Random Best Comic Book Villain Movie Performances (25 items)

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  (#23) Gene Hackman

  • 89

  Films: Superman: The Movie (1978), Superman II (1980), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

  Back when the original Superman film hit theaters, there wasn't any way of knowing whether or not the movie would work. It was a bit of a gamble for someone like Gene Hackman to take on the role of the villain in such a movie, as he already had a stellar career up to that point.

  Fortunately, the movie did better than anyone might have expected, and Hackman returned to reprise his role as Lex Luthor in two sequels. As the villain, he is truly unmatched. He played the character both campy and with an air of true evil.

  He was larger than life, and a perfect foil for the Man of Steel. Kevin Spacey played a version of Hackman's character in Superman Returns, but he never managed to achieve the same lever of grandiose Hackman easily pulled off in the 1970s and '80s.
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  (#22) Terence Stamp

  • 80

  Films: Superman: The Movie (1978), and Superman II (1980)​​​​​​​

  One of the best things about Terence Stamp's performance as General Zod in the first two Superman films is that he made skin-tight black leather look cool. Ok, there was more than that, so looking beyond '70s fashion, Stamp was an immensely unlikable, yet much-loved villain.

  He played the part so well, it's unlikely any fan of the movie could walk up to the actor, now, over 40 years later, and not kneel before him. He's Zod, after all, and though the role would go to other actors over the years, he set the standard with his performance, and few could hope to attain his level of perfection in creating Superman's true nemesis from the planet Krypton.

  He was seen briefly in the first film, just prior to Krypton's destruction, and returned for the second to become the main antagonist. 
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  (#10) Michael Keaton

  • 67

  Film: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

  Michael Keaton surprised the world by not only playing Batman but by playing him spectacularly. Fast-forward 28 years, and Keaton's back at the genre once more, but this time, as a villain.

  Keaton took on the role of Adrian Toomes, aka, the Vulture. He's a man who lost everything when the government pushed him out of a contract, but he makes the best of a bad situation by doing what anyone in his position would do. He used stolen alien technology to become an arms dealer.

  Keaton is truly despicable in his role, which is certainly true when he pulls a gun on Peter Parker and reveals that he knows who he is. He lets him take his daughter out despite this and offers an ultimatum, which the web-slinger couldn't accept. He's evil, but somehow, he's not entirely evil, and Peter even attempts to save him, but to no avail. Keaton was brilliant in the role and may return in a sequel, seeing as he wasn't killed at the end of the movie.
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  (#17) Willem Dafoe

  • 63

  Films: Spider-Man (2002)

  When Sam Raimi got the go ahead to turn Spider-Man into a live-action film, he knew there was one place he couldn't screw up, and that was with the villain he needed to put up against everyone's Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

  Spider-Man's rogues' gallery is filled with excellent characters to choose from, but the one he ended up having to go with was Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, and he made the right choice. Of all Spider-Man's villains, he's the worst, having learned Peter Parker's identity early on, and being responsible for the death of his girlfriend made him a perfect nemesis... but who could play such a rich character? The right answer to that question is and always will be Willem Dafoe.

  Dafoe brought his take to the role and put everything he had into it. He showed a wide range of emotion and insanity without making the character seem over-the-top or too campy. He could have crossed the line into Batman TV series camp but stayed exactly where he needed to by portraying a dark and twisted villain from beginning to end.
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  (#4) Ian McKellen

  • 79

  Films: X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

  One of the best casting decisions the people behind X-Men made was to place Ian McKellen into the role of Magneto. The veteran actor took his gravitas and threw it into a performance that stood as an example of how to properly play a villain whose motivations aren't necessarily wrong, making him hard to recast when X-Men First Class came around several years later.

  McKellan's ability to command a scene, whether he's acting jovial with his "old friend," Charles Xavier, or behaving insidious as he did with the Senator in the first film made him the ideal choice to play the role.

  With his background in theater, he knew how to play off the reactions of his fellow castmates, and it shows in his final performance. McKellen returned to play the role in three sequels, and he did so as brilliantly in the last performance as he did in the first.
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  (#19) Michael B. Jordan

  • 32

  Film: Black Panther (2018)

  Michael B. Jordan's first foray into the world of comic book movies didn't work out as well as he might have liked. He played Johnny Storm in 2015's Fantastic Four, and while the movie tanked, it wasn't for his performance.

  That being said, the man needed another turn at bat, and he got it when he was cast to play Erik Killmonger in Black Panther. The best thing about his performance was how he managed to make the audience both revile and appreciate him for what he did.

  He was a cold-blooded killer, hence, the name, but more than that, he was a man separated from his country, who wanted little more than to be accepted in his homeland. He fought for his right to stand as King of Wakanda, and he won. He was ultimately supplanted by T'Challa, but it's hard to argue he didn't come to power legitimately, at least, as far as Wakandan politics are concerned.

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