Big Screen Comic Villains

Heath Ledger recently received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight. I think the late actor completely deserves the nomination, a win, and many other awards. A friend who has yet to see the movie(!) was asking me if his was the best portrayal of a comic book villain on the big screen. It was a surprisingly tough question, especially limited to comic book films alone. Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs might rival Ledger as a villain, but that of course wasn't based on a comic book. Historically, comic book movies have been dictated by the original medium, while the thing that Christopher Nolan does right is first ask, “What if this story took place in the REAL world?” By making a film first and a comic book story second, he's achieved great success in making a series that relates to a wider audience.

So is Ledger the best? Who else is there, and how many of them got it right?

Jack Nicholson: The previous Joker in 1989's Batman, he was for some time the benchmark against which all other cinematic comic book villains were measured. He clearly had fun with the role, and we all walked away from that film with memorable quotes from “Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?” to “Where does he get all those wonderful toys?” But in the grand scheme of time, his portrayal basically breaks down to Nicholson just being himself in white face paint, firing off an array of timeless catch phrases and occasionally dancing to Prince.

Gene Hackman: This list would be incomplete without Lex Luthor, the “greatest criminal mind of our time”. But was Hackman the greatest Luthor? He was certainly better than Kevin Spacey, and I'd say Hackman is the definitive big screen Luthor. But on the small screen, Michael Rosenbaum completely and consistently owned the role, and was always at his best even when Smallville was at its worst. On the animated side of things, Clancy Brown voiced the definitive Luthor, most especially on Justice League. Hackman was good as a greedy evil scientist, but for the majority of Superman movies he couldn't even be bothered to wear a bald cap. Rosenbaum shaved his head for seven years before finally leaving Smallville. As with Nicholson, when I watch Hackman's performance I just can't separate the actor from the character, and I have a constant awareness that I'm watching Gene Hackman, not Lex Luthor.

Terence Stamp: Hackman was fun to watch, but Superman II brings us the best villain of that series with Stamp's General Zod. He manages to be calm, calculating, regal and wholly evil, while managing small bits of comedy as he learns about Earth in his quest to seek revenge on the Man of Steel, son of his old enemy. “KNEEL before ZOD!” is hammy old-school villain acting that conjures memories of Ming the Merciless, but for this particular movie it works. I don't think that kind of portrayal would work as well in today's film environment; this genre has evolved.

Stephen Dorff: I'm not all that familiar with the comic book version of Deacon Frost, so I can't speak to how well Dorff interpreted the source material, but as an ambitious and scheming vampire he definitely played a formidable adversary to Blade. Though based on a Marvel comic, Blade plays primarily as a vampire movie before a superhero movie, and in the new age of comic book movies is sometimes forgotten. I will always consider it the turning point where Hollywood started treating comics seriously, and found they could inspire some genuinely good movies, which is why Dorff makes the list.

Ian McKellen: For most Marvel comics fans, Magneto is their best villain, second perhaps to only Doctor Doom. When you have a villain that popular and iconic, fans will be watching closely, and it is dangerously easy to get it wrong. To our relief, McKellen got it very, very right. Surviving the Holocaust as a boy, he grew up to be the best kind of villain, the kind with a cause who doesn't see himself as a bad guy. Forget the mustache-twirlers and a cat-strokers with the diabolical laughs; it's more realistic and dangerous to have someone feel completely justified and right in his actions. McKellen captured not only Magneto's zeal, but also his supreme confidence. With complete control over magnetism, he had no need to fear bullets, and dispensed most foes with a wave of his hand. It was great to see him smirk and mock our heroes at every turn through every one of the X-Men movies, and he's definitely one of the best comic book villains to grace the big screen.

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Have I found a better performance than Ledger's? Tune in tomorrow when I explore even more actors who got their fiendish four-color counterparts right, and a few who got it very, very wrong....