The last decade has been a great one for cinema. The MCU has managed to become a cultural phenomenon and has truly introduced some of the most memorable villains of all time. That being said, there has been more to cinematic villains than just the MCU; even Disney and Pixar have been including some truly terrifying and memorable villains in their movies. The best movies are ones with an entertaining and memorable villain, so it is truly important that filmmakers get the right villain for their movies.
This article will list the 10 best villains of the past decade.
Rose Armitage - Get Out
Jordan Peele’s debut movie, Get Out, is a tense and terrifying movie that moves away from the recent reliance on jump scares in horror movies. The film follows Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) as he visits his girlfriend’s family for the first time. While originally he just thought this would be a standard awkward encounter, it results in a terrifying experience involving brain surgery. The film was incredibly well made and includes great scares with humor and important social commentary.
It is revealed that Rose lures in black men that her family can then use as shells for their friend’s brains. Rose is truly a psychopath and she certainly makes for a memorable villain due to her betrayal and total lack of remorse.
Wilford - Snowpiercer
Snowpiercer may be one of the most underrated movies of the decade. The film is based around the idea the human race has been driven to near extinction by a climate emergency. The Earth is covered in ice and humanity has been forced into living on a single train that perpetually travels across the globe. The train is divided based on social class and follows a revolt from the lower class carriage, led by Chris Evans’ character.
The villain of the film, Wilford, designed the train and is treated like a messiah in various sections of the train. He is behind almost all of the brutality that we see during the movie and even relies on child labor and cruelty to perpetuate his train.
Amy Dunne - Gone Girl
Gone Girl was one of the best movies of 2014. Based on the novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl follows Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), as he tries to find out what happened to his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike). The film is marvelously made and is truly gripping from start to finish, as we see the secrets of the marriage begin to unfurl and pressure build on Nick Dunne.
What is revealed through the film is how villainous Amy is. She faked her kidnapping in order to try and get Nick arrested and sentenced for her disappearance. In addition to her brutal character, Amy’s plan is very clever and complex, making her a truly terrifying villain.
Terence Fletcher - Whiplash
Whiplash was one of the best movies of the decade. It follows the story of a young jazz drummer who is studying at a prestigious music school. The film was critically acclaimed, with critics praising the movie for its inspiring plot and stellar performances from Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons.
Terence Fletcher is the terrifying jazz teacher the film’s main antagonist. While we’ve all had a terrifying and aggressive teacher, Fletcher is one step above. He is constantly mocking students and using verbal and physical abuse to ’teach’ the subject.
Hans - Frozen
Frozen was one of the most successful movies of the decade. It was a true phenomenon and that was both a critically acclaimed and commercially successful movie. Due to the fact that the film is a musical, it also features some of the most memorable songs of the decade. Whether it be the sad ‘Do You Wanna Build a Snowman’ or the empowering ‘Let it Go,’ the movie had a tune for everyone.
But perhaps the most shocking element of the movie (outside of its stunning animation) was the villainous twist at the end. It is revealed that Prince Hans was simply using Princess Anna in order to get access to her throne. Also, he was just a few seconds from killing Elsa. This was truly shocking for a Disney movie and made the film even more memorable.
Loki - MCU
Loki is one of the most popular characters in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). He acted as the big villain through the first phase of Marvel movies and was behind most of the chaos caused in The Avengers. Loki was also an intimidating and powerful villain, but also one with understandable motives.
While Loki has shifted away from his early villainous nature to more of a grey character, he is still selfish and opportunistic but he is also more likely to help the heroes out if push comes to shove.
Smaug - The Hobbit Trilogy
The Hobbit movies were not the most loved or acclaimed movies of the past decade. Fans thought that this trilogy lost the heart of what made The Lord of the Rings so great. There was an over-reliance on CGI and Ian McKellen found acting in front of green screens so distressing that he cried, tearfully saying ‘This is not why I became an actor’.
That being said, there is one thing that the new movies did right: Smaug. The hoarding dragon was masterfully designed and voiced perfectly by Benedict Cumberbatch. The British actor managed to make Smaug sound even scarier than he looked. If there’s one reason to watch The Hobbit movies, it’s Smaug.
Ernesto - Coco
Coco was simply one of the best movies of 2017. Here, the protagonist Miguel traveled into the Land of the Dead in pursuit of his grandfather, who believes is a famous singer/songwriter. The film is a masterpiece of animation and manages to balance humor with genuine emotion and tearjerking scenes.
One element of the film that makes it so memorable is the villain Ernesto de la Cruz. Beneath his charm and singing, Ernesto is actually a selfish and ego-driven man who, it is revealed, murdered Miguel’s grandfather and became famous by stealing his now deceased partner’s songwriting.
Raoul Silva - Skyfall
Skyfall is, arguably, the best James Bond movie. It is a marvelously beautiful entry that reinvigorated the franchise after the disastrous Quantum of Solace. This film manages to balance the gripping action we expect in a Bond movie with the addition of character depth and emotion that is rare in a Bond film.
Another addition that makes the movie so memorable is the addition of the villain, Raoul Silva. His plan is based around a personal vengeance that’s not only understandable but also showcases a negative side to M’s character. The character was clearly based around imagery of the Joker from The Dark Knight, but not to such an extent that it becomes glaring.
Thanos - MCU
There’s no way that Thanos couldn’t make this list. The Mad Titan was masterfully and carefully hinted at and built up over a period of several years. This created a sense of expectation that might have been difficult to live up to, but Marvel clearly met and exceed all of our expectations.
Thanos could have easily been another grey and bland villain, such as those that DC enjoy dropping at the end of their movies, but they added depth and character to Thanos. While no one would say they sympathized with Thanos, we could at least understand his mad goal.
