10 Movie Villains Who Were Far Less Formidable Than We Feared

10. Justin Hammer €“ Iron Man 2

I suppose the instant thing you could throw in my face is that he managed to blow up the Stark Expo. Well, I guess that's correct, but really, it wasn't him who did that, or at least he didn't mean to €“ that honour goes to Ivan Vanko, the real villain of the piece. Hammer just accidentally came along for the ride. I guess everyone just pales into insignificance when you put them up against the one-man wonder factory that is Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, but I guess that's sort of the point. Yet when you set yourself up as Stark's main rival, there's a certain level of badass we're expecting. But what we got was a guy who's easily manipulated by a bird-loving Mickey Rourke, and does embarrassing things like dance badly on stage and come up with the most excruciatingly cringe-worthy line ever summoned at a press conference. You know the one €“ 'but today my friends, the press is faced with a quite different problem. They are about to run out of INK.' Good god. I mean, sweet Jesus. The man's so chronically out of his depth that you actually cheer when Vanko gets bored and takes over. Hammer couldn't organise a villainous piss-up in a malevolent brewery, and the fact he's eventually defeated by some handcuffs tells you everything you need to know.
Contributor
Contributor

Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.