Summary
TheMarvel Cinematic Universerelies on the star power of its heroes, but many of the series' biggest names are just as apt to play villains.It’s safe to say that without the charisma of its leading characters, themovies of the Marvel Cinematic Universewouldn’t have become as popular.Each hero is very reliant on the appeal of his or her actor in order to keep audiences invested in their personality, which can become tricky when actors are better known for villainous roles.
Thus far, the MCU has avoided casting anyone typecast for many villainous roles for the most part, ensuring that audiences are capable of attributing famous faces to their heroes first and foremost. That being said,it’s not uncommon forMarvel’s highest-paid starsto have had their cinematic roots in villainy.In other cases, they may branch out to more scummy characters after the fact, enjoying the refreshing experience of playing a despicable antagonist after so many years as a hero.
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10Chris Evans
Knives Out
Perhaps the glaring exception to Marvel’s typical policy of avoiding casting villainous faces for their major heroes, Chris Evans has a long history of playing jerks.Even when he isn’t outright evil, much of Chris Evans' career has been spent inhabiting unlikable hot heads, such as his previous brush with superherodom in Fox’sFantastic Fouras Johnny Storm. That being said, his most recent well-known villainous role was that of Ransom Drysdale inKnives Out.
At first, Ransom appears to be the only sane member of the Drysdale-Thrombey family, even if he is still a crude, unlikable outcast. It’ssoon revealed that he was the one behind the entire mystery of the film, implicating Harlan’s nurse Marta as the murderer of his late grandfather. Clues of the true depths of his villainy are dropped multiple times throughout the film before the major reveal, including some of the family’s dogs reacting negatively to Ransom’s presence.
Cast
When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan’s dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, there are suspects aplenty. Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan’s untimely death.
9Chris Hemsworth
One of the many actors whose career was utterly transformed by the MCU, Chris Hemsworth was a relative unknown before being cast as Thor. Whilethe God of Thunder may have become comedicquickly in the series, Hemsworth has proven himself as a more capable, serious hero in other roles like theExtractionseries. As of late,Hemsworth finally got to enjoy a change of pace as the depraved warlord Dementus inFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga.
Not only is Hemsworth a villain in the post-apocalyptic prequel,he’s particularly despicable, willing to abduct children and kill his own men in the pursuit of power.He isn’t even particularly good at being evil, constantly undermined by his own gang and failing to maintain an iron grasp on his spoils of war. Nevertheless, Hemsworth is endlessly entertaining in the role, squawking with fury in his native Australian accent while speeding along the Fury Road.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
A prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa is an action-adventure film that tells the origin story of the headstrong and fearless Furiosa. Set shortly after the beginning of the “end of the world,” Furiosa is kidnapped and brought before a powerful warlord, now forced to work for him. To find her way back home, Furiosa will adapt to the new harsh and arid world as she grows into the Furiosa she becomes known to be.
8Robert Downey Jr.
Oppenheimer
After being the flagship face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for so long with a career-defining run as Tony Stark, it was hard to imagine Robert Downey Jr. as a villain. Though he’s played unsavory characters before, there are few times the distinguished actor has been given the credit of being an outright antagonist. Luckily,his efforts in portraying Admiral Lewis Strauss inOppenheimerproved that Robert Downey Jr. can be much more than a heroic figure.
Robert Downey Jr.’s exhilarating performance as Strauss earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
A deeply petty man, Strauss is characterized by his pride and ego, orchestrating an entire series of security hearings against Oppenheimer due to his own one-sided rivalry with the brilliant physicist. The reveal that the straw that broke the camel’s back for Strauss was a misinterpreted moment of rudeness from Einstein demonstrated just how far the man was willing to go over the smallest of perceived slights.Robert Downey Jr.’s exhilarating performance as Strauss earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Oppenheimer is a film by Christopher Nolan, which follows the theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy will play the titular role, with the story based on the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
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7Scarlett Johansson
Under The Skin
The series' hallmark femme fatale and one of the earliest heroes to be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow quietly carried the supporting cast of many Marvel films. Though she didn’t get her own time in the spotlight until far too late into the series, Johansson’s efforts as Natasha Romanoff are easy to appreciate. This makes it all the more shocking thatshe played such an inhuman threat in 2013’sUnder The Skin.
AnA24 horror film, the avant-garde picture stars Johansson as a being simply known as The Female. Prowling the backroads of rural Scotland,The Female is an alien being that lures men to their doom before absorbing them into a mysterious metaphysical realm, essentially preying on humanity. Even though The Female may be the protagonist ofUnder The Skin, she’s certainly a villain, though the narrative portrays her life with a certain air of tragedy.
Under the Skin
Under the Skin is a sci-fi thriller directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Scarlett Johansson. Johansson plays “The Female,” an alien from another world that hunts men in Scotland. Despite receiving high praise upon release, Under the Skin was a box office bomb, only making a little over half of its budget.
6Jeremy Renner
Dahmer
Jeremy Renner is one of Hollywood’s most comfortable friendly faces. Playing the family man Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Renner’s performance was quietly appreciated as a supporting character and original avenger, eventually getting his time in the spotlight with his own eponymous series. While Renner has made attempts at heading other heroic roles in films likeHansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, he also played one of the most evil real-world serial killers in a little-known crime thriller.
InDahmer,Jeremy Renner plays the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, a real criminal who murdered and cannibalized 17 young men.For its grisly narrative,Dahmerdoes a good job being respectful and not sensationalizing the horrific actions of its real-world subject, helped in part by Renner’s excellent performance. It might be difficult to imagine the face of Hawkeye committing such atrocities, butDahmerproves that Renner is capable of being a true chameleon.
5Benedict Cumberbatch
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Benedict Cumberbatch rose to prominence with the flash-in-the-pan success of the BBC’sSherlock, which re-interpreted Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic tales for the modern era. Cumberbatch excellence as an eccentric bristly genius made him a perfect choice for Doctor Strange, which he quickly proved as one of the best late additions to the MCU. Since then, Cumberbatch has become well-acquainted with villainous roles in other blockbuster franchises, including Peter Jackson’sThe Hobbittrilogy.
As bad asThe Hobbittrilogy failedto capture the magic of both the original book and the famous Rankins-Bass animated film from the 80s,Benedict Cumberbatch as the dragon Smaug was one of its best choices.Willing to crawl around in a motion capture suit while maintaininga fearsome persona as a mighty beast, it’s astonishing how much menace Cumberbatch was able to inject into the creature’s voice. Cumberbatch also appeared as the infamous Khan in 2013’sStar Trek: Into Darkness.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, directed by Peter Jackson, continues the journey of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) alongside Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and his company of dwarves. As they travel to reclaim Erebor from the dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), they encounter new allies and dangers.
4Anthony Mackie
8 Mile
Anthony Mackie’s witticisms and delivery made him the perfect foil to the stoic Captain America inCaptain America: The Winter Soldier.Maintaining himself as one of the most active Marvel heroes ever since his introduction, Mackie colors the high-flying hero with bucketloads of personality, shaping the relatively unknown avian hero into a fan favorite. However,it was Mackie’s performance as a villain that put him on the map in the first place.
Alongside the famous rapper Eminem, Anthony Mackie starred in the semi-autobiographical tale8 Mileas the notorious Papa Doc.A rapper and gang leader, Papa Doc challenges Eminem’s B-Rabbit on multiple fronts, threatening his life and his reputation.Hilariously enough, Papa Doc’s most famous scene is the moment in which B-Rabbit is able to preemptively invalidate Mackie’s entire verse in the film’s climactic rap battle.
8 Mile: Set in Detroit’s intense music scene, 8 Mile follows Jimmy Smith, Jr.’s personal journey to find his voice and secure his place in the world of hip-hop. Released in 2002, the film offers a glimpse into the challenges faced by aspiring artists amidst the competitive environment.
3Paul Rudd
Mute
Known more for his comedic roles,Paul Rudd was Marvel’s choice for bringing to life the irreverent comedy of Scott Lang’s Ant-Man.Having starred in famous gutbusters likeAnchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,Wet Hot American SummerandI Love You Man, Rudd was a natural at conveying the MCU’s signature brand of comedy. That being said, the actor and comedian has a little-known villainous role under his belt as well.
In the2018 neo-noir science fiction filmMute, Paul Rudd plays Cactus Bill, a surgeon who runs a black-market clinic. He’s also the ex-husband of love interest Naadirah, standing in the way of her happiness with Alexander Skarsgård’s Leo, the movie’s speechless protagonist. A cyberpunk movie starring comedy icon Paul Rudd asa murderous black-market surgeon is just as weird as it sounds, and the film’s poor critical reception isn’t kind to Rudd’s ability to portray a genuinely evil man.
Duncan Jones explores a sci-fi neo-noir world in Mute, a Netflix original film that sees a mute man head into Berin’s underworld to find his missing girlfriend. Leo, a mute bartender working in a Berlin strip club, is left clues by his significant other after mysterious circumstances leave her missing. To find her, Leo will lean into his violent talents and battle his way to the truth.
2Brie Larson
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Avengers: Endgameintroduced Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, the first female hero of the MCU to eventually headline her own film and one of the series' most powerful characters. While Brie Larson’s solo films have had an uneven reception, one never gets the sense that any of her character’s failures to captivate an audience are the fault of her own performance. Clearly a talented actress,Brie Larson’s roles scatter across a wide moral gradient.
InScott Pilgrim vs. the World,Brie Larson stars as one ofRamona Flowers' seven evil exes, the only female of the group, superstar musician Envy Adams.Curiously enough, Larson isn’t the only Marvel superstar to play an evil ex, an honor she shares with Chris Evans. Both Brie Larson and Chris Evans reprized their roles for theScott Pilgrim vs. the Worldanimated series on Netflix, which reunited the cast of the original live-action film.
Based on Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World follows the titular slacker musician (Michael Cera) as he strives to earn a record deal by winning the Battle of the Bands organized by music mogul Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman). After meeting and falling in love with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Scott learns that he must also defeat her seven evil exes. Chris Evans, Aubrey Plaza, Brandon Routh, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, and Brie Larson round out the film’s star-studded and quirky ensemble.
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1Paul Bettany
The Da Vinci Code
After seeing English actor Paul Bettany’s wonderfully homely performance as Vision in the MCU, it’s hard to imagine him ever playing a villain. Not only is Vision one of the most powerful members of the Avengers, but he’s also one of the kindest, always polite no matter the situation. That being said, Paul Bettany is a very experienced performer, and he put to screen one of the most disturbing cinematic villains of the early 2000s inThe Da Vinci Code.
In the adaptation of Dan Brown’s hit mystery novel,Paul Bettany plays Silas, a.k.a. The Albino. A devout monk with albinism, Silas is a self-flagellant zealot who seeks to claim the Holy Grail for the Opus Dei,a secretive power-hungry religious group, going to decidedly ungodly lengths to get it. The stark contrast between Bettany’s raging villainy as Silas and his gentle heroism as Vision makes watchingThe Da Vinci Codea true case of cultural whiplash after theMCU.
The Da Vinci Code follows symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu as they unravel a murder mystery in the Louvre Museum. Guided by clues hidden in Leonardo da Vinci’s art, they uncover revelations guarded by a secret society, with potential implications for religious history.
