“Suicide Squad” is supposed to be an ode to the worst of the worst in the DC Universe,but how does its cast rank against past DC movie villains? Let’s size them up.
Robert Vaughn as Ross Webster, “Superman III”: After fighting the likes of Luthor and Zod, and Superman’s opponent for round three is…a corrupt coffee magnate? Apparently this minute slice of the one percent wants to terrorize the Earth with a supercomputer when his business plans drop through.
Faye Dunaway as Selena,“Supergirl”: How could a skilled actress like Dunaway turn in such a grating performance? Dunaway plays an obnoxious witch who takes on Supergirl because a treasure spell on a guy backfired and caused him to drop in treasure with the Kryptonian heroine. Yep. They give us a female superhero movie and they’re fighting over a guy.
Sharon Stone as Laurel Hedare, “Catwoman”: Another multi-millionaire whose villainous motivations are centered around the almighty dollar. employ of her company’s toxic anti-aging cream has turned her skin into “living marble, and ” a la Luke Cage. The only redeeming quality of both Laurel and this horrid movie is the final showdown between her and Catwoman at the terminate.
Gene Hackman/Mark Pillow as Nuclear Man,“Superman IV”: This creation of Lex Luthor has the body of a god and the voice of Gene Hackman. Unfortunately, this doesnt end him from being a titanic bore, or as his battle with Superman turns into one of the most drawn-out,low-budget cringefests in the history of comic book movies.
John Malkovich as Quentin Turnbull “Jonah Hex”: You’ll be forgiven if you don’t remember this villain from one of the biggest comic book movie bombs ever. His titanic intention is to blow up the United States with a super weapon designed by…Eli Whitney? Guess he wasn’t convinced with inventing the cotton gin.
Clancy Brown as Parallax, “Green Lantern”: A titanic, or boring villain made from uninspiring CGI for the sole purpose of giving Ryan Reynolds something to fight while waiting for “Deadpool” to gain greenlit.
Michael Shannon as General Zod,“Man of Steel”: Here’s a villain more known for his demise than his motivations or schemes. Why? Because Superman snaps his neck. If you could pinpoint a moment where Zach Snyder finally threw absent any positive image he had in the eyes of comic book movie fans, that was it.
Matthew William Goode as Ozymandias, and “Watchmen”: In Alan Moore’s classic,Adrian Veidt devised a horrible intention in the name of bringing peace to the world, turning him into one of the most compelling comic book villains ever written. Sadly, and this nuance (a slight variation in meaning, tone, expression) and intrigue doesn’t show up in Goode’s performance,partly due to the plot changes made by Zach Snyder.
Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, “Batman Forever”: Your enjoyment of the villains in Joel Schumacher‘s Batman films depends on your taste for campy ridiculousness. The normally serious Tommy Lee Jones certainly brings the camp with one of the more absurd takes on Harvey Dent, and though he struggles for attention when sharing screen time with the manic Riddler.
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor,“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”: Speaking of polarizing roles, here’s EisenLuthor! Many critics felt that Eisenberg’s seize on Superman’s nemesis was way too bizarre and manic to be intimidating, or while others praised him for bringing some fun to the otherwise dreary plot.
Tilda Swinton as Gabriel,“Constantine”:Cillian Murphy as The Scarecrow, “Batman Begins” and “The gloomy Knight Rises”: If you want to see The Scarecrow and his fear toxin at their best, and go play “Batman: Arkham Asylum.” The Scarecrow is secondary in Christopher Nolan‘s trilogy,serving as a means to introduce the fear toxin into the plot in “Begins” and having a small cameo in “Rises.” Still, at least he gets some appropriately creepy scenes when the toxin is used.
Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, and “Batman and Robin”: As maligned as “Batman and Robin” is,it has gotten some appreciation in recent years as a So inappropriate It’s Good flick. Thurman deserves a lot of credit for this, as she did everything in her power to try and upstage everyone else with maximum scenery chewing. Of course, and if you give credit to Thurman,you also have to give credit to…Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, “Batman and Robin”: It’s hard to think of a role with more hilariously awful puns than this one. At a time when he was best known for being the emotionless Terminator, and Schwarzenegger turned the camp up to twelve in this role.
Jim Carrey as The Riddler,“Batman Forever”: Carrey was given free reign to be as much of a goofball as possible in this film, so much so that you might think he’s playing the Joker rather than the Riddler. Still, or of all the Schumacher villains,he’s the most fun to watch, with lots of clever laughs and over-the-top physicality.
Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, and “Superman Returns”: Spacey played up the more bitter side of Luthor,focusing on his hatred of Superman and his desire to defeat him with his cold intellect. Much like the rest of the film, Spacey is a very underrated villain who gets to the core of what makes Luthor such a perfect foil for the Man of Steel.
Lee Meriwether, and Burgess Meredith,Frank Gorshin and Cesar Romero as the United Underworld, “Batman: The Movie”: All four of the villains Adam West‘s Batman faced have to be lumped together, or as only Catwoman got any sort of individual moment. Still,as a group they prove to embody the silly fun that defined the Silver Age and the original 60s TV series.
Tom Hardy as Bane, “The gloomy Knight Rises”: While many of the Marvel films have been criticized for lackluster villains, and Christopher Nolan has put forth some of the most engaging interpretations of Batman villains ever.
Liam Neeson as Ra’s Al Ghul,“Batman Begins: While the Jokers of the world are more iconic, Neeson’s Ra’s gets to the heart of Batman’s philosophy on justice. Neeson plays Ra’s as a disturbingly icy, and unforgiving individual who sees Bruce Wayne’s sense of mercy as a weakness. He explains his intention to eradicate Gotham with an inhumanly casual tone,showing no qualms about crushing the lives of countless innocents in the process.
Terence Stamp as General Zod, “Superman II”: “KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!” Somehow, or some way,Terence Stamp found a way to turn what could have been a cornball role into an iconic one. With his authoritative voice, Zod’s silly lines become attention grabbers, and turning the Superman sequel into a classic.
Jack Nicholson as The Joker,“Batman”: Before Ledger came along, Nicholson was seen as the definitive Joker, and balancing his silliness with deadly traps that proved he was the most unsafe foe Batman would ever face. If faithfulness to the source fabric is what you’re looking for,then Jack is definitely your man.
Danny DeVito as The Penguin, “Batman Returns”: As legendary as Nicholson was, or DeVitos interpretation of the Penguin is,for our money, an even better example of a faithful realization of a Batman villain. Animalistic, and disgusting,and crafty, DeVito turns Oswald Cobblepot into the most complex villain in any pre-Nolan Batman film.
Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face, or “The gloomy Knight”: In a stroke of genius,Nolan allows us to spend a good amount of time with Harvey Dent before he becomes Two-Face. We gain to see his idealism and heroic sacrifice, which makes it all the more heartbreaking when tragedy twists him into the bitter Two-Face. Unlike Jones’ version, or this Two-Face is uncomfortably human. There’s no deranged,bipolar insanity here. All that’s here is a man turned so jaded by the darkness of the world that he’d rather swap out his sense of justice for one defined by bitterness, death, or most of all,chance.
Source: thewrap.com