Superhero movies and shows contain some of the least likable villains of all time – and some antagonists that are hard not to root for at some stage in their story. Over the decades, a superhero movie or show’s choice of villain has repeatedly been proven to be as important as its choice of hero, if not arguably more vital.
Almost all of Marvel and DC’s most popular and successful releases hinge on the performance of their central antagonists, whose characterizations and motivations are integral to the story’s resonance. Interestingly, this sometimes means making villains who audiences can root for and feel for along the way, even if this is often only a temporary experience.
Oz Cobb In The Penguin
Despite The Penguin coming after The Batman – and thus showing us that its central character is a hardened criminal who cares little for the wellbeing of others if it doesn’t personally benefit him – a good portion of The Penguin does a remarkably good job of making the viewer at least partly root for Oz.
Underlining the character’s underdog nature and history, seeing Cobb care for his ill mother and new protégé Victor makes it easier to see him as well-intentioned on some levels, or at least possessing some form of a moral compᴀss, as demonstrated through his compᴀssion for those near and dear to him in his life.
However, it’s worth noting that the later episodes of the show – and The Penguin‘s ending especially – reveal the efforts to get viewers to root for him or sympathize at least somewhat with him are done in part so that the plot twists of the second half of the story can hit all the harder.
Oz betrays his mother and Victor – killing Vic for being witness to Cobb’s crimes, and subjecting his mother to torture rather than confessing that he was responsible for the deaths of his brothers. This creates a sharp contrast, but one that arguably relies on the initial episodes of The Penguin making you feel something for the character beforehand.
Loki In Loki
Loki had already had a redemption arc of sorts throughout the MCU by the time Loki released – but the show marked a move back to square one of sorts for the character, exploring the story of the Loki variant whose life was changed when the Avengers went back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Endgame.
As such, this Loki goes from being the villain of The Avengers to becoming a hero in his own right within the span of the show’s first season, and then making one of the most heroic moves in the MCU by the time of Loki season 2’s ending.
Seeing Loki learn about the nature of the MCU multiverse is engrossing, and his steadily emerging morals make the God of Mischief into the hero it’d always seemed he had the potential to truly be – something proved tragically when Loki sacrifices himself to become a living Temporal Loom and hold the multiverse together in the season 2 finale.
Arthur Fleck In Joker
Positioning the Clown Prince of Crime as a movie’s protagonist rather than its antagonist was a decidedly unique move for Joker, and one that naturally led to a more sympathetic angling with the character’s usual story.
While Arthur Fleck’s fall to villainy is essentially an inevitability of the film – as it wouldn’t quite be a Joker movie without him becoming the Joker – the movie hinges on showing you he is by no means a one-note evil figure.
The displays of Fleck’s mistreatment and consistent ostracization for his medical condition and his position in life make it essentially impossible to not sympathize with him, and the film ensures his downwards spiral is both painful and nuanced, with it being underlined that Arthur’s eventual breakdown was a result of many factors over the course of his lifetime.
While even Fleck himself realizes the horror he wrought in the film’s sequel, the movie still leaves you rooting for the protagonist throughout much of its story, and hoping against logic that perhaps he’ll find some way out of his downwards spiral, despite it being obvious that won’t be the case.
Sentry/The Void/Bob In Thunderbolts*
One of the most interesting things about Thunderbolts* is that the character who is technically the movie’s main villain is to some degree also one of the main heroes of the movie – and plays both roles without a major heel turn or redemption arc of sorts.
Bob’s struggles with the dual threats that exist within him – the immensely powerful Sentry and the equally powerful and more malicious Void – become clear over the course of Thunderbolts*, as it’s revealed Bob was the subject of experimental testing that resulted in Bob himself having no powers, but rather two terrifying alternate idenтιтies.
It’s clear Bob suffers because of this experimentation considerably, but he still tries to help the team despite having no powers of his own and despite his deep fears and doubts about himself – with his efforts against The Void being particularly notable, since the enтιтy seems to be a living embodiment of his grief and trauma.
As such, it’s only fitting Bob’s fate in the Thunderbolts* ending is to still get to be a part of the New Avengers, as him overcoming The Void meant he defeated a very powerful Marvel villain, albeit one that is unfortunately a part of him.
Megamind In Megamind
Though outside of the usual realm of superhero movies, Megamind is a great exploration of the complexities of the superhero and supervillain terms, and how morality is often more complicated than these concepts try to make it. This happens through depicting supervillain Megamind’s accidental road to becoming a hero in his own right.
Megamind’s backstory makes it clear he was chosen for the supervillain life rather than seeking it out to some degree, and his rivalry with superhero Metro Man is shown to be somewhat more playful than many conventional rivalries between hero and villain in the superhero genre, suiting the more comedic and jovial tone of most of the film.
Megamind’s redemption arises when he realizes the city’s new hero is now seeking to be a villain instead. As such, Megamind protects the city from its new antagonist – which not only flips the script, but ensures Megamind is able to officially become a hero despite his penchant for villainy and its trappings by the end of the story.
Scarlet Witch In Avengers: Age Of Ultron & Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
Scarlet Witch’s MCU arc is a unique one in the sense that she’s a central villain twice in its movies – once before her redemption arc, and once after it. Both times, it’s borderline impossible to not root for the character, if only to hope she’s able to find a way to work with the story’s heroes and not against them.
Of course, the first of these is Wanda’s debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which sees her and her brother Quicksilver introduced as antagonists who are helping Ultron before they eventually decide to work alongside the Avengers instead – cementing Wanda’s heroic potential, and highlighting her generally good intentions and efforts to do right by others.
After years as a staple MCU hero, the Scarlet Witch falls into what is effectively a mental breakdown following Vision’s death, with the events of WandaVision prompting Wanda Maximoff’s second villainous turn, motivated by a desire to reunite with her children, and the corruption of the magical Darkhold that fell into her possession.
Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch is easily one of the most popular heroes in the MCU, and it stands to reason the character is just as deeply sympathetic even when she’s an antagonist. The fact both these villain stories end with Wanda helping the heroes in the end – even at the cost of her own death – also certainly doesn’t hurt.
Ace In Justice League: Unlimited
As one of the most tragic and sympathetic villains in the history of the superhero genre, it’s no surprise Ace is a character many feel for and root for in her story despite her being a dangerous antagonist in her appearances in Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited.
Ace’s immense powers – which allow her to warp the minds of others, usually to catastrophic effects – meant she spent almost the entirety of her life being experimented on and subject to traumatic experiences, both of which made her an easy target for the Joker to convince to carry out his schemes.
After facing more training following this, Ace’s powers evolved to the point she could change not just minds but also reality – and with this immense power growth came the revelation that Ace’s powers had put a time limit on her life, meaning she didn’t have long left despite only seeming to be a young teenager at most.
The scene of Batman reuniting with Ace to be there for her in her final moments and console her in what little time she had left is one of the most impactful scenes in superhero history, and its emotional impact has not lessened with time.
Ace’s comments to Batman about the tragedy of her life – and her final act being to peacefully spend her last moments with one of the only people who sought to understand her – really underlines that she was never a true villain, and underscores how differently things might have gone had she had someone like Batman in her life earlier.
Nebula From Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Onward
Nebula has one of the more expansive and detailed journeys from villainy in the MCU – which is saying something, given there’s no shortage of redemption stories in the franchise’s history. After her initial introduction in Guardians of the Galaxy, Nebula’s deeper nature gets a better look in the sequel, foreshadowing the heroic potential that’s steadily expanded upon from there.
While Nebula spends a not insignificant amount of time trying to kill Gamora, we soon learn more about their rivalry – specifically, that Gamora and Nebula’s father Thanos pitted the two against one another from an early age, and then replaced part of Nebula with machinery every time she lost a fight with her sister, explaining their enmity.
Given this, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Gamora eventually saving Nebula from an exploding ship – at the cost of losing a fight with Nebula – kicks off the character bonding with Gamora, and later the rest of the Guardians, going from reluctant ally to a member of the proverbial family.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 closes with the sisters having repaired their relationship, and Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 see her act as a hero in her own right, showing her coming into her own after forging bonds built on the kind of compᴀssion and respect she previously could only dream of.
