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

[Tony Stark]

I don't want to take anything away from Heath on this. He surprised me because the choice seemed laughable (no pun intended) when it was made and he proved everyone wrong.

However the thing with Brolin is bringing a CGI character like that and giving him dimension and making you forget that it's CGI, only Andy Serkis has done it to that level.

 

[Infinity9999x]

Yeah, Thanos was great, one of the best comic book movie villains, but we others have said, the Joker is one of the best film villains of all time.

I can't quite describe the electricity that was in the air when you sat in a movie theater of people seeing his performance for the first time. People often say "I couldn't take my eyes off them" when describing a good performance, but this was one of the few times I honestly felt that way. He truly was mesmerizing.

Added to the fact that he was able to put a unique spin on an already iconic character, and present it in a way that had never been imagined before but still felt like the Joker...it really is one of the greatest acting performances I've ever seen.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Yeah, Thanos was great, one of the best comic book movie villains, but we others have said, the Joker is one of the best film villains of all time.

I can't quite describe the electricity that was in the air when you say in a movie theater of people seeing his performance for the first time. People often say "I couldn't take my eyes off them" when describing a good performance, but this was one of the few times I honestly felt that way. He truly was mesmerizing.

Added to the fact that he was able to put a unique spin on an already iconic character, and present it in a way that had never been imagined before but still felt like the Joker...it really is one of the greatest acting performances I've ever seen.

 

[Adhesive Boy]

I voted Thanos. A real threat, actually has some depth and a motivation worth it's name.

The Joker relies too much on the performance as the writing just doesn't keep up. When you have a serious crime movie and you have to write the police to be incompetent in order to have your villain succeed, plus that he keeps making plans that he can't even control so he depends on luck, then the writing has failed.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

I voted Thanos. A real threat, actually has some depth and a motivation worth it's name.

Part of the reason the Joker is so effective is precisely because we don't know his motivation, other than he wants to prove to people how fragile civilised society is. Why is he doing it? Who is he? That's the whole point. He becomes an embodiment of anarchy and chaos.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

The Joker

Spoiler

Spoiler

You can place this version in a barrel to seal and ship it away, or wish to see it permanently erased by Thanos.

 

[batfreakforever]

I haven't seen Infinity War yet but after 10 years of waiting for Thanos. He better be the best and most dangerous big baddie Marvel has ever had or there's no point. Not that they had much to complete with.

 

[Brutikus]

Joker. "Some men just want to watch the world burn" is a simple and scary motivation with great writing by the Nolans. And Ledger is just mesmerizing to watch.

^

This and all of his performance just was top marks for me.

Thanos is alright. Joker is phenomenal.

Same.

I really enjoyed Brolin as Thanos but still now find Ledger's performance compelling and strong.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I mean, Thanos is great and probably Marvel's best villain, but come on. No one tops the Heath.

 

[Deck Rickard]

The Joker

Spoiler

Spoiler

You can place this version in a barrel to seal and ship it away, or wish to see it permanently erased by Thanos.

Maybe the Deadpool 2 extended cut will feature a scene of Wade

Spoiler

capping Leto's Joker and saying, "You're welcome DC fans."

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Maybe the Deadpool 2 extended cut will feature a scene of Wade

Spoiler

capping Leto's Joker and saying, "You're welcome DC fans."

 

[Spider-Fan]

I hope it is called Deadpool 2: The Snyder Cut

 

[Deck Rickard]

I hope it is called Deadpool 2: The Snyder Cut

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I hope it is called Deadpool 2: The Snyder Cut

It will suit that Cable scene where he insults Wade in that green lit warehouse.

 

[Adhesive Boy]

Part of the reason the Joker is so effective is precisely because we don't know his motivation, other than he wants to prove to people how fragile civilised society is. Why is he doing it? Who is he? That's the whole point. He becomes an embodiment of anarchy and chaos.

I wouldn't agree there. I don't see anything being more effective with him because we don't know why he's doing it. That just puts him in the overall category of being evil for the sake of evil.

I don't hold it against him though, you can definitely have a good villain that's not understandable or sympathetic. However, I do think that if you actually manage to write a villain that have those aspects it's a greater feat and it will be more interesting.

 

[Bayne]

I agree Ledger's performance was incredible, probably moreso than Brolin's. But I think the relatively subtlety of Thanos' characterization makes for a more interesting character, if a less flashy one. I do think that Thanos is one of the greatest villains in movie history, just like the Joker is (in fact I would say he is HIGHLY comparable to Darth Vader in many ways, and vastly superior to him in several ways as well). Ultimately, his legacy will come down to the next movie - it could destroy the potential displayed in Infinity War or it could solidify his place in the pantheon of movies for decades to come (just like ESB did for Vader).

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

Thanos is good but not an all time great IMO.

Apart from the writing, you have to take into account the performance. Thanos is well-written, well-acted.

But Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men) is incredibled-written and Javier Bardem did deliver one of the greatest acting performance of all time. Same for The Joker and Heath Ledger. Same for Hans Landa and Christoph Waltz. Same for Hannibal Lecter and Anthony Hopkins: with only 15 minutes of screening time he still scared the feck out of me.

About Darth Vader, he's too iconic to be judged by 2 basic standards above. I mean it doesn't matter how much you can destroy. Anton Chigurh is just a normal human with a cattle-killing gun, yet I bet 99% of people who saw both No Country For Old Men and Infinity War were much more afraid of Anton than Thanos.

These 5 villains I mentioned are both extraodinary-written and each actor delivered one of the best acting performance in the cinema history. Thanos is definitely not there yet.

 

[Bayne]

I've seen both and Aton Chigurh left very little impression on me whatsoever. I remember thinking the movie was good, well-written, etc, and moving on. Now, years later, I honestly don't even remember the character at all. Hans Landa definitely did leave a strong impression, but I'm not sure I'd list him in the greatest villains of all time. Then again, I'm not sure I wouldn't, either.

In the end, I'd argue any attempt to judge the strength of Thanos as a villain based on the question 'how scared am I of him' is entirely missing the point of the character. The thing about him that's so memorable is not that he's terrifying or over the top horrific like Lecter/Joker/Landa - no disrespect to those actors for their incredible performances, but it is, for the record, not extraordinarily difficult to be memorable by portraying that kind of inhuman monster - it's that he's so incredibly human and relatable yet simultaneously just utterly unstoppable in a way that few villains ever are.

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

Except Landa and Anton isn't over the top. Joker, yes Heath was over the top. But Javier Bardem's performance as Anton Chigurh I find a pretty subtle performance, yet so compelling and strong. Same for Landa.

 

[Bayne]

I specifically didn't include Anton in that comparison. Like I said I don't really remember him at all. But I strongly disagree that Landa wasn't over the top. He wasn't AS over the top as the Joker, but he still was unquestionably joyous about being a bad guy. Some scenes he was practically like a kid shouting 'I'm going to Disney World!' Not at all in a bad way, it totally worked for the character and was highly memorable. But definitely a very different kind of villain than Thanos.

 

[Mjölnir]

I've seen both and Aton Chigurh left very little impression on me whatsoever. I remember thinking the movie was good, well-written, etc, and moving on. Now, years later, I honestly don't even remember the character at all. Hans Landa definitely did leave a strong impression, but I'm not sure I'd list him in the greatest villains of all time. Then again, I'm not sure I wouldn't, either.

In the end, I'd argue any attempt to judge the strength of Thanos as a villain based on the question 'how scared am I of him' is entirely missing the point of the character. The thing about him that's so memorable is not that he's terrifying or over the top horrific like Lecter/Joker/Landa - no disrespect to those actors for their incredible performances, but it is, for the record, not extraordinarily difficult to be memorable by portraying that kind of inhuman monster - it's that he's so incredibly human and relatable yet simultaneously just utterly unstoppable in a way that few villains ever are.

I agree that Thanos does get less scary since he's very human and relatable, despite being what he is and what he's trying to do. He's in a way the protagonist, so that changes the view.

I wouldn't place The Joker in the scary category either though. He's not at all like Chigurh or Lecter to me.

 

[The Joker]

Thanos wasn't scary IMO. He never had any moments of real intensity or creepiness like Joker's torture video of Brian Douglas - "Look at me.....LOOK AT ME!!!", getting up in someone's face with a knife telling his creepy scars stories etc.

 

[FunkMiller]

Thanos wasn't scary IMO. He never had any moments of real intensity or creepiness like Joker's torture video of Brian Douglas - "Look at me.....LOOK AT ME!!!", getting up in someone's face with a knife telling his creepy scars stories etc.

The Joker will always be more scary because he’s something that could actually happen. Thanos is a big purple giant man from another planet, with a big golden glove.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Thanos wasn't scary IMO. He never had any moments of real intensity or creepiness like Joker's torture video of Brian Douglas - "Look at me.....LOOK AT ME!!!", getting up in someone's face with a knife telling his creepy scars stories etc.

I'm not even sure there's a single villain in MCU that has a moment of real intensity and creepiness.

 

[Adhesive Boy]

Thanos wasn't scary IMO. He never had any moments of real intensity or creepiness like Joker's torture video of Brian Douglas - "Look at me.....LOOK AT ME!!!", getting up in someone's face with a knife telling his creepy scars stories etc.

The Joker wasn't scary imo, he was mainly just entertaining. Now Anton Chigurh that people mentioned, that's a scary dude. No superhero movie has tension like No Country for Old Men.