Will Thanos (MCU) ever be topped as the GOAT comic book movie villain?

[Vandelay]

Well what IS your critiera? I gave you mine laid out clearly, I haven't seen that from you. Could you provide it?

Also its not that I like super powerful villains, I just think they clearly post a much greater threat than a regular guy with a gun. But if you've looked at previous posts, I give major props to Zemo because he basically did everything he set out to do with the exception of suicide to escape punishment. He had a clear plan, achieved it and far overshot what someone of his ability should have been.

I haven't seen your criteria yet but it seems you are more into the look and appeal of a villain than what they actually do or achieve. Nor do you seem the type that likes fiction/supernatural. A lot of your list are more human/street level based, maybe you just like smaller stakes and scale. That's cool too bruh, but the visual ain't enough for me. A villain can't just say they are a bad ass, they have to show me. Darth Vader actually showed his ability among the names you listed, its part of the reason he's a top tier cinema villain while many of the other names you mentioned have appeal but don't hold up the same way over time.


This is not a slight to Joker, but I think a lot of people get caught up in Ledger's acting job/death than looking objectively at what Joker did. He didn't really do that much, especially compared to his OWN universe when Bane did WAY more. They are both cool, but I don't see how they can objectively hold up to Thanos.

My guy...

TDK Joker
TDKR Bane is arguably the same level.
Magneto old and young is probably just under him.

Looking at your post below this, you rate your villains based off of how much they destroy. That's cool.

I just rate mine differently. I go by actor portrayal, charisma, how much of a menace they are, how intricate their plan is, what underlying motivations they have, quotability, overall impact and legacy...

Thanos is no slouch, and just about everything I hoped he would be in a villain...

Joker beats him because, I did not expect the depths he would have as a villain in that movie. And overall...he felt real. I rank the whole Dark Knight trilogy as my favorite trilogy because it felt real. Something that "could" exist in this world.

What's more is...I generally don't like DC pretty much as a whole outside of Batman. So I'm not playing fanboy.

Do you want to dialogue or do you just like reading what you type?

We just have different criteria that we vote on. Ultimately for me, I like realistic villains...but Magneto and Thanos are number 2 and 3 for me, so I don't know what you are getting at...

Joker up until the end was one step ahead of everyone, and had no true motivation other than being "an agent of chaos". It's not a grandiose plan by any stretch of the imagination, but how he executed it was superior than any other comicbook villain I have seen on a movie screen. He would have triumphed had he not underestimated the will of people to actually do what was right.

 

[TNC]

My guy...



Do you want to dialogue or do you just like reading what you type?

We just have different criteria that we vote on. Ultimately for me, I like realistic villains...but Magneto and Thanos are number 2 and 3 for me, so I don't know what you are getting at...

Joker up until the end was one step ahead of everyone, and had no true motivation other than being "an agent of chaos". It's not a grandiose plan by any stretch of the imagination, but how he executed it was superior than any other comicbook villain I have seen on a movie screen. He would have triumphed had he not underestimated the will of people to actually do what was right.

Ok, this is sort of what I was saying in my post. You strike me as the type that prefers more street level/grounded villians than the fictional/super powered ones. That's fine and I don't slight you for it, but that's just a personal preference. I like both, but I will admit super powered villians are almost always going to rank higher on my criteria due to "threat level" unless the hero is overpowered.

I think we just have a style preference is all, bruh. I think Thanos fits everything on your criteria list at a HIGHER LEVEL than Joker, personally but that's probably my preference just like you liking Joker more. I think Thanos will always have the edge on Joker because he just imposes much more of a threat on each level than Joker but that doesn't slight Heath's performance or the character because they are both great villians, but they did different things. Joker was more realistic, but Thanos was more menacing and imposing.

 

[AllHolosEve]

What were Dormammu's goals? And did he achieve them?

No.

I disagree with that. When was the last time you watched Dr. Strange?

Dormmamu's goal was to invade the Earth Realm and conquer it for himself. The wizards were devices he used to see his plan through. He actually failed to complete his plan because of the time loop Strange put him in. Maybe a bit generic Power Monger/I want to destroy everything architype, but I don't think he was bad. I'd call him average.

Was he a bad villain? I don't think so. Was he great? Not IMO but had great potential but he's also not dead and available for use late.

Dormmamu was more plot, the cult leader was the main villain. That's like saying Ronan wasn't the main villain cause he worked for Thanos. Let Dormmamu walk through a portal like Thanos .

Think about it. Strange went head up with Thanos, lost but held his own. Dormmamu gave him L's in every time loop, in seconds, woulda smacked the team. The time stone saved you flatscans.

 

[TNC]

No.

Dormmamu was more plot, the cult leader was the main villain. That's like saying Ronan wasn't the main villain cause he worked for Thanos. Let Dormmamu walk through a portal like Thanos .

Think about it. Strange went head up with Thanos, lost but held his own. Dormmamu gave him L's in every time loop, in seconds, woulda smacked the team. The time stone saved you flatscans.

I pretty much agree with this.

 

[Vandelay]

Ok, this is sort of what I was saying in my post. You strike me as the type that prefers more street level/grounded villians than the fictional/super powered ones. That's fine and I don't slight you for it, but that's just a personal preference. I like both, but I will admit super powered villians are almost always going to rank higher on my criteria due to "threat level" unless the hero is overpowered.

I think we just have a style preference is all, bruh. I think Thanos fits everything on your criteria list at a HIGHER LEVEL than Joker, personally but that's probably my preference just like you liking Joker more. I think Thanos will always have the edge on Joker because he just imposes much more of a threat on each level than Joker but that doesn't slight Heath's performance or the character because they are both great villians, but they did different things. Joker was more realistic, but Thanos was more menacing and imposing.

I like realism in my villains...but Thanos is 2b and Magneto is number 3.

 

[Benefited]

Don't forget that Thanos actually WON and achieved his goal to the point they had to use time travel to actually beat him and still almost lost. And Thanos went up against way tougher competition, achieved more and was a bigger threat.


In comparison, what did TDK Joker really even accomplish besides blowing up a hospital and killing and ugly girl?

How did Thanos win?Joker and Bane won too if you make the movie two parts. You have to look at the overall picture,and in the overall picture Thanos lost in multiple timeframes. He went out like a g when Thor chopped his head off,not so much when Iron Man snapped him out of existence.

 

[TNC]

How did Thanos win?Joker and Bane won too if you make the movie two parts. You have to look at the overall picture,and in the overall picture Thanos lost in multiple timeframes. He went out like a g when Thor chopped his head off,not so much when Iron Man snapped him out of existence.

Thanos clearly won at the end of Infinity War and even after what happened to him in the first act and then they had to deal with the fallout for 5 years. it took Ant Man coming back and time travel for them to rewrite time and reverse his win. And Yes, Bane won for a bit in the first act, he deserves that. But Thanos had a bigger and much more decisive win, surely you can see that right?

 

[Still FloW]

If Done correctly, Galactus could top him. Same with Dr Doom. But if I remember correctly didnt MCU say they aren't doing another ultimate final boss type villain?

DC has a slew of iconic villains but they dont know how to make live action movies and im not sure they ever will.

look at this dikk eating fakkit ya'll

get the mouse nuts out ya mouth.. dummy

 

[Benefited]

Thanos clearly won at the end of Infinity War and even after what happened to him in the first act and then they had to deal with the fallout for 5 years. it took Ant Man coming back and time travel for them to rewrite time and reverse his win. And Yes, Bane won for a bit in the first act, he deserves that. But Thanos had a bigger and much more decisive win, surely you can see that right?

No,because I'm saying thats not fair.Why is it a win,just because Thanos got a "To be continued....".You have to judge the villian by his entire story arc.These arent different storylines where he won one,and took an L later. In his story arc he took a L just like Bane who "won" after breaking Batmans back and putting him in jail.Momentary wins are not wins if the hero comes back.The hero loses in every movie only to make a comback.No differernce here except it took 6 hrs for the story to be told.
And also by this logic,Joker didn't lose either,Heath just died.The city was his for the taking based on what he had done to Bruce mentally,and Harvey Dent. Was Joker just "trolling" or did he actually want Batman out the way? if so he succeeded. Do we know?no,because he was the Joker.

 

[Fatboi1]

Pretty good discussion in here.

I disagree that Thanos is the GOAT MCU villain to begin with. I think the writing for him was terrible. Especially when you compare him to a villain like Killmonger.

IMO, Killmonger is the best MCU villain. Not only do you understand what he’s trying to accomplish, you also understand the underlying reasons why – and why he’s going about it in the way that he does. Because when you stop and think about it, Killmonger’s plan is insane, probably doomed to failure, and doesn’t really solve the problem he’s claiming to fix. Other characters actually say this. But that’s not the point. The point is that Killmonger has become so angry and hateful that he can’t do anything else but lash out at the world. And this is why he never comes to the more rational solution that T’Challa does at the end of the movie. And the audience gets all of this because Black Panther actually takes the time to explore Killmonger’s psyche, and not just pay lip service to it.

Infinity War doesn’t do any of this for Thanos. We never get to understand exactly what makes Thanos come to the conclusion that killing off half the universe is an acceptable solution instead of, say… using the stones to create more resources. (And I realize this question was actually asked to the Russo Bros.) We understand that Thanos has a mission and is willing to kill his daughter in service to it, but we have no idea what made Thanos choose that particular mission. Because his character isn’t really explored that well at all. Nothing about his motivation makes any sense at all. Hell, for that matter, we don’t even get to know what it is about Gamora that motivates him to adopt her as his daughter. Which really hurts the big moment where he kills her.

When you get right down to it, there’s almost nothing separating Thanos from your usual generic Marvel villain. The only differences are that we’re supposed to sympathize with him for some reason, and that he’s actually allowed to be more powerful than the heroes for a while. I’ve only read the first chapter of the Infinity Gauntlet comic, but even then I understood that version of Thanos more (he’s in love with Death, and kills half the universe to impress her).

This 100%. I like Thanos and his execution but now that you put it that way we never did get a reason for WHY Thanos is doing this. Killmonger like you said made his point clear and we saw it in the movie and it created a split down the line with people actually agreeing with Killmonger in some sort of way. I didn't get that with Thanos. Nothing he wanted to do made sense but instead it just made him seem mad (titan).

 

[KingCesar]

Pretty good discussion in here.
This 100%. I like Thanos and his execution but now that you put it that way we never did get a reason for WHY Thanos is doing this. Killmonger like you said made his point clear and we saw it in the movie and it created a split down the line with people actually agreeing with Killmonger in some sort of way. I didn't get that with Thanos. Nothing he wanted to do made sense but instead it just made him seem mad (titan).

Exactly. IMO, the most important thing for any character is that we understand the motivation behind their goals. That's what makes them compelling, rather than how big and powerful they are (which ultimately doesn't matter, because the villains are still going to lose in the end). Thanos doesn't have that. There's no real reason as to why he's doing any of this.

Now it doesn't stop Thanos from being entertaining. And, being fair, you could say the same for the Joker in TDK. But at least the Joker doesn't have fans trying to pretend that he's a deeper, more nuanced character than he actually is.

 

[Yade]

Don't forget that Thanos actually WON and achieved his goal to the point they had to use time travel to actually beat him and still almost lost. And Thanos went up against way tougher competition, achieved more and was a bigger threat.


In comparison, what did TDK Joker really even accomplish besides blowing up a hospital and killing and ugly girl?

Did they ever explain what happen to the joker anyways ???like does he die does he live

 

[TNC]

No,because I'm saying thats not fair.Why is it a win,just because Thanos got a "To be continued....".You have to judge the villian by his entire story arc.These arent different storylines where he won one,and took an L later. In his story arc he took a L just like Bane who "won" after breaking Batmans back and putting him in jail.Momentary wins are not wins if the hero comes back.The hero loses in every movie only to make a comback.No differernce here except it took 6 hrs for the story to be told.
And also by this logic,Joker didn't lose either,Heath just died.The city was his for the taking based on what he had done to Bruce mentally,and Harvey Dent. Was Joker just "trolling" or did he actually want Batman out the way? if so he succeeded. Do we know?no,because he was the Joker.

Bruh do you NOT consider a movie like Empire Strikes Back as a win for the bad guys? Do you not consider Bane breaking Batman, shipping him to Bolivia and taking over Gotham a win for him? How is the entirety of Infinity War NOT a win for Thanos? By your logic, bad guys never get wins. Most movies or stories usually result in the bad guy winning at first and then the good guy comes back reinvigorated for the rematch.

 

[The G.O.D II]

Yes he will be topped. Endgame ruined him. Steppenwolf status

 

[8WON6]

Do we consider a Killmonger a villain or just an antagonist?