Gone are the days of thinking that a good villain must spin in a chair and be expecting the hero to show up. As well as the days of evil laughs and overcomplicated plans. Now we follow the Villains that have an argument that can almost sway the audience to side with them, the ones that see themselves as the hero of the story.
One of the worst things to happen to any superhero movie is to have them face up against someone who is doing their villainous acts because they’re the villain. And why when the likes of the Dark Knight’s Joker or Avengers’ Loki stand out above the rest as highly as they do. Villains that are able to go toe to toe against the heroes while being able to talk their way into the audiences hearts.
Quickly about Black Panther and Michael B Jordan’s portrayal of Killmonger, his mentality is that he sees the people of Wakanda as cowards for having the technology they do but to stand back as the black people in America and around the world were discriminated and abused for decades. His aim is to rule Wakanda as king, to which he has a claim, and help those around the world who don’t have the power to fight for themselves.
SPOILER ALERT
Not only does all of this make sense to the audience but even the titular character T’Challa agrees with him, he is then forced to question himself and the Kings before him to ask why they didn’t help. Why the world burned around them and they did nothing. Other than all of this, Killmonger is a physical threat to Black Panther almost killing our hero a few times during the film.
Now on to Infinity War, Josh Brolin had a big gauntlet to fill after Loki and Killmonger, yet the he succeeded. To him he is the hero of his story, his aim is to prevent the devastation that claimed his own home world turning it from a paradise to an inhabitable wasteland. He doesn’t want to choose who dies and who lives, he just wants to stop other thriving worlds from having to go through the pain that his own did. Commendable and almost noble of an aim.
But on to the one Villain performance that was able to grant someone an Oscar, the late Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker. Where the Joker is different to the other villains is his awareness of his acts, yet while still having a firm grip of his own motivations. His wanting to show the flaws in the mentality of everyone, his trying to prove that everyone is capable of horrendous acts with all they need is to be pushed far enough.
This iteration of the Joker is intelligent, organised and strategic. Able to turn an interrogation on its head and to manipulate Batman himself to act the way he wants the caped crusader to. Not only is he able to cause chaos throughout Gotham City but he proves his point, he takes the best of Gotham’s citizens and brings him down to his and Batman’s level. Taking someone who wants nothing but good for the city and turning them into a murderer.
Essentially a good villain needs to be a good hero, they need to have a motivation that isn’t driven by being evil, nor do they need to have an evil laugh or a spinning chair.
The Nerdy Bartender 