Marvel movies have often been criticized for their poor portrayal of villains, either because they are not accurate enough to the comics, too bland or are just flat out embarrassing. The X-Men Movies are no exception to this, as none of them aside from Magneto have received that much praise. However, one could argue that several of the main villains from the X-Men Film Series are indeed great and not that bad. With 2021 being the first year where we will not get any X-Men movies, here is every main villain from the franchise ranked. Some villains like Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) will not be included due to them being secondary villains instead of being the official main antagonists.
11. Vuk (Dark Phoenix): As bad as some of the X-Men villains got, at least they were memorable. There is practically nothing interesting about Vuk and her alien race the D’Bari. Her character and species are not even that well known the comics. The writers had massive list of alien races to choose from and they just came up with the most forgettable group. On paper using a group of antagonists that the audience is unfamiliar with might sound like a good idea, but the villains turned out to be so bland and generic that it begs the question why they didn’t just pick a more popular alien race from the comics to be featured in the film. The sad thing is that the D’Bari were originally supposed to be the Skrulls. Unfortunately, Captain Marvel claimed the rights to the characters and forced the filmmakers to rewrite the villains and climax. Basically, the most forgettable X-Men movie villains made their debut in Dark Phoenix because Captain Marvel was using the Skrulls (though it’s debatable if they were even used properly in that movie). Jessica Chastain is a great actress and she is clearly trying to make the role work, but just can’t save the character. Vuk and the D’Bari are easily the worst villains from the X-Men Movies.
10. Cecilia Reyes (The New Mutants): The main problem with this villain is that Cecilia Reyes is not even a villain in the comics. The version that was barely a presence in X-Men: The Last Stand was more accurate to the comics than this version. While Alice Braga is clearly trying with the material, it just doesn’t seem to fit. Aside from being nothing like her comic book counterpart, she is also unbelievably boring and the fact that she is the only person working in the facility holding the mutants is extremely confusing. If the Essex Company doesn’t want these powerful mutants to escape, why on earth would they only put one employee in the area to watch over them, no matter how experienced she seems to be? However, there are a few intimidating scenes surrounding her that are mainly elevated by the horror elements within the film. Overall, save for a few scenes, Reyes just doesn’t work as a villain. She is boring, poorly written and is not even remotely similar to her comic book counterpart.
9. The Silver Samurai (The Wolverine): There are several problems that surround 2013’s The Wolverine, and most people point to this villain when it comes to the movie’s faults. The main issue with the Silver Samurai (Haruhiko Yamanouchi) is that he is barely anything like the villain from the comics. Instead of being a teleporting warrior who fights Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) for the affection of Mariko Yashida (Tao Okamoto), this character is Ichirō Yashida, Mariko’s grandfather who fakes his own death in a plot to steal Wolverine’s immortality after the latter saved him from dying during World War II. Right from the start it is obvious that he is the main villain, yet the movie puts him in the third act for the very underwhelming twist of him being alive this whole time. The Silver Samurai armor itself is a giant cgi robot suit that takes away Wolverine’s adamantium claws. The actor is clearly having fun in the role and the plot of Wolverine creating his own villain due to saving him is a different but interesting detail. However, the design and writing surrounding the character prevents him from being anything besides average.
8. Firefist (Deadpool 2): While it can be argued that Deadpool 2 has no main villain, this character comes closest to filling in that role. The story surrounding Russell Collins/Firefist is incredible, as you very much feel sorry for the young mutant during the movie and understand why this violent kid turns into a super villain in the distant future. When Cable (Josh Brolin) travels back in time to kill him, you still want Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) to protect him even though it may just be for the best if Cable did kill him. The reverse John Connor scenario is a great story and Julian Dennison does an amazing job. However, as stated before, Russell is not actually a villain and is simply the character who everyone is trying to stop from killing his tormentor (Eddie Marsan) which would effectively doom the future.
7. Apocalypse (X-Men: Apocalypse): One of the most iconic X-Men villains of all time, Apocalypse was not well received when he made his first appearance, nor was the movie he appeared in. The design was panned, the dialogue was criticized for being too generic and many agreed that the character did not live up to his comic book counterpart at all. However, I feel that Oscar Isaac’s version of Apocalypse gets way too much hate. There are several incredible scenes with the character in which he proves to be an intimidating presence. Isaac also does his absolute best in the role, not phoning it in for one second. The design of the character could be better, but it also could have been much worse. At least they tried to make him accurate to the comics. Is this the adaptation of the famous villain that fans were waiting for? Probably not. However, Isaac’s performance and several of the action scenes help elevate the character. Apocalypse may not be the greatest villain in the X-Men Film Series, but he is certainly not the worst.
6. Zander Rice (Logan): Quite possibly the most effective villain in the whole franchise, Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant) is responsible for the mutant gene being practically wiped out in the future. Rice is yet another despicable villain in the X-Men film series, as he creates new mutants in labs using the DNA of other existing people with the mutant gene. After torturing these children with his experiments, he forces them to become soldiers for other companies, and attempts to track down Laura (Dafne Keen) and kill her when she escapes. While Boyd Holdbrook’s character Donald Pierce is the most active threat in Logan, it is Rice who is calling the shots and is responsible for the second apocalypse for mutants. Grant also gives a great performance, giving a slimy and unpleasant vibe to the character as he pretends to be an affable person to get what he wants, only to show his true nature almost immediately when he has no further use for his pawns. Due to his lack of screen time and sudden death, Rice is not one of the best villains in the franchise. However, his actions along with the fact that he is the main villain in one of the greatest superhero movies of all time make him a very solid main villain overall.
5. Bolivar Trask (X-Men: Days of Future Past): Though some may argue that characters like Magneto (Michael Fassbender) or Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) are the real main villains of this film, it is Bolivar Trask who is the one causing the film’s conflict, albeit unintentionally. Trask is a corrupt scientist who experiments and kills any mutants that he is able to get his hands on. When he introduces the Sentinel program, a group of robots designed to wipe out mutants, Mystique kills him. Unfortunately, this gives the Sentinel project the green light and the future becomes doomed to be ruled by these machines. In order to prevent this horrible future from happening, Wolverine has to go back in time to the 1970s and stop Mystique from killing Trask. It is not hard to see why she wants Trask dead. The scientist is shown to be a very manipulative and dangerous individual who knows the threat level of mutants and is able to use that to his advantage with the government. Peter Dinklage gives an amazing performance like always and while this villain is never a physical threat, he is arguably the most important antagonist in the film.
4. Ajax (Deadpool): If there was an award for most hate-able villain in a superhero movie, Francis Freeman/Ajax (Ed Skrein) would certainly be nominated. A sadistic scientist with an inability to feel pain, Francis tricks sick people into becoming experiments on the false pretense that they will be cured of their diseases. However, while they may receive powers and have their illnesses cured, these poor victims would soon become slaves to crime lords and terrorists. Wade Wilson found that out the hard way when the villain performed endless amounts of torture on him resulting in the merc with a mouth getting permanently disfigured in addition to receiving healing powers. Wade soon makes it his goal to hunt Francis down, force him to fix his appearance and then kill him. Skrein’s performance helps elevate Francis, who under a lesser actor, would seem like a one dimensional villain. While Francis still has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, the despicable aspects of the character makes him so easy to hate and fun to watch. When Wade does end up killing him, it is absolutely well deserved.
3. William Stryker (X2: X-Men United and X-Men Origins: Wolverine): If Magneto is the most important mutant villain in the X-Men Film Series, then Stryker is definitely the most important human villain. A military official who absolutely hates mutants, Stryker makes it his goal to capture all the mutants in Charles Xavier’s mansion and force the latter to use his powers to kill all the mutants. With the government backing him and several mutants he has manipulated into working for him, Stryker proves to be a very dangerous antagonist. However, Stryker is especially important for being the one to give Wolverine metal claws and erasing his memory. Brian Cox is magnificent as the villain in X2: X-Men United and while Danny Huston does not live up to the former’s performance (mainly due to him being in the most hated X-Men movie), he still does a decent job with what he is given. While some villains can be reasoned with and turn over a new leaf in this series, there is no reality where that could ever be possible for Stryker, as his deep hatred for mutants and warlike nature prevent him from ever being redeemable.
2. Sebastian Shaw (X-Men: First Class): This character is a villain who does not get nearly enough credit as he should. Sebastian Shaw is quite possibly the most important villain in the entire franchise. The leader of the Hellfire Club and a powerful mutant, Shaw is a former Nazi who is responsible for most of the damage that occurs in X-Men: First Class and most of the other films in the series. Along with being a Nazi and a supervillain, Shaw is the one who personally set Magneto on a path to villainy. This event occurred when the young mutant was unable to lift a coin with his powers, causing Shaw to kill his mother as punishment. Years later, he tried to start nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Union during the 1960s, with him being under the delusion that the mutant race could rise up from the ashes and take over the world. He was stopped by the X-Men during their first mission, with Magneto murdering him with the very same coin that he forced him to lift before killing his mother and subjecting him to years of torture as a child. While the death is brutal, it is still one of the most satisfying moments in the entire series, as Shaw absolutely deserved his fate. Kevin Bacon does an amazing job at portraying a villain who is both a charismatic individual and a complete monster. While many of the villains in this series were awful people, none of them came close to being as evil as Shaw. Sebastian Shaw is often overlooked as one of the best comic book movie villains and deserves much more recognition thanks to the writing for the character and performance by Bacon.
1. Magneto (X-Men and X-Men: The Last Stand): It really could not be anyone else. The most iconic villain in the X-Men franchise is still its best written and most complex antagonist. Erik Lensherr/Magneto is a Holocaust survivor who developed a hatred for humans due to the atrocities that he experienced at the hands of Sebastian Shaw and the Nazis. After becoming friends with Charles and stopping the Hellfire Club from starting nuclear war, Magneto took it upon himself to start the Brotherhood of Mutants, a violent group of super villains that would fight against the humans. While Magneto is a villain and causes a large amount of trouble throughout the series, it is easy to see why he is like this way. You understand where he is coming from, even though you don’t support him. With an equally fantastic performance from Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender, Magneto is shown to be a very tragic figure as like Charles Xavier, he only wants what is best for his people. Unfortunately, their different ideologies put them at odds with each-other. Magneto is easily the best main antagonist in the X-Men Film Series and is still one of the greatest comic book movie villains of all time.
