Villains getting their own movies

[The Overlord]

Fox recently announced they are making a movie about Dr. Doom and Sony is making a movie about Venom and toying with making movies about Kraven and Mysterio, plus WB already made a movie about the Suicide Squad.

So what villains could carry a movie and which villains should never headline their own movie?

Venom I kinda understand because he has a history of being an Anti hero.

Dr. Doom is a bit of harder sell, I generally prefer him as an antagonist rather then a protagonist, you could make it work, but I would prefer it if they got him right as a villain first.

Making movies about Mysterio and Kraven is just silly IMO.

 

[Osiris-Rex]

Gotham City Sirens will also be a movie about villains, if it ever gets made.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I think for it to work, the villain has to be somebody we can get behind and want to see succeed. More sympathetic villains and anti-hero types. It wouldn't work for villains that are in too much of a position of power or are too dark and evil to cheer for.

Some examples of villains I think could potentially carry their own films include Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Loki, and the Thunderbolts.

Some examples of villains I don't think could carry their own films include Dr. Doom, Thanos, Darkseid, The Joker, Carnage, Red Skull, and other characters along those lines.

Then there are those that I think could be interesting as villain protagonists in a television series where there is more of a history of success with that sort of thing, but wouldn't work in a feature film. Kingpin and Lex Luthor would fit that mold.

 

[Batmannerism]

I think for it to work, the villain has to be somebody we can get behind and want to see succeed. More sympathetic villains and anti-hero types. It wouldn't work for villains that are in too much of a position of power or are too dark and evil to cheer for.

Some examples of villains I think could potentially carry their own films include Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Loki, and the Thunderbolts.

Some examples of villains I don't think could carry their own films include Dr. Doom, Thanos, Darkseid, The Joker, Carnage, Red Skull, and other characters along those lines.

Then there are those that I think could be interesting as villain protagonists in a television series where there is more of a history of success with that sort of thing, but wouldn't work in a feature film. Kingpin and Lex Luthor would fit that mold.

Magneto ?

 

[The Overlord]

Magneto ?

Fox was going to make a Magneto centered movie, but they combined it with the First Class movie, so First Class is pretty well a Magneto movie.

 

[Boy Scout]

You could make a movie with a pure evil protagonist (such as The Joker), but you'd have to be really careful about it.

 

[Slade W]

There has been great stories in the comics in the last few years with a villain as the main character, like The Superior Spider-Man and Deathstroke Rebirth. Lex joining the JL has been good too. Having a villain as the main character is something that if done well, has a lot of potential.

 

[Dark Raven]

People have made biographical movies about historical figures like Hitler before. They never framed him as an anti-hero though. I don't think they should do the same for evil villains in comics by showing them as some kind of sympathetic protagonist. That would be to dilute who they are.

 

[BatOnTheWing]

It depends on the villain.
Some are just not strong enough to carry their own film.
I don't feel like they would have to be shown as a sympathetic, anti-hero type.

No one is walking into a Joker film expecting or
wanting him to be a sympathetic character. That would just undo his nature.
We love the Joker because of how bat***** insane he is, and that's what we would
want to see!

I don't want movies about villains to become the norm.
Stuff like Suicide Squad, Gotham City Sirens and the Sinister Six makes sense.
I don't want to see a random film about Kraven, Mad Hatter or Red Skull, though.
Like... no.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

People have made biographical movies about historical figures like Hitler before. They never framed him as an anti-hero though. I don't think they should do the same for evil villains in comics by showing them as some kind of sympathetic protagonist. That would be to dilute who they are.

There is a big difference between a historical biopic on a real life figure and one based on a comic book supervillain. Even then you don't exactly see a lot of films with Hitler as the protagonist. There is the odd one like Downfall, but it takes a lot of skill and the budget and audience size is nowhere near what is needed to make a CBM film like this work.

 

[KINGTHANOS]

I think for it to work, the villain has to be somebody we can get behind and want to see succeed. More sympathetic villains and anti-hero types. It wouldn't work for villains that are in too much of a position of power or are too dark and evil to cheer for.

Some examples of villains I think could potentially carry their own films include Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Loki, and the Thunderbolts.

Some examples of villains I don't think could carry their own films include Dr. Doom, Thanos, Darkseid, The Joker, Carnage, Red Skull, and other characters along those lines.

Then there are those that I think could be interesting as villain protagonists in a television series where there is more of a history of success with that sort of thing, but wouldn't work in a feature film. Kingpin and Lex Luthor would fit that mold.

Thanos absolutely could. If you write him like Starlin and give him some sort of quest where he reluctantly teams with a hero (like Warlock) to seek a goal and battle a higher form of evil.

 

[Roose Bolton]

I think it entirely comes down to the villain. Magneto, Zeno, Loki, Dr Doom....those are big name villains, but their morality and goals are often complex enough to support a story with them in the role of protagonist.

 

[Batmannerism]

Fox was going to make a Magneto centered movie, but they combined it with the First Class movie, so First Class is pretty well a Magneto movie.

Yeah, I wouldn't call it a Magneto movie per se - but he certainly is one of the main characters and is absolutely central to the plot. It's probably as close to a Magneto origin film as we'll get, althtough it's Xavier's origin story too.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Fox was going to make a Magneto centered movie, but they combined it with the First Class movie, so First Class is pretty well a Magneto movie.

Absolutely. First time I watched FC I thought it was in essence a Magneto movie. It was later that I heard it used large elements of a proposed X-Men Origins: Magneto movie - but which never got out of the gate due to XOWs poor reception. Wish we'd actually got XOM, but hey.

 

[Rorschach2012]

A Joker movie would work very well I think. He's despicable but for some reason we still like him, I do think he could be a compelling protagonist so long as they don't make him too sympathetic.

 

[writer0327]

I agree that a Joker movie could be made and done very well with the right approach.

I think a Dr. Doom movie could work, but I'm leery on Fox doing anything with it. I wouldn't mind seeing a Lex Luthor film, but not Eisen-Lex.

 

[dw4000]

A clever way to not make the villains into heroes is to make a film based around a personal feud they are having with another villain. Fighting over gang territory/control of a region, relationships, betrayal, ect. Turning every villain into a hero that saves the world just because studios are desperate for strong IP is sad

 

[Iceman]

A Joker movie. I'd like to see him in Arkham and get mocked but eventually outsmart every other psycho and crook in there.

 

[DOBSON10]

A clever way to not make the villains into heroes is to make a film based around a personal feud they are having with another villain. Fighting over gang territory/control of a region, relationships, betrayal, ect. Turning every villain into a hero that saves the world just because studios are desperate for strong IP is sad

This is exactly why I don't really want to see a villain movie, because Hollywood Executives will just turn the villains into hero's like Suicide Squad did. I'm all in for a villain rivalry/feud or gang war movie but turning them into hero's saving the world does nothing for me. It's why until I hear some kind of plot or storyline from Gotham City Sirens or Suicide Squad 2 that makes sense, I'm not really that excited about either of those movies despite them having characters I want to see.

 

[jmc]

The main problem with super hero villains is they tend not be have much going for them that could support a movie by themselves. If you want to do a film from the perspective of a bad guy there has to be some challenge said bad guy has to overcome that makes you want to see him/her make it in the end. The other factor is that the character has to have some level of likability or a character worse them him/herself. The problem with a lot of the superhero villains is they're generally on par with each other, so they would essentially cancel each other out. This is virtually the same issue as BvS but at the opposite end. There's a reason you don't seem many 'villain' movies, because you need to have contrast.

 

[DOBSON10]

The main problem with super hero villains is they tend not be have much going for them that could support a movie by themselves. If you want to do a film from the perspective of a bad guy there has to be some challenge said bad guy has to overcome that makes you want to see him/her make it in the end. The other factor is that the character has to have some level of likability or a character worse them him/herself. The problem with a lot of the superhero villains is they're generally on par with each other, so they would essentially cancel each other out. This is virtually the same issue as BvS but at the opposite end. There's a reason you don't seem many 'villain' movies, because you need to have contrast.

Most people or the general audience need that, sure, I agree. But I could watch a movie about characters with little to no redeeming qualities and still enjoy it, if the story, plot and dialogue is good/interesting, which I think is possible. Though I do agree it's harder to pull off than your classic "Good Vs. Evil" story.

 

[LaughterLives]

I'd make whole movies out of Scarface and The Ventriloquist, Mr.Freeze, BLack Mask, Two Face, Man-Bat and Clay Face and they'd be dope!...If I could.

 

[jmc]

Most people or the general audience need that, sure, I agree. But I could watch a movie about characters with little to no redeeming qualities and still enjoy it, if the story, plot and dialogue is good/interesting, which I think is possible. Though I do agree it's harder to pull off than your classic "Good Vs. Evil" story.

That's the problem though, you still need contrast to create an interesting story with villains. It basically has to be 'Evil v Worse', and even then it's a tricky path to tread. Those type of stories tend to fall into two categories, redemption type of story where the villain sees the error of their ways, or black humour where the horrible nature of the character is so over the top it becomes absurd. The problem with comic villains is they're not built to be in these type of stories.

 

[LaughterLives]

That's the problem though, you still need contrast to create an interesting story with villains. It basically has to be 'Evil v Worse', and even then it's a tricky path to tread. Those type of stories tend to fall into two categories, redemption type of story where the villain sees the error of their ways, or black humour where the horrible nature of the character is so over the top it becomes absurd. The problem with comic villains is they're not built to be in these type of stories.

If studios had the balls they'd take inspiration from such movies as American Psycho, Scarface, Gone Girl, A Clockwork Orange, There Will be Blood, DogVille, From Dusk til' Dawn or any other great movie where the bad guys are the main characters.
It wouldn't be hard to balance at all as long as there is a director who knows what they're doing.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

A House of Cards style movie about Lex Luthor's rise to power would be cool. Superman just glimpsed from afar or on newspapers.