Better villain: Thanos (Josh Brolin) vs The Joker (Heath Ledger)

[Boom]

Heath Ledger's Joker, and it isn't close.

He's one of the greatest cinematic villains of all time, right up there with the likes of Norman Bates, Hannibal Lecter, Darth Vader, Nurse Ratched, and the Wicked Witch of the West. An iconic performance, no two ways about it.

 

[The Joker]

Thanos was terrific. But Ledger's Joker is in a league of his own.

Joker all the way.

 

[Iceman]

I mean, one is a terrorist driven by a combined desire to show the people of the world just how awful they really are, and to prove that society is a mere couple of simple steps away from total anarchy...

And the other is a big purple space titan, who wants to kill half the universe with some magic, glowing rocks, because he’s worried about resource depletion.

I love me some epic superhero silliness, but come on...

The Joker.

Every single time.

Just nailed why it’s so hard to do Thanos well at all. While there are probably about 40 writers in Hollywood who could write a good Joker. D.C. will give us more good Jokers before they give us a Darkseid that measures up to Thanos.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Thanos was a great CBM villain. Joker was one of the great fictional villains, period. Sorry, but he's on a whole other level.

 

[honestbharani]

Better character - Thanos, easily.

Better performance - Ledger.

 

[scarlet-witch]

Heath Ledger's Joker is the greatest comic book villain of all time.

Thanos is awesome though.

 

[DACrowe]

Just nailed why it’s so hard to do Thanos well at all. While there are probably about 40 writers in Hollywood who could write a good Joker. D.C. will give us more good Jokers before they give us a Darkseid that measures up to Thanos.

There are good Jokers. But there are few villains who instantly become one of the icons of cinema. In this century the only ones who I feel like are in Ledger's league are Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh (and a case could be made maybe for him as Silva too), Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa, Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher, Rosamund Pike as the Amazing Amy in Gone Girl, J.K. Simmons in Whiplash, and MAYBE Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie.

It's a different ballpark.

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

There are good Jokers. But there are few villains who instantly become one of the icons of cinema. In this century the only ones who I feel like are in Ledger's league are Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh (and a case could be made maybe for him as Silva too), Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa, Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher, Rosamund Pike as the Amazing Amy in Gone Girl, J.K. Simmons in Whiplash, and MAYBE Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie.

It's a different ballpark.

You consider Fletcher (J.K Simmons) in Whiplash a villain ? What the hell bro.

I'd argue that the only MAYBE better villain than The Joker in this century is Anton Chigurh. Seriously Javier Bardem's performance is mind-blowing, although I don't like the movie that much.

 

[jmc]

The problem is one is a CGI character so we don't know how much the animation team tweaked the performance. The Joker is pure Ledger, so it's not a fair comparison.

 

[DACrowe]

You consider Fletcher (J.K Simmons) in Whiplash a villain ? What the hell bro.

I'd argue that the only MAYBE better villain than The Joker in this century is Anton Chigurh. Seriously Javier Bardem's performance is mind-blowing, although I don't like the movie that much.

I mean I was on the fence to include him because he was an antagonist. But such a vicious one, I figured why not? He still scares me!

 

[Ryuzakirir]

There's just something about The Joker.

His mannerism, the way he walks, speaks, how different his voice is in every scene.. it's just so mesmerizing.

Plus another thing to notice is, when people talk about TDK Joker as a villain, they don't merely put him in the same confinement as other superhero movie villains.. they always put him in the same list with the likes of Vader, Bates, Wicked Witch, Hannibal Lecter, etc. So when it comes to CBM, he's on his own league.

 

[titansupes]

Thanos was terrific. But Ledger's Joker is in a league of his own.

Joker all the way.

Thanos was a great CBM villain. Joker was one of the great fictional villains, period. Sorry, but he's on a whole other level.

This (these).

 

[Greens]

The problem is one is a CGI character so we don't know how much the animation team tweaked the performance. The Joker is pure Ledger, so it's not a fair comparison.

The amazing CG definitely adds a lot to the character. Then again, we could say the same for Smeagol and he's one of the greats.

 

[AlluAllu]

The answer to this question depends a little on if we consider just Infinity War or the whole MCU. Because in the bigger picture Thanos sat in a chair for six years and lost the only infinity stone he originally had.

 

[FunkMiller]

Plus another thing to notice is, when people talk about TDK Joker as a villain, they don't merely put him in the same confinement as other superhero movie villains.. they always put him in the same list with the likes of Vader, Bates, Wicked Witch, Hannibal Lecter, etc. So when it comes to CBM, he's on his own league.

This is the thing about The Dark Knight as a whole. Outside geekdom, it isn’t just being compared to other great comic book movies... it’s compared to great movies period. Ledger’s performance is one aspect of that. It really is on another level in terms of the wider culture, compared to any other comic book film.

 

[spider-neil]

I thought Thanos was incredible. For Marvel, my favourite was Killmonger but he has been usurped by Thanos.
Compared to Joker, though...
Heath Ledger (imho) gives one of the best performances in history, in ANY genre, not just superheroes. So no, Thanos isn't better than Joker.

 

[Mjölnir]

Ledger gives a great performance, but I think Thanos is the better villain character. I find Thanos to be emotionally deeper, more relatable despite being a cosmic threat, is a complete threat to his heroes and he wins unconditionally. I also don't think the flaws with the character clash as much with the tone of the film.

 

[Boy Scout]

Joker.

This is just like comparing TDK to any superhero movie.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Ledger was the quintessential Joker. The MCU Thanos is impressive to be sure, but the character loses something without the Death character as part of his back story.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Ledger's Joker, by a HUGE country mile.

 

[ernesth100]

Joker pulls ahead because his performance was more prepared for and in tune. Thanos was simply amazing acting, nothing new for amazing actors. It's like comparing RDJ's performance here to Leonardo DiCaprio in the Revenant. RDJ's a great actor, but Leo is a preparation master.

 

[Ms. Marvel]

Joker. Loved Thanos though.

 

[The Shape]

 

[Samuron]

I'm in the lightly populated "TDK is overrated!" camp, and I much prefer massively overpopulated super hero team ups over grim and gritty real world takes on comic book characters. But while Brolin's Thanos lived up to the 6 year hype, Ledger was unbelievable (and unrecognizable) in the role of Joker. His performance has always been properly rated as one of the all time greats.

^^^ This, one hundred percent. Not just a great comic villain, but one of the best movie villains of all time.

The rest of TDK is mezzo for me, but Ledger's characterization is definitive.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Thanos was done superbly, and was probably my favourite character in IW.

But The Joker was just amazing and one of cinema iconic villains, never mind just in the CBM arena. So my vote goes to The Joker.