Many actors have said that a villain is one of the most fun types of roles that you can play. Unfortunately, not every actor knows how to be menacing, or at least just not in a way that matches the tone or intent of their given story. The following are some of the most notable examples of movies and TV shows that might have benefited from searching a bit harder for the right person to play the enemy.
Lex Luthor (Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice)
There are few superhero movies as polarizing as 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but one thing most audiences agree about director Zack Snyder’s crossover epic is that it misses the mark with Lex Luthor. It seems Academy Award nominee Jessie Eisenberg, who blamed himself for his role’s poor reception, is trying more to be a clone of Heath Ledger’s Joker without the makeup than portray a fitting take on Superman’s archnemesis with his manic, almost childish, performance.
Stephen King’s acclaimed book series, The Dark Tower, have said that Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey might have been a better fit to portray the heroic gunslinger, Roland, allowing Idris Elba to shine stronger as the demonic sorcerer Walter Padick instead. Of course, the casting is one of the least pivotal reasons why this 2017 adaptation from director Nikolaj Arcel received such horrid backlash.
MovieFone’s Unscripted, Topher Grace admitted that he felt he was an unlikely choice to star in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 as Eddie Brock, also known as Venom, given the character looks more like… well, Tom Hardy. What convinced him to take the part was director Sam Raimi’s idea of depicting the photojournalist, who becomes attached to a symbiotic alien, as, essentially, Peter Parker’s evil twin. With all due respect to the man behind the Evil Dead movies and to the former That ’70s Show cast member, that might not have been the best call.
Johnny Depp was too cartoonishly over-the-top as the villainous title role of the Harry Potter movie prequel, 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The performance especially pales in comparison to Mads Mikkelsen, who succeeded the Oscar nominee in the part for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore to greater acclaim.
classic Disney animated movie, Aladdin. However, I do believe that Marwan Kenzari is simply too reserved, too earnest, and not having enough fun with this iconic, dastardly role in Guy Ritchie’s live-action remake from 2019.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s shamelessly over-the-top performance and incessantly punny dialogue as the “coldhearted” Gotham criminal, Mr. Freeze, almost makes the reviled Batman & Robin worth watching. However, I would also agree that the 1997 DC flick offers a poor representation of the tragic character, especially after Batman: The Animated Series handled him to such wonderful acclaim a few years before.
Russell Crowe’s casting as Inspector Javert would have been perfect.
Marvel Movies in order suffers from a third act that does not quite live up to its promises, and I think Obadiah Stane is to blame. As a longtime fan of Jeff Bridges, I hate to admit that the Academy Award winner’s performance in Iron Man is not menacing or memorable enough to make an enduring impression or match Robert Downey Jr.’s fun, nuanced, and tone-setting performance as Tony Stark
Eddie Redmayne as a key reason. Even the Oscar winner himself agreed, while filming a video for GQ, that his over-the-top performance as Balem Abrasax, consisting of a gravelly whisper often interrupted by irritating screams, was “pretty bad.”
Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film, Psycho, sees Vince Vaughn succeed Anthony Perkins in the role of disturbed motel manager Norman Bates. The actor was already an unlikely choice to play a murderer then, fresh off his hilarious performance in Swingers, and seems even more unlikely today after his many other iconic comedic roles.
Clown Prince of Crime in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, I disagree that the Oscar winner was the wrong choice. I will agree that his performance in David Ayer’s 2016 DC supervillain crossover is a misfire, but I also feel that this particular iteration of Batman’s archnemesis fails mostly because of how the disparagingly rushed screenplay depicts him.
Ebert & Roeper, say he would have rather seen Maggie Q, who plays a henchperson, take over the main villain role in Bruce Willis’ fourth adventure as John McClane instead of Timothy Olyphant. As much as I enjoy the actor in almost everything he does, I cannot help but agree that he might have been a better henchperson than the mustache-twirling lead cyberterrorist in 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard.
David Thewlis as the God of War, disguised as the speaker for the peace Sir Patrick Morgan, was meant to be a misdirect, and I respect the intent. However, most people agree that the final act reveal was one of the weakest parts of 2017’s Wonder Woman, which is otherwise considered one of the better installments of the DC Extended Universe.
The Guardian he was tricked into starring in 2000’s The Watcher, which he never found interesting, after a “friend” forged his signature onto a casting agreement and, since he had no evidence to prove it, he decided it would be easier to go through with it than getting sued. This explains his phoned-in performance in the panned serial killer drama as a menacing murderer, whom star James Spader probably would have handled much better instead of playing the hero.
could not sanction [his] buffoonery” when he ultimately gives the more buffoonish performance in 1995’s Batman Forever anyway.
big bad of Dexter’s sixth season, Travis Marshall – a seemingly mild-mannered man driven to murder by religious fanatic, Prof. James Gellar (played by Edward James Olmos). However, the moment he realizes Gellar is a figment of his imagination and embraces his dark side is the moment the otherwise affable actor’s performance as a sinister killer becomes a tragic misfire.
overshadowed by her hilariously inept death scene.
Adrian (Oldboy)
The world never needed Spike Lee’s remake of Oldboy in the first place. However, the usually impressive Sharlto Copley makes an especially convincing case for its needlessness with a performance that paints his villainous role as more of a whiney brat than a vengeful sadist.
Gabriel (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning)
In a series that has only ever had one enduringly memorable villain (Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Owen Davian in Mission: Impossible III), the rest seem as scary as they come when compared to the egregious, mustache-twirling nature of Esai Morales’ role, who gives an even more ridiculous performance in 2025’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Dr. Norman Spencer (What Lies Beneath)
Following a career defined by heroic characters like Star Wars‘ Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and President James Marshall in Air Force One, it is just really hard to picture Harrison Ford as a murderer. You could argue that the actor’s reputation makes the chilling reveal in What Lies Beneath even more shocking, but others have argued it just comes off as unbelievable.
Raymond Blossom (Playing God)
Based on his Academy Award-winning role in Ordinary People, Timothy Hutton is an undeniably fantastic actor, but his role as Raymond Blossom in 1997’s Playing God is not his best work. He plays the ruthless counterfeiter a little too cheesily to match the tone of this crime thriller starring David Duchovny as a disgraced surgeon hired on Blossom’s payroll.
Col. Tom Parker (Elvis)
There may be a heightened sense of reality in 2022’s Elvis, Baz Luhrmann’s biopic of the legendary musician. However, Tom Hanks’ prosthetic makeup and faux European accent as Elvis Presley’s manager, Col. Tom Parker, is too inauthentic and silly to be taken seriously.
Abigail Williams (The Crucible)
With all due respect to the otherwise talented Winona Ryder, her casting in 1996’s The Crucible as a young woman who corrupts her entire village with lies about witchcraft is just not very believable, from her subpar accent to her lack of chemistry with Daniel Day-Lewis as a married man she shares an affair with.
Dr. Newton “Newt” Geiszler (Pacific Rim Uprising)
Charlie Day starred in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim in the obligatory role you see in all kinds of sci-fi/disaster flicks: the plucky comic relief who is never taken seriously despite having all the right answers. For 2018’s Pacific Rim Uprising, Dr. Newton “Newt” Geiszler is brought back as the villain, which is already a tough sell before his motivation (being corrupted by an alien he has had a romantic relationship with) descends the sequel into unforgivable levels of cheesiness.