I don't see what they did wrong with Red Skull, he was a bit underdeveloped, but there really are evil megalomaniacs. He was from Nazi-era Germany. It's practically a requirement.
Except Red Skull in that film wasn't a Nazi, so he was far less scary and sinister then comic book Red Skull. Red Skull's motive in the comics was more about malice and hatred then just acquiring power for its own sake. Red Skull in the comics wanted power to further his grudge against the world and would commit cruel and sadistic acts that didn't bring him power but brought him joy because he enjoyed hurting people. That is more interesting then movie red Skull who wanted power because he is the villain in the movie. Both are "evil" but comic book Red Skull comes off as truly evil, while movie Red Skull is a generic evil villain, he was bargain bin James Bond villain lacking the sinister aspects of his comic book counterparts.
Movie Sebastian Shaw is a far more evil villain than movie Red Skull and Shaw wasn't the focus of First Class, he just had more impressive evil deeds. Red Skull in the movie didn't necessarily need more development, but he needed to something far more evil then what he did in the film. He never had that moment that made him truly detestable, instead he was just forgettable, not sympathetic, but nothing about him was scary either. Red Skull should truly evil and he wasn't in that film.
I like Dr. Octopus as a villain with class. In the Spectacular Spider-man show, they pull that off quite well. He even stops Rhino from running down Aunt May. But he's still evil.
That could work depending how its handled.
But you do have sociopaths in real life. Some villains are just evil for the sake of being evil
And if that's done wrong, the villain comes off as the type of villains seen in 80s cartoons, one dimensional and not threatening. For that type of villain to be threatening, they have to do really evil things, that's hat makes them stand out from some villain who is "generic evil".
They can make them evil for the sake of being evil...without making it come off as cartoony.
They don't have to give them a soppy ******** back-story to make them sympathetic.
Although Doc Ock in S-M 2 did work.
Again Doc Ock has been sympathetic for almost 3 decades now in the comics.
Besides how evil would you want Doc Ock to be a movie? How evil would his actions be? Would he be a complete monster with extremely evil acts that makes him detestable?
I think evil is a powerful word that often gets misused in modern society. When I think of evil, I think of the most terrible acts a human being can commit, not some doofus in spandex who robs banks. That's why you have to be careful with an "evil for evil's sake" type villain, because I only think they work when they are doing something nightmarish and terrifying or at least be creepy and unsettling.
Venom was evil for the sake of being evil
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