Do you prefer evil or sympathetic villains in comic book movies?

[The Overlord]

Do you prefer evil or sympathetic villains in comic book movies?

 

[Homer J. Fong]

I generally prefer a very evil villain who has a credible motivation (i.e., Magneto or The Penguin). My favorite comic book and comic book movie villain is The Joker, of course, and he's sort of an exception. Actually, my only issue with Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2 was that he was a bit too easy to sympathize with; the tentacles were more sinister than the man, and I wasn't crazy about that.

 

[Punisher Rising]

I like both villains, but I tend to be a fan of sympathetic and tragic villains who've been driven to commit extreme acts of evil.

 

[gwynplaine]

Interesting question, how would you define the Joker in TDK?

 

[The Overlord]

Interesting question, how would you define the Joker in TDK?

Uh evil. How is he sympathetic?

 

[gwynplaine]

I was just wondering because he could also be perceived as a tragic figure because of his chelsea grin alluding to a tragic event in his past, something that sent him over the edge.
Anyway, i prefer evil then.

 

[The Overlord]

I was just wondering because he could also be perceived as a tragic figure because of his chelsea grin alluding to a tragic event in his past, something that sent him over the edge.
Anyway, i prefer evil then.

But all those back stories for his scars turned out to be lies, so there may not even be a tragic back story for it, he could have given the scars himself or got them in a bar fight or anything.

Not mention Joker crossed the moral event horizon far too often for him to sympathetic. He may be the most evil human villain ever to appear in a comic book movie.

 

[gwynplaine]

But all those back stories for his scars turned out to be lies, so there may not even be a tragic back story for it, he could have given the scars himself or got them in a bar fight or anything.

Not mention Joker crossed the moral event horizon far too often for him to sympathetic. He may be the most evil human villain ever to appear in a comic book movie.

Yeah, and it's great that we don't know how he got the cut-smile just like we don't know who he was in the comics before the chemical bath.

 

[Soapy]

There's room for both types. Sometimes I want someone I can relate to a bit and understand where the character is coming from and other times I just want someone truly despicable with no redeeming qualities. I don't really have a preference either way.

 

[[A]]

Do you prefer evil or sympathetic villains in comic book movies?

Evil. All the way.

 

[[A]]

Uh evil. How is he sympathetic?

the attitude..?

 

[The Joker]

I love 'em both. I'd probably favour evil villains a little more.

 

[The Overlord]

the attitude..?

The attitude that results in him killing innocent people for fun? Yeah, not sympathetic.

 

[kedrell]

I generally prefer a very evil villain who has a credible motivation

I completely agree. I like smart villains. Scarecrow & Ra's Al Ghul from BB are two of my favorites.

 

[BATZARRO WWD]

I like a villain that is evil or has a reasonable motive. A villain that, even if I agree with any of his views, I can feel good about him losing. I don't really like sympathetic villains.

 

[returntovoid]

Do you prefer evil or sympathetic villains in comic book movies?

Evil villains.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

It depends really.

Sometimes I just wanna see a villain who is evil for the sake of it. He just LOVES killing people. That is truly more terrifying that a guy who actually has a reason for doing what he does, even if it is a twisted reason.

As for Joker? I wouldn't call him sympathetic. But some of his reason are understandable. He is just sick of everyone pretending to be all nice and have their morals. When in reality, that is all a sham or a "big joke" in a lot of cases.

 

[returntovoid]

"Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn"

That quote above, sums up The Joker's logic, IMO.

 

[CFE]

Evil...with sympathetic tendencies. The Penguin is the best example for me.

 

[SymbioteKal-El]

I think a mixture of both is fine, the Spiderman series is getting so ridiculous with its sympathetic villains that I actually long for a pure evil one in Spiderman 4, they took it to one extreme, when a mixture is whats best. Just look at BB and TDK, both had a pur e evil villain as well as a sympathetic one.

 

[kedrell]

I think a mixture of both is fine, the Spiderman series is getting so ridiculous with its sympathetic villains that I actually long for a pure evil one in Spiderman 4, they took it to one extreme, when a mixture is whats best. Just look at BB and TDK, both had a pur e evil villain as well as a sympathetic one.

Well we sure won't get it if rumors of the Lizard are true. He's the quintessential sympathetic villain. That is, unless they alter him like they did Sandman(just in reverse).

 

[Project862006]

spiderman gave us too many sympathetic villains in that franchise

i prefer the magneto approach evil but you understand him but you cant condone what he does and he wont ever turn good

 

[El Payaso]

All kinds for me.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

I think a mixture of both is fine, the Spiderman series is getting so ridiculous with its sympathetic villains that I actually long for a pure evil one in Spiderman 4, they took it to one extreme, when a mixture is whats best. Just look at BB and TDK, both had a pur e evil villain as well as a sympathetic one.

Carnage...? He could be a villain who just loves to kill, we need that in the next Spidey movie.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Do you prefer evil or sympathetic villains in comic book movies?

Depends on a lot of factors. First & foremost, I'd like the villain to be true-or at least reasonably close-to at least the spirit of the comics, meaning that I wouldn't want a movie that would make me sympathize with the Red Skull, nor would I want to see someone like Mr. Freeze depicted as just a born *****e. Second, it's a question of how evil or sympathetic. There's varying degrees in each case. Think how we started off seeing Darth Vader as this ultimate badass, the epitome of evil, & he gravitated toward becoming sympathetic. Then there's a question of the hero that he's up against. I wouldn't want to sympathize with a guy that's going up against the likes of Punisher, Ghost Rider or Wolverine. But Spider-Man's rogues tend to be tragic examples of the route that he himself could have gone, so it makes sense for some of his baddies to be a little less bad.