The Guest List: Silver Screen Serenade

Another Friday is upon us…you know what that means don’t you? It’s time for another kick-ass edition of The Guest List! This week I am fortunate enough to have Cara from Silver Screen Serenade contribute her very own top 10 to the segment! If you don’t already subscribe/follow to her site, I highly suggest you do so…right after you read her incredible top 10!

If you’re interested in submitting your very own top 10 to the segment, here’s how! By the way, I’m still waiting on a lot of you to send a post over, so if you can, throw an e mail my way letting me know when I can expect it by.

All you need to do is shoot me an e mail ([email protected]) with your name, website info (if you have one), and the topic you have chosen for your top 10. If I like what I see, I’ll give you the all clear and you can begin composing your entry. Make sure to include a descriptive, yet brief introduction and a picture or clip for every entry in your top 10. Use my own top 10s as references. Then, send it back to me and we will discuss a date of publish.

I’m going to turn things over to Cara now, enjoy!

Top 10 Marvel/DC Villains: by Cara

Having just seen “Thor: The Dark World” (which is great, by the way), I am on a major superhero high right now. But you know what? It’s not just a superhero high. As they say, it takes two to tango. What fun would a righteous superhero be without a nasty ol’ supervillain? With that in mind, here are some of my personal favorite supervillains from the ever-expanding world of Marvel and DC films.

10: The Mandarin/Trevor Slattery (Iron Man 3)

Maybe in the end he’s not quite what we thought he’d be, but you have to admit that Ben Kingsey’s portrayal of The Mandarin is pretty freaking intense in Iron Man 3—even if (SPOILER ALERT) the whole persona is a farce. A terrorist with a vendetta against Tony Stark, he rocks his shades, wicked beard, fancy robe, and camo pants like nobody’s business, and the creepy way he talks will give you chills. And if that doesn’t work for you, maybe hilarious, ridiculous Trevor will win you over.

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9: Scarecrow/Dr. Jonathan Crane (The Dark Knight Trilogy)

In Batman Begins, Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow is the corrupt head psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, where he experiments on inmates with a hallucinogenic toxin that induces fear. He may not be physically imposing, but that mask is scary as all get out—especially after a dose of the toxin. The Scarecrow spreads his toxin across Gotham, and the resulting chaos nearly destroys the city. After his plan is foiled, the Scarecrow makes two delightful cameos in the Dark Knight sequels. He’s the only villain to appear in all three Nolan films, and that’s awesome.

140225-32322-scarecrow

8: Red Skull/Johann Schmidt (Captain America: The First Avenger)

A supervillain and a Nazi? Can they get much more evil than that?! When we’re introduced to Captain America on the big screen, he’s fighting against Nazi Germany, and Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull becomes his biggest adversary. The ruthless head of the Nazis’ HYDRA research division, the Red Skull is obsessed with power, magic, and the occult, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants. His eerie appearance is the result of bad batch of super soldier serum. Funny how a similar serum makes Captain America so darn attractive…

Captain America: The First Avenger

7: Mystique/ Raven Darkholme (X-Men series)

A staple of the original three X-Men movies, Rebecca Romijn’s shape shifting Mystique is easily one of the toughest mutants on the block. She may be a woman of few words, but it’s hard to find time to talk when you have so many asses to kick. This blue beauty is super athletic, super clever, and super loyal to evil best bud Magneto. Also, one time she snapped a guy’s neck with her feet. If that’s not the definition of a badass, I don’t know what is.

Mystique_in_prison

6: The Green Goblin/Norman Osborn (Spider Man)

The first foe we get to see Spider-Man tackle on the big screen, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin sets the standard pretty high for tech-savvy supervillains. He’s got a fancy jet glider loaded with ammunition, lots of dangerous little bombs, and even some paralytic gasses—all of which put Spider-Man in some tight spots. Oh, and the Green Goblin is also hopped up on an experimental super soldier formula that makes him both very strong and very crazy—a great combination for a supervillain.

GreenGoblinDafoe

5: Doctor Octopus/Dr. Otto Octavius (Spider Man 2)

Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus takes extreme body modification to a whole new level. You think piercings and tattoos are a big deal? How about adding four super strong robotic limbs? After an experiment goes awry, Doc Ock is at first horrified to find himself fused to the metal arms, but it doesn’t take long for him to give in to grief and obsession and use the limbs for a wicked, dangerous purpose. Even Spider-Man struggles with this handsy (tentacly?) foe.

doctor_octopus-HD

4: Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)

He may be hard to understand sometimes through his intense headgear, but the bulging muscles and sinister plans send a pretty clear message: don’t mess with Tom Hardy’s Bane. The lethal final foe in the Dark Knight Trilogy, Bane almost puts Batman out of commission for good with one backbreaking blow. As clever as he is strong, the villain successfully captures and shuts down the entire city of Gotham for months, nearly destroying it before Batman swoops in to save the day. He’s definitely one of the most intense villains on this list.

The-Dark-Knight-Rises-bane-hardy

3: Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr (X-Men series)

Graceful, charismatic, and totally ruthless, Sir Ian McKellan’s Magneto looks just as suave playing chess as he does manipulating metal for destructive, murderous purposes. And he does it all with a cheeky, grandfatherly twinkle in his eye. Formerly a close friend of benevolent telepath Professor Xavier, Magneto chooses a darker path in life—a path that is constantly at odds with the existence of pesky humans. A clever mutant who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, Magneto causes serious trouble for Professor X’s mutants in all three original X-Men films.

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2: Loki (Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World)

Without shame, I will admit that I love Tom Hiddleston’s Asgardian magician Loki slightly more than the villain’s brother and superhero counterpart, Thor. Often straddling the line between supervillain and anti-hero, Loki is a prominent figure in both Thor films as well as The Avengers. He’s embittered by jealousy and rage, and he craves power above all else, yet he’s also wickedly charming and funny. Plus, he’s constantly battling a secret soft spot for his bro, which just makes you wanna go “aww.” Fans have so much Loki love that they’re even petitioning for a solo movie. We can only dream…

The-avengers-loki

1: The Joker (The Dark Knight)

Like anyone else was going to snag the number one slot. Very predictable of me, I know, but Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as the intense, terrifying Joker in The Dark Knight will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the best portrayals of a supervillain ever. The Joker gleefully wreaks havoc in Gotham City, slaughtering citizens with a jagged smile and a chilling cackle. He’s a brilliant, twisted terrorist, but he’s also darkly humorous and completely fascinating. Without this supervillain, The Dark Knight simply would not be the masterpiece that it is. R.I.P. Heath.

Heath-Ledger-The-Joker

Okay then, what a list! Remember to head on over to Silver Screen Serenade and follow! A big thank you to Cara for contributing! Everyone have a great weekend!

About Joseph@thecinemamonster

Aspiring writer who absolutely adores film and television. thecinemamonster.com

Posted on November 15, 2013, in The Guest List and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. 39 Comments.

  1. Awesome list! Great work friends : )

    I wish we could put Galactus on here but they fudged that up like nobody’s business…. : (

  2. YAY! Thank you soooo much for letting me do this! It’s been fun!:)

  3. Nice list! You’ve covered pretty well most of the bases for me. Loved seeing Joker and Bane on there. I’m totally obsessed with Bats though, so I probably wouldn’t have faulted you for a whole list of Batman villains, lol.

  4. Reblogged this on Silver Screen Serenade and commented:
    Joseph over at the fantastic Cinema Monster was awesome enough to let me contribute to his Guest List, where I wrote about my top ten Marvel/DC film supervillains. Give it a looksee! And if you don’t already follow The Cinema Monster, DO IT. It really is an excellent blog:)

  5. Sorry, I can’t take this list seriously because it doesn’t have Nuclear Man from Superman IV.

  6. Hard to question the top three, either their identities or the order in which you’ve placed them.

    Great work!

  7. incredible list! great job!

  8. Fantastic post, awesome list. Love seeing Scarecrow up there! And of course Mystique. Majorly kick arse lady villain. Completely agree with the Top 3, too. Nice!

  9. Great list!:-) I never give much thought to the villains for some strange reason. But I do love Magneto. And Heath is definitely the one who make The Dark Knight so great – it would NOT have been the same without him. Great actor.

  10. Great villains. I also like Loki more than his bro. Loki straddles the line between villain and ally. He cares for Thor even while being very envious of him which helps make Loki deeper than a run of the mill arch nemesis.

  11. great list. cant argue with any of that top 10. Excellent idea to go with villains over heroes, usually more complex characters

    Thanks Cara for sharing

  12. Great list! Thanks for sharing.

  13. Oooooh! LOVED Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Crane, he was great. I absolutely love this list! Excellent picks, and I LOVE the Joker being the number one. Heath Ledger just rocked that, and he is my favourite villain. He is just cooked, and crazy and awesome.

    • Thanks, Zoe! Never would’ve had anyone but Heath at the top. And I would’ve kicked myself if I hadn’t made room for Cillian Murphy.:)

      • Nobody comes close!😛 It would have been a sin not to put him on there, I think Murphy was just amazing for what he did. You know, Nolan cast his baddies freaking well to be honest!

  14. I can’t say I agree with your assessment of Trevor Slattery. I feel his character was extraordinarily undercut why that twist. If he’s a farce then how is he a villain. He doesn’t belong on this list. You should look at the actual Mandarin in that film. Other then that… Great Article.

    Happy Fandom.

    http://wp.me/43bYh

    • I’m torn about the twist with The Mandarin. Part of me thought it was funny and clever, part of me wished he had been more like the villain we were expecting. Regardless, I think Ben Kingsley does a phenomenal job, and when he’s actually pretending to be The Mandarin, I think he’s creepy as hell. But hey–just my opinion.:)

  15. Great piece Cara! The villains are always the most interesting part of the stories for me, so I love this post!

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