10 DC Movies Where The Villain Is More Interesting Than The Hero

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There have been multiple instances where DC movies feature villains that easily outshine their heroes. Whether it"s in live-action, animation, DCEU, or otherwise, there have been some captivating foes. Likewise, one can imagine that there will be more on the way in the new DCU being developed by James Gunn.
A hero is only as good as their best villain, and that"s very true for the superhero genre and the wide range of DC movies that have been released across the decades. That said, it"s always fascinating when the bad guy is more engaging than the heroes meant to defeat them. To that end, here are 10 DC movies where the villain is more interesting than the hero (in no particular order).
10 Joker The Dark Knight Close Sure, I said in no particular order...but The Dark Knight"s Joker will likely always lead the list. Played by the late Heath Ledger, the anarchist version of the Clown Prince of Crime was infinitely more engaging and compelling than Christian Bale"s Batman. While it"s exciting to see how Batman reacts to his arch-foe in the version of Gotham City developed by Christopher Nolan, the true success of The Dark Knight is objectively The Joker and his status as an unpredictable agent of chaos. Following Batman Begins, you know what you"re getting from Bale"s Bruce Wayne.
9 Ozymandias Watchmen

Watchmen"s Ozymandias is also a prime example where the villain arguably surpasses the heroes. While Doctor Manhattan might still be more compelling, the entire focus of Watchmen"s plot is centered around Adrian Veidt"s true motivations as the main mystery of the movie. They"re also the crux of the moral questions the film poses as Veidt attempts to "save" the world.
8 The Phantasm Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm Close Because we got an entire animated series focused on Batman and his typical rogues gallery, 1993"s The Mask of the Phantasm is a cut above. The animated feature debuted the new vigilante known as The Phantasm, revealed to be Bruce Wayne"s former love interest. As such, the central focus of the movie is this new Batman villain who"s killing various Gotham gang members. The Mask of the Phantasm was notably the first and only animated Batman feature to receive a theatrical release, up until 2016"s Batman: The Killing Joke and 2017"s The LEGO Batman Movie.
7 The Penguin Batman Returns

While Batman Returns brought back Michael Keaton"s Dark Knight, the true draw was Danny DeVito"s Penguin, who received far more disturbing and monstrous elements infused with his classic comics origins, and his attempts to become Gotham"s mayor were interesting as well. While one could argue that Michelle Pfeiffer"s Catwoman was even more compelling, Penguin"s definitely the bigger villain as Selina Kylle naturally receives more of a redemption arc by the end of the second Batman from Tim Burton.
6 Poison Ivy Batman & Robin Close While Arnold Schwarzenegger"s Mister Freeze deserves a medal for the sheer number of ice-themed puns per minute, Poison Ivy easily steals the show in Joel Schumacher"s Batman & Robin. Played by Uma Thurman, Poison Ivy is a lethal mix of danger and seduction, manipulating Batman and the Boy Wonder using his plant-based powers while she seeks. Leaning into the movie"s over-the-top camp, Thurman"s Poison Ivy is iconic both in appearance and in performance. After all, it"s hard to forget a line like, "There’s just something about an anatomically correct rubber suit that puts fire in a girl’s lips."
5 Lex Luthor Superman Returns

Set in the same continuity as the original Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel and the late Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Kevin Spacey took the reins as Superman"s arch foe in Superman Returns. On the whole, Brandon Routh was quite the impressive Superman, though the charisma of Spacey"s Lex Luthor stole the spotlight in the 2006 movie. Not only did Spacey do a great job emulating Hackman"s Luthor, but he also infused his own traits into the sinister performance.
4 Darkseid Zack Snyder's Justice League Close Steppenwolf simply wasn"t the guy in 2017"s Justice League. The theatrical release was not the final product of the movie envisioned by director Zack Snyder, and Steppenwof was never meant to be the end-all villain, only a herald of the true big bad that was to come. To that end, a major draw of Zack Snyder"s Justice League on Max was Darkseid, the Lord of Apokolips and Steppenwolf"s master, the original villain of the movie"s flashbacks who was also going to be set up for future Justice League movies as well.

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