Great sci-fi movies need great villains, and there have been some villains in recent sci-fi movies who seem destined to go down in history. Many of the best modern sci-fi movies are elevated by their villains, and compelling performances are vital to this. If a sci-fi movie does things well, the villains can be just as compelling as the main characters, and they can become just as popular too.
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Villains have to push the heroes in interesting ways, so many of the best recent villains are designed to counteract the qualities of other characters. This means that actors who play villains need to be in tune with the motivations of their own characters as well as the other characters in the movie. An intriguing dynamic between the hero and the villain can make both characters more memorable.
You are watching: 10 Perfect Villain Performances In Modern Sci-Fi Movies
Related 10 Best Sci-Fi Movie Villains, Ranked
From Thanos to the Xenomorph, science fiction movies are packed with distinct and memorable villains. Here are the best sci-fi villains of all time.
10 The Colonel – War For The Planet Of The Apes (2017)
Woody Harrelson
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8/10 7/10 War for the Planet of the Apes
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*Availability in US Director Matt Reeves Release Date July 14, 2017 Cast Judy Greer , Steve Zahn , Mercedes de la Zerda , Max Lloyd-Jones , Woody Harrelson , Alessandro Juliani , Amiah Miller , Terry Notary , Andy Serkis , Aleks Paunovic , Ty Olsson , Devyn Dalton , Gabriel Chavarria
Woody Harrelson often does his best work in comedic roles, but his performance in War for the Planet of the Apes serves as a reminder that he doesn’t have to be funny to be captivating. He plays a rogue colonel resorting to desperate measures to outrun the new strain of simian flu. He is first introduced when he murders Caesar’s family, but his motivations and his philosophy are revealed to be surprisingly complex.
Woody Harrelson often does his best work in comedic roles, but his performance in
War for the Planet of the Apes
serves as a reminder that he doesn’t have to be funny to be captivating.
The Colonel is the kind of character who knows that he might be seen as a bad guy, but he doesn’t care, because he is steadfast in his beliefs. He has seen a series of good guys drive humanity to the brink of extinction, and he takes matters into his own hands. Harrelson nails the stern look of the Colonel. He makes him physically imposing enough to reflect his position of power. The future of the Planet of the Apes saga may not have room for many more human villains.
9 Baron Harkonnen – Dune Part One & Two (2021 & 2024)
Stellan Skarsgård
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5/10 9/10 Dune
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*Availability in US Director Denis Villeneuve Release Date October 22, 2021 Cast Dave Bautista , Rebecca Ferguson , Sharon Duncan-Brewster , Jason Momoa , David Dastmalchian , Stephen McKinley Henderson , Stellan Skarsgård , Charlotte Rampling , Chang Chen , Oscar Isaac , Zendaya , Javier Bardem , Timothée Chalamet , Josh Brolin Expand
Baron Harkonnen was already an iconic sci-fi villain before Stellan Skarsgård took on the role, thanks to the enduring popularity of Frank Herbert’s Dune novels. The Baron is a mysterious sadist with much more power than he initially lets on. He appears to be little more than a frail elderly man at first, but this turns out to be misleading. As well as his strange powers, the Baron is a master manipulator.
Baron Harkonnen was already an iconic sci-fi villain before Stellan Skarsgård took on the role.
The Baron is able to bend all those around him to his will. When his advisers and allies propose more direct and violent actions, he seems to know the perfect way to make House Atreides destroy itself without much input. In Dune: Part Two, he lets his nephew Feyd-Rautha do most of his dirty work. Austin Butler’s performance is just as impressive, and he and Skarsgård develop a strange chemistry from very early on. Dune: Part Three will have to function without either character. The Baron’s presence will be missed.
8 Immortan Joe – Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Hugh Keays-Byrne
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9/10 9.3/10 Mad Max: Fury Road
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*Availability in US Director George Miller Release Date May 14, 2015 Cast Tom Hardy , Charlize Theron , Nicholas Hoult , Zoe Kravitz , Hugh Keays-Byrne , Riley Keough , Courtney Eaton , Abbey Lee , Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Hugh Keays-Byrne played Toecutter in the first Mad Max movie, and he returned to the franchise 36 years later to play an even more terrifying villain. Immortan Joe is a powerful warmonger who leads a cult of devoted followers. He maintains his iron grip over his people by rationing their water in the post-apocalyptic desert landscape, but his War Boys seem as though they would lay down their lives for him without any external motivating factors.
In contrast to Chris Hemsworth’s Dementus in
Furiosa,
Keays-Byrne is relatively reserved.
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Immortan Joe’s brilliant character design and his legions of War Boys immediately set him apart as an imposing villain. Hugh Keays-Byrne knows that he doesn’t need to do too much to complete the effect. In contrast to Chris Hemsworth’s Dementus in Furiosa, Keays-Byrne is relatively reserved. Immortan Joe conserves most of his energy until it’s absolutely necessary, but Mad Max: Fury Road builds his legend all around him.
7 Luv – Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Sylvia Hoeks
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8/10 9/10 Blade Runner 2049
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*Availability in US Director Denis Villeneuve Release Date October 6, 2017 Cast Ryan Gosling , Harrison Ford , Jared Leto , Ana De Armas , Robin Wright , Lennie James , Dave Bautista , Carla Juri , Hiam Abbass , Barkhad Abdi , David Dastmalchian , Mackenzie Davis , Sylvia Hoeks
Luv starts out as a curious and innocent replicant, but she soon displays a propensity for violence. When she is ordered to find the replicant child, she stops at nothing, calmly dispatching anyone who stands in her way. Her devotion to Niander Wallace is so overwhelming that she doesn’t stop to think about the consequences of her actions. Sylvia Hoeks rose from relative obscurity to deliver an outstanding performance in Blade Runner 2049.
Hoeks’ performance is so effective because it captures every stage of Luv’s progression.
Hoeks’ performance is so effective because it captures every stage of Luv’s progression. She can change her entire demeanor in a moment, just as she does during her confrontation with Joshi, which reflects the emotional inexperience of replicants. Luv lacks the humanity of some other replicants in Blade Runner. She gives in to her most simplistic emotions, and she only allows herself to be controlled by Wallace’s directions.
6 Nathan Bateman – Ex Machina (2014)
Oscar Isaac
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9/10 8.5/10 Ex Machina
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*Availability in US Director Alex Garland Release Date April 10, 2015 Cast Alicia Vikander , Domhnall Gleeson , Oscar Isaac , Sonoya Mizuno , Gana Bayarsaikhan , Corey Johnson
With the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Annihilation and his role as Leto Atreides in Dune, Oscar Isaac has been a big name in science-fiction for the last decade. This all began with Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, a gripping thriller in which Isaac plays a reclusive inventor pushing the limits of artificial intelligence. Nathan lives in a secluded house with only his own robotic creations for company.
Isaac reveals just enough of the fragile loneliness that hides beneath Nathan’s manipulative facade.
Isaac helps bring out the nuance in Nathan’s character. He’s a sort of mad scientist with a god complex, one who has abandoned any notion of humanitarianism in his pursuit of perfection, but he’s also a deeply troubled man. Isaac reveals just enough of the fragile loneliness that hides beneath Nathan’s manipulative facade. He also nails Nathan’s intense, analytical gaze.
5 Andrei Sator – Tenet (2020)
Kenneth Branagh
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8/10 6.3/10 Tenet
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*Availability in US Director Christopher Nolan Release Date September 3, 2020 Cast Kenneth Branagh , John David Washington , Michael Caine , Robert Pattinson , Elizabeth Debicki , Dimple Kapadia , Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Clemence Poesy
Tenet certainly has its problems, and it doesn’t get as much love as many other Christopher Nolan movies. One of the movie’s big positives is Kenneth Branagh’s performance as Andrei Sator. If Tenet is Nolan’s version of a James Bond movie, as some critics have suggested, then Branagh brings the perfect level of evil mania. He’s as chilling as Blofeld, and as unhinged as Stromberg.
Branagh would make a good Bond villain if he ever got the chance, but for now his performance in
Tenet
will have to do.
Branagh would make a good Bond villain if he ever got the chance, but for now his performance in Tenet will have to do. He plays Sator with a level of cool detachment, which perfectly aligns with the character’s omnicidal intentions. Sator doesn’t think about life in reasonable terms, so it makes sense that he’s impossible to relate to. Branagh makes the most out of the few scenes he has.
4 Kylo Ren – The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Adam Driver
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Although the sequel trilogy has divided opinions among the Star Wars fan base, Adam Driver’s portrayal as Kylo Ren has received widespread acclaim. This should come as no surprise, as Driver has continued to establish himself as one of the best actors of his generation since The Force Awakens. He has worked with directors such as Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Mann. It isn’t always easy to break free from the label of an iconic Star Wars character, but Driver has proved that he is so much more than just Kylo Ren.
Although the sequel trilogy has divided opinions among the
Star Wars
fan base, Adam Driver’s portrayal as Kylo Ren has received widespread acclaim.
Kylo Ren’s tragic past is part of what makes him so appealing. In a way, he’s tied to the legacy of Darth Vader. Not only is he a direct descendant of Vader, but he also succumbs to the dark side of the force after being thought of as the chosen one. What sets Kylo apart is his all-absorbing rage. Darth Vader is driven by vengeance and hatred too, but he puts on a much more controlled persona in front of his men. Driver only reveals a counterpoint to Kylo’s anger when he starts to connect with Rey.
3 Killmonger – Black Panther (2018)
Michael B. Jordan
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8/10 9/10 Black Panther
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*Availability in US Director Ryan Coogler Release Date February 16, 2018 Cast Chadwick Boseman , Lupita Nyong’o , Letitia Wright , Angela Bassett , Winston Duke , Michael B. Jordan , Danai Gurira , Forest Whitaker
Thanos is the most consequential MCU villain of the last decade, but Killmonger may be the most compelling. Before the “Thanos was right” arguments started, there was a similar response to Killmonger’s philosophy in Black Panther. In the end, even T’Challa realizes that Killmonger’s plan to share Wakanda’s resources is a noble one. A lot of Killmonger’s ideas are extremely relevant in the current global political landscape.
Michael B. Jordan manages to inject just enough menace into Killmonger to ensure that he remains the villain, even when he is on the right side of history.
Michael B. Jordan manages to inject just enough menace into Killmonger to ensure that he remains the villain, even when he is on the right side of history. The key difference between Killmonger and T’Challa is Killmonger’s reckless tactics. Jordan swaggers around with a level of arrogance that comes across as almost petulant. Killmonger is a compelling villain with a checkered past, and Jordan shows that his ego is a coping mechanism.
2 Minister Mason – Snowpiercer (2013)
Tilda Swinton
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6/10 Snowpiercer
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*Availability in US Director Bong Joon-ho Release Date July 11, 2014 Cast Chris Evans , Jamie Bell , Tilda Swinton , Ed Harris
Tilda Swinton has the rare ability to disappear into any role, no matter the age, personality or nationality of her character. Minister Mason is one of her most memorable roles, as she brings a lot of real-world influence to a larger-than-life character. Minister Mason is a despotic ruler in Snowpiercer‘s grim dystopia, and she often seems detached from reality. However, Swinton draws a few comparisons to real dictators from history.
Swinton often plays Mason with the self-important superiority of a school teacher.
As well as having some authoritarian gravitas, Swinton often plays Mason with the self-important superiority of a school teacher. She speaks to the passengers from the tail-end of a train as if she is addressing a group of unruly students. By infantilizing the passengers, she reasserts her authority. Swinton manages to make Mason a surprisingly funny character too. She has a pathetic quality about her, as if her grandstanding is a way of proving her importance to herself.
1 Jobu Tupaki – Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Stephanie Hsu
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8/10 9.2/10 Everything Everywhere All at Once
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*Availability in US Director Daniel Kwan , Daniel Scheinert Release Date March 25, 2022 Cast Jenny Slate , Ke Huy Quan , Stephanie Hsu , Harry Shum Jr. , Jamie Lee Curtis , James Hong , Michelle Yeoh
Stephanie Hsu lost out on the Oscar for Best Actress to her Everything Everywhere All At Once co-star Jamie Lee Curtis, but she would have been a worthy winner. Hsu plays Joy Wang, Evelyn’s daughter, but she also plays the villain Jobu Tupaki, whose conscience is split across the multiverse. Jobu plans to destroy the multiverse, using the immense powers she has accumulated from a life spent jumping between different realities.
Hsu’s performance as Jobu is central to the absurdist
philosophy of
Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Hsu’s performance as Jobu is central to the absurdist philosophy of Everything Everywhere All At Once, as well as its zany, fast-paced humor. She delivers an eye-catching performance which shows the endless variety of the multiverse, but she is still grounded enough to hammer home the emotional ending alongside Michelle Yeoh. Jobu only works as a character thanks to Hsu’s full-throttle performance.
Source: https://dinhtienhoang.edu.vn
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