What Villains From Non-Comic Movies, Would Make Good Comic Villains?

[metaphysician]

All the talk about The Batman taking inspiration from movies like Seven has got me thinking about villains and villainy. Now, on average most villains from "normal" movies would have issues in a superhero story, due to the genre jump and the presence of vastly larger than life hero figures. Most, but clearly not all.

So, who would you say is a good example of a villain from a "normal" movie who'd work well as a superhero antagonist, in terms of either providing meaningful challenge, an appropriate thematic link, or preferably both?

( Also, I say "movies" but honestly any live action is fine. )

 

[Batgirl0202]

Hannibal Lecter - Obvious but I think he'd be a great villain for a more 'street-level' hero like Daredevil or Batman. Someone whose sheer cunning and ruthlessness would nicely balance the hero's morality.

Moriarty - See above.

Terminator - I know he's pretty much a comic book villain already but the original Arnie version would make a great adversary for the mid-power level heroes like Spidey, Cap, and Black Panther.

Dracula - Duh. A natural for Dr. Strange, Blade, Werewolf, Brother Voodoo, Hellstrom, etc.

Aliens/Predators - Same as above but I'd love to see the Avengers take on a horde of either

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Much of the James Bond Rogues Gallery. Several of them are very comic book-esque already. For example, Max Schreck that Joker mentioned above is if anything a LESS insane version of Max Zorin.

 

[metaphysician]

Hannibal Lecter does bring to mind a recurring concept: when it comes to horror movies ( and I'd say most serial killer movies totally count ), a lot of times the villain of the piece is *already* effectively a 'supervillain'. Part or all of the horror comes from that the protagonists of the movie are dealing with someone impossibly skilled, if not outright supernaturally powerful, when they themselves are not. Thus, they are relatively easy picks. . . though often losing the "horror" tag when they actually have meaningful opposition.

I would also say that not all serial killers would work as good supervillains. Obviously, all cinematic serial killers tend to be flashy and theatrical, but to actually work as meaningful opposition against a superheroic investigator, they need that extra edge-outright manipulative brilliance or something like that. So, someone like Hannibal Lector, or Jigsaw, or Red John, but probably not someone like John Doe. John Doe still kind of hinges on the real world limit of "its really hard to investigate a crime with no conventional motive", which is a problem for a superhero but much less of one, making him a one-story ( or even one-issue ) villain for a decent investigative hero like Batman. Whereas Hannibal Lecter, especially the Mikkelsen version, is legitimately brilliant at covering his tracks, leaving diversions, and manipulating people. . . and is also more or less the icon for "I still work even if I'm in Arkham".

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

It would be interesting to see Darth Vader search the cosmos for Infinity Stones.

 

[Deck Rickard]

The villains in Con Air, lol.

 

[MarvelFan]

Father Faustus Blackwood from "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" would be a great foe for Doctor Strange or Scarlet Witch.

 

[Drizzle]

It would be interesting to see Darth Vader search the cosmos for Infinity Stones.

That Marvel/Star Wars crossover is gonna happen someday. Maybe only as a comic but you just know Disney wants to play with all of their toys in the same sandbox.

 

[metaphysician]

Honestly, even without infinity stones in play, Vader would be a fine villain in this context. Sure, he may "only" be in the Captain America range, but "Super soldier with a laser sword and some fairly buff TK, plus very large amounts of heavily armed space empire mooks" is nothing to sneer at. He'd probably be more effective a threat than Ronan, for instance, even if he'd need to use vehicles to make up for a deficit in personal power.

 

[psylockolussus]

Voldemort

Valak

The creatures from A Quiet Place

Nemesis

 

[Rozen Thorne]

Imhotep, the Mummy (1999) would be cool for a Justice Society movie.

 

[metaphysician]

Imhotep really was "What if a bunch of non-powered pulp heroes had to take on one of those nigh-godlike Golden Age supervillains?"

 

[Frodo]

Interesting topic.

Batman

Hannibal Lector ( Silence Of The Lambs)

Scorpio ( Dirty Harry)

Blofeld ( You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever)
Though I could see SPECTRE and Bloefeld being a DCU threat in general as opposed to just Batman

Norman Bates ( Psycho)

The Justices ( The Star Chamber)

Wah Sing Ku ( Lethal Weapon 4)


Punisher

Tony Montana ( Scarface)

Frank Costello ( The Departed)

Sanchez ( License To Kill)

Brad Wesley ( Roadhouse)

The Gruber Brothers , Die Hard 1 and 3



Captain America

Neville Sinclair ( The Rocketeer) WW2 Era villain

Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel, USMC ( The Rock)

Mitch Leary ( In The Line Of Fire)

Andrew Scott ( Universal Solider)


Superman

Khan ( The Wraith Of Khan)

T-1000 ( T2)

Borg Queen ( Star Trek First Contact)




X Men

Andrew ( Chronicle)

Carrie White ( Carrie)



Doctor Strange

Sauron ( The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy)

Jareth ( Labyrinth )

Zuul ( Ghostbusters)


Blade

Lestat ( Interview With A Vampire)

 

[Drizzle]

Stansfield from Leon: The Professional would make a worthy adversary for The Punisher or Daredevil.

 

[Frodo]

Peter Parker /Spiderman High School and College Bullies / nemesis's

Biff Tannen ( The Back To The Future Trilogy)

Johnny Lawrence , Teen years ( The Karate Kid)

Regina George ( Mean Girls)

Buddy Revell ( 3 O'Clock High)

Stan Gable ( Revenge Of The Nerds)

Principal Vernon ( The Breakfast Club)
He would probably always be suspicious of Peter and just not like him on general principle, despite being a strait A student.

Spiderman Enemies

David Kessler / The Werewolf ( An American Werewolf In London)
In Peter Parker tradition, he would likely be good friends with him ,but as Spiderman, he would have to battle him in Werewolf form.

Seth Brundle/ Brundle Fly ( The Fly)
Would likely be a brilliant scientist/ mentor who Peter idolizes but who's tragically transforming into a Fly.

Griffin /The Invisible Man ( The Invisible Man 1933)

Aquaman

Gillman ( The Creature From The Black Lagoon )

Karl Stromberg ( The Spy Who Loved Me)

Davy Jones ( Pirates Of The Caribbean )

 

[Web-Head]

This guy

 

[Frodo]

Batman

Alex ( A Clockwork Orange)

Howard Pain ( Speed)

Silva ( Skyfall)


Daredevil

The Magnum Force ( Dirty Harry : Magnum Force)

Max Cady ( Cape Fear)

Bill ( Kill Bill)


Superman

Sil ( Species)

The Harvesters ( Independence Day)


Wonder Woman

The Kurgan ( Highlander)

Mayday and Max Zorin ( A View To A Kill)


The Punisher

Miguel Bain (Assasins)


S.H.E.I.L.D.

Jim Phelps ( Mission Impossible)

Solomon Lane ( Mission Impossible : Rogue Nation)

S.P.E.C.T.R.E. ( Dr.No, From Russia With Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice etc)


Doctor Strange

Grand High Witch ( The Witches)

The Nothing( The Never Ending Story)

Aquaman

The Kraken ( Clash Of The Titans)