7 Movie Villains We Can't Wait to Hate From 'SPECTRE,' 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' and Beyond
From Ultron to Indominus Rex, 2015 has brought some terrific scenery-chewing villains to the big screen. But the cinematic forces of evil are just getting started. Between now and 2016, movies like Ghostbusters, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Captain America: Civil War will introduce a whole new slate of super-baddies for your hissing-and-booing pleasure. Here’s a casting rundown of seven big-screen villains we can’t wait to see.
Christoph Waltz as Franz Oberhauser in SPECTRE
Here’s an actor who’s no stranger to villainous roles. Since winning an Oscar for his chilling performance as Nazi leader Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, Waltz has played bad guys in films ranging from Water for Elephants to Muppets Most Wanted. In the upcoming James Bond film SPECTRE (out Nov. 6), he brings his fiendish charisma to the role of Franz Oberhauser — a man who knows dangerous secrets from 007’s past. Waltz has denied rumors that his character is a new version of classic Bond villain Blofeld, but judging from the teaser trailer, they have the same taste in evil swivel chairs.
Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best known as Hannah’s on-again, off-again weirdo boyfriend on HBO’s Girls, Driver has quietly built a prestigious film career over the past four years, appearing in movies like Lincoln, Inside Llewyn Davis, and this year’s While We’re Young. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (out Dec. 18) could send Driver into a whole new orbit of stardom: He plays Kylo Ren, the hooded villain who wields the much-discussed red crossguard lightsaber in the Force Awakens teaser trailer.
Ed Skrein as Ajax in Deadpool
An English actor and rapper (yes, rapper), Ed Skrein played the wickedly handsome Daario Naharis in three episodes of Game of Thrones before leaving to take over Jason Statham’s role in the Transporter franchise. In the ‘hard R’ superhero comedy Deadpool (out Feb. 12, 2016), Skrein plays Ajax, a mentally unstable killing machine with a vendetta against Ryan Reynolds’ wisecracking antihero.
Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse
Rising star Oscar Isaac isn’t modest about his X-Men character’s ambitions. On the Monkeys Fighting Robots podcast, the actor described the villain Apocalypse as “the embodiment of the second coming of the judgements of God.” In the final installment of the current X-Men trilogy (out May 27, 2016), Apocalypse faces off against young mutants Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), and the rest of the X-gang. Isaac, who played a devious robotics genius in Ex Machina, will also star as ace pilot Poe Dameron in December’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Neil Casey in Ghostbusters
The star of Yahoo original comedy Other Space, Casey will be reuniting with director Paul Feig in the female-led Ghostbusters reboot that’s out on July 22, 2016. Though he’s less of a household name than cast members Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, Casey has substantial comedy cred: He’s a UCB alum who has written for Saturday Night Live and Inside Amy Schumer. No details are available yet on his Ghostbusters villain, but we’ll wager that he lands on the funny-scary scale somewhere between Zuul and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Watch the first episode of ‘Other Space:’
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
The star of The Social Network and Now You See Me shaved off his shaggy curls to play Superman’s most iconic nemesis in the superhero saga out March 25, 2016. Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder told EW that his new villain is “not like any of the Lexes that you’ve seen, that’s for sure, other than him being a captain of industry and one person to the world and another person to himself.” Eisenberg has also tried to distance himself from previous Luthors, telling MTV that his version of Lex is “not this silly, villainous character.” Now the big question is: Will Eisenberg’s character be joining up with the Joker in Suicide Squad?
Daniel Brühl as Baron Zemo in Captain America: Civil War (May 6, 2016)
An actor who begin his career in Germany, Daniel Brühl will put his accent to good use as Leipzig-born baddie Baron Helmut Zemo. The Civil War character is the son of the Baron Heinrich Zemo, a Nazi scientist-turned-super-villain who died in battle with Captain America. Now, in the third Cap movie (out May 6, 2016), Helmut seeks to avenge his father’s death. Brühl last represented the Third Reich onscreen in Inglourious Basterds, and starred opposite Chris Hemsworth in 2013’s race car drama Rush.
