5 Movie Villains that Deserve Their Own Movie
The word “villain” can be very subjective. They come in all shapes and sizes (some even being a setting or conflict). To make things tougher, almost every movie has a villain. Generally speaking, they’re the character (or at least I’m limiting this post to be character villains) that is considered the antagonist. They make it harder for the protagonist to do whatever they’re trying to do. However, as you can see, this sometimes gets a bit tricky.
Why are villains the subject of this week’s post? I like the idea of movies telling both sides of the story. In a lot of movies, we learn about the protagonist but rarely do we learn significant information about the villains. With the release of Disney’s Maleficent, I got to wondering which characters I’d like to spend an entire movie watching their “untold story.” And with Hollywood’s obsession with staying in-house with their films, it’s almost a matter of time before we get some of these films.
The idea of exploring the “untold story” spawned a list of movies for some of the baddest villains we’ve ever seen. As you can tell, this eliminated quite a few villains because they already had their own movies. I excluded characters like Alex DeLarge (A Clockwork Orange), Patrick Bateman (American Psycho), Tyler Durden (Fight Club), Norman Bates (Pyscho), Jack Torrance (The Shining), Darth Vader (Star Wars franchise), and Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood) because the movie was primarily about, or completely explored, the villain.
Here is the list I settled on:
The first Die Hard was so successful it spawned a franchise that is (unfortunately) still going. Even when revisiting the films last year, I came to realize how awesome the first movie was. In some ways, it was a landmark film. One of the reasons it worked was because of the villain, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). He was so good, I wouldn’t mind seeing a prequel of sorts that explores why he was the way he was. Like will all the villains, we do get glimpses of his past, but it’s just not enough. We need more Gruber!
Can you imagine a film (or films) that is all Lord Voldemort? This one is more of a stretch compared to others because hardcore Harry Potter fans know all about He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and his past. To me, he is one of the more fascinating parts of the series, so I was sad to see a lot of his backstory cut from the movies. I know cuts are inevitable when it comes to adapting books (especially a series that accumulates that many pages), so a Voldemort-only film would be a great next step to keep the franchise going.
I’m going to have to beat around the bush when it comes to Keyser Söze because it gives away the entire reveal of The Usual Suspects. To me, this movie has one of the best reveals in any movie. Period. Söze, however you want to perceive his character, is fascinating and could make for some Grade-A storytelling…just like The Usual Suspects.
As far as villains go, Anton Chigurh is right up there at the top. Not only did Javier Bardem have one of the greatest performances of all time, but Chigurh’s character is equal parts terrifying and captivating. I’d love to know a little bit more of the “why” since we get a lot of the “how” in No Country For Old Men.
Slow down, I know what you’re thinking. Like Voldemort, a lot of people know the Joker’s origin story (or at least one of them). Also, part of the reason The Dark Knight is so amazing (if you couldn’t tell, it is one of my favorite movies of all time) is because it doesn’t explore the origin story. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know how Heath Ledger’s legendary Joker came to power. I realize this is a moot point because of Ledger’s unfortunate death (and the Batman reboot on the horizon), but I froth at the mouth just thinking about the possibilities. If only we lived in that world.
Any other villains you think should have their own movies? Sound off below in the comments!
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