Random Movie Villains Who Were Probably Right All Along (29 items)

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  (#11) Erik Killmonger

  • Black Panther

  Michael B. Jordan took on the role of Erik Killmonger in the 2018 Black Panther, and his sympathetic portrayal really makes you reevaluate the character. In September 2018, Marvel announced a Killmonger miniseries that explores his backstory.

  Why We Hated Him: Killmonger was never exactly hated by Black Panther fans, as he's one of the more sympathetic villains in the superhero genre. However, fans were hesitant to embrace Killmonger's plan to distribute vibranium weaponry to the oppressed masses, as this would have spurred worldwide violence and the potential loss of innocent lives. 

  Why He Was Probably Right: As many online commentators have pointed out, Killmonger did not simply want to murder thousands without cause. Having grown up witnessing the systemic oppression of racism first hand, Killmonger felt revolution was necessary. And, at times, it may be. Had Killmonger gotten his way, would it have been a bloodbath? Sure. But, as Victor Hugo once wrote, we call the brutalities of progress revolution. Mankind has been treated harshly, but it moves forward. 
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  (#15) Henri Ducard

  • Batman Begins

  Actually Ra's Al Ghul, Ducard trained Bruce Wayne and gave him the skills to become Batman, but ultimately they couldn't along, what with Bruce wanting to save Gotham and Ducard wanting to blow the whole thing up.

  Why We Hated Him: The dude tried to use a weaponized hallucinogen to make an entire city's worth of people lose their minds and run off killing each other. He's not exactly going to win Humanitarian of the Year. 

  Why He Was Probably Right: The thing is, Gotham is a cancer on the world. It's run by crime bosses, and even Batman's work to shut them down results in worse consequences. While the plan was going to kill a lot of people, Ducard was thinking about the greater picture, about keeping humanity in balance. Sometimes that requires great sacrifice. 

  And, as we saw in later movies, Gotham never actually got any better. When the best you can hope for is that it doesn't get vaporized by a nuke or taken over by a clown-faced maniac? Your bar is pretty low. 
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  (#14) Poison Ivy

  • Batman & Robin

  Uma Thurman rocked this filmed version of the plant-wielding villain in Batman & Robin. 

  Why We Hated Her: Besides being in the worst Batman movie of all time? Well, probably because she was trying to kill Batman, and also killed Nora Fries, Dr. Freeze's wife, simply to put suspicion upon Batman. 

  Why She Was Probably Right: Basically, we're destroying the planet. She used Venom to get plants to protect themselves. Others used it to create Bane, and intended to use Venom to build nothing but supersoldiers to sell to dictators. Really, we're going to destroy the planet on our own, but Ivy's way meant that something would survive. 
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  (#26) President Bennett

  • Clear and Present Danger

  William Moffat's President Bennett got into some hot water with Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan in Clear and Present Danger. 

  Why We Hated Him: He encouraged an illicit war while at the same time doing so in such a way to insulate him from any blame. Good soldiers died as a result. 

  Why He Was Probably Right: Those soldiers were fighting the biggest drug cartel in the world. This wasn't some country with oil in it -- the enemy were unrepentant bad guys whose blood, money, power and, yes, drugs were all seeping into the United States. While Bennett may have been motivated by the death of his friend (who had dealings with the cartels, unbeknownst to anyone), it cannot be stated enough that he took us to war against bad guys. 
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  (#25) Ivan Korshunov

  • Air Force One

  Gary Oldman's iconic terrorist, Ivan squared off against Harrison Ford's President James Marshall for control of Air Force One. 

  Why We Hated Him: He's a straight up terrorist. He committed many acts of murder, holding (and executing) hostages. He took over Air Force One, which ultimately resulted in the most secure plane in the world falling to the ocean. 

  Why He Was Probably Right: Not all that "right," but in this case, "right" and "wrong" are relative. While a terrorist, he didn't attack any civilian targets. Air Force One was (and is) military hardware. He went after the administration of the country that killed many of his countrymen, chained up his leader, and altogether made life hell. In his eyes, compared to the outright devastation of his nation, a few bodies killed quickly was a small price to pay to get what he wanted.

  As far as he was concerned, he was a soldier waging war. 
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  (#27) President Snow

  • The Hunger Games

  Going up against him tended to mean your death, and it was a teenaged girl who ultimately brought him down. How unfortunate. 

  Why We Hated Him: Oh, let's see, murder, murder, murder, making literal children fight to the death, firebombing an entire District, torturing and brainwashing Katniss's boyfriend, and more murder. 

  Why He Was Probably Right: Things were stable until Katniss came around. She set off a rebellion that was killing people, and Snow was doing everything possible to retain order. Knowing the kind of person future President Coin was, he even tried to help Katniss, warning her that Coin would be no better than he. 

  And as far as the Hunger Games themselves were concerned, Snow was one year old when they started. Many of the things being rebelled against were established protocol by the time he arrived. 

  And finally: District 13 wasn't bombed, but actually signed a non-aggression pact with the Capitol, allowing them to be independent -- a pact they forced by pointing nuclear weapons at the Capitol. And this was all a pact that District 13 completely intended to tear up. 
  

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