10 Movie Characters Everyone Thought Were Secret Villains
These red herring villains had everybody fooled.
Much as audiences love figuring out a juicy mystery for themselves, you know what's arguably even better? Getting duped into falling hook, line, and sinker for a big, fat red herring.
Because filmmakers love to toy with audiences and keep them guessing, they'll often make the not-so-sly suggestion that a certain character is going to out themselves as the overarching villain.
Whether these characters were card-carrying heroes or of a more neutral disposition, each was nevertheless set up to become a seriously troublesome obstacle for the hero, only for that not to be the case at all.
In the end, these characters weren't guilty of anything except being precisely who they showed themselves to be from the outset, despite our initial belief to the contrary.
From suspect government spooks to twitchy cops, apparently obvious moles, and distrustful businessmen, these 10 characters all appeared to be dead-obvious antagonists, only for the truth to tell a very different story.
The lesson here? When a character's disposition seems a little too obvious for its own good, there's probably a reason for that - you're probably being set up for an epic rug-pull...
10. Mr. Nobody - Furious 7
As overjoyed as fans were to learn that Kurt Russell would be joining the Fast and Furious franchise as shady government agent Mr. Nobody, it was also tough to believe that an actor of Russell's range and charisma would simply be playing a stuffed shirt support character for the Family.
Nobody is presented as having ambiguous allegiances throughout the movie, and when Dom (Vin Diesel) and the other heroes secure the film's techno McGuffin - the God's Eye - for him as promised, it feels like a betrayal is only inevitable.
Once they hand the God's Eye over, most watching were surely expecting Nobody to try and take the Family out in order to tie up loose ends, setting up a wild third act where the Family face off against Nobody and his massive array of resources.
But instead, Nobody keeps his word, agreeing to help Dom and company hunt down Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), as they ultimately do.
On one hand it was a relief not to see Nobody become a double-crossing scumbag, but on the other it probably would've given Russell a bigger, more animated, and considerably more badass role.