed a child, which was something Fienne’s character thought no one should be able to get away with…not even himself). I’d hardly call that a principle of someone villainous. He, himself even goes to Bruges to deal with Gleeson as a show of respect to a longtime friend (Gleeson) when he could have just as easily sent a couple of his boys to do the dirty work. Yes, Fiennes was a prick at times and yes, he was willing to kill. But the movie’s antagonist was not Fiennes at all but the life of violence the three men chose for themselves.
I felt compelled to mention this because (IMO) the characters need to be fully understood to fully understand the message of In Bruges (which is actually quite powerful).
Now on to the list…)
Though, I may disagree with the order in which some characters are placed, I think, for the most part, this list and the accompanying reasons for those chosen is really well thought out.
I’m glad to see that not only did Nuada not go unnoticed, he has been given such high praise by so many intelligent individuals. He really was a “tragic” villan or hero depending on which side of the fence you’re standing. I also wanted to say that (IMO) Stane was a great villan in Ironman who didn’t need a lot of fleshing out to expose his true evil. He was the father (figure) who would sell out his own son if it meant gaining absoloute power and control. Like Nuada, Stane is given understandable motivation for his actions (although not as “noble”) but puts his own selfish intentions before that of the greater good. And if I can’t judge good and evil by levels of selfish intent then I’m not really sure how to judge.
Stane may have comes across as a little silly towards the end but the darker you make him the bleaker the movie would have been and the tone of Ironman seemed to be anything but.
P.S. Isn’t mentioning Sloan as a villain giving away one of Wanted’s key plot points?
I usually don’t bash people for their opinion, in fact, I never do. But I must step down to that level here because you have got to be an idiot if you think that if you switch the villain in Iron Man and the Dark Knight then Iron Man would be better. That kind of comment makes no kind of sense. Besides the fact that neither villain would work in the other movie, but the whole movie would be shifted and changed due to another villain. What a dumb comment.
1.Would you put Tom Cruise’s fat despot producer from Tropic Thunder?
2. The Dark Knight would still be a better movie even with flipping Ledger’s performance with Bridges. Iron Man is rather pedestrian if not for this summer’s true star Robert Downey Jr, who is also bona-fide as the dude playing the dude playing the other dude!
Mr. Ledger was deservedly #1. But Tom Cruise’s evil studio boss in TROPIC THUNDER should have been #2, yet he didn’t even make the list?
The problem with this list is that you could really just have stopped after The Joker. I say this not because of Ledgers’s fantastic performance (which it was – one that will define his strong career) but because of the ABSOLUTE LACK OF ANY OTHER QUALITY VILLAINS this summer season. There are couple films I still need to see (namely Transsiberian, which may provide some good options), but the rest of the names on the list range from “yeah, well, OK” to “are you %#$% kidding me?” To put Abomination, Obadiah Stone, or Morgan Freeman’s Sloan character on this list shows that you’re having to reach.
I’m a big fan of lists (check out our blog – I hope to resurrect ours soon), but make it a list worth having.
Honestly I’d get rid of Miraz and Jones and add in Harvey Two Face and Colonel Dr. Irna Spalko.
What about Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men?
I don’t know if you’d read yet or not, L F, but Christopher Nolan is “courting” the Johnny Depp to be the Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman to be the Penguin for the next film.
http://splashpage.mtv.com/2008/09/08/exclusive-michael-caine-says-johnny-depp-is-the-riddler-philip-seymour-hoffman-is-the-penguin/
This should be QUITE interesting, I think.
Also, thanks for the support. It’s highly appreciated.
I meant to say around 1000 movies in my life-time lol.
completely agree 100% with Ben Osterloh. ive watched around 100 movies in my life-time and never have i seen a villian have such a deep and sickening affect on a person let alone a hero such as the Joker. I’m used to seeing villians of all genres affect people to a point but to litterally control gotham and always have the upper hand on everyone was brilliant.
imagine what Nolan and co could produce with the Riddler, sweet Jesus… :)
A largely unseen film, “In Bruges” has Ralph Fiennes as a ruthless hitman who has the task of taking out some of his own employees. Seeing it as only a business transaction, he performs his duties with ice in his veins. The film also doesn’t shy away from showing Fiennes’ character at home with his kids, bringing a totally different element to the character. Well worth a watch, this small film with Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, and Peter Dinklage is darkly funny and the villain deserves a spot on this list, side by side with Nuada and Stane.
AUTO from Wall-E should be on here
Yea, I agree the villian from Indy 4 should have made the list.
As or my opinion–I agree that Iron Man was the better of the two films. It was clearly not as dark and weighty as Dark Knight but I think that those aspects actually hurt the Dark Knight. It seemed like a lot of self-important posturing on Nolan’s part. The plot/characters were clearly second to the style of the film. Although, I admit the the middle hour of the movie was fantastic and the film had tremendous ideologies at work. For a thought provoking, genre-bending film, Dark Knight works amazingly well. However, I also thought that Iron Man suggested a lot of positions just as philosophically debatable as Dark Knight. The real difference comes down to the fact that Iron Man was the first in a franchise and thus had the obligatory origin story. Comparing these two is a bit unfair. Comparing Iron Man to Batman Begins is a better analogy. For me, Iron Man takes the cake.
I think its clear that the author of this feature wasn’t intending to transplant the villains from Iron Man and Dark Knight. it is clear, to me at least, that what he is saying is that Iron Man could have been helped along by having a stronger villain like the Joker (not the actual Joker himself.) His opinion seems to be that Iron Man is the stronger of the two films, with the exception of the villain in Iron Man. A more fleshed out character for Stane/ Ironmonger, in the vein of the Joker, would have helped the film tremendously and elevated (in the original posters opinion) above the Dark Knight. Clearly, the Joker himself would have been out of place in the universe of Iron Man. Kudos to the original poster for recognizing the strengths of one movie and how the same principles could be used to make another fantastic movie even better.
This is to CF: That is fine if you did not like the Joker character. Of course, it is everyone’s right to share their opinion. But to say “that is why the world does not take the US seriously anymore”? “The Dark Knight” is doing quite well overseas, so I think the rest of the world is enjoying the Joker. Obviously, your rude comment about America was just that: a comment, nothing based in fact. If you have a problem with this country, you should do more than just leave rude comments about it on some movie blog. Yes, there are many foreigners who disagee with America’s views and tactics, and I disagree with some of America’s views and tactics as well, but to place some of the blame on some comic-book movie that is enjoyed by millions, that’s just pathetic.
Whoa, what a huge spoiler at #8! A little warning would’ve have been appreciated. Though yeah, the list is pretty good, especially the love for Tai Lung.
I know many people have already suggested this, but I too would have included Two-Face over there and pretty much in the top half(dropping Stane from the list altogether). You don’t have to be the most ruthless or the most blood-thirsty guy around to be a great villain and you don’t have to actually kill a completely innocent person to be a baddie either. The fact that Two-Face was EVERYTHING that Harvey Dent, the White Knight of Gotham, was against was what made the character such an abomination, not only to Batman and Gordon but to the whole of Gotham and to Harvey himself. He was painfully tragic but you kind of hate what Harvey had turned into even if it was for the sake of the character himself. He was as compelling as The Joker and Prince Nuada and I disagree about him not making a great impact on the movie just because of his limited screen time. He was definitely an effective villain, an extremely subtle and unusual one, but he was a kick-ass villain alright!
Though I don’t think it is saying much for Iron Man to suggest that it needed to kidnap The Joker and curse TDK with the Ironmonger to make it the better movie. WTH? Still, TDK would’ve been better because the sub-plots involving the Gotham mobs, Batman duplicates, Gordon-Dent-Batman working together, Lucius Fox, even the Bruce-Rachel-Harvey love triangle were way more interesting and relatable than anything in Iron Man. Infact, if you take away Robert Downey Jr. from IM, you see that the movie is really very silly and ridiculous(and many of the supporting characters, especially the Middle Eastern ones, were pretty tacky). TDK doesn’t get affected in the same way if you take away its most compelling character from it.
Best vilan ever: Darth Vader,the other’s look like children when compared with the Sith Lord! :D
As soon as I read the title of this article, I KNEW who the top villain would be.
Let’s face it: how could Heath Ledger’s Joker NOT come in first? Sadistic, resourceful, unpredictable, insane, manipulative, skillfully strategic, and yet possessing the grain of truth in his actions that would unsettle the most devout religious zealots.
Ledger’s death was not even a FACTOR in how awesome the Joker was. How many other villains do you know of who can make a PENCIL into a lethal weapon, and a hospital detonation into a comedy?
Joker for the win, that’s all I have to say.
So much scorn in your post, CF. Why? To each his/her own. Who did you want to see The Top Villain? After a post like that, I’m definitely curious.
I fail to see how someone wearing more pancake makeup than Tammy
Faye Bakker who shambles around like he’s looking for a portapotty
and licks his lips like a dog introduced to peanut butter can possibly
be considered “the most terrifying villain of the year”. No wonder the
rest of the world doesn’t take the US seriously anymore….
I sure agree on the Joker and Prince Nuada ( too bad about the Prince’s sister though).
Alternative chart at http://www.topchart.org
Uh, spoiler alert on #8?
Also Iron Man a better movie if you switched villains? Hardly. TDK was deeper, more complex and had far better characters and storyline that Iron Man couldn’t even approach. Iron Man was as generic as any other super-hero movie. TDK is refreshingly far from that.
LOL..to all nudging for 2-Face.
I agree with John about not having 2-Face. He was a ‘minor’, as [i]his[/i] arc in the film was abruptly ended.
On item #10 you are absolutly right because the main focus or character on the Dark Knight is not Batman himself as it was on “Begins” its the Joker. the joker is the star on the film and batman is the supporting actor. If Marvel does this with Iron Man 2 (focus on thevillan) then Iron Man will be the supporting character.
Great list but I think Harvey Dent/two face should be up there.
following on from what John and Kristina said, you say he was more of an anti hero and only shot corrupt cops, but what made him scary, for me at least, was his duality and leaving fate up to the flip of a coin. That made it scarier i think when he had gordons son because there was no way he could be talked down, it was left completely to chance. And he didn’t care who he killed, even at one point leaving fate to decide his own life
if he had more screen time they could have expanded it. I am hoping he will return in a sequal or something but not sure how they would work it in
I agree with your statement that if you switch the type of villians of TDK and IM then IM would be the better movie. Because if you switched the villians not only would that be changed but also the heros would probably also change. Like the Joker had a huge impact on Batman/Bruce Wane to the point that Batman almost ceased to exist, it would be interesting to see how a Joker type character would have effected Iron Man/Tony Stark. and i know you might already know that and that might have been one of the reasons you made that statement but i typed it out so that others could see the reason.
Oh and also i wish EMIL BLONSKY could have been higher on the list because i REALY liked him alot (more before he became Abomination because then he just became a mindless monster and while i did like the pure brute strength of him, i liked that speed and agilelikeness of him when he faught Hulk at the college, especialy when he is realy close to Hulk and he flips over him, that was awesome!) but when i look at the 1-4 spots i don’t exactly know who he could replace, exept maby #3 or 4 but i havn’t seen the movies that they’re in so i don’t think i care realy strongly argue my point.
I agree with your statement that if you switch the type of villians of TDK and IM then IM would be the better movie. Because if you switched the villians not only would that be changed but also the heros would probably also change. Like the Joker had a huge impact on Batman/Bruce Wane to the point that Batman almost ceased to exist, it would be interesting to see how a Joker type character would have effected Iron Man/Tony Stark. and i know you might already know that and that might have been one of the reasons you made that statement but i typed it out so that others could see the reason.
I’m glad you put Nuada on the list. He wasn’t just a typical baddie. He had a good cause – one that I was rooting for in the end.
Saying that if you switched The Joker with Iron Monger would make Iron Man the better film is ridiculous. Not only is there the question of whether or not those two villains could switch worlds like that, but that’s like saying that if Johnny Depp played Neo then The Matrix sequels would be much better. I could make substitutions all day for all kinds of films that I think would make them better, but the fact of the matter is that there’s no way The Joker and Iron Man can live in the same world, or vice versa (Iron Monger/Batman). My point is, it’s kind of a ridiculous claim to make.
paul
wow
okay if ironman fought a crazy lunatic dude named the joker and later has peper pots die making 2 face come out who later dies would have made it better then having batman fight the ironmonger.
the point is this: ironman is a bit less cool then batman. some poeple think ironman is cooler so its a tie.
EVERYONE knows the joker and 2 face are cooler then ironmonger
the villains pwnd all
Sweet list. But, switch the villains of Iron Man and the TDK? I’m confused. You mean put the joker in a huge iron suit and make The Dude the insane criminal agent of chaos? Yeah, that would make Iron man the better of the two movies, not because you improved Iron man but because you just ruined Batman to the tune of 8 fake nipples.
Or do you mean have Iron Monger fight Batman and the Joker Fight Iron Man? Why would you do that? Fail.
You know, sorry- being such a huge fan of Gary Cole in Office Space and considering him one of the only funny elements of Dodgeball, I gotta say he went to waste in Pineapple. He did have some good moments alongside Rosy Perez, but they really overshot how funny him shouting the F word and firing a gun could be.
And where the hell is Tom “Les Grossman” Cruise!?!??! Don’t tell me you don’t consider him a villain!
i know what john is trying to say- and hes got a point and hes right but although 2 face wasnt on the screen that much i think he brought way more to the table then ironmonger
i just really loved two face in TDK…i know he didnt do much at all and i understand why he wasnt on the list but i think he was really really good
i mean the way he BECAME 2 face was amzing..i didnt think theyd make it that good. it even touched me! ironmonger was kinda bleh.
but yeah- 2 face aside (not even cuz i get why he wasnt on there) perfect list….(although id switch 3 and 5)
It would take more than putting the joker in iron man to make it better than tdk.
Agree with John. Two-Face has no biz being on this list. For starters, the character of Two-Face is barely in the movie, not long enough to make enough of an impact to make the list. Secondly, he doesn’t do anything villainous enough to make the top 10. He takes down corrupt people…just like Batman does. The worst he did was draw the gun on Gordon, Jr, admittedly an awful thing to do, but not Top 10 material. He’s more antihero than villain in that movie if you really think about it.
haven’t seen wanted, but is sloan a villain????
Prince Caspian was awesome!
Ah, I thought Nuada was kind of crap since it seemed like every DeviantArt fanboy’s wet dream. Boring boring boring. Obidiah should have been higher up.
TWO FACE?!?!?! Who would put Two face on this list?
All he did was pull a gun on a kid at the end of a movie then got killed. He wasn’t even a villain really… he was just taking out corrupt cops.
I totally agree with Ledger. He’s the best performance I’ve ever seen. I don’t agree with Kung Fu Panda’s Tai Lung. He wasn’t the best.
Prince Caspian WAS a boring movie, even with that hottie Barnes running around. The baddie was nothing memorable.
I loved HB2 and liked Prince Nuada so much that I actually wish that he’d gotten more time. I could have lived without the Abe/Nuala stuff, and if they’d cut that stuff and added more Nuada time, the movie would have been even better.
Stane gets downright goofy at the end of Iron Man, and the final fight does NOTHING for me. It just makes no sense. Stane knows that Pepper and S.H.I.E.L.D. are onto him, so what purpose does that final fight serve? Even if he’d managed to kill Tony and Pepper, he’d still get arrested and lose control of the company. I was also a little confused about the death of Tony’s parents. I was thinking that the film was going to reveal that Stane was behind that in order to get control of the company, but they never mentioned Tony’s parents’ death again. Was that supposed to be ambiguous, or am I reading too much into it?
All that i would disagree with is Prince Caspian. I actually thought that movie was deathly dull and certainly every moment the Telmarines were on screen. They were just completely boring baddies.
I would definately include the Captain’s robot wheel from Wall-E. That wheel was pretty ruthless about condemning the entire human race to eternal apathy onboard the Axiom but at the same time, it was only because he wanted to save them all. What a great baddie.
I would have put the KID drug lord in TROPIC THUNDER!
A Few I would add to the list….
Two Face Of Course
Ferrell’s Little brother in “Step Brothers”…a complete dick, well done!
Dr. Spalko “Indy 4”
Cruise’s Over the Top Thug Producer in “Tropic Thunder”
“If you just switched villains between Iron Man and The Dark Knight… Iron Man instantly becomes the better movie of the two”
jesus christ that is insane. and i loved iron man, but TDK was outstanding in every way. just a completely crazy comment.
two face anyone?
Seriously Dude…No Two Face???
Glad to see Prince Nuada as second. He was on of the best developed villains on screen. I was actually rooting for him by the end of the movie.
Joker definitely. But I’m gladTai Lung is on there. There was so much build up with his character, and the way he kept beating the best of the best made you all the more eager to look forward to the final showdown.
I’d put Blonsky higher as well. It takes cannon-sized balls for a normal-sized guy to walk up to the Hulk and start picking fights with him.
Nice post. I think you’d probably have to be crazy not to appreciate Ledger’s performance as the Joker, but you’ve mentioned some other less-noticed ones as well that I can certainly agree with.
Just a little trivia for Kungfu Panda: Tai Lung in chinese literally means “Big Dragon”. There was all these subtle nuances to the movie about chinese culture and its language and let me just say that I loved the movie like a fat kid loves cake.
Prince Nuada is spot on. I wanted more fight scenes with him though.
I’m glad to see Prince Nuada getting so much love from you. I found him to be especially compelling because his belief system almost made sense and was nearly, as you said, noble. He was a tragic villain who would not have been out of place in “Lord of the Rings”.
Side Note: The Tree God from “Hellboy 2” sequence was my favorite scene of the year.
Ha ha! Chuck Norris thinks Prince Nuada is an awesome villain . . . he freakin’ wins! No matter what happens and no matter what else happens with Luke Goss’s career (or Nuada’s character) . . . Chuck Norris thinks he is an awesome villain!!!
(Yeah, we know you’re not really Chuck Norris, but let’s face it the elf had it going on.)
You did well John. I can’t even think of any more villains honestly besides the little vietnamese boy from Tropic Thunder.