In the spirit of Halloween, I thought it would be a great time to come up with a “top five” list that acknowledged the holiday, but also gave a little love to the bad guys. For my money, these are the five most harrowing characters in comic book movie history.
The Winter Soldier
Before he became an Avenger ally most recently been referred to as the White Wolf, Bucky Barnes was the shadowy, cold-blooded assassin known as the Winter Soldier. He barely spoke or showed his face until the film’s final act, but his impact was dark and heavy. His eery theme music says it all.
Jared Nomak
In the somewhat forgotten but no less impactful Blade II, Jared Nomak was the vampire nation’s failed attempt at creating a Day-Walker gene that would allow the Hominus Nocturna to walk the earth during the daytime, have immunity to garlic and silver, while retaining their superhuman strength and immortality.
Their attempt failed miserably but spawned a Frankenstein-like villain (Nomak) who wants to kill his vampire creators and Blade to boot. And he almost succeeds!
Thanos
Maybe he’s here because he’s the latest and greatest super villain that comes to mind. But it’s more likely that he’s here because he singlehandedly “snapped” the life out of half the universe’s population. That diabolical concept is frightening on its own.
Heath Ledger’s Joker
Although it’s up for debate to many, Ledger’s Joker is the best that I’ve seen. Like Jack Nicholson did in the villainous role in 1989’s Batman, Ledger stole the show. From the creepy mask that he donned in the opening scene of the Dark Knight to his disturbing soliloquies, he made you ask serious questions about so-called civil society.
Killgrave/Purple Man
I’m kinda cheating here. Killgrave was featured in Marvel’s streaming Netflix series Jessica Jones, Season 1, so it’s not a movie. But I am compelled to list him anyway. He was Charles Xavier gone terribly wrong. Think about the nightmare of someone who could control minds but with bad intentions. Downright scary.
Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you enjoyed the list!
