Over the years, both Marvel and DChave had their fair share of incredible villains appear in various movies. Antagonists like Heath Ledger's Joker, Thanos, Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and more have all had iconic adaptations, showing just how important a great villain is to every superhero's story. Nothing is quite as exciting as seeing a truly incredible villain push the protagonists to the very brink, either physically or mentally.
Of course, not every single villain adaptation can be good, and there have been some truly terrible ones in various comic book properties over the years - even in major enterprises like the DCEU timeline and the MCU timeline. In fact, a lot of villains that could have been amazing in a proper adaptation were unfortunately wasted in lackluster projects, or changed from their source material so much that they might as well not even be the same character.
10
MODOK
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
For many years, the chances of MODOK ever getting adapted into the MCU appeared essentially impossible - both because of his intricate lore seeming hard to mesh into the MCU, and because his design seemed hard to translate into live-action. However, this didn't stop Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania from trying to do just that. What came of MODOK actually appearing in the MCU was something out of a nightmare in the worst ways, appearing both cartoonishly goofy and out of place even in a movie that focused on the more sci-fi elements of the franchise.
Kang’s MCU film debut always faced an uphill battle since his fate mirrored that of another character just five years before his appearance.
The MCU's MODOK also drastically changed the character's story - with Ant-Man villain Darren Cross becoming MODOK after being Yellowjacket in the first film - which also served to disappoint those who had hoped to see the comic character in action on the big screen. MODOK could have been promising, but the movie didn't seem to know what to do with the character, and he ended up with a lackluster death in the final act, closing off the chance of him coming back in another film.
9
Apocalypse
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Following the massive success of X-Men: Days of Future Past, there was a lot of hype about what direction Fox's X-Men franchise would go in. Given that X-Men: Days of Future Past's post-credit scene teased Apocalypse, there was a lot of anticipation for X-Men: Apocalypse when it was finally announced, finally bringing one of the X-Men's greatest foes to the big screen after over a decade and a half of Fox X-Men movies.
Unfortunately, X-Men: Apocalypse failed to live up to those high expectations, and was a rather lackluster follow-up to X-Men: Days of Future Past. One of the weakest aspects of the movie was Apocalypse himself. He just wasn't as intimidating as he should have been, and although the practical aspect of his costume was admirable, it didn't capture the size and scale the villain should have had in the film in order to match his comic counterpart. Oscar Isaac does a fairly good job as Apocalypse, but the character was ultimately a letdown throughout the entire film.
8
Darkseid
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Much like Thanos for the MCU, Zack Snyder was hoping to build up the DCEU's own big-bad: Darkseid. However, Justice League was retooled completely and Darkseid was put to the wayside, with them focusing completely on Steppenwolf in the theatrical cut. Eventually, Zack Snyder's Justice League saw the light of day, and Darkseid was able to be in the movie once more. Unfortunately, it feels like Darkseid was wasted for one specific reason.
Justice League's original script was rewritten before production, and got fresh changes in 2021, meaning there were 4 versions of the film.
There was never an official continuation of the storyline Zack Snyder had set up in his version of Justice League, and Darkseid ended up being a rather one-note villain who didn't actually do anything. There was a promise of something more on the horizon, but given that the DCEU was canned and there would be no continuation of the Darkseid story, it feels like it would have been better to not even include him, saving him for an eventual inclusion in the DCU.
7
Mr. Freeze
Batman & Robin (1997)
Ever since Mr. Freeze was reimagined in the Batman: The Animated Series episode, "Heart of Ice", he has been a fan favorite, and one of the most hoped for characters to get an adaptation whenever a new Batman film comes around. That said, Mr. Freeze was portrayed in live-action with a significant role in Batman & Robin in 1997, one of the most universally-panned comic book movies of all time.
Arnold Schwarzenegger lent his talent to Batman & Robin, playing Mr. Freeze in one of the goofiest villain portrayals of all time. It's a fun performance, but doesn't really get to what makes the character so enduring as a fan-favorite Batman villain, and undermines the core tragedy of the character in a major way. Batman & Robin did a lot of things wrong, but Mr. Freeze was one of the more egregious examples, and as such, the character definitely needs to be in another live-action project at some point to ensure he's done full justice on the big screen.
6
Galactus
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Galactus is one of the biggest threats in Marvel Comics, so it was exciting when he was set to appear in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer despite Fantastic Four two years earlier being a relatively weak superhero movie. Once again, the film wasn't that great, and although Galactus is one of Marvel's big bads, he barely had a role in the movie. When the villain does show up, though, it is incredibly disappointing.
Galactus could be the next MCU big bad, following in the footsteps of Thanos.
Perhaps the biggest issue with Galactus in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is that the movie decided to forgo the classic look of the villain, essentially turning him into a giant cloud that attempts to devour Earth. Not only did he look awful, he wasn't that big of a threat, and Galactus was seemingly destroyed at the end of the movie. Thankfully, a new iteration of the villain will appear in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the first appearance of the character in the MCU.
5
Cheetah
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
As the arch nemesis to Wonder Woman, Cheetah appearing in Wonder Woman 1984 was a dream come true for fans of the DC hero. This was made yet more promising since Wonder Woman was a fantastic movie, and its positive critical and box office results suggested there were big things in store for the sequel. That promise ultimately led to nothing much, as both Wonder Woman 1984 and Cheetah in the movie were incredibly disappointing.
Cheetah feels like a hard character design to get right in live-action, and the climax of Wonder Woman 1984 showed that it could look goofy and uncanny in the wrong ways.
Barbara Minevra was a baffling character in Wonder Woman 1984, with a weak character arc, and lack of substantial motivation for why she eventually turns into Cheetah. Add on the fact that her final transformation also doesn't make full sense, and she is one of the most disappointing villains to come out of the DCEU. Cheetah feels like a hard character design to get right in live-action, and the climax of Wonder Woman 1984 showed that it could look goofy and uncanny in the wrong ways.
4
Gorr The God Butcher
Thor: Love & Thunder (2022)
With Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi successfully reimagined Thor within the MCU, redeeming him from generally being considered one of the more boring Avengers, and his movies (especially The Dark World) from generally being regarded as on the weaker side. Because of Thor's development in his third film as well as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, his next film, Thor: Love and Thunder, was highly anticipated. Having famous actor and previous Batman casting Christian Bale play the villain, Gorr the God Butcher, added even more hype to the superhero movie.
The Thor franchise has an interesting box-office trend that makes the possibility of Thor 5 happening better despite Love and Thunder’s reception.
Despite the talent both behind the camera and in front, Thor: Love and Thunder was a massive downturn from Thor: Ragnarok, and even Christian Bale couldn't completely save Gorr as a character. Probably the worst aspect of the villain was that Gorr the God Butcher didn't even really live up to his name, as the film barely showed him taking out the gods that he was determined to kill. The film was a letdown all around, but especially since Gorr could have been so much more than he was.
3
Venom
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Sam Raimi went two-for-two with the first two Spider-Man films, and Spider-Man 3 was set to be the best one yet. One of the biggest selling points of the film was the black suit that Spider-Man was teased to wear, which meant that eventually Venom would appear in the movie at some point. Unfortunately, Spider-Man 3 was already overstuffed with villains, and this drastically complicated the inclusion of Venom.
Because of the jam-packed nature of the movie, Venom left a lot to be desired, and Topher Grace's Eddie Brock didn't exactly adhere to the Eddie from the comics. Venom is one of Spider-Man's most popular villains, and the studio mandate for him to be included in Spider-Man 3 was absolutely felt, making the film worse, and the first live-action appearance of Venom lackluster.
2
Doctor Doom
Fantastic Four (2015)
Doctor Doom is arguably the greatest Marvel Comics villain of all time, making it especially noteworthy that the character hasn't received a great live-action adaptation yet. Fantastic Four tried in 2005, but Doctor Doom was just okay in it, and the film wasn't very good. In 2015, another reboot of Fantastic Four attempted to adapt the iconic character, and it was even worse. In fact, 2015's Fantastic Four is in the running for the worst superhero movie of all time.
Robert Downey Jr.'s surprising return to the MCU as Doctor Doom will give Marvel a third chance to do justice to the character in movie format.
2015's Fantastic Four failed to capture the spirit of what makes The Fantastic Four so enduring as Marvel characters, rendering fascinating characters otherwise uninteresting. The handling of Doctor Doom is arguably the most egregious aspect of the film, too, making it all the more terrible due to the way it wastes one of the franchise's best villains. Doom's movie design veers into being generic, and the film does little in the way of showing off how serious of a villain he could be, stifling the possibilities that using the character raises.
1
Parallax
Green Lantern (2011)
Parallax is a fairly new villain for the Green Lanterns, originally created as the villainous alter-ego for Hal Jordan in the 90s before being retconned by Geoff Johns in Green Lantern: Rebirth in 2005. As the yellow light entity, Parallax is a formidable villain for Green Lantern, and his interesting, bug-like design holds real potential in a live-action setting. Unfortunately, Green Lantern in 2011 proved that Parallax's potential could still be wasted.
Along with much of the rest of its story, Green Lantern completely mishandles Parallax as a villain, and commits the same mistake Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer did with Galactus; making him into a giant cloud. Ultimately, the movie treats the villain as a plot device and nothing more, adding to how lackluster Green Lantern is as a whole, and ensuring both Marvel and DC have made the same misstep with at least one of their film antagonists.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
The DC Universe is one of the biggest comic book franchises and often competes with Marvel. DC Comics started as National Allied Publications, founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. Since then, the franchise has exploded with thousands of comic books, movies, TV shows, and video games. 2013 marked the beginning of the most recent iteration of the superheroes, with Zack Snyder introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. After several movies with mixed reviews, DC underwent a soft reboot under the helm of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
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