Top 30 Best Movie Villains of the Century (So Far)

I am your Redeemer it is by my hand You Will Rise From the Ashes welcome to watch Mojo and today we're counting down the most spy chilling reprehensible and in some cases oddly likable movie villains of the 21st century thus far we are leaving off animated villains because they could populate a whole other list you could die Joey number 30 Raul Silva Skyfall Daniel Craig's tenure as James Bond arguably reached its creative Apex with Skyfall thanks in part to Javier bardam's deliciously evil turn as Raul Silva despite not arriving until around the 70 minute Mark in a 143 minute film Silva lights up the screen with such devious Showmanship that he casts a shadow over the rest of the picture chasing spice so oldfashioned his winking deil Persona effectively offsets Bond's poised demeanor in this more grounded era of 007 Silva hearkens back to the age of clever quips and colorful bad guys yet he doesn't feel out of place in a grittier environment complete with a grim backstory look upon your work M Prosthetics can conceal his warped face but Silva's mind is beyond salvaging clouded by Revenge Bardem simply sinks his teeth into the roll all this jumping and fighting it's exhausting number 29 the White Witch The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe bringing CS Lewis's classic fantasy book into reality saw numerous challenges but casting the villain was fairly easy from the get-go the filmmakers eyed Tilda Swinton for Jadis aka the White Witch Edmund and how Edmund did you come to enter my Dominion Swinton immediately sends a chill throughout the theater as a cold calculating villainous whose heart is most certainly frozen over assuming she has one to begin with well I suppose you are not a total loss then despite her intense manner the White Witch is a master of deception putting on a warm nurturing act when she needs to in a story full of biblical parallels Turkish delight is the forbidden fruit and the white which is the snake ready to bite whether using reserved subtlety or Stern Authority she'll make every hair on the back of your neck stick up think about whose side you're on Edmund mine or there number 28 Megan Megan this film will have you laughing and jumping out of your seat simultaneously through its titular killer doll alone what are you I've been asking asking myself that same question Megan not only balances humor and horror but the benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence as well for much of the runtime Megan is an infinitely more nurturing parental figure than Katie's Aunt Gemma whether it's a tablet or a sophisticated robot though allowing a machine to raise a child is bound to have repercussions have I done something to upset you Gemma no of course not in Megan's case she soon takes her objective too far when she feels unappreciated by Katie Megan's objective changes to self-preservation and she isn't playing around anymore for all the cheeky onliners Megan encompasses a cautionary tale for how quickly AI can turn on its creator how could you do this how could you kill someone I didn't kill anyone Kurt number 27 Magneto the X-Men franchise one could agree that Eric lener is an anti-hero especially considering where he started from it takes a monster to make a monster however you must be a wolverine that remarkable metal doesn't run through your entire body does it in his pursuit to bend the world into a better place for mutants Magneto becomes what he claims to loathe a fascist who views himself as a member of a master race seeking to dominate those he considers to be less evolved who will you stand with the humans or us since Magneto has spent most of his life being feared it's only natural he'd use it as a weapon Magneto also has Charisma on his side amassing a Brotherhood of followers who share his mentality while Magneto isn't Beyond Reason or empathy for some of his enemies his unyielding Prejudice and vengeful instincts continually bring him back to villainy Charles always wanted to build Bridges number 26 Howard Stamper 10 Cloverfield Lane few characters from this Century kept us guessing like bunker dweller Howard Stamper is he a paranoid survivalist a possessive villain a complete lunatic or all of the above what are you going to do to me I'm going to keep you alive the fact that he's on this list might tip you in One Direction but even as the credits roll Howard isn't easy to categorize John Goodman wears many masks in a Powerhouse performance the most prominent being the antagonist even at his most well-intentioned Howard frequently leaves you on edge especially in a confined underground area crazy is building your Ark After the flood has already come there comes a point where you're better off taking your chances outside the bunker assuming Howard will let you go we wouldn't want him as an enemy although we're not sure we'd want this wild card as an ally either after I saved you and kept you safe this is how you repay me number 25 kdus Gladiator waen Phoenix does an impeccable job molding comus into one of Cinema's most slappable villains chances are if you did slap him he'd go down without much of a fight don't get too comfortable I might call one for long being the Roman Emperor though the consequences would be dire kedus is every bit as powerful as he is pathetic which is largely what makes him so amusing to watch R has changed it takes an emperor to rule an Empire he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty even when his own flesh and blood is on the receiving end no amount of backstabbing will change the fact that he isn't worthy of the throne where Maximus should rightfully be commus nonetheless puts himself on the highest of pedestals seemingly Beyond reach any pedestal can be knocked down however the taller the harder the [Applause] fall number 24 Vincent collateral we are used to seeing Tom Cruz as an action hero but collateral reminds us he can be equally entrancing as a villain little is learned about the enigmatic Vincent including his last name you killed him no I shot him bullets in the fall killed him all we need to know is that he's been tasked with taking out five targets although his Killing Spree isn't limited to that number per se this leaves cab driver Max on constant Edge as he's forced to drive Vincent from job to job I can't what are you talking I sure you can't man it's fitting that Cruz is allowed to play against type as Vincent doesn't immediately strike Max or the audience as a killer the silver fox seems like such a charmer at first glance but Vincent can switch gears with a sudden pull of a trigger I'm not playing number 23 Frank Costello The Departed Jack Nicholson and Martin scorsi are such an obvious pairing that one can only wonder why it took them so long to collaborate we couldn't have asked for a more appropriate character to unite them than Frank Castello School's Out scors sayi excels at crafting hot-headed criminals whose greed only matches their ambition likewise Nicholson has practically built his career around playing menacing yet humorous characters although the role was tailor made for him Nicholson never veers into self- parody As Costello turning in one of his most intimidating performances are you still a cop no no swear on your mother's grave you're still not a c Beyond money and power Costello values his legacy with the hope that one of his proteges will keep his name name alive unfortunately for Frank he finds himself surrounded by Rats of course loyalty isn't one of castello's strong suits either you got something you want to ask me number 22 Captain Vidal Pan's Labyrinth if we were ranking this list purely based on how much we hated the villain Captain Vidal would place even higher there's nothing redeemable about this ruthless falangist other than the fact that he's played brilliantly by Sergi Lopez aside from hunting the rebels in the area Vidal only cares about his soon Tobe born son even then that's because his son is an extension of himself and if he was having a daughter Vidal would treat her with the same disdain he shows young opilia isia for all the grotesque foes that opilia comes across no character is more frightening than vial who laughs in the face of Mercy when he isn't delighting in the torment he inflicts he's indifferent to it which is just as heartless number 21 Davey Jones the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise Captain Barbosa returned from the grave as an ally but Davey Jones more than filled the villain void long before his swashbuckling series we had all heard the name Davey Jones do you not feel dead after he stormed onto the scene in Dead Man's Chest though it was as if we were being introduced to this legendary figure for the first time part of that can be attributed to his instantly recognizable design brought to life through effects that are state-of-the-art years later you will watch the behind the tentacle beard and motion capture technology is an arresting performance by Bill Nye who has a ball in the role while bringing a sense of dignity to Jones that commands respect his face is the last anyone wants to confront on the Seven Seas you're a cruel mind ja SP number 20 Bane The Dark Knight Rises no one cared who I was till I put on the mask it was incredibly hard to follow up Heath Ledger's Joker but Tom Hardy managed to do it with His Brilliant portrayal of Bane Hardy gained 30 lbs of muscle for the role crafting a certifiable and physically imposing brute of a villain it also helps that his physique and costumes stayed within the realm of realism as it allowed us to see Bane as a threatening revolutionary rather than a goofy comic book villain looking at you Batman and Robin this bomb is mobile and the identity of the trigger man is a mystery and let's be honest that mask and voice are now iconic who amongst us hasn't done the Bane voice at least once since 2012 are you merely adopted did the dark I was born in it too bad about his crappy anticlimactic death though number 19 Terrence Fletcher Whiplash while our previous entry is a larger than life character Terrence Fletcher is not he's just a music teacher and conductor he doesn't weave any diabolical plots or have Ambitions of world domination and that's part of what makes him such a standout villain he's the sort of antagonist that any one of us could encounter in our own academic or professional careers rushing or dragging so you do know the difference as Fletcher JK Simons plays a master emotional manipulator praying on the vulnerability and Ambitions of his students on his quest for musical Perfection he's cruel and violent and yet he's fundamentally human and not without sentiment or honor like so many real world villains he doesn't see himself as one I earned that part you never earned anything God you are a self-righteous prick number 18 Patrick baitman American psycho we love a great villain protagonist and Patrick baitman is among the best of the best there is an idea of a Patrick baitman some kind of abstraction but there is no real me many academics and literary critics view baitman as a social critique of consumer culture and capitalism he's shallow rooted in physical appearances and surface level observations and flaunts his materialistic wealth look at that subtle off- white coloring the tasteful thick Ness of it oh my God it even has a watermark oh and he's also an insatiable serial killer a rather bloody but apt metaphor for the unquenchable Hunger of consumerism most people probably don't listen to the lyrics but they should because it's not just about the pleasures of Conformity and the importance of friends it's also a personal statement about the band itself hey Paul it works well on paper and Christian Bale brings baitman to terrifying life for the movie while other A-list actors likely n DiCaprio and Brad Pit were considered for the role we think Bale was a truly inspired bit of casting he's just got that creepy look about him you're my lawyer so I think you should know I've killed a lot of people some escort girls in an apartment Uptown uh some homeless people maybe five or 10 um number 17 killmonger black panther n I'm your king it's not the first time we've said it but the MCU for all its strengths has really struggled to bring compelling villain to the big screen with kilmonger however they absolutely hit it out of the park black panther was the first comic book superhero movie to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards and while there were many contributing factors kilmonger felt like a key part of the equation I live my entire life waiting for this moment played expertly by Michael B Jordan kilmonger is a fully fleshed out villain who despite his lethal methods has relatable and sympathetic motivations you will destroy the world W included the world took everything away from me everything I ever love he's a character with real emotional depth and a powerful backstory and when you add that to his physicality you've got a villain worthy of our hero in every regard just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jump from the ships cuz they knew death was better than bondage number 16 Saruman the Lord of the Rings trilogy Sauron is certainly an imposing and terrifying figure but you can't go wrong with Christopher Lee JRR tolken often pointed to San to defend the criticism that the Lord of the Rings is too black and white in its characterizations you did not seriously think that a hobbit could contend with the will of Saum and we have to agree sauman is a wonderful villain and a brilliant example of a tragic fall from heroism into villainy he's the Gandalf that fell in with Sauron the pure good who was swayed by the lore and Promises of power and the casting of Christopher Lee was genius we couldn't imagine another actor better suited for the role and we saw one of modern literature's most popular villains brought to Vivid life through his genius save your pity and your mercy I have no use for it number 15 the Armitage family get out picture this you meet the girl at your dreams and everything seems to be going great after a few months she asks you to meet her parents and you go along with it the next thing you know they're trying to sell your body to the highest bidder the Armitage family is deeply racist take the term manipulative to sickening New Heights and can only be described as evil through and through you can't stop the inevitable and who knows maybe one day you'll enjoy being members of The Family Theaters saw no shortage of memorable villains over the last decade but what really makes the armit toes Stand Out is that for all intents and purposes they're just your average family next door they pose as open minded and Progressive but behind closed doors they indulge in Humanity's darkest cruelest and most selfish of impulses fire it's a reflection of our IM mortality we're born we breathe and we die number 14 Koba the Planet of the Apes reboot series Koba is arguably one of the most sympathetic movie villains of the century and his character Arc has been widely led by critics and fans alike Cesar love humans more than Apes Koba serves as the perfect foil to Caesar whereas Caesar is thoughtful and diplomatic Koba is bloodthirsty and hellbent on Revenge his character development is fluid and natural and we understand how and why Koba became such a ruthless Tyrant it's easy to make a character like that one-dimensional but the writing Direction and Toby kebble's wonderful map Performance provides Koba a surprising amount of depth he is a villain but a tragic villain and the those always make for fascinating characters Cesar we Cobo weaker number 13 Calvin candy D Jango Unchained well I'm on no we got a a fight going on that's a good bit of fun like walking Phoenix Leonardo DiCaprio is considered among the most talented actors of his generation who else could take a role like Jordan Belfor and simult ously make him both reprehensible and so magnetically Charming as DiCaprio had already proven a year earlier however he's every bit is capable of turning off that charm lay your palm flat on that tabletop if you lift those Palms off that turtle shell tabletop Mr Poo is going to let loose with both fails that start off playing against type as 19th century slave owner Calvin candy DiCaprio wholly commits to the sadistic hate-filled and thoroughly repulsive villain his bigotry and racism know no bound but as detestable as candy is the manner Swagger and quirks with which DiCaprio imbus the character makes him the sort of villain we love to hate you do not have anything to drink can I get you a tasty refreshment yes I'll have a beer Wonder B number 12 Loki the Marvel Cinematic Universe the MCU was the biggest movie event of the 2010s and Loki was at the heart of it well for a while anyway I am Loki of asard and I am burdened with glorious purpose Loki was first introduced in 2011's Thor before transitioning to the series main antagonist in The Avengers luckily he's not just relegated to basic comic book villainy as he goes through an interesting character Arc and takes on more anti-heroic traits as the series progresses actor Tom Heston has described Loki as a delusional autocrat and Compares him to Edmund from King leer an app description concerning his family lineage and immoral plots for power maybe we'll still be talking about Loki in 400 years time I won't touch Barton not until I make him kill you slowly intimately in every way he knows you fear and then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work and when he screams I'll split his scull number 11 Alonzo Harris Training Day police dramas and corrupt cop characters are a dime a dozen but no movie has managed to do it quite like training d what you P down down was that you want Alonzo Harris inhabits many of the corrupt police officer traits including a preference for violence and a willingness to ignore standard and lawful procedures you get the picture but he also takes his immoral dealings further than any other which includes robbing and murdering suspects blackmailing his rookie partner with PCP laced marijuana and paying to have him killed he is a horrible hateful person and then Washington brings him to thrilling life earning himself an Academy Award for his efforts he's the corrupt cop to end all corrupt cops and watching him scheme makes for tantalizing drama King Kong ain't got [ __ ] on me number 10 Penny wise it and it chapter 2 it is a terrifying Cosmic being who most commonly takes the form of a sin clown need we say more okay it is a shape shifter and a reality manipulator who knows how to appeal to the good-natured sympathies of children so that he can eat them but only after seasoning their meat with fear we float down here yes we do we never dreamed that someone could hold a candle to Tim Curry's take on the titular Terror but Bill Skarsgard has turned in the performance of a lifetime to make a whole new generation of Cinema goers terrify of this monstrous villain the horror genre isn't short on horrific creatures but with his unique quirks and the clear Joy he takes in his work Pennywise is Cut From a Different Cloth hello number nine Amy Gone Girl there are so many ways in which this film could have gone wrong the manipulative crazy woman is a tired Trope and often serves as a lazy standin for actual character development Amy checks a lot of the boxes traditionally associate iated with this archetype but she's anything but two-dimensional I've killed for you who else can say that despite all the mystery initially surrounding Amy's disappearance this film takes us deep inside her mind inviting us to understand what makes this character tick the fact that she's an unreliable narrator only adds to her appeal start with a fairy tale early days those are true and they're crucial you want Nick and Amy to be likable after that you invent conniving flinching and Brilliant Amy is a villain worthy of a greater hero than she ever faces and so in the end she wins this is undeniably Roseman Pike's career defining role when two people love each other and can't make that work that's the real tragedy number eight kylo Ren the Star Wars sequel Trilogy show me again the power of the darkness no one will ever top Darth Vader in terms of iconic Star Wars villains but since he only made a brief albe it back ass cameo in Rogue one it would feel like cheating to include him on this list in kylo Ren however Vader has a worthy Heir and successor there's too much Vader in him Ben solo feels like Vader's internal struggle between the dark and light sides of the force personified he's a slave to his emotions both positive and negative in many ways he feels like the sort of complex tortured character that George Lucas was trying to craft with Anakin Skywalker in the prequels no a powerful force user played with Nuance by Adam Driver kylo Ren does the franchise proud without feeling like a retread of old ground the fifth the Jedi the rebels Let It All Die number seven Bill the Butcher Gangs of New York we didn't think Daniel Day Lewis could be scary but Gangs of New York proved us wrong somebody steals from me I cut off his hand he offends me I cut out his tongue he rises against me I cut off his head stick it on a pike this movie was considered a disappointment by some but even its most Ardent critics agreed that Bill the Butcher made for an intriguing and relentlessly terrifying villain bill is the leader of the natives an aggressively patriotic New York gang opposed to immigration and willing to kill for their true American values to defeat my enemy I extinguish his life and consume him as I consume these Flames the story takes place in the mid 19th century but is proving eerily topical especially in today's turbulent and tribalist political atmosphere bill is a brilliantly written and brilliantly performed character who transcends his story to say something larger about America and democracy now you tasted my mutton how do you like it huh number six Arthur Fleck The Joker Joker when you bring me out can you introduce me as Joker The Joker is one of the most iconic villains of any medium with this film he proved that he doesn't need Batman to maintain that status though 2019s Joker had its detractors few critics could find fault with walking Phoenix's brilliant performance you don't listen to you now mental illness is a tough subject to tackle especially when the character in question is supposed to be a villain there's always a fear of demonizing mental illness when I was a little boy and told people I was going to be a comedian everyone laughed at me but Phoenix in Todd Phillips did a solid job of making this character at once sympathetic and someone who lives up to his villainous Legacy when Arthur Fleck gives into his worst inclinations and Embraces his Joker Persona he becomes an agent of chaos and evil and an unforgettable one at that number five Voldemort the Harry Potter [Music] franchise before he was brought to the big screen Voldemort had already been established as one of the greatest in modern literature as such the risk of the live-action interpretation of the character falling short of fan expectations was incredibly high but raai finds pulls it off magnificently from this day forth you put your faith in me for many fans it was as if the dark lord had stepped right off of the page and onto the screen in the final installment of this epic series fines holds nothing back fully inhabiting the role his Voldemort to cruel and imposing there's danger behind every word he delivers an inherent volatility that's terrifying to behold you've been a good and faithful servant seus but only I can live and yet he's also charismatic in a way that makes you understand how he seduced so many to his side number four Anton shagar No Country for Old Men Cormac mcarthy plus Cohen Brothers equals glorious movie Magic what business isit of yours where I'm from friendo on the surface shagar is a Hitman who was hired to retrieve a suitcase full of cash but this being cormic McCarthy there is far more to shagar than these surface level observations speculation abounds regarding shar's thematic relevance and his relation to concepts of Fate death morality and Justice of course he's also super entertaining if the rule you followed R of this of what use was rule he carries some bizarre weapons has a really goofy haircut and has the skills of an Unstoppable Terminator it's very difficult to bring a McCarthy villain to life but the Cohen Brothers and Javier bardam managed to pull it off with a plum we're still shuddering over that gas station scene I can't call it for you it wouldn't be fair I didn't put nothing up yes you did you've been putting it up your whole life you just didn't know it number three hun Landa in glorious bastards Quinton Tarantino has crafted some captivating characters throughout his career but Hans L might be one of the greatest of them all he's the very personification of evil itself unrelenting Unstoppable but worst of all alluring and personable it's this mesmerizing dichotomy between pure inner evil and foe friendly exterior that makes Landa such a tantalizing villain and actor Kristoff Waltz pulls off The Impossible by making land terrifying and charismatic effortlessly interesting yet unspeakably cruel the first Farm scene alone is a master class in both acting and writing and we truly believe that land will go down in history as one of film's most memorable villains but you're aware of what they call me I'm the Landa's forehead swats to come may be Aldo's Masterpiece but Landa is Tarantino oo that's a bingo is that the way you say that's a bingo number two Thanos Avengers Infinity War like many of History's Greatest villains he firmly believes that his devastating methods are entirely justifiable from a utilitarian standpoint he's the hero of his own story because you murdered half the planet a small price to pay for salvation Thanos is a formidable physical threat but his greatest strength is his unflinching resolve a complex and charismatic villain Thanos raised the the bar in multiple ways the MCU is the most ambitious World building ever seen in film and after looming over it for years Thanos shook this universe to its core I will shred this universe down to its last atom he's a villain without precedent whose status is further elevated by the magnitude of the Cinematic event in which he appeared before we continue be sure to subscribe to our Channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one Society Joker with a society that bag him and B of my tra we truly do live in a society okay but seriously number one The Joker The Dark Knight and while Society created The Joker nothing can top The Joker himself I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply make you stranger while Wen Phoenix's Arthur Fleck is fantastic we don't think anything can top Heath Ledger's Timeless performance in the dark night I'm going to make this pencil disappear Ledger's casting caused some initial controversy and doubt but he silenced the haters with an enthralling performance unlike anything seen in comicbook movies at the time DRS between one life or the other your friend the district attorney or his washing Bri to be Ledger's astounding performance the complex writing and the Joker's embodiment of Anarchy and disorder helped Elevate The Dark Knight above traditional superhero Fair all Jokers will forever be measured against ledgers and we don't think any will Top it some men just want to watch the Wild burn it's a legendary performance of a legendary character in a legendary movie well you look nervous is it the scars you want to know how I got them which villains do you think have defined the century so far let us know in the comments I don't know what you're talking about how you're trying to insult me here in the shelter that I built that's keeping you alive did you enjoy this video check out these other clips from watch Mojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos

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Keywords: Film, Marvel, Movies, Supervillain, avengers, batman, best movie villains, best movie villains of the century so far, best movies, best villains, black panther, dceu, hans landa, harry potter, it movies, joker, killmonger, kylo ren, list, loki, mcu, mojo, pennywise, planet of the apes, star wars, thanos, the century so far, top 10, voldemort, watch mojo, watchmojo, watchmojo movies, watchmojo villains

Id: w7GKxMdcSu8

Length: 32min 30sec (1950 seconds)

Published: Sat May 18 2024