The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (2025)

Heroes might get all the love and adoration, but an excellent film villain makes all the difference. The better the villain, the tougher the obstacles the hero faces, making their success feel earned and cathartic. A great villain also reflects the worst parts of our society, hopefully encouraging audience members to emulate the heroes in the real world.

The history of cinema is littered with excellent film villains, across genres, that have challenged the films' heroes and audiences' physical, moral and emotional ideals. 2024 was another excellent year at the movies and with that came an exciting array of intellectual, sadistic, violent and all-too-real villains. These villains ranged from sci-fi baddies to ideological extremists and animated emotions. These are the villains that made us squeeze our armrests in 2024.

10 Slater King in 'Blink Twice'

Played by Channing Tatum

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (1)

In Blink Twice, Zoë Kravitz's directorial debut, a group of people are invited to party on a billionaire tech mogul's island with him and his eccentric friends. As their partying habits intensify, so does the strangeness among the hosts and island support staff. As the oddities on the island are accentuated, Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Sarah (Adria Arjona) become more paranoid and slowly uncover the true depths of the nefarious activities happening on the island.

In one of two disturbing plot twists in Blink Twice, the pair discover that their host, Slater King (Channing Tatum), is not the reformed and enlightened person he presents himself as. Instead, he routinely takes women to his island for party getaways where he and his friends take advantage of them and erase their memories. While Slater King is an exaggerated character created for a psychological thriller, he is a great cinematic villain because he appropriately represents the power men in the real world lord over women and the abusive liberties they take with them.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (2)
Blink Twice

R

Drama

Thriller

Where to Watch

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Release Date
August 23, 2024
Director
Zoë Kravitz

Runtime
102 Minutes
Writers
Zoë Kravitz, E.T. Feigenbaum

9 The Traveler in 'Carry-On'

Played by Jason Bateman

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (7)

Jaume Collet-Serra's Carry-On looks poised to become the Christmas action thriller for a new generation. The Netflix hit sees Taron Egerton as a TSA Agent who gets blackmailed by a mysterious voice on the phone to let through a potentially dangerous package. The film has received widespread acclaim, with many favorably comparing it to the 1988 action thriller, Die Hard.

Like the Bruce Willis-starring classic, a major reason for Carry-On's success is the quality of its villain. Here, he is simply referred to as 'The Traveler' and portrayed disturbingly calmly by Jason Bateman. The Traveler is a mercenary who has been paid to carry out an act of domestic terrorism. To kill a congresswoman, he is tasked with taking down an entire flight to make a point. The traveler asserts that he isn't a terrorist because he isn't ascribed to a particular ideology. However, this is what makes him such a chilling villain. Unaligned with any staunch ideologies, he is guided by profit and chooses to kill hundreds of people solely for money.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (8)
Carry-On

PG-13

Action

Drama

Mystery

Thriller

Where to Watch

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Release Date
December 13, 2024
Director
Jaume Collet-Serra

Runtime
119 Minutes

Writers
Michael Green, T.J. Fixman

8 Mr. Reed in 'Heretic'

Played by Hugh Grant

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (10)

In an excellent year for the horror genre, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods' Heretic saw Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East as two Mormon missionaries who attempt to convert a reclusive man, before realizing the extent of his villainy. Heretic saw Hugh Grant continue his transition from rom-com charm to eccentricity with a spectacular performance as the villainous Mr. Reed.

In truth, Mr. Reed's success as a villain is entirely tied to Hugh Grant's storied career. The scariest thing about Heretic's villain is his dripping charm. He charms the Mormon missionaries—and the audience—into a false sense of relaxation as he slowly plots their psychological and physical torture. He is a villain who doesn't announce his villainy but instead slowly lulls his prey into comfort until he is ready to pounce. A death by a thousand cuts.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (11)
Heretic

R

Horror

Thriller

Release Date
November 8, 2024

Director
Scott Beck, Bryan Woods

Runtime
110 Minutes

Writers
Scott Beck, Bryan Woods

7 Macrinus in 'Gladiator II'

Played by Denzel Washington

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (13)

While divisive, Ridley Scott's Gladiator II received uniform praise Denzel Washington's performance as the film's antagonist, Macrinus. Set 16 years after the Best Picture-winning epic, Gladiator, the sequel finds the exiled grandson of Marcus Aurelius, Lucius (Paul Mescal), returning to Rome as a prisoner of war and slave, fighting in the Colosseum.

A great performance from Denzel Washington isn't necessarily newsworthy, but in his performance as Macrinus, he brings new shades to an already stellar acting resume. He effortlessly portrays the glee with which Macrinus, a slave turned slave master, attempts to take control of Rome. By revealing Macrinus' tragic backstory and the full extent of his plans, the film provides more depth to the character's schemes. The best villains are inherently complicated; Macrinus, a man born out of slavery and intent on seeing his subjugators vanquished but simultaneously a murderer and a slaver, exhibits this complexity in spades.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (14)
Gladiator II

Action

Drama

Epic

History

Adventure

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Release Date
November 22, 2024
Director
Ridley Scott

Runtime
148 minutes

Writers
David Scarpa, Peter Craig, David Franzoni

6 Longlegs in 'Longlegs'

Played by Nicolas Cage

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (16)

Sometimes a great villain is just pure evil. No motivation needed. In Osgood Perkins' horror hit, Longlegs, the FBI launches an investigation into a series of family serial killings that seem to be associated with the occult.

Nicolas Cage portrays the eponymous serial killer, Longlegs, who claims to be an emissary of the devil. For large portions of the film, Longlegs is unseen. The audience and the FBI are only left with the gruesome after-effects of his murders and the inexplicable rationale for how/why the murders happened. With a structure like that, the eventual appearance of the film's boogeyman may prove underwhelming, but Nicolas Cage's unhinged performance as Longlegs maintains the film's momentum and provides one of the year's most unsettling film scenes.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (17)
Longlegs

R

Horror

Thriller

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Release Date
July 12, 2024
Director
Oz Perkins

Runtime
101 Minutes
Writers
Oz Perkins

5 Cardinal Tedesco in 'Conclave'

Played by Sergio Castellitto

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (26)

Edward Berger's film, Conclave, based on the Robert Harris novel of the same name, is a surprisingly entertaining film about the election of a new pope. Led by Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, the film perfectly mirrors the divided landscape of contemporary politics.

Conclave intelligently and entertainingly engages with the main candidates' partisan ideological and personal stances. One such ideology is fronted by Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castelitto), an Italian right-wing traditionalist who is in direct opposition to Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) and Cardinal Bellini's (Tucci) more liberal views. Tedesco is openly against Islamists and the principles of relativism and in support of a Catholic-fronted religious war, among many more very conservative ideas. While Tedesco's opinions are limited to the Catholic Church, his villainy is particularly striking because of how accurately he resembles a large section of populist politicians that have risen in recent years. The film also shows how easily these demagogues can accrue a followership, which adds to the bone-chilling effect of the character.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (27)
Conclave

PG

Thriller

Drama

Mystery

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Release Date
October 25, 2024

Director
Edward Berger

Runtime
120 Minutes

Writers
Peter Straughan, Robert Harris

4 Art the Clown in 'Terrifier 2'

Played by David Howard Thornton

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (36)

Damien Leone's indie breakout horror series, Terrifier, released its frightening third installment in 2024. For the horror threequel, the setting was moved from Halloween to the Christmas Holidays. Starring David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown. Terrifier 3 saw the return of the killer clown and his possessed, facially disfigured accomplice, Victoria Heyes.

While killer clowns are nothing new to the horror genre, Art's gory and stomach-churning kills have put him ahead of the pack. With deaths by liquid nitrogen, axe chops to the head and suffocation (to put it mildly), it is no surprise that many viewers fell sick while watching Terrifier 3. A villain that takes an uncomfortable amount of glee in his kills, thanks to Terrifier 3, we now have another holiday to be fearful of Art the Clown.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (37)

Terrifier 3

Not Rated

Horror

Where to Watch

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Release Date
October 11, 2024

Director
Damien Leone

Runtime
125 Minutes

Writers
Damien Leone

Studio(s)
Dark Age Cinema, Fuzz on the Lens Productions

3 Anxiety in 'Inside Out 2'

Played by Maya Hawke

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (42)

Pixar's 2015 film, Inside Out, was an emotional and breathtaking exploration of the inner workings of an 11-year-old girl named Riley. 9 years later, the studio returned with a sequel catching up with the now 13-year-old Riley. In Inside Out 2, Riley's brush with puberty leads to the arrival of four new emotions, chief among them, Anxiety.

For anyone who has lived through this stage of life, they can attest that one's first brush with anxiety can be frightening. This is what makes Anxiety, performed with, itself an anxiety-inducing briskness from Maya Hawke​​​​​, so scary. While the film's ultimate thesis is about the importance of all emotions co-existing, the journey to that conclusion is quite harrowing, especially for adults with similar experiences. In a frighteningly accurate scene, Inside Out 2 depicts a panic attack and the lengths to which anxiety can take over one's life.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (43)
Inside Out 2

PG

Adventure

Comedy

Animation

Drama

Family

Where to Watch

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Release Date
June 14, 2024

Director
Kelsey Mann

Runtime
96 Minutes

Writers
Meg LeFauve, Dave Holstein, Kelsey Mann

2 Nosferatu in 'Nosferatu'

Played by Bill Skarsgård

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (46)

Vampires are nothing new to cinema. From the grotesque to reimaginations of classic literary characters to baseball-playing families, the cinematic vampire has been a mainstay of film. With 2024's Nosferatu, Robert Eggers continues that tradition. A remake of the 1922 silent film classic, this version sees noted prosthetic enthusiast, Bill Skarsgård, don Count Orlok's cloak.

Nosferatu, thematically, presents a grotesque manifestation of society's darkest ills and our most perverse tendencies. He is singularly focused on satiating his carnal desires and unbothered by the collateral damage in his wake. Nosferatu freely tortures, torments and kills people till he receives his way. Perhaps, though, the most disturbing thing about the undead Count is his fixation on the young soul who once, under false pretenses, surrendered herself to him. Be it torture via nightmares, infecting a town with diseased rats or, simply, threatening to kill a man if his wife doesn't give herself to you, audiences are sure to come out of Nosferatu with nothing but dread for the Transylvanian vampire.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (47)

Nosferatu

R

Horror

Fantasy

Mystery

Release Date
December 25, 2024
Director
Robert Eggers

Runtime
132 Minutes
Writers
Robert Eggers

Studio(s)
Regency Enterprises , 1492 Pictures

WATCH IN THEATRES

1 Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in 'Dune: Part Two'

Played by Austin Butler

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (48)

Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two represents all that was great about 2024's cinematic year. The epic conclusion to 2021's Dune was a crowd-pleasing, jaw-dropping spectacle with more on its mind than the average blockbuster. A dubious retelling of the classic hero's journey, the film finds Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) reluctantly leading the Fremen against their oppressive colonizers.

Understandably, a film as epic and with as many themes on its mind as Dune: Part Two requires a worthy villain for its hero. In Austin Butler's Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, the film found the perfect charismatic, brutal, ambitious, and inscrutable villain. Equally adept at plotting and hand-to-hand combat, Feyd-Rautha proved an excellent foil to the film's heroes. He announces his arrival in a beautifully shot, brutal sequence that confirms to the audience that he won't be a villain easily disregarded. He excels as a villain thanks to how much he pushes the hero, revealing new (and perhaps, unfavorable) sides to Paul. Bolstered by a star-affirming performance from Austin Butler, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen is a character set to live on in cinematic history.

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (49)
Dune: Part Two

PG-13

Science Fiction

Adventure

Where to Watch

*Availability in US

Release Date
February 27, 2024

Director
Denis Villeneuve

Runtime
167 minutes

Main Genre
Sci-Fi

Writers
Denis Villeneuve

Studio(s)
Legendary Pictures

NEXT: The 10 Most Rewatchable Movies of 2024, Ranked

The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2024, Ranked (2025)
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