10 Movie Villain ‘Twists’ We Saw Coming A Mile Off

WhatCulture

Did the filmmakers really think we'd be shocked these guys were bad?

Transcript

00:00When a villain walks on screen, it's pretty obvious.

00:02More often than not, they'll be decked in all black,

00:05possibly with a cape, sporting a long and thin moustache,

00:08and speaking in a perfectly enunciated British accent.

00:12Generally speaking, spotting a bad guy is less a game of where's Wally

00:15and more likely to be a guy standing with a big sign above his head that says,

00:20This is Wally.

00:21A film may try and hide who its true villain is for a big third-act reveal,

00:25but too often, not enough is done to hide these baddies' true intentions,

00:29be it bad screenwriting or directors massively underestimating fans and their theories.

00:35So, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here

00:38with 10 movie villain twists we saw coming a mile off.

00:42Oh, and obviously, spoiler alert!

00:44Number 10. Obadiah Stane – Iron Man

00:47For all of its MCU groundwork laying and Robert Downey Jr. wisecracking,

00:52Iron Man shared much of the superhero tropes with many earlier entries in the genre.

00:58It does seem strange that director Jon Favreau would try to dupe us about the true motives

01:04of Jeff Bridges' Obadiah, Tony's mentor, when he just looks so sinister.

01:09I mean, come on, this is his happy face for crying out loud.

01:13There was little question that Bridges would be chewing scenery by the final act.

01:18It was a little surprising that Stane was the one behind Stark's kidnap, I'll give you that,

01:22but when a supposedly loving mentor spent most of his time being grumpy at Tony,

01:28his villainous intentions were fully clear.

01:30Number 9. Edwin – Predators

01:33Predators has a group of deadly human characters,

01:36each the master of their respective killing field,

01:39literally dropped onto an alien planet to serve as game for a gang of predators.

01:44A smart extension of the original set-up, the gang is a diverse mix of different action tropes.

01:50You've got a mercenary, a sniper, a yakuza, a cartel enforcer, a prisoner from death row,

01:57a commando, two soldiers, and an ordinary doctor.

02:01Right, well, one of those isn't like the others, is it?

02:04From the moment he starts repeating he's just a regular guy,

02:08it's pretty clear that Edwin is going to end up being the most dangerous killer of the lot.

02:12Revealed in the film's final act to be an all-out psychopath,

02:17Topher Grace plays the villain very well,

02:19although the geeky Good Doctor act could have done with being toned down just a little bit.

02:24Number 8. Khan – Star Trek Into Darkness

02:28If there's one thing J.J. Abrams is known for as a director,

02:33well, actually it would be lens flares, wouldn't it?

02:35But after that, it's high secrecy and infuriating misdirection.

02:39When Benedict Cumberbatch was cast in the sequel to the reboot,

02:43the fan community jumped on that he would be playing Khan.

02:47Abrams didn't take this lying down,

02:49pushing that this was a new character to the series named John Harrison.

02:53Some fans bought it, some didn't.

02:55Into Darkness is a thinly veiled remake of Wrath of Khan,

02:59and once that became readily apparent,

03:01it was only inevitable that there be a scene with Cumberbatch revealing his true identity,

03:06to fan gasps and a lot of I told you so's.

03:10Number 7. Lotso Huggin' Bear – Toy Story 3

03:14Toy Story 3 was, in some ways, a retread of the previous film with added

03:19I'm not crying, there's just something in my eye moments.

03:22While there are some interesting new ideas,

03:25the overall thing is mired in a sense of predictability,

03:28and nowhere is that more clear than with the villain.

03:30Lotso, the leader of the toys at Sunnyside Daycare,

03:34was almost too nice and caring when introduced.

03:37Not to mention identical intemperaments to the first sequel's villain, Stinky Pete.

03:42With the only other new toy given any exploration being Ken,

03:46it was obvious this strawberry-smelling bear was going to end up tyrannical.

03:51Number 6. George Mac McHale – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

03:56In a film full of irritating characters, Ray Winston's Mac stood out

04:01thanks to a sheer lack of importance to events.

04:05Introduced in the opening as a double agent for the Russians,

04:08then later a triple agent for the Americans,

04:10then as a quadruple agent actually working for the Russians,

04:14he then finally is revealed as a selfish lone player after as much gold as possible.

04:18His arc is incredibly convoluted for someone whose character begins and ends

04:23with Played by Ray Winston.

04:25The first reveal takes us by surprise because we've just met him,

04:28but once he starts to play Pong with allegiances,

04:31it's clear Mac's only here to make sure both sides never fall too far behind the other.

04:37It was less of a surprise and more of a disappointment

04:39that the film took the incredibly obvious route.

04:42Number 5. Palpatine – The Star Wars Prequels

04:45It would be easy to assume that this was never meant to be a twist at all.

04:48Senator Palpatine and Darth Sidious are both played by the same actor,

04:52who also portrayed the evil Emperor in Return of the Jedi,

04:56but there's lots of simple tricks such as hiding Sidious' face and him not appearing in the credits

05:01that Lucas plays to pull the rug from under non-diehards.

05:05But even if you didn't know the original trilogy,

05:07which you need to fix right now if you haven't,

05:10it was pretty obvious.

05:10Palpatine is either being ridiculously righteous or manipulating Anakin,

05:16the stereotypical makings of a hidden villain.

05:19It was so cut and dry that some fans couldn't accept it as being so simple,

05:24and the notion of clones or even brothers were genuine theories

05:27that were thrown around before Revenge of the Sith came out.

05:31Maybe Jar Jar Binks being evil was a better one.

05:33Number 4. Alexander Pierce – Captain America – The Winter Soldier

05:37Whenever a new character is introduced into a prominent role in a Marvel film,

05:42they have one of three directions to go.

05:44Love interest, new supporting hero, or the big villain.

05:48And when they're played by a big name actor, it can really only be the latter.

05:53So yeah, when 70s political thriller star Robert Redford was stunt cast as Alexander Pierce,

06:00it was unthinkable.

06:01He'd not be the big bad come the third act.

06:04Number 3. Miles Axelrod – Cars 2

06:08Cars 2 is overwhelmed with a green message and reliance on giving Mater funny things to do,

06:14all of which leads to a rather predictable set of events.

06:18Chief among them is the reveal that the baddie behind the scheme to discredit Ecofuel

06:22is its creator, Miles Axelrod.

06:25It's fitting that a film so happy to sit in Cruise Control has such an obvious twist.

06:30Miles is, like so many on this list, too nice,

06:34but plays too large a role for him to not have something extra to him.

06:38Number 2. Megatron – Age of Extinction

06:42Megatron is not in the sequel.

06:45Michael Bay told Empire Magazine while promoting Revenge of the Fallen,

06:49wherein Hugo Weaving's Naughty Transformer was resurrected

06:52so there could be new toys based on him made.

06:55The only two advertised returning Transformers were Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.

07:00But, this being a Bay film where plot logic is thrown out at the first script meeting,

07:05anything can happen.

07:07Because, well, mostly because of explosions.

07:10In the film, Stanley Tucci is attempting to build his own Transformers,

07:14chief among them Galvatron,

07:17who the remains of Megatron have been used to help construct.

07:20You don't need to be an 80s kid to see where this is going.

07:23And, as expected, it transpires Galvatron is just a new body for the original baddie.

07:28Likely done because Hugo Weaving refused to return to the franchise

07:31when he realised how crummy the whole Enterprise actually was.

07:35Stop making Transformers movies.

07:37Number 1. Talia Al Ghul – The Dark Knight Rises

07:40This was the movie to round off the trilogy,

07:43and what better way to thematically link the villains

07:46than have the last one be the daughter of the first.

07:49Except, it transpired that Marion Cotillard's character was Miranda Tate,

07:54an entirely new creation involved in the financial battles at Wayne Enterprises.

07:59However, that didn't stop everyone thinking this was just a cover,

08:03and feeling more than a little smug when Tate stabbed Batman in the back.

08:08More than just being the usual good guy with no story unless they're a villain,

08:13Miranda slash Talia was a victim of a common issue with comic book adaptations.

08:17The ending is almost always out there for fans to figure out.

08:21And that concludes our list.

08:23If you can think of any others, then please do let us know in the comments down below,

08:27and while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.

08:30Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there,

08:32and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.

08:36I've been Ellie with WhatCulture.

08:37I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real soon.

08:40If Star Trek is something that you're very interested in,

08:43then make sure you head over to our sister channel, Trek Culture,

08:46for all the latest and greatest surrounding Star Trek.

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