Random Movie Villains Who Were Probably Right All Along (29 items)

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  (#11) Erik Killmonger

  • Black Panther

  Michael B. Jordan took on the role of Erik Killmonger in the 2018 Black Panther, and his sympathetic portrayal really makes you reevaluate the character. In September 2018, Marvel announced a Killmonger miniseries that explores his backstory.

  Why We Hated Him: Killmonger was never exactly hated by Black Panther fans, as he's one of the more sympathetic villains in the superhero genre. However, fans were hesitant to embrace Killmonger's plan to distribute vibranium weaponry to the oppressed masses, as this would have spurred worldwide violence and the potential loss of innocent lives. 

  Why He Was Probably Right: As many online commentators have pointed out, Killmonger did not simply want to murder thousands without cause. Having grown up witnessing the systemic oppression of racism first hand, Killmonger felt revolution was necessary. And, at times, it may be. Had Killmonger gotten his way, would it have been a bloodbath? Sure. But, as Victor Hugo once wrote, we call the brutalities of progress revolution. Mankind has been treated harshly, but it moves forward. 
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  (#17) Wilford

  • Snowpiercer

  An Ed Harris villain, Wilford built Snowpiercer, the titular train designed to run forever, and the mastermind behind the train's rigid class system. 

  Why We Hated Him: Well, the people in the back of the train were basically starving, being used as slaves, and if you step out, punishment is doled out in the form of sticking your arm out and freezing it to the point of shattering. Wilford indoctrinated children with blatant propaganda, and executed many. 

  Why He Was Probably Right: No one knew more about the train and its inhabitants than Wilford. Resources were ridiculously scarce, and there just plain wasn't room for more. At a certain point, either some people had to die, or everyone was guaranteed to die. And guess what? His solution would've worked. It was brutal, but it kept humanity going. 

  Curtis' (Chris Evans) solution -- blow up the train, resulting in only two children surviving and forced to continue on in a snowy wasteland -- seems downright intolerable in comparison.
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  (#19) Daniel Plainview

  • There Will Be Blood

  The complicated man at the head of There Will Be Blood, Daniel Day-Lewis' Daniel Plainview squared off against Paul Dano's Eli Sunday, a preacher who uses his local oil field as a political tool. 

  Why We Hated Him: Daniel Plainview was a monster, plain and simple. He was ruthless in his dealings, and he bullied, beat and murdered anyone who got in his way. Oh! And he used a dead coworker's child as a prop to portray himself as a family man.

  Why He Was Probably Right: Because the Sunday family was awful. They beat children (a practice Daniel firmly stopped), they ran a church that never seemed to actually include scripture in sermons, and basically bilked an entire town out of a lot of money for a salvation that Eli never intended to provide. (Indeed, Eli himself denounced his faith over money.)

  Plainview, on the other hand, gave the town everything they asked for. Sure, he was going to lowball them and he secretly took the oil under the one holdout's land, but it's bad business to be known as a townkiller. 
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  (#2) Dalton Russell

  • Inside Man

  Clive Owen's devious thief in Inside Man ends up carrying out the "perfect robbery," outsmarting just about everyone, including one Denzel Washington.

  Why We Hated Him: Taking over a bank, taking hostages, scaring people half to death, demeaning them (they had to strip and change clothes), and altogether causing massive problems for the city.

  Why He Was Probably Right: Russell was stealing one thing, and one thing only: a safety deposit box with evidence incriminating the bank's founder of working with the Nazis. He was offered a great deal of money to destroy it and escape any lengthy prison sentence, so he'd be rich and free, and yet still refused. 

  After making his escape, he leaves behind enough evidence for Denzel Washington's Frazier to investigate and bring down the Nazi sympathizer. None of this would have been possible had Russell not staged this heist, and a Nazi would have gone on living in luxury off of the misery of an entire race.
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  (#27) President Snow

  • The Hunger Games

  Going up against him tended to mean your death, and it was a teenaged girl who ultimately brought him down. How unfortunate. 

  Why We Hated Him: Oh, let's see, murder, murder, murder, making literal children fight to the death, firebombing an entire District, torturing and brainwashing Katniss's boyfriend, and more murder. 

  Why He Was Probably Right: Things were stable until Katniss came around. She set off a rebellion that was killing people, and Snow was doing everything possible to retain order. Knowing the kind of person future President Coin was, he even tried to help Katniss, warning her that Coin would be no better than he. 

  And as far as the Hunger Games themselves were concerned, Snow was one year old when they started. Many of the things being rebelled against were established protocol by the time he arrived. 

  And finally: District 13 wasn't bombed, but actually signed a non-aggression pact with the Capitol, allowing them to be independent -- a pact they forced by pointing nuclear weapons at the Capitol. And this was all a pact that District 13 completely intended to tear up. 
  
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  (#12) Ed Rooney

  • Ferris Bueller's Day Off

  One of the greatest villains of all time, Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) was a crazed Dean of Students who chased Ferris Bueller all across Chicago. 

  Why We Hated Him: He was certifiably insane, and absolutely obsessed with ruining Ferris' day. He also broke into Ferris' house and scared the crap out of Jeanie. 

  Why He Was Probably Right: He was doing his job! Ferris was skipping school, and had done so nine times ("Nine times?" "Niiiiiine times."). He was ruining his academic career, and then convinced two other people to start doing the same. Rooney said, "he gives good kids bad ideas," and Ferris literally did that, resulting in Cameron destroying a Ferrari. 

  Those kids needed to get back to class.

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