Wonder Woman as Sailor Moon? Hmm...
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00:00Superman is, of course, one of the most iconic superheroes of all time.
00:04Now, it's understandably difficult to rustle up a baddie who can genuinely go toe-to-toe
00:09with such an unstoppably potent superhero.
00:11So, it's little surprise that the villains in Superman movies have offered up mixed results,
00:16to say the least.
00:17With that in mind, I am Gareth from WhatCulture.com, and here is every Superman movie villain
00:22ranked worst to best.
00:2520. Nuclear Man
00:27Superman IV The Quest for Peace
00:29Was anyone ever going to make last place but Superman IV's infamous Nuclear Man?
00:34Created after a missile containing one of Superman's hairs is launched into the sun,
00:38Nuclear Man is about as lame as superhero villains, let alone Superman baddies, get.
00:43Reliant on the sun for power, rocking a truly ridiculous costume,
00:47and inexplicably sounding just like Lex Luthor, because Hackman redubbed the lines, of course,
00:52there simply isn't a single redeemable thing about him.
00:5519. Lenny Luthor Superman IV The Quest for Peace
00:59And just a hair ahead of Nuclear Man, we have another Superman IV baddie, Lex Luthor's goofball
01:05nephew, Lenny.
01:07As Lex's bumbling assistant, Lenny isn't an out-and-out villain, and Supes even takes pity on
01:12him at the end of the movie.
01:13But he's still fallen in with the big bad.
01:16He's less of a joke than Nuclear Man, albeit only just.
01:19But you're left continually questioning why anybody thought that Lex Luthor needed a nephew
01:24at all.
01:24Was it just a cynical attempt to rope in younger audiences?
01:27If so, it did not really work, did it?
01:2918.
01:30Doomsday Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice
01:33While many were left disappointed that Batman V Superman's trailers spoiled the presence of
01:38Doomsday, it was probably for the best that they let fans know ahead of time that he'd
01:43be nothing more than a generic digital cave troll.
01:45Doomsday gets shoehorned into the Versus movie's third act, produced from a combination of DNA
01:50belonging to both Lex Luthor and General Zod.
01:53Though Doomsday is certainly presented as a powerful creature, who was only taken down
01:57by the combined might of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, he never rises above feeling
02:02like a garden-variety CGI monster.
02:05At least he got to kill Superman, though, yeah?
02:07Well, for a little bit anyway.
02:0917.
02:10Gus Gorman Superman III
02:12Bumbling computer whiz Gus Gorman isn't Superman III's primary villain, but he is a foil
02:18for Superman while being blackmailed into helping industrialist Rob Webster take him down.
02:23Gus gets major points for his intelligence despite his, let's say, interesting personality.
02:28But overall, the presence of Richard Pryor in an already credibility-straining Superman
02:31movie is just too damn much.
02:34Gus would feel out of place even if Pryor wasn't playing him, and though he's far more memorable
02:38than Webster, he's also considerably more annoying.
02:41Gus does the right thing in the end, of course, and just like Lenny Luthor gets cut a break
02:45by Superman.
02:46So as villains go, he's pretty weak sauce, isn't he?
02:5016.
02:51Mercy Graves
02:52Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice
02:54Many DC fans were excited when Lex Luthor's assistant-slash-bodyguard from Superman the animated
03:00series was announced to be appearing in Batman v Superman.
03:03But Zack Snyder did disappointingly little with Mercy Graves, who has a teeny-tiny role as
03:08Lex's assistant, kicks no ass at all, and then gets blown up by Luthor at the congressional
03:13hearing.
03:13Some fans were so frustrated with Graves' death that they convinced themselves she'd eventually
03:18resurface.
03:19But that evidently hasn't happened all these years later.
03:2215.
03:23Ross Webster
03:24Superman 3
03:25The great Robert Vaughn is absolutely perfectly cast as a slimy industrialist who plots to
03:31control the world's oil supply.
03:33But there is no denying that he's also basically an ersatz Lex Luthor, and a vastly inferior
03:38one at that.
03:39Vaughn's plan isn't terrible.
03:40Blackmailing Gorman to use his tech know-how to battle Superman.
03:44But he's also not that interesting as comic book movie villains go.
03:47And following on from Luthor's own zany schemes, his ploy can't help but seem a bit
03:51knaff.
03:5214.
03:53Lex Luthor Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice
03:56Jesse Eisenberg seemed like a totally inspired choice for the DCEU's Lex Luthor.
04:01On paper, that is.
04:03A new-age tech bro in the vein of Mark Zuckerberg.
04:06But you'll struggle to find many who have much time for Eisenberg's rendition of the
04:10character.
04:11His nervy, twitchy interpretation of Luthor just felt too different from typical conceptions
04:15of the villain, and too eccentric for its own good.
04:18Add to this fact that he has cloudy motivations related to gods and daddy issues, and his
04:22plan to pit Batman and Superman against one another is thunderously stupid.
04:27And it's easy to see why so many hated this version of this iconic supervillain.
04:3113.
04:32Otis Superman
04:33Of all the bumbling henchmen in the Superman franchise, a lot of fans have a special place
04:39in their hearts for Lex Luthor's original lackey, Otis.
04:42Sure, he's dumb as a brick and goofy as all hell.
04:44But between the genuinely funny writing and Ned Beatty's charmingly dopey performance,
04:49there's actually a lot to like here.
04:50Who among us can think of Otis and not immediately say to ourselves,
04:53Mr. Luthor?
04:54Nobody, that is who.
04:5612.
04:57Anatoly Knyazev
04:58Batman v Superman
04:59Dawn of Justice
05:00Anatoly Knyazev is a villain from the comics better known by the moniker KG Beast.
05:06And many fans ears pricked up when they heard Knyazev name-dropped by Bruce Wayne early in
05:10Batman v Superman.
05:11Knyazev sadly doesn't have a huge part in the movie, especially not in the theatrical
05:16cut, but he does have a majorly imposing presence during his scant screen time, courtesy of actor
05:21Callan Mulvey.
05:22While most of his comic book characteristics have been ditched, namely KGB conditioning
05:26and cybernetic enhancements, he rocks a badass flamethrower and sunglasses, which is a fair
05:31substitute I'm sure you'll agree.
05:3311.
05:33Vera Webster
05:34Superman 3
05:35For most of the movie, Ross Webster's sister admittedly isn't terribly interesting.
05:40But that all changes when she's transformed into a cyborg zombie thing by her brother's
05:45now self-aware supercomputer.
05:47In a sequence that wouldn't feel out of place in a David Cronenberg film, Vera is grabbed
05:51by the computer and has metal forcibly grafted onto her body, turning her into a Bride of
05:56Frankenstein-esque abomination.
05:57She ultimately doesn't end up posing too much of a threat to Supes himself, who deals
06:01with her relatively easily, but unlike most prior villains on this list, she's at least
06:06genuinely scary.
06:0710.
06:08Steppenwolf
06:09Zack Snyder's Justice League
06:10Had Zack Snyder never had the opportunity to release his own cut of Justice League, Steppenwolf
06:16would be much lower down on this list.
06:18In the original Whedon cut of the movie, Steppenwolf was a generic CGI beastie and little
06:23else, but the Snyder cut expanded his role and motivations considerably.
06:27Surprisingly, Snyder's version of the movie painted Steppenwolf as a desperate, pathetic
06:31character, existing in the shadow of his more powerful nephew, Dirk Zedd.
06:36He's still not a great villain by any means, but he's got way more personality and feels
06:40less like a perfunctory bad guy than he does in the Whedon cut.
06:449.
06:44Kitty Kowalski
06:45Superman Returns
06:47In Superman Returns, Kitty Kowalski is basically Bryan Singer's not-remotely-subtle
06:52stand-in for Richard Donner's Eve Tessmacher.
06:54Lex's henchwoman who similarly has a crisis of conscience, where Lex enacts his insane
06:59plan to grow a new landmass in the northern Atlantic Ocean.
07:02A lot of the credit here goes to the great Parker Posey, who takes her so-so character
07:06and imbues her with a uniquely amusing, quirky personality.
07:10Deeply sarcastic, even while clearly harboring a certain fondness for the Man of Steel, Posey's
07:15Kitty is a lot of fun even if, like most all of Luther's lackeys, she is not exactly super
07:20effective, or faithful for that matter.
07:228.
07:23Lex Luthor
07:23Superman Returns
07:24If following Gene Hackman's lead as Lex Luthor was an unenviable task for any actor, Kevin
07:30Spacey was an absolutely not-perfect choice to succeed him.
07:33And for all of Superman Returns' many problems, Spacey is at least a lot of fun as this comically
07:38psychotic, wildly over-the-top Luthor.
07:40Sure, he's basically just doing a Gene Hackman impression for large stretches of the movie,
07:44but Spacey's Luthor has also got genuinely unnerving screen presence.
07:487.
07:49Eve Tesmacher
07:49Superman
07:50If you're not a comic book reader, you'd probably reasonably assume that Lex Luthor's
07:55love-accomplice Eve Tesmacher was ripped straight from the source material, but alas, she was
08:00actually an original creation of Richard Donner and Mario Puzo, and a rock-solid one at that.
08:05Tesmacher ultimately isn't a majorly effective or persuasive villain, clearly not sharing Lex's
08:10enthusiasm, but she is by far the most well-written of Lex's many sidekicks, and terrifically acted
08:15by Valerie Perrine.
08:16Her later desire to break free of Lex and save Superman is rooted in a very real desperation
08:21to save her own mother from Lex's insane scheme, though by the time Superman 2 rolls
08:26around, she's back in Lex's clutches.
08:286.
08:29Ursa and Non
08:30Superman
08:31We're lumping General Zod's two lackeys, Ursa and Non, together, because they're basically
08:35a package deal anyway.
08:37On one hand, Ursa is Zod's sexy, dangerous second-in-command, rocking a major killer instinct
08:42and severe hatred for humanity.
08:44The Richard Donner cut of Superman 2 does an especially good job of cementing this, while
08:48the theatrical cut unfortunately softened her character somewhat, but overall it did feel
08:52like Ursa never quite realised her potential.
08:55And then there's Non, the gigantic, brutish mute whose strength approximates Superman's
08:59own.
09:00He's definitely the less interesting of the pair, but nevertheless provides fun contrast to
09:04Ursa's more calculating eloquence.
09:065.
09:07Fahyura'ul, Man of Steel
09:08Talk about an awesome character who could have been even better if she had had more screen
09:13time.
09:14Man of Steel's Fahyura'ul is an absolute badass.
09:17General Zod's military commander kicks ass, takes names, and shows no mercy whatsoever.
09:22Between her stunning beauty and immense power, she's a prototypical Zack Snyder strongwoman,
09:27brought to savage life by Anche Traor.
09:29Given that Fahyura quite categorically bodys Superman during their first fight, and even drops
09:34a killer monologue to boot, she's automatically a top-tier Superman villain, albeit one we
09:39desperately needed to see more of.
09:414.
09:42Evil Superman
09:43Superman 3
09:44Superman 3 has a ton of problems, but the whole Evil Superman plot surprisingly isn't
09:49one of them.
09:50Clark ends up suffering a nervous breakdown as a result of his exposure to synthetic kryptonite,
09:55and quite literally splits in two, leaving behind the mild-mannered Clark Kent and Evil
10:00Superman.
10:01You can tell that Christopher Reeve really relished the opportunity to do something totally different
10:05with Superman here, and he's an absolute blast as the booze-chugging rage monster version
10:09of the Man of Steel, even sporting a 5 o'clock shadow to hammer the point home.
10:13Evil Superman is genuinely terrifying at points too, culminating in a legitimately fantastic
10:18battle between him and Clark at a junkyard that's by far the best part of the entire movie.
10:233.
10:24General Zod Man of Steel
10:26Living up to the brilliance of Terrence Stamp's General Zod is a totally thankless task, but
10:31Michael Shannon quite sensibly decided to not even try, giving us an impression of Stamp
10:36in Man of Steel.
10:37His take on Zod is considerably more serious-minded and less campy, per Zack Snyder's general
10:42tone for the movie, but Shannon absolutely nails the character's desperate psychopathy.
10:46This is a man who wants to preserve the dying embers of his race by any means necessary.
10:51An intriguing and innately sympathetic motivation, despite the completely unhinged, murderous
10:55way he goes about it.
10:572.
10:57General Zod Superman
10:59As great as Michael Shannon is, there's just no beating Terrence Stamp's original big-screen
11:05portrayal of Zod in Richard Donner's two Superman films.
11:08Stamp gives a mesmerizing performance as Zod, alternating between icy cool and indignant
11:14rage as a scene requires, but maintaining a ferocious distaste for humanity in every which
11:19moment.
11:21Despite his intimidating persona, he is also a surprisingly funny character at times.
11:24Plus, who else on this list managed to breach the White House and make the President of the
11:28United States kneel before him?
11:30He's a rare villain who achieves a winning mix of playful and terrifying.
11:351.
11:35Lex Luthor Superman
11:36But the quintessential Superman villain across media is undeniably Gene Hackman's original
11:42big-screen iteration of Lex Luthor.
11:44Even though he didn't initially shave his head for the part, Hackman absolutely nails
11:49the pig arrogance of the character, making us take him seriously despite the inherent
11:53absurdity of his various schemes.
11:55He's a villain so damn good that he's cast a long shadow over every Superman movie since.
12:00An undeniably ferociously intelligent, yet easily detestable megalomaniac, with one hell
12:05of a wardrobe and a bevy of less-than-loyal sidekicks in his orbit.
12:09Hackman's performance is fantastic, even in the lesser sequels.
12:12Serving as the perfectly misanthropic opposite to the earnest Man of Steel.
12:16Every single actor who ever portrays Lex Luthor will be compared to Hackman until the
12:20end of time, because he so successfully created the blueprint for not just the character,
12:25but superhero movie villains as a whole.
12:28And that is our list.
12:29How would you rank Superman's collection of big-screen nasties?
12:32Let us know in the comments section right down below, and do not forget to like, share,
12:36and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
12:38Also, if you like this kind of thing, then please head on over to whatculture.com and find
12:41some more fantastic articles, just like the one this video you're watching right this
12:45second is based on.
12:46I have been Super Gareth from whatculture.com, bringing you all the super goodness right here
12:50and now.
12:51Hopefully I'll see your faces very, very soon, but in the meantime, just be good to yourself.
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