Best Villain Portrayals in Marvel films

[israeldorneles]

UPDATE: Added Zola and Sabretooth

I'm gonna separate the main villains of the supporting villains/the henchmen and rank the top 10 of each one.

Main villains:

Magneto (both McKellen's and Fassbender's)
Doctor Octopus
Loki
William Stryker (Brian Cox's)
Sebastian Shaw
Alexander Pierce
Red Skull
Obadiah Stane
Ronan the Accuser
Green Goblin (Dafoe's)

Honorable Mention: Thanos. I know, he barely appears in GotG, but he was so badass, gave me chills. And he's the guy behind it.

Supporting villains/The henchmen:

Mystique (Rebecca Romijn's)
Winter Soldier
Sentinels
Lady Deathstrike
Hawkeye (when he was brainwashed)
Pyro
Nebula
Dr. Arnim Zola
Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber's, hands down the best part of the atrocious Origins: Wolverine)
Azazel

I'm so excited to see Apocalypse, Singer usually do a great job with the villains (except, maybe, Trask). I really hope Marvel do Ultron and Thanos (so far he's been awesome) justice, most of the MCU villains are wasted or lack a convincing motivation and/or a character development.

 

[Loki882]

Main Villains:

-Tom Hiddleston as Loki.
-Sir Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr/Magneto.
-Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus.
-Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce.
-Brian Cox as Col. William Stryker.
-Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw.
-Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask.
-Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger.
-Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/Abomination.
-Michael Clarke Duncan as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin.

Supporting Characters/Henchmen:

-Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkholme/Mystique (J-Law isn't really a henchwoman in the FC timeline).
-Sebastian Stan as James "Bucky" Barnes/The Winter Soldier.
-Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth.
-James Badge Dale as Eric Savin/Coldblood.
-Toby Jones as Dr. Arnim Zola.
-Kelly Hu as Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike.
-Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones.
-Karen Gillan as Nebula.
-Jason Flemying as Azazel.
-Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce/Pyro.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

Doc Ock
Magneto, both McKellen and Fassbender
Green Goblin played by Willem Dafoe
Obadiah Stane
Stryker played by Brian Cox
Loki

 

[israeldorneles]

Main Villains:

-Tom Hiddleston as Loki.
-Sir Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr/Magneto.
-Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus.
-Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce.
-Brian Cox as Col. William Stryker.
-Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw.
-Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask.
-Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger.
-Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/Abomination.
-Michael Clarke Duncan as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin.

Supporting Characters/Henchmen:

-Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkholme/Mystique (J-Law isn't really a henchwoman in the FC timeline).
-Sebastian Stan as James "Bucky" Barnes/The Winter Soldier.
-Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth.
-James Badge Dale as Eric Savin/Coldblood.
-Toby Jones as Dr. Arnim Zola.
-Kelly Hu as Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike.
-Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones.
-Karen Gillan as Nebula.
-Jason Flemying as Azazel.
-Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce/Pyro.

Great ranking, I even added Sabretooth and Zola on my list. I forgot them. t:

 

[Jasyn]

These are my top 10 favorite Marvel villain character performances so far:
*** I have not seen GOTG or X-Men DOFP yet ***

Edited:

1. Loki
2. Winter Soldier
3. Magneto (Ian McKellen)
4. Obadiah Stane
5. Lorelei on Agents of Shield
6. Red Skull
7. Arnim Zola
8. Howard Saint (John Travolta, The Punisher)
9. Emil Blonsky / Abomination
10. Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan)


Honorable Mentions IMO:
> Blob (in Wolverine Origins)
> Toad (Ray Park in X-Men 1)
> Sabretooth (Tyler Mane in X-Men 1)

 

[GoodYoung]

- William Stryker (Brian Cox) (he's probably my favorite Marvel movie villain)
- Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan)
- Magneto (both of them)
- Sabretooth (Tyler Mane)
- Abomination
- Sebastian Shaw
- Mystique

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

Top 10

Doctor Octopus
Magneto - Ian Mckellen
Green Goblin - Willem Dafoe
Mystique - Rebecca Romjn
Loki (Thor)
William Stryker - Brian Cox
Nomak
The Lizard
Green Goblin - Dale DeHann
Sebastian Shaw

11+

Magneto - Michael Fassbender
Azazel
Nebula
Red Skull
Sentinels
Pyro
Bullseye
Lady Deathstryke
Ronan The Accuser
Emma Frost
Deacon Frost
Sabertooth
Whiplash
Iron Monger
Kingpin

 

[psylockolussus]

Magneto hands down! Ian McKellen was perfect for the role and Michael Fassbender was also good!

I also liked Rebecca Romijn's portrayal of Mystique! So fierce and ferocious! She's totally bad-ass! Best henchman so far! Green Goblin/Doc Ock/Sebastian Shaw/William Stryker were also good. I also like Viper! With Marvel Studios, I liked Loki the most but eh, I didn't find amazing in Avengers/TDW.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

Magneto hands down! Ian McKellen was perfect for the role and Michael Fassbender was also good!

I also liked Rebecca Romijn's portrayal of Mystique! So fierce and ferocious! She's totally bad-ass! Best henchman so far! Green Goblin/Doc Ock/Sebastian Shaw/William Stryker were also good. I also like Viper! With Marvel Studios, I liked Loki the most but eh, I didn't find amazing in Avengers/TDW.

Agreed. Even though she didn't say much when she did it spoke volumes.

 

[Johnny-Oh]

From the Spider-Man movies:

-Green Goblin(Dafoe was just iconic)
-New Goblin
-Doc Ock

From the X-Men films:

-Magneto(Fassbender and McKellen killed it and made it my favorite villain of all time)
-Sebastian Shaw(he was pure evil and a badass, Kevin Bacon did a great job)
-William Stryker
-Mystique

MCU:

-Loki
-Winter Soldier
-Alexander Pierce
-Obadiah Stane

PD: Even though its not a popular opinion I thought Julian McMahon did a good job as Dr. Doom.

 

[The Joker]

- Doc Ock
- Magneto (McKellen and Fassbender)
- Winter Soldier
- Obadiah Stane
- Loki
- William Stryker (Cox)
- Green Goblin (Dafoe)
- Sebastian Shaw
- Alexander Pierce
- Bolivar Trask

 

[chamber-music]

edit

 

[Guard82]

My favorites in no particular order:

- Ian McKellan and Michael Fassbender as Magneto
- Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Ben Kingsley as the public persona of the Mandarin
- Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin
- Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier
- Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce
- Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane
- Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin
- Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull
- Julian McMahon as Doctor Doom
- Rebecca Romijn/Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique

 

[Dasher10]

I feel like most Marvel villains were good. The ones that really reach greatness are Magneto (both McKellen and Fassbender) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

It's easier to list the ones who failed.

Julian McMahon was terrible as Doom. He had the voice all wrong. He had the swagger all wrong. He just didn't feel like Doom. Even with the script's problems with Doom's motivations, McMahon could have done more with the role.

I also wasn't a fan of the way the X-Men movies treated otherwise heroic characters like Psylocke, Maverick, Deadpool and Multiple Man. Psylocke is somehow now American, Marverick is now Canadian, Deadpool has his mouth sown shut and Multiple Man is grim. Nevermind that all of these characters are heroes in the comics. When you consider that Famke Jasson, Hugh Jackman and Alan Cumming put in a lot of work to get their accents right (and even Halle Berry in the first two films), it's jarring to see these characters get butchered so badly. Fox using DOFP to reboot to reboot was a smart move considering that X-Force and X-Factor are the most logical spin-offs and Psylocke and Multiple Man are needed for them.

I also hated Malekith. He's Marvel's counterpart to Joker (even more so than Carnage or Bullseye is) and yet he lost any semblance of personality. This was a massive waste of Christopher Eccleson's talents as well as a great villain who crossed the line into IN NAME ONLY territory. The irony is that Justin Hammer bore more semblance to Malekith than Malekith did. Let that sink in for a moment. Whedon and Feige even hinted that they weren't overall happy with the end product and Alan Taylor outright stated it.

Blackheart in Ghost Rider was also completely terrible since he came across as a smug pretty boy instead of this massive hulking mass of black spiky terror. He was a huge missed opportunity.

Whiplash was also terrible. He was so bad that Marvel eventually gave fans the REAL Whiplash in Agents of SHIELD. Some argue that he was closer to Crimson Dynamo but now we have him in Agent Carter. The main issue is that Mickey Rourke's Whiplash was based on the new Whiplash from Fraction's comics which had only come out a year prior when the film was in production. They quite literally created a villain when the source material was still coming out and expected him to have a personality. mickey Rourke is a great actor but he was really wasted in Iron Man 2.

Topher Grace was terribly miscast as Venom in Spider-Man 3. Nobody wanted to see a scrawny Venom when a more imposing actor should have been cast. A thin version of Venom who naturally gets killed before he can redeem himself and become an anti-hero isn't what anyone wanted to see and it stopped Carnage from ever appearing. No wonder Sony rebooted.

Electro and Green Goblin in TASM2 both suddenly turned evil upon gaining powers and suddenly gained massive shifts in personality. Goblin's laugh in particular was cringe worthy. I have absolutely no interest in seeing the third TASM movie or the Sinister Six spin-off which looks like a bomb waiting to happen.

Galactus was a cloud. Enough said about why he was terrible. Nobody wanted this.

And those are my least favorite villains. All terrible for different reasons. On the plus side, who's looking forward to Ultron, Apocalypse, Slayback, Belladonna, Dormammu and Baron Zemo in this year and the next? I'm not even sure about how FF2015 will turn out but Toby Kebbel is certain to be better than McMahon was. Even with that Domashev stuff and the leaked costume since McMahon was just THAT bad and the bar is THAT low for Doctor Doom.

 

[First Avenger]

In no order:
Loki
Both Magnetos
Doc Ock
Pierce
Red Skull
Abomination
X2's Stryker
Killian
Dafoe's Goblin
Obadiah Strane
Ronan
Winter Soldier
Rumlow
Zola
Kurse
Romijn's Mystique
Sentinels
Shaw

Probably going to add Ultron,Thanos and Apocalypse.The biggest fails are the FF and TASM2 villains IMO.

 

[MarvelFan]

For serious matter: Emil Blonsky, Deacon Frost, Michael Fassbender's Magneto (I want him to play this character forever!!), Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn, Ronan, Kurse, Malekith, Bolivar Trask

 

[MarvelFan]

For fun matters: Justin Hammer, Trevor Slattery, Rhyno, A bunch of Yakuza who holds guns in funeral & shouts "Gai jin, Gai jin" (means: Outsider, Foreigner) to Wolverine inside Shinkansen (I take it funny because in reality, especially in public area like that ...such scene is weird & nearly impossible to happen).....and 3 Brazil people who bully Banner 😂😂😂

 

[Hellion]

No Blade baddies? Deacon Frost and Nomak ranked high on my list...but the top two always go to Magneto and Loki.

ETA: I see Marvel_SKE gave Deacon a shout out...

 

[Mr.T]

Fassbender's Magneto is my favorite. Dude would kill his own mother to advance his cause. Just an absolute ruthless character. Love Fassbender's portrayal.

 

[Tony Stark]

Tom Hiddleston as Loki - by far the most memorable and iconic

Ian McKellum's Magneto - he set the bar for Marvel films. It's held up over time.

Alfred Molina's Dr. Octopus - SM2 still remains one of the greatest CB films and Molina's performance is a big reason why.

Fassbender's Magneto - added a more nuanced and human performance as Eric. A nice contrast to McKellum's.

Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce - Just a great performance. Redford who normally plays the protagonist, is a great contrast to his normal roles. You almost believe he could be good, because it's the Sundance Kid for Pete's sake!

Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger - Bridges again shows his acting chops here. A guy who is so convincing as Tony's confidant even though we know he's going to be the bad guy.

Willem Dafoe as Norman Osbourne/Green Goblin - Just a great performance, that's along the lines of Jack Nicholson in the shining. A guy slowly losing his mind, to where he's just bat**** crazy by the end of it.

Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin - OK this movie was bad. VERY bad, but I loved MCD as an actor, so sad that we lost him, and I really liked his performance. It was one of the few bright spots to this film.

James Spader as Ultron (Prediction) - I really think this could be the greatest of the Marvel Studios villains and perhaps greatest in all Marvel. Spader is just such a great bad guy. He has a great way of playing despicable people but you still can't get enough of them. I'm real excited to see this.

 

[djsunyc]

spader and d'onofrio will be in the top 3 in a few months.

 

[Quasimod0]

spader and d'onofrio will be in the top 3 in a few months.

I have a feeling you're right.

 

[First Avenger]

Oh forgot about D'Onofrio. He's gonna kill it.

 

[Loki882]

Don't forget about David Tennant.

 

[BoredGuy]

My Top performances from villains in Marvel Films:

1. Loki -Tom Hiddleston
2. Magneto- McKellan/Fassbender
3. Doc Ock- Alfred Molina


D'Onofrio and Tennant definitely get mentions as most anticipated villains
And the razzies are, sadly, too numerous to mention