Comedy movies usually give most of the best jokes to the main characters, but some villains can steal the spotlight. Since so many comedy movies revolve around a lovable central performance, the protagonist is often the funniest character, and the one that audiences want to spend the most time with. This isn’t always the case, however, especially if the hero is more a wry, deadpan character.
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Villains in comedy movies sometimes have the opportunity to be more outrageous and unpredictable than the heroes, since they aren’t the ones who are saddled with the responsibility of moving the plot along or carrying the story through its most emotional moments. While comedy heroes have to be a little more balanced, villains can exist solely as a way to make the audience laugh.
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Dr. Evil – The Austin Powers Franchise
Played by Mike Myers
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Mike Myers plays several characters in the Austin Powers franchise. As well as being the titular British spy, he plays the morbidly obese assassin Fat Bastard and the Dutch villain Goldmember. Dr. Evil is probably the funniest character of them all, however. He’s a great parody of James Bond villains, with elements of his character referring to Blofeld, and other parts simply capturing the franchise’s penchant for eccentric, scar-faced villains with absurd accents. The addition of Mini-Me is a completely untethered slice of comedy gold.
He wants to project a sense of villainy and power, but he’s clearly an insecure, emotional man.
Dr. Evil is a quote machine, and his most famous lines are the kind that make audiences want to repeat them ad nauseam. He wants to project a sense of villainy and power, but he’s clearly an insecure, emotional man who only desires world domination because he was shunned as a child. This melodramatic backstory is played for laughs, poking fun at franchises that try to humanize their overblown villains. Myers plays it perfectly, as always. He’s the only actor in the franchise who can upstage his own performance as Austin.
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Hitler – Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Played by Taika Waititi
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Taika Waititi’s comedy about a young boy growing up in Nazi Germany deals with some thorny issues, to say the least. Waititi himself plays Adolf Hitler, or rather, a version of Hitler who exists in the imagination of a child blinded by his fanaticism. To Jojo, Hitler isn’t a politician; he’s akin to Superman, and someone who gives Jojo the confidence that he needs on a day-to-day basis. Of course, it’s quickly revealed that he knows nothing about Hitler beyond the ludicrous propaganda being shoved down his throat.
Jojo Rabbit exposes the laughable cognitive dissonance that’s required to believe in authoritarianism and political scapegoating.
Jojo Rabbit mines a lot of humor from the dissonance between the real-life history of the Nazi regime and Jojo’s idyllic fantasy of Hitler as an older brother figure. In this way, it exposes the laughable cognitive dissonance that’s required to believe in authoritarianism and political scapegoating. Waititi often plays Hitler like a bubbly children’s presenter, reflecting how firebrand politicians appeal to people’s lowest, least intelligent instincts.
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Dark Helmet – Spaceballs (1987)
Played by Rick Moranis
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Mel Brooks reaffirmed his status as a master of parody with Spaceballs, deconstructing the lofty veneer of the Star Wars franchise with his signature comedic tone. Rick Moranis often steals the show as Lord Dark Helmet, the movie’s Darth Vader stand-in. Moranis would be an awful choice to play Darth Vader, and this is exactly what makes him such a great Dark Helmet. His short stature and perplexed look get a lot of laughs without him having to open his mouth.
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Dark Helmet is one of Mel Brooks’ best characters, and not just because he undercuts the ominous presence of one of cinema’s greatest villains. Aside from the Star Wars lampoonery, Dark Helmet is also a hilarious satirical take-down of men in positions of power with huge egos to hide their insecurity. Dark Helmet is constantly at pains to remind those around him of his power, but his helmet keeps slamming shut, his plans keep failing, and he’s prone to screaming tantrums. He’s more comfortable playing with his dolls than running an evil empire.
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The Wet Bandits – The Home Alone Franchise
Played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern
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The Home Alone franchise never reached the same heights after Macaulay Culkin left, but another key reason why the first two movies are so much better than the sequels is the presence of the villainous duo known – at least to themselves – as the Wet Bandits. Harry and Marv are a mismatched pair of burglars who somehow decide to stick together despite their dysfunctional dynamic and their inability to steal from one unguarded child.
Their little-and-large partnership evokes Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello.
Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are a joyous comedic double act. Their little-and-large partnership evokes Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello, but their constant pratfalls and hilarious physical comedy is also reminiscent of the Three Stooges or the Marx brothers at their best. Plucking these archetypes from a bygone era and placing them in a more modern setting is a reliable recipe for laughs, and something that the franchise failed to learn from in the sequels.
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Mugatu – Zoolander (2001)
Played by Will Ferrell
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Will Ferrell has played a few great villains in his career, such as Lord Business in The Lego Movie and the Mattel CEO in Barbie, but Jacobim Mugatu stands out as one of his funniest characters. The flamboyant designer is a key part of Zoolander‘s satire of high fashion. Each of his outfits is ludicrously ugly, but they’re unusual and impractical enough for him to pass them off as art and maintain his lofty mystique.
The flamboyant designer is a key part of Zoolander‘s satire of high fashion.
Ferrell’s deadpan, mildly annoyed expression contrasts with his absurd outfits, meaning that Mugatu is often a funny character without having to say anything. When he does open his mouth, he comes up with some of Zoolander‘s funniest gags, whether he’s plotting to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia or selling Derek on the concept of his own school. Ferrell returns as Mugatu in Zoolander 2, but the less said about this disappointing sequel, the better.
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Phoenix Buchanan – Paddington 2 (2017)
Played by Hugh Grant
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Hugh Grant seems to enjoy playing the bad guy, just as he does in Bridget Jones’s Diary, Heretic and The Gentlemen. Paddington 2 gives him one of his most memorable villain roles, as he plays the eccentric actor Phoenix Buchanan, who frames Paddington for theft. Phoenix uses his flair for disguises to follow a scavenger hunt around London while Paddington has to get used to life behind bars.
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Phoenix’s narcissistic desire for the spotlight makes him the perfect villain for Paddington, who is characterized by his humility, selflessness and childlike ineptitude. Phoenix is the only character who disagrees with the consensus – among fans and other characters – that Paddington is a gentle soul who must be protected. Ultimately, Phoenix gets some mild form of redemption as he finds a captive audience in prison, and his need to be loved finds a safe outlet.
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Regina George – Mean Girls (2004)
Played by Rachel McAdams
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Female comedy villains are relatively rare, and that’s partly what helps Regina George stand out. She’s the ideal villain for Mean Girls, as the embodiment of the rigid social hierarchy at North Shore High School, and a one-woman jury who Cady has to impress when she first arrives. As the story progresses, she shows a hint of the evil that Janis warns Cady about. She’ll do anything in her power to remain queen bee in the Plastics.
Regina treats high school social politics like it’s the most important thing in the world.
Part of what makes Regina such a compelling antagonist is that her feud with Cady leads both characters to act worse than usual. Ultimately, Cady commits just as many injustices as Regina, and the leader of the Plastics starts to become a sympathetic character right around the time she gets wiped out by a bus. Regina treats high school social politics like it’s the most important thing in the world, and this vigor often outshines Cady.
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Otto – A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Played by Kevin Kline
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Kevin Kline won an Oscar for his performance in A Fish Called Wanda, which is an impressive accomplishment for a comedy movie. It’s made even more impressive considering the strength of the surrounding cast. Even with John Cleese, Michael Palin and Jamie Lee Curtis, Kline frequently stands out as the funniest performer, as his angry, insecure diamond thief delivers many of the best jokes.
It’s hilarious to see the sharp contrast between his estimation of himself and the results of his actions.
Otto’s insecurity over his intelligence often manifests as rage. He tries to quote Nietzsche and reference classical literature without understanding any of it, proving that reading books doesn’t equal intelligence. Where it matters, he’s woefully inept, but it’s hilarious to see the sharp contrast between his estimation of himself and the results of his actions. As the story draws towards a frantic climax, he loses all pretense and allows his worst characteristics to take over.
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Harry – In Bruges (2008)
Played by Ralph Fiennes
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Ralph Fiennes only shows up during the second half of In Bruges, but every scene he’s in shows that he’s an underrated comic actor. He steals the show as Harry, the unhinged, unblinking psychopath who takes matters into his own hands when an assassin ignores his orders to kill his partner. Just as Harry’s introduction shakes up the plot, it also brings a new angle to the comedy.
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Fiennes has had plenty of villain roles, and he’s as menacing as ever playing Harry. The twist is that he manages to combine this malicious presence with a flair for dark humor. He takes hold of Martin McDonagh’s dialogue like a natural, with every profane threat and attempt at posturing sounding completely natural. It’s hard to compete with Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell’s fast-paced dynamic, but Fiennes is just as funny in the few scenes that he has.
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Feathers McGraw – Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)
Feathers Has No Dialogue
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Feathers McGraw first appeared in The Wrong Trousers, and he returned decades later in Vengeance Most Fowl, the second feature-length movie of the Wallace & Gromit franchise. Although he never speaks a word, Feathers is a hilarious villain. He works as a parody of other movie villains, particularly James Bond villains, thanks to his elaborate schemes and advanced technology. He even has a fur seal at one point that looks like Blofeld’s famous white cat.
Feathers’ lack of dialogue makes him a surprisingly menacing villain, as it’s never clear what’s going on behind his eyes. His silence also makes him hilarious. Just like Gromit, Feathers is able to convey a lot of emotion with the smallest facial movements, and he’s even funny when his blank expression doesn’t shift at all, given the right circumstances. The humor of the character evokes the comedies of the silent film era, and he often has the same deadpan stare as Buster Keaton, for example.
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