Batman’s most notorious nemesis gets his own starring role this week as Joker, one of the more controversial films of 2019, opens. But with the tsunami of comic book movies deluging us each year, why are so many about heroes? The bad guys are just as interesting if not more so. We already loved Venom, and The Rock is signed to play Black Adam in a Shazam spin-off flick scheduled for next year, but why stop there? Here are 11 of the most compelling villains from the funnybooks that could anchor their own big-screen outings.
Dr. Doom
Previous cinematic interpretations of the ruler of Latveria have been… pretty bad. That’s a shame, because he’s one of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s greatest creations, a megalomaniacal dictator motivated by the belief that only he knows what’s best for the planet and consumed by jealousy of Reed Richards. It might seem weird to take the Fantastic Four out of the equation entirely, but Doom has served as a foil for many heroes and also had his own solo comics. One of the easiest to adapt might be Triumph & Torment, where he enlists the aid of Dr. Strange to try and win his mother’s soul back from the clutches of Mephisto. Another solid pick might be Books of Doom, which filled in much of his tragic backstory.
Klarion The Witch-Boy
Introduced in the pages of Jack Kirby’s The Demon, Klarion has always stuck out in the DC universe like a sore thumb. The powerful dark magician rebelled against adults telling him what he could do with his arcane abilities and traveled to Earth, where he attempted to adjust to the new world while still wreaking havoc. The character has been rebooted a number of times, most notably under the pen of Grant Morrison, but at the core he’s always the same: a self-possessed little snot with more magic than good sense. What kind of villain would be more perfect for a fish out of water flick that could be funny and horrifying in equal measure?
Thunderbolts
The only team on this list, the essential gimmick of the Thunderbolts is so damn good it’s a crime that it hasn’t been exploited. After many of the Earth’s superheroes mysteriously vanish, a new group rises from out of nowhere to fill the gap. Here’s the twist, though: these Thunderbirds are actually all super-villains who have taken on new identities under the leadership of Baron Zemo, who is using them as part of a long con to gain the world’s confidence and eventually take over. Some of them like life on the other side of the law more than others, leading to some truly great conflicts. Why this concept hasn’t made it to the MCU yet is ridiculous.
Savant
Sticking with the Batman universe, we’ve always had a soft spot for frequent Birds of Prey villain Savant. Much like Bruce Wayne, he’s the heir to a massive fortune who moved to Gotham City to become a vigilante. Unfortunately, another guy had the job and it wasn’t long before Savant decided to cross to the other side and use his significant skills for blackmail and other crimes. Assisted by ex-KGB agent Creote, he comes into conflict with several heroes. The relationship between the two is a complicated one that would be cool to explore on the big screen in the context of an absurdly complex plot to commit a massive crime.
Killmonger
We’re already halfway there with this one, because Erik Killmonger was one of the absolute best things about Black Panther. Born in Wakanda, he was raised in Harlem after being unjustly exiled from the country. As his resentment for the unfair treatment of his family simmered, Killmonger turned his significant gifts towards becoming a mercenary and amassing the power necessary to take over his homeland. The flick gave us just a taste of the character, played by Michael B. Jordan, and he’s a perfect choice for the first villain to anchor a flick in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Emma Frost
Although she’s played both sides of the fence, Emma Frost is best known as a villain, and in a perfect world that’s how she’d remain. The heiress with incredible psychic powers has had a fascinating arc. As a kid, she was bullied by her peers until her mental abilities kicked in, and she swiftly used them to manipulate and destroy her enemies until she was set up as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club. The story of a young woman coming to embrace and accept her sexuality as well as her paranormal abilities would be an incredible topic for a film under the right director.
The Hood
One of the more prominent characters introduced by Marvel in the 21st century, Parker Robbins was an ordinary street thug who stumbled into a mystic ritual to summon the demon Nisanti. He steals a cloak and boots from the hell-spawned creature and they grant him supernatural powers to levitate and turn invisible while he holds his breath. Using the only advantage the world ever gave him, Robbins tries to claw his way to the top of New York’s criminal underworld. The Hood’s tale is one of hubris, of a guy convinced that he’s made for more important things even if reality tells him otherwise, and it would definitely translate well to a film.
Scourge
Running through the background of Mark Gruenwald’s Captain America series in the 1980s, the Scourge of the Underworld was a masked, anonymous vigilante who took it upon himself to thin the herd of costumed criminals that beleaguered the world. Wearing an assortment of masks, he hunted and murdered dozens of D-list villains, culminating in a mass murder at the “Bar with No Name” where surviving super-crooks had assembled to figure out what to do about him. He’s not heroic like other vigilantes we’ve seen, so a gritty, unpleasant film about an ordinary guy who takes it upon himself to cut down super-criminals could be a solid hit.
Magneto
Erik Lehnsherr is one of the Marvel universe’s deepest and compelling villains, a rich character who has evolved from a one-not conqueror into a man looking to save his people by any means necessary. Now that Disney has sucked up Fox and the X-Men are in the Marvel universe for good, it might be harder to tell his story the way it should be told – with young Erik in the German concentration camps that shaped his worldview. We saw chunks of it in X-Men: First Class, but there was originally supposed to be a stand-alone Magneto film focusing on just him. The time is better than ever to let that story be told in full.
Vandal Savage
Most bad guys know that their time on the planet is limited, so they need to get their kicks in while they can. Not Vandal Savage – born before recorded history, he has plagued humanity with his misdeeds for over 50,000 years. When a mysterious meteorite landed next to a caveman, it bathed him with radiation that increased his intelligence and made him functionally immortal. Nicer people would use that gift to benefit society, but Savage instead went the other way with it. A malevolent intelligence stretching through the ages – he was also Jack the Ripper, if you didn’t know – is an incredible setup for a movie that could be set just about anywhere at any time.
Gorilla Grodd
Come on. He’s a superintelligent gorilla from a hidden city of other superintelligent gorillas and he has the power to control people’s minds. Gorilla Grodd is the natural outgrowth of the story arc in the modern Planet of the Apes movies, as the massive primate not only catches up with humanity but exceeds us. You wouldn’t even have to have a superhero in the mix to fight him – it’d be more dramatic and interesting to have a group of normal people serving as a resistance force as Grodd’s mind-controlled army grows and grows. We know that he’s had some TV appearances on The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, but we want a big budget behind this ape.
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