Top 3,5 or ? DC villain portrayals in film/tv ! Why so serious or kneel before Zod?

[Batmannerism]

DC dudes.

Name your favourite 3, 5, 10 or whatever portrayals of DC villains
on the big screen (or TV too ). At present I'm saying live action
only, as animated films/tv would require a whole other thread...
which anyone is welcome to start !

Anyway, here's mine, feel free to provide explanations or thoughts or whatever for your own selections.

It's tricky, as other than Batman and Superman films there haven't been as many live action DC super-villains (other than the Flash and Wonder Woman TV series, I can't even remember the old Shazam tv show).

so here goes.

1. Heath Ledger = the Joker, the menace, the madness, definitely the most entertaining and scary portrayal of the Joker.

2. Michael Shannon = General Zod, a bit shouty, but you believe he's a kryptonian commander, liked how he tried to rationalize genocide. Terrance
Stamp was good, but this version of Zod was better written, and Shannon
capitalized on it.

3. Antje Traue = Faora Ul , slinkiest and most badass DC hench-woman
ever. ouch !

4. Gene Hackman = Lex Luthor, had a lot of charm as Lex, not as OTT as
Spacey, or any of the TV Lexes.

5. Jack Nicholson = the Joker, ah, a delight to watch, hilarious and sick.

6. Mark Strong = Sinestro, born to play the role, looks the part with a moustache and toupee. I'll be really let down if they axe him from subsequent film GL appearances.

7. Michelle Pfeiffer = Catwoman, Hathaway was slinky, but not as cool or as sympathetic at MP, definitely the best Catwoman to date.

8. Jim Carrey = The Riddler, stole every scene in Batman Forever, usually the Riddler is like the JOker's weaker sister, but Carrey really brought the role to life and like Nicholson chewed the scenery, took OTT to new levels, but still worked.

9. Aaron Eckhart = Harvey Dent, nice, they build the guy up as a hero for half the film and then have him turn into a crazed murderer in the last half hour. Ordinarily this wouldn't work, but Eckhart pulled it off. I believed in Harvey Dent, great tragic-hero-becomes-villain

10. Cillian Murphy = Scarecrow, you're just waiting for Batman to kick his ass from the moment you see him.


(and the worst, Halle Berry as Catwoman, and Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, yuck ! dishonourable mention to Tom Hardy as Bane, good at backbreaking but the mumbling bugged me after a while, and just not menacing enough).

Enough from me, your turn super-peeps !

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

1. Ledger as Joker. No need to explain.

2. Hardy as Bane. So entertaining. Scary. Bizarre. Hilarious. Love it.

Also a big fan of Traue as Faora, Neeson as Ra's, Murphy as Scarecrow, Shannon as Zod, Eckhart as Dent, Hathaway as Catwoman, Strong as Sinestro, in no particular order.

Don't really care about the rest.

 

[NosfeRomas]

Heath Ledger's Joker, Tom Hardy's Bane and Anne Hathaway's Catwoman.

 

[PaulRom]

1. Heath Ledger as Joker (no contest)
2. Tom Hardy as Bane
3. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman
4. Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face
5. Liam Neeson as Ra's al Ghul
6. Mark Strong as Sinestro
7. Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow
8. Michael Shannon as General Zod
9. Antje Traue as Faora
10. Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman/Jack Nicholson as Joker (tie)

 

[hopefuldreamer]

There are loads of villains I enjoyed in various DC tv shows, but I'll stick to a top 10 of film and tv.

1. Heath Ledger's Joker
2. John Shea's Lex Luthor
3. John Glover's Lionel Luthor
4. Liam Neeson's Ra's Al Ghul
5. Tom Hardy's Bane
6. Matthew Goode's Ozymandias
7. Aaron Eckhart's Two Face
8. Michael Shannon's General Zod
9. Jack Nicholson's Joker
10. Lane Davies' Tempus

With a special mention to Smallville's Toyman - Chris Gauthier, who I thought was awesome too

 

[Loki882]

Hathaway's Catwoman is fantastic, but I'm leaving her off this list because I don't consider her to be an actual villain.
1. Heath Ledger's Joker.
2. Michael Shannon's General Zod.
3. Tom Hardy's Bane.
4. Liam Neeson's Ra's al Ghul.
5. Antje Traue's Faora.
6. Aaron Eckhart's Two Face.
7. Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow.
8. Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor.
9. John Glover's Lionel Luthor.
10. John Barrowman's Malcolm Merlyn.

 

[Victarion]

1.) Tom Hardy's Bane: I liked his backstory, motives and connection to Bruce. A vast improvement on the comic characterization, which I found to be a bit thin once you looked past his origins in St Prisca.

2.) Heath Ledger's Joker: Just entertaining to watch. And quite vicious. Moreso than I expected going into the movie. This continues to be my favorite incarnation of the Joker in any medium.

3.) Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face: I enjoyed his role as collateral damage. His standoff with Batman and Gordon is my favorite part of The Dark Knight. It really helps drive home how much of a sick psychopath the Joker is.

4.) Liam Neeson's Ra's Al Ghul: These movies were my first exposure to the Al Ghuls and the League. I really enjoyed both elements, and like the fatherly role that Ra's played to Bruce and the mentorly role he played for Bruce and Bane.

5.) Marion Cotillard's Talia Al Ghul: I liked the role she served for TDKR's story. Simple, efficient, and to the point. I preferred her as a sort of Rachel 2.0 for Bruce; so I liked the twist she pulled on Bruce.


I don't consider Hathaway's Catwoman a villain. I quite liked her, moreso than any of the other DC heroes (aside from Bale's Batman).

 

[KangConquers]

1. Heath Ledger- Joker
2. Jack Nicholson- Joker
3. Gene Hackman- Lex Luthor
4. Terrance Stamp- Zod
5. Tom Hardy- Bane
6. Liam Neeson- Rhas Al Ghul
7. Danny Devito- Penguin
8. Cillian Murphy- Scarecrow
9. Aaron Eckhart- Two-Face
10. Michael Shannon- Zod

 

[smallville fan]

DC has the best villains

Why no:

James Marsters-Brainiac

John Glover-Lionel Luthor

Callum Blue-General Zod

 

[Batmannerism]

DC has the best villains

Why no:

James Marsters-Brainiac

John Glover-Lionel Luthor

Callum Blue-General Zod

Personally, never really got into Smallville, but I shouldn't
have forgotten about one of the Zods ! Sorry.
( in my defence I did remember Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor).
What about the Smallville version of Doomsday ?

I also left out villains from the Superboy Tv series
(maybe someone will be keen on Michael J Pollard as Myxtlplk ).
But fair call there.

Cheers.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

I agree, Callum Blue's Zod, James Masters Brainiac and John Barrowman's Malcom Merlyn all deserve a mention and I'm miffed at myself for missing them out.

But then I could just sit here all day listing all the great villains we've had in DC tv shows...

I left out Michael Rosenbaum because I liked him more when he WASN'T a villain. I loved the dynamics of the friendship in the first few seasons, and when they pushed his villain side I felt like his character dipped in quality a bit (during season 7, which was probably down to the writers strike).

 

[smallville fan]

Personally, never really got into Smallville, but I shouldn't
have forgotten about one of the Zods ! Sorry.
( in my defence I did remember Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor).
What about the Smallville version of Doomsday ?

I also left out villains from the Superboy Tv series
(maybe someone will be keen on Michael J Pollard as Myxtlplk ).
But fair call there.

Cheers.

I can agree with the unanimous verdict that Doomsday on Smallville was executed poorly. The costuming and make-up was impressive though and chances are in any future takes on Doomsday are only going to be CG'ed though.

 

[Loki882]

Mark Hamill as the Trickster in both the Flash live-action TV show and an episode of JLU. He is ridiculously entertaining in that role.

 

[Batmannerism]

Mark Hamill as the Trickster in both the Flash live-action TV show and an episode of JLU. He is ridiculously entertaining in that role.

Tru dat ! He was one of the best things about the old Flash TV show.

 

[Duran Man]

1. Heath Ledger - Joker
2. Tom Hardy - Bane
3. Jack Nicholson - Joker
4. Michael Shannon - General Zod
5. Cillian Murphy - Scarecrow
6. Aaron Eckhart - Two-Face
7. Terrance Stamp - General Zod
8. Anne Hathaway - Catwoman
9. Liam Neeson - Ra's Al Ghul
10. Michelle Pfeiffer - Catwoman

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Heath Ledger = the Joker
Jack Nicholson = the Joker
Terrance Stamp = General Zod
Michael Shannon = General Zod
Gene Hackman = Lex Luthor
Tom Hardy = Bane
Mark Strong = Sinestro
Mark Hamill = the Trickster
John Shea = Lex Luthor

 

[Elevator Man]

Anne Hathaway's Catwoman shouldn't be included. She was hardly a villain in TDKR, just a thief. She came off like Huntress for most of the movie, imo. Mark Strong's Sinestro wasn't a villain in the GL movie either.

 

[spider-neil]

Ledger.
Hackman.
Stamp.

The other DC villains are 'meh' for me. Entertaining but ultimately forgettable. Joker '89 is memorable and iconic but that isn't how I imagined Joker when reading Batman comics so not a favourite of mine.

 

[Loki882]

Ledger.
Hackman.
Stamp.

The other DC villains are 'meh' for me. Entertaining but ultimately forgettable. Joker '89 is memorable and iconic but that isn't how I imagined Joker when reading Batman comics so not a favourite of mine.

I personally thought that Shannon's Zod was a much better character. Stamp may have been more flamboyant, but Shannon was the much more interesting character.

 

[KangConquers]

I personally thought that Shannon's Zod was a much better character. Stamp may have been more flamboyant, but Shannon was the much more interesting character.

Shannon had so many wooden lines though. Stamp acted circles around Shannon.

 

[Batmannerism]

Shannon had so many wooden lines though. Stamp acted circles around Shannon.

Dudes ! I see a Zod thread coming.

Who's your favourite Zod ?

-Michael Shannon
-Callum Blue
-Terrence Stamp

(not really counting the animated Zods)


For myself, I agree with Loki in saying

that Shannon's Zod was a much better character. Stamp may have been more flamboyant, but Shannon was the much more interesting character. [ /QUOTE]

which is probably due to a better written character with more relatable motivations, than the actual performance. However, I really enjoyed what Shannon did with the role -certainly the correct Zod for today's Superman.

Stamp's Zod has little motivation, other than being a power-hungry psychopath, which makes us wonder how an advanced civilization put him in charge of its defence. Still Stamp does great things with what he's given, and the line "Kneel before Zod" has become part of western culture.
The performance is a little camp, almost like a Batman villain from the 60's TV show (which wasn't all that long before SM II). Still, as an audience, we hate his guts, which means the actor is doing his job.

With Shannon's Zod, we understand him a little more, can sort of see his point of view, but are horrified by his fanaticism and casual reaction to genocide- a much scarier Zod, if you think about it.

Good posts people, cheers !

 

[spider-neil]

The stamp (Zod) iconic lines roll off the tongue. The only Shannon line I remember is 'I will find him' but only because he says it so many times. Remembered by repetition rather than it being iconic.

 

[Loki882]

Yeah, but having memorable lines doesn't automatically=well written character, at least to me. Dafoe was fantastic as Green Goblin and was entertaining, but the character wasn't all that well-written. The same with Stamp's Zod. His performance is good, and he's entertaining, but there's nothing really to his character. He's a one-dimensional power-mad psycho. That's not Stamp's fault (he didn't write the script). It's a taste issue. If you like memorable lines and entertaining over the top bad guys, then Stamp is your man. Personally, I prefer more complicated, multi-dimensional villains with more motivation than simply "I'm evil" and so I much preferred Shannon. Also, I don't think that his performance was "wooden" at all.

 

[King Marvel]

1. Terrance Stamp - General Zod
2. Michael Rosenbaum - Lex Luthor
3. Jack Nicholson - Joker

They weren't the best non comic versions (well, at least with Lex and Joker, whose definitive versions in any medium will always be Clancy Brown and Mark Hamil's animated versions) but I liked them a lot. Nicholson/Rosenbaum were definately the best live action versions of the characters though, although I thought Gene Hackman did a good job as the type of Lex they were going for, and the 60's tv Joker was ok.

 

[NewYorkSpider]

While I love Hathaway's performance as Catwoman, I still prefer Michelle Pfeffer's.