The Five Greatest Superhero Movie Villain Performances of All-Time

I have come to believe that a superhero movie is only as good as its supervillain—usually the main antagonist of the story.

While some superhero movies manage to be great by making the focus on the main hero and the trials/tribulations they go through to overcome their villain, I find that the better ones involve the presence of a fleshed-out villain. The more relatable or unique the villain, the better.

To show what I mean, I've created a personal list of the five greatest superhero movie villain performances of all-time.

For clarity, this list will only include performances from the cinematic universes of Marvel and DC. (My apologies to fans of The Incredibles, Unbreakable, Kick-Ass, etc.)

Please enjoy!

#5 - The Joker (Jack Nicholson, "Batman")

Few actors have ever been as true to the comic book form of the characters they've portrayed as Jack Nicholson was for The Joker in the movie Batman.

With a litany of gyrations, dancing scenes, one-liners, makeup effects, and lethal toys, Nicholson's Joker put a unique spin on the original comic book character while still capturing the spirit of the Clown Prince of Crime.

The performance earned Nicholson a Golden Globe nomination and helped restore the then-waning popularity of the Batman franchise.

#4 - Loki (Tom Hiddleston, "The Avengers")

While Tom Hiddleston's performance as Thor's brother Loki in The Avengers was neither his first, nor his last, in the role, it was in this film where he permanently changed how Marvel supervillains were perceived.

After a masterful performance as the trickster god, whose combination of cunningness and arrogance made for some of the most memorable moments in any Marvel film to that point, the paradigm for villains in all Marvel movies changed forever.

After Hiddleston's performance, no longer were the villains in every Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor movie simply one-dimensional megalomaniacs obsessed with world-domination and destruction (although granted, Loki did display all of those traits in The Avengers).

From then on, the villains became more fleshed-out, with more time given for a wide range of emotions and chances for redemption—and that all started with Loki in The Avengers.

#3 - Thanos (Josh Brolin, "Avengers: Infinity War")

How on earth did Josh Brolin find a way to make a genocidal tyrant with infinite power and an army of alien monsters into an almost-sympathetic figure? Well... with a motivation change for starters.

Unlike in the comics, the Thanos of Infinity War sees genocide as means to a peaceful end. It is a disturbingly, roundabout way of getting there, but at its core, the motivation is fascinating.

The fact that Brolin's Thanos so clearly expresses sadness and guilt over all of the pain and destruction he causes throughout the film, culminating in the shocking ending, cement's his performance as one of the best in any superhero movie ever.

#2 - Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan, "Black Panther")

Michael B. Jordan's portrayal of Erik "Killmonger" Stevens really helped cement Black Panther as a film worthy of all of the high praise it received in 2018.

With a combination of a rough upbringing, ruthlessness, cunningness, treachery, elite military training, and some profound philosophical insight, Jordan creates one of the most nuanced supervillains in all of cinema.

But perhaps above all else are his motivations. Though the methods he uses to achieve his goals are just as heinous as any other villain, the reasoning behind his actions stand out from the crowd.

The icing on the cake was his final line in Black Panther—perhaps the most profound in the history of superhero movies.

It's only August 2018 as of writing, but Jordan could very well be up for an Oscar when the time comes.

#1 - The Joker (Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight")

What Josh Brolin's Thanos was able to do with some CGI and literally infinite power at his disposal, Heath Ledger was able to surpass in leaps and bounds with some makeup smears, a shaky camera, and a few subtle movements over the course of his legendary performance in The Dark Knight.

The penultimate performance of Ledger's career prior to his tragic death was not only his magnum opus, but changed the way superhero movies were perceived by the public forever.

Rather than follow in the footsteps of previous Joker incarnations as "The Clown Prince of Crime," Ledger introduced a new type of Joker: The Agent of Chaos.

The Joker didn't need god-like powers, an Adonis-like physique, or bulletproof armor to achieve his goals. (Who needs an Infinity Gauntlet, after all, when you have "dynamite, gunpowder, and gasoline!")

Whether it was robbing a bank, making a pencil "disappear," crashing a ballroom party, driving a truck, sitting in an interrogation room, sticking his head out of a police car, dressing up as a nurse, or blowing up a hospital: No supervillain before or since has managed to make crowds vacillate between horror and delight the way The Joker did.

No supervillain before or since has left fans with so many memorable scenes, moments, and lines.

• "Why so serious?"
• "How about a magic trick?"
• "Wanna know how I got these scars?"
• "Add a little anarchy to the equation..."
• "Madness is a lot like gravity..."

Every time Ledger was on screen, he commanded the spotlight in ways no other villain has. He put everything into that role, and it showed.

The movie itself went on to become the first superhero film to gross over $1 billion, and in many ways paved the way for future superhero movies that would work harder on developing memorable characters, villains especially.

People who thought very little of superhero movies in general were absolutely in awe of The Dark Knight, particularly because of the way Ledger managed to bring The Joker to life (and in ways that few actors had ever even tried before).

Ledger's performance as The Joker earned him a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor— the only Oscar ever awarded to any actor or actress in any superhero movie. (Interestingly, he beat out future-Iron Man Robert Downey Jr., future-Thanos Josh Brolin, and future-General Zodd Michael Shannon for the distinction.)

There is little doubt that Heath Ledger's Joker set a new standard for acting in superhero films.