One of popular culture’s most beloved and successful brands of cinema,Sci-Fiboasts some of thebest movies of all time. A key element of this is the diverse array of memorable and compelling villains that the genre has produced over the years. Featuring iconic characters in the vein of2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000,The Matrix’s Agent Smith, orStar Wars’Darth Vader, thebest sci-fi movie villainsof all time feature prominently on any list of wider cinema’s finest antagonists.
However,for every celebrated bad guy that the genre has to offer, there’s at least one tragically underrated sci-fi movie villain who doesn’t get enough recognitionfrom mainstream audiences. Whether the character in question is overshadowed by more prominent antagonists who appear in their parent franchise or simply ends up getting lost in the shuffle with an array of broadly similar competitors, science fiction plays host to some of the most underappreciated iconic villains to ever make their bow on the silver screen.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Cast
Avengers: Age of Ultron, released in 2015, follows Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man and Captain America, as they contend with Ultron, a rogue AI with plans for global annihilation. This Marvel sequel sees The Avengers form uneasy alliances and embark on a perilous global adventure to thwart Ultron’s schemes.
The titular antagonist of 2015’sAvengers: Age of Ultron,James Spader’s Ultron is widely regarded as the least compelling ensemble bad guy that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has hosted to date.This state of affairs is likely due to the supervillain’s stiff levels of competition, jostling for attention with one of the most iconic superhero villains of all time in Josh Brolin’s intergalactic warlord, Thanos, in bothAge of Ultronand subsequent movies.
Marvel Just Set The Blueprint For Ultron’s Return That The MCU Absolutely Must Reject
Marvel Comics might have just teased how Ultron can return to the MCU, but Marvel Studios should avoid following this controversial blueprint.
It’s a shame because Ultron is arguably one of the MCU’s most tragically underrated characters, even if he does boast one of theworst villain designs. The embodiment of artificial intelligence’s terrifying abilities suffering from a God complex, Ultron is superbly voiced by Spader in a memorable performance from theBlackliststar. A worthy villain in his own right who acts as a dark mirror to his creator Tony Stark, Ultron may not have the star power of a Loki or a Thanos, but is desperately overdue more widespread appreciation.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road is a post-apocalyptic film set in a desolate desert landscape where society has collapsed. Released in 2015, the story follows two rebels, Max Rockatansky and Imperator Furiosa, as they attempt to survive and bring balance to a world torn by chaos and strife.
The driving antagonistic force of 2015’s post-apocalyptic action triumph,Mad Max: Fury Road,and a supporting character in 2024’s prequelFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga,Immortan Joe is one of science fiction’s most unsung cinematic villains,despite being one of the most visually striking examples the genre has to offer. A nightmarish visage of radiation poisoning, Joe’s wacky get-up is completed by plastic body armor and breathing apparatus that rivals Darth Vader.
The late Hugh Keays-Byrne also portrayed Toecutter in the franchise’s first installment,Mad Max.
Brought to life by Hugh Keays-Byrne and Lachy Hulme, Joe is a ruthless warlord who dominates the area’s water supply and is revered as a god by his devoted followers. Contentiously thebest sci-fi villain of the 2010s, this despicable tyrant serves as a worthy antagonistic foil against the backdrop of one of the best sci-fi action movies of all time. Yet he is often overshadowed in terms of mainstream favoritism by the characters that he shares his universe with.
Prometheus
Prometheus, released in 2012, is a science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott. It follows a team of explorers as they uncover clues about humanity’s origins, embarking on a perilous interstellar expedition where they confront formidable challenges to secure the future of mankind.
Another embodiment of the potential dangers posed by unchecked artificial intelligence and named after Michelangelo’s iconic sculpture,Shelley-quoting android David is one of modern science fiction’s most nuanced villains.The overarching antagonist of Ridley Scott’sAlienprequel films, 2012’sPrometheuslaid the foundations for David’s potential for world-ending destruction before 2017’sAlien: Covenantshowed the levels of damage that the android was capable of causing at his most dangerous.
Alienprequel series IMDb ratings
7.0
Alien: Covenant(2017)
6.4
Devoid of pesky constraints like a conscience or morality and plagued by a deep contempt for his human creators, David is also one of modern science fiction’s most sinister antagonists. The android is brought to life in a chilling performance by Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender; one ofFassbender’s best movie roles, David is charming, articulate, and cultured right up until he isn’t. As such, the character’s lack of wider recognition among the genre’s preeminent villains is somewhat baffling.
The Fifth Element
Set in 23rd-century New York City, The Fifth Element stars Bruce Willis as Korben Dallas, an ex-army major turned cab driver who unwittingly becomes part of a fight to protect Earth from an approaching evil after a strange woman named Leeloo accidentally falls into his cab. Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, and Chris Tucker also star.
Depicting a desperate race against time to save humanity from an evil entity capable of destroying Earth, Luc Besson’sThe Fifth Elementalternates between epic and goofy. However, the movie still retains a reputation as one of science fiction’s most underrated classics; a riotous medley of stunning visuals and chaotic action sequences held together by a rip-roaring narrative and a quintessential smoking-a-cigarette-in-a-vest leadsci-fi performance from Bruce Willis.
The movie also features a memorable villain in Gary Oldman’s Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, a morally devoid industrialist and arms dealer who is working with the evil entity. Incapable of producing a boring performance, Oldman gleefully throws himself into the role without a hint of restraint to produce one of the genre’s most watchable villains.Zorg’s mix of instantly quotable one-liners, Southern tones, and campy air of menace makes for a cult-classic level bad guy,one who sadly never gets the nlove that he is due.
Snowpiercer
Snowpiercer is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi film directed by Bong Joon-ho. The narrative takes place aboard a perpetually moving train carrying the last remnants of humanity after a failed climate-change experiment freezes the planet. Chris Evans stars as Curtis, who leads a group of lower-class passengers in a rebellion against the oppressive elite at the front of the train. The film explores themes of class struggle and survival.
An acclaimed sci-fi offering fromParasitedirector Bong Joon-Ho, the post-apocalyptic sci-fi dramaSnowpiercerdepicts an epic class struggle aboard the titular locomotive, a train bearing humanity’s last survivors following an extinction-level event 17 years earlier. The movie’s big bad takes the form ofEd Harris' Wilford, the train’s creator and the mastermind behind the carefully maintained class structure aboard theSnowpiercer.
Snowpiercer: Each Main Character, Ranked By Bravery
Snowpiercer’s engine eternal continues its trek traversing the frozen planet. Which characters in this dystopian future stack up in terms of bravery?
Deftly balancing convivial charm with a sociopathic disregard for human life,Wilford is a Machiavellian villain of the highest order.An individual who will cheerfully cook a steak as child workers manually operate the train’s engine’s dangerous mechanics mere feet away from him, Harris' charge is revealed to have engineered the tail section’s uprising as nothing more than a method of population control. It’s remarkable that Harris' take isn’t even the most popular iteration of Wilford, with Sean Bean’s version of the character in the Netflix series arguably surpassing him in terms of widespread renown.
The Invisible Man
Inspired by H.G. Well’s novel of the same name, The Invisible Man is a modern retelling of the sci-fi horror classic. After narrowly escaping her abusive and powerful tech mogul boyfriend (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) is relieved to hear of his death. However, she soon becomes convinced that he’s watching her, and little by little, she comes to believe that he’s found a way to not only cheat death but the laws of reality, too.
A reboot of the 1933 movie based on H.G. Wells' novel of the same name, 2020’sThe Invisible Mansought to modernize the franchise through the use of technology and a storyline revolving around an abusive relationship. Earning a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Leigh Whannell’s picture is ahorror movie worth sticking with through to the end, and owes a great deal of its success to the movie’s titular villain. Also known as Adrian Griffin, the Invisible Man is brought to life in a superbly wicked bow from Oliver Jackson-Cohen
Griffin’s name is inspired by the name of H.G. Wells' character in the 1897 novel.
Modernizing Wells' mad scientist character as an affluent technology mogul and businessman who uses a high-tech invisible suit to haunt the footsteps of his former partner, Griffin is a devious antagonist of the highest order. An abusive starker who sadistically torments Elizabeth Moss' Cecilia Kass,the movie’s eponymous villain’s lack of recognition can partially be attributed to his specter-like presence in the film; he is the Invisible Man, after all.
War for the Planet of the Apes
War for the Planet of the Apes is an action-adventure movie directed by Matt Reeves and is a sequel to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. In the film, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his mythic quest to avenge his kind.
One of thebestPlanet of the Apesmovies,Matt Reeves' acclaimed follow-up to 2014’sDawn of the Planet of the Apes,War for the Planet of the Apesfeatures the reboot series' most memorable villain,a tragically underrated bad guy who rarely gets the attention he is due. This bad guy takes the form of Woody Harrelson’s Col. J. Wesley McCullough, a character more commonly referred to as the Colonel.
Planet of the Apesreboot series IMDb ratings
Rise of the Planet of the Apes(2011)
7.6
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes(2014)
War for the Planet of the Apes(2017)
7.4
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes(2024)
6.9
The head honcho of the Alpha-Omega paramilitary faction, the Colonel is an abjectly merciless individual. A man who will stoop to any moral low in order to preserve human supremacy on Earth, McCullough’s ruthless mandate extends to murdering Caesar’s wife and young son. Seamlessly brought to life in an ominous turn from Harrelson, the Colonel remains a criminally underrated villain; a surprising status quo given that he appears in one of modern sci-fi’s most successful franchises.
Life
A six-member crew is tasked with studying a sample from Mars that may be the first proof of extra-terrestrial life.
Lifealso plays host to a notably underrated antagonist for the genre, although it decidedly isn’t a human one. Said antagonist takes the form of Calvin, a dormant cell extracted from Martian soil that grows into a living organism under observation aboard the International Space Station. Unfortunately, the extraterrestrial soon belies the unassuming name given to it by schoolchildren back on Earth, embarking on a murderous rampage and killing anybody that it can lay its tentacles upon.
A near-indestructible predatory organism with superhuman strength, camouflage abilities, and remarkable levels of intelligence,Calvin is such a formidable antagonist that the alien is implied to have wiped out all life on Mars.The extraterrestrial also plays an integral role inLife’sshock ending; one of the most desolating twists that the genre has to offer. However, despite the creature’s terrifying abilities, Calvin is often overshadowed by science fiction’s more famous extraterrestrial antagonists;
Sunshine
Sunshine, directed by Danny Boyle, follows a team of astronauts on a critical mission to reignite the dying Sun and save Earth from an impending freeze. Set fifty years into the future, the film explores their journey and the challenges faced in their attempt to restore solar life.
It stands to reason that one of the most underrated sci-fi films of all time would feature an underrated villain. Featuring a star-studded ensemble cast, Danny Boyle’s movieSunshinechronicles a perilous mission to reignite a dying Sun, with the movie’s villain taking the form of Mark Strong’s Pinbacker. The horrifically burned captain of Icarus I, Pinbacker torpedoes the original mission, attempting to sabotage the latest effort while claiming that he is acting on divine instructions to send humanity to heaven.
Pinbacker’s in-person arrival precipitates a slide away from science-fiction into more horror-based territory forSunshine’sconclusion,a move that arguablyruined the incredible movie’s ending. With that being said, Strong’s burn-covered villain is still an unforgettable antagonist whose effectiveness and gravitas are rarely discussed; an unhinged killer influenced by terrifying delusions of speaking with God.
Back to the Future
Back to the Future follows teenager Marty McFly as he is inadvertently sent back to 1955, where he disrupts his parents' meeting. With the assistance of eccentric inventor Doc Brown, Marty must restore the timeline by ensuring his parents fall in love and find a way back to 1985.
Robert Zemeckis' trio ofBack to the Futuremovies are viewed as some of the finest sci-fi flicks ever made, with 1985’s original installment widely regarded as a front-runner for the best sci-fi movie of all time. None of this would have been possible without a first-rate antagonist, a villain who takes the form of Thomas F. Wilson’s Biff Tannen. Wilson also plays multiple iterations of Biff across different timelines, including his grandson Griff and his Wild Western ancestor, Buford"Mad Dog" Tannen.
Back To The Future Review: Robert Zemeckis' Time Travel Masterpiece Is Surprisingly Heavy
Robert Zemeckis' rip-roaring sci-fi comedy classic still holds up four decades on from its release and is a fitting reminder of the power of love.
A dimwitted, hulking bully with a propensity for calling people “buttheads,” misusing idioms, and crashing into manure trucks, Biff is often overlooked as a preeminent sci-villain due to his buffoonish nature. However, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that he (and his family) successfully serve as memorable antagonists for one of the most acclaimed and beloved franchises of all time, irrespective of genre. As such,Biff is arguably the most underrated science fiction villain in cinematic history.
