Fall approaches fast and with it, all the Halloween hype you can hope for; a celebration of all things wicked, colourful and mischievous. Plenty of movie characters will have their shoes and suits filled in by everybody from toddlers to teens, but there's always that extra grab for the villain costumes. And why not? Everybody loves a badass, especially the doomsday-planning ones you grew up watching on the big screen. So it's time to count down the best 10 movie supervillains whose maniacal cackling we'll never tire of...
#10 COBRA COMMANDER from G.I. JOE: RISE OF COBRA
What a true snake in the grass. Now your DVD copy of the first live action G.I. Joe feature film may still be broken shards at the bottom of the trash can, but the hidden gem of the movie was undoubtedly Joseph Gordon-Levitt. True his evil scheme was pretty standard and he didn't step up until the climax was nearing it's...well...climax, but this was a performance that pulled you in with every minute of screen time. The voice was brilliant, even if it carried hints of the Chris Latta charm remembered from the Saturday morning cartoons, and his costume was awesome. We even tolerated the whole Darth Vader pattoned helmet look slapped onto him at the last second. Bring the actor back for the sequel and we might just end up watching it.
# 9 PENGUIN from BATMAN RETURNS
Tim Burton, master of the strange and gothic, helped bring to life a foe from the Batman rogues gallery that until the early 90s, was mostly pictured alongside a squawking Burgess Meredith.
That's where DeVito came in to take up the umbrella by becoming a true man/bird hybrid with a chilly childhood. He's textbook psycho material that's obsessed with taking, or destroying, anything he can't have.
In a fist fight against the Dark Knight, he's all flippers, but backed up by an army of rocketeer penguins ready to blow away all of Gotham City, he's just crazy enough to be considered a supervillain.
#8 BANE from THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Tom Hardy brings such ferocious life to a character that basically can only act through his eyes and physical characteristics. He beats the stuffing out of anybody and knows how to leave his enemies both physically and emotionally crippled. He's a strategic genius with the moves that even one deluded Dark Knight thinks he can outmatch and his legion of cronies are ready to give their lives if it means accomplishing his goal.
He gets bumped back because he's only technically a supervillain in the sense that he can't feel physical pain due to a breathing mask, but he's still got the gravitas and the strength to match him up with the Caped Crusader. That and having a ticking nuclear weapon in his pocket means you best think really hard about how to take down this Goliath.
#7 LOKI from THOR/AVENGERS
Under the direction of the Shakespearean wonder Kenneth Branagh, Loki is played as the tragic outcast who just wants to find a place outside of his brother's shadow. It's a little tough to compete when your sibling is the God of Thunder.
But when he embraces his dark side in full, his big scheme isn't really that threatening. He's off to blow up a bunch of cold-hearted savages that people casually smashed apart like they were ice sculptures. Oh no!
Avengers is where he brings on an aggressive attitude, relishes his power and trades blows with the greatest heroes of the world. If that's not impressive, he's also ready to help his mystery boss enslave the entire galaxy.
Word to the wise: don't trust the guy who wears devil horns on his hat.
#6 RED SKULL from CAPTAIN AMERICA
We have got a man so evil that even working under Adolf Hitler wasn't enough for him. Not only is this guy packing some serious firepower under those muscles but he's got battalions of rogue Nazi soldiers ready to unleash their godly death weapons against absolutely anyone they don't believe is worth living.
The man's ego is bigger than the Hindenberg and he's ready to blow up his own country just to prove that he's eligible for mastering the power of the gods. Talk about inferiority complex!
#5 DOCTOR OCTOPUS from SPIDER-MAN 2
Doc Ock's the only Spider-Man bad guy from Sam Raimi's film series that really has a plan other than "let's snag Spidey's favourite redhead" so that adds him quite a few points in terms of coolness. He's also crazier than the Cocoa Puffs bird, not just having one, but four voices in his head whispering all kinds of dangerous ideas for him to act out.
Pitted against his webslinging nemesis...well what do you expect? The guy can punch him six times at once!
#4 GENERAL ZOD from SUPERMAN II
Before Superman's alien home Krypton went kaboom, Zod was a rogue tyrant who tried to take over the planet. And he didn't even have any powers yet! So he got locked up in another dimension and broke out to get some vengeance on the son of the man who threw away the key, Superman's dad.
The man is virtually unstoppable and obsessed with showing his superiority everywhere he walks, or rather flies. He's also got a timeless fashion sense and a face worthy of being carved on Mount Rushmore. Best of luck to Michael Shannon on taking up the reins for the upcoming Man of Steel movie.
"KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!"
#3 CAESAR from RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Props goes to actor Andy Serkis for not only making a character who's not human understandable, but doing it with little to no words at all. His performance is so simple and yet so complex, where sign language and grunts are his only means of communication. Blending a perfect balance of animal nature with emotional vendetta, Caesar's role in leading a revolution of apes against all of mankind turns our planet into a monkey-topia for the next several centuries. Caesar's not monkeying around.
Come on, someone had to say it.
#2 JOKER from BATMAN
Jack Nicholson's performance as Gotham's homicidal harlequinn is a work of history. This Joker incarnation is chop full of comic book glory while still retaining the fear factor needed to keep audiences shrinking in their seats.
The man was already a heartless gangster way before he made a cannonball in an acid hottub, so to dry off and leave your sanity behind is just the worst luck you can draw. On the other hand, if the wacko clown mob boss wanted to take advantage of this situation and turn his city into a graveyard then it just might be the best worst day of his life.
When you've got an artist who uses mass murder as his inspiration, then you have a bad guy who's given completely over to the monster within. True sadistic motive that's Grade A villain of the week material pulled off with such class that it's still a favourite among Batman movie fans.
Wait'll you get a load of him!
#1 MAGNETO from the X-MEN SERIES
How grey can you go before the audience just has to draw the line between freedom fighter and terrorist? Apparently the same grey as Sir Ian McKellen's hair colour.
When you have expectations for a villain, you don't get any better than a man so powerful that he doesn't even need to touch you with his own hands to kill you.
Firstly let's address the fact that in the first X-men movies, Magneto is played by a Shakespearean actor who commands every scene that he's in. Even when he's locked up in jail, you can't help but feel like he's still a force to be reckoned with.
His age is not to be underestimated. When you're carrying the scars of a childhood traumatized by hatred and bigtory against being who or what you are, the man only deepens his resolve and is ready to wipe out all of mankind to do it. Seriously, he tried to do exactly that!
The best part though about Magneto is that his way of snagging people into joining his cause. He knows how to reel in the outcasts, make them think that if they don't join him they'll not only survive, but get what the world as they want it as a bonus. Even when Michael Fassenbender picks up his origin story, he's got the same great charm while still planting his feet on his own ethical standing.
Magnetism is his strength and superiority his endgame. Imagine what this guy is like with a bad case of senility!
Come on, someone had to say it.
#2 JOKER from BATMAN
The man was already a heartless gangster way before he made a cannonball in an acid hottub, so to dry off and leave your sanity behind is just the worst luck you can draw. On the other hand, if the wacko clown mob boss wanted to take advantage of this situation and turn his city into a graveyard then it just might be the best worst day of his life.
When you've got an artist who uses mass murder as his inspiration, then you have a bad guy who's given completely over to the monster within. True sadistic motive that's Grade A villain of the week material pulled off with such class that it's still a favourite among Batman movie fans.
Wait'll you get a load of him!
#1 MAGNETO from the X-MEN SERIES
When you have expectations for a villain, you don't get any better than a man so powerful that he doesn't even need to touch you with his own hands to kill you.
Firstly let's address the fact that in the first X-men movies, Magneto is played by a Shakespearean actor who commands every scene that he's in. Even when he's locked up in jail, you can't help but feel like he's still a force to be reckoned with.
His age is not to be underestimated. When you're carrying the scars of a childhood traumatized by hatred and bigtory against being who or what you are, the man only deepens his resolve and is ready to wipe out all of mankind to do it. Seriously, he tried to do exactly that!
The best part though about Magneto is that his way of snagging people into joining his cause. He knows how to reel in the outcasts, make them think that if they don't join him they'll not only survive, but get what the world as they want it as a bonus. Even when Michael Fassenbender picks up his origin story, he's got the same great charm while still planting his feet on his own ethical standing.
Magnetism is his strength and superiority his endgame. Imagine what this guy is like with a bad case of senility!
