These Movie Villains Lowkey Had A Point

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Ignacio Weil

Galleries - September 28th 2025, 19:00 GMT+2

Thanos Avengers Endgame 2019 — Thanos – Avengers: Endgame (2019)

When you think about the stakes in *Avengers: Endgame*, Thanos isn’t just the big bad who wants power – he believes the universe is choking, and his “balancing act” is extreme but not born from ignorance. He views resources, population, and suffering in cosmic scale, which forces you to ask whether ends ever justify means – even when those means are genocidal. He’s not wrong that scarcity and unchecked growth have consequences (just… maybe there are better ways). And his consistency in his belief – even when challenged by the heroes, by his own “family,” and by the fact that love complicates logic – gives Thanos a strange kind of tragic gravitas. Most villains get loyalty, fear, or confusion; he gets existential weight. | © Marvel Studios

Cropped Killmonger Black Panther — Killmonger – Black Panther (2018)

You don’t need to watch *Black Panther* long before Killmonger’s grievances hit painfully close to home: heritage lost, opportunity denied, centuries of injustice ignored. While T’Challa represents tradition and rule of law, Killmonger embodies the anger that builds when systems persistently silence or sideline entire communities. What makes him compelling isn’t just what he wants – but how he forces the rest of Wakanda (and, really, the world) to confront whether isolation and silence are morally defensible. It’s messy, it’s uncomfortable, but it’s hard to outright jam the “shut up and follow tradition” side when physical scars and historical amnesia are in the room. His point raises a crucial question: when is justice overdue? | © Marvel Studios

Eren Jaeger Attack on Titan — Eren Jaeger – Attack on Titan (2013)

Some villains start off sympathetic, others become sympathetic through their actions – Eren Jaeger starts somewhere fuzzy in between. His motivations spring from trauma and desperation: walls, monsters, the feeling of being penned in. As he evolves, his decisions become radical, terrifying even – but always rooted in a belief that freedom justifies extremes when you’ve got nothing left to lose. When he chooses violence on massive scales, it’s not for conquest so much as for final escape, even if that means making moral lines bleed. While many heroes fight for ideals, Eren fights for what he sees as survival and memory – both deeply human. | © WIT Studio

Cropped Bane The Dark Knight Rises 2012 — Bane – The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Bane isn’t just a brute with a mask; he believes Gotham’s system is broken from its foundation. The spectacle of his revolution, with walls crumbling and institutions collapsing, speaks to his conviction that privilege and corruption always find a way to hide until they explode into view. He pushes citizens to an edge – financial, moral, psychological – and forces them to consider whether order without justice is just another kind of tyranny. True, his methods are brutal; democracy twisted by fear isn’t redemption. Still, the questions he raises – Who builds the laws? Who enforces them? Who pays for their failings? – are hard not to ponder when the invisible pillars of society begin to crack. | © Warner Bros. Pictures

Cropped Clyde Shelton Law Abiding Citizen 2009 — Clyde Shelton – Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Frustration with a legal system that lets some off lightly is one thing; building bombs and executing a vendetta is another. But Clyde Shelton? He looked at the justice system, saw bargains for murderers, saw compromise where there should be moral clarity – and decided to hold everyone accountable. His kind of moral absolutism clashes with the world’s messy realpolitik. When agreements, legal loopholes, or prosecutorial deals leave victims behind, his rage feels almost unwillingly justified, even if his response is beyond what most people would ever sanction. He forces the viewer to consider: when systems protect the powerful more than the innocent, what avenues for justice really remain? | © The Film Department

Cropped Ozymandias Watchmen 2009 — Ozymandias – Watchmen (2009)

Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias, is the kind of villain who looks you calmly in the eye and says, “I’ll save the world – just need to crush your moral compass first.” His reasoning? Global threat, imminent nuclear war, suffering everywhere. Instead of waiting for humanity to ruin itself, he acts preemptively – even if it means mass casualties. It’s terrifying logic, but it forces a question: when you’re certain destruction is coming anyway, is there a version of justice in stopping it? He believes the sacrifice of the few can salvage the many, and as much as it repels, it also compels reflection on moral cost. | © Warner Bros. Pictures

Chef Skinner Ratatouille 2007 — Chef Skinner – Ratatouille (2007)

Running a high-end Parisian restaurant is stressful enough without the health inspectors breathing down your neck – and the last thing Chef Skinner wants is rodents in the kitchen. From his perspective, the idea of rats handling food isn’t charming or inspirational; it’s a full-blown nightmare that could destroy the business overnight. Yes, he’s greedy, manipulative, and power-hungry, but even the audience has to admit: nobody in their right mind would want a fine-dining empire revealed to be staffed by vermin. In the end, Skinner isn’t just protecting his ego – he’s trying to keep a Michelin-starred kitchen from turning into a public scandal. | © Pixar Animation Studios

Jack Doyle Gone Baby Gone — Jack Doyle – Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Playing Jack Doyle means playing the hard moral paradox: what if doing the right thing costs more than you ever imagined? Throughout *Gone Baby Gone*, Doyle watches as the system meant to protect the vulnerable lets them fall through cracks. His actions ask: when laws fail the innocent, is breaking them always wrong? That doesn’t excuse his worst deeds, but it complicates them –because his anger, frustration, and sense of betrayal feel earned. Sometimes characters don’t turn villainous by choice so much as by exhaustion. Doyle’s bitterness and disillusionment speak loudly to anyone who’s ever felt justice slipping away. | © Miramax Films

Magneto x men — Magneto – X-Men Saga (2000–)

When you’ve experienced persecution, fear, and loss, the safe path seems naive – and Magneto knows that all too well. His past as a Holocaust survivor shapes his view: mutants are always one misstep away from hate, violence, and worse. Rather than hope for acceptance, he arms for resistance. Sometimes extreme, often ruthless, yes – but his distrust of human kindness isn’t born out of malice as much as caution. He argues that “peace” offered by others often demands silence or sacrifice of identity. And in many X-Men stories, we see Magneto’s warnings coming true, one atrocity at a time. | © 20th Century Fox

Cropped Roy Batty Blade Runner — Roy Batty – Blade Runner (1982)

Imagine being built to serve, limited in life, and knowing all you’ll ever do is obey others – Batty doesn’t just imagine it, he lives it. The replicant’s rebellion isn’t born from evil; it’s born from desperation and longing, a desire to be more than what was designed. His reflections on mortality –the rain, the death, the memories – give his actions weight. When he lashes out, it’s less vengeance than a plea: to be seen, to matter. His line “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…” resonates because it’s existential, touching the core of what it means to live. Batty’s point is tragic, beautiful, and almost inevitable. | © Warner Bros. Pictures

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Spoilers for Gone Baby Gone and Attack on Titan!

Not every villain is just out for world domination or cartoonish chaos. Sometimes, when you peel back the layers, their motivations make a surprising amount of sense. Sure, their methods might be extreme (okay, very extreme), but the reasoning behind their actions often touches on real issues – power, justice, survival, or even fairness.

This list dives into 10 movie villains who, for all their flaws, weren’t entirely wrong. From iconic masterminds to unexpected antagonists, these characters remind us that the line between hero and villain isn’t always as clear as we’d like. And honestly? In a few cases, you might just catch yourself nodding along with their logic.