10 Movie Villains So Awesome They Ruined Their Franchise
A movie is only as good as its villain. But sometimes a villain can be... too awesome?
Batman has the Joker; the Avengers have Thanos; Ripley, her Aliens; Sarah Connor the Terminator. When we think of our favourite movie franchises, their villains are just as likely to leap into our heads as the heroes. Especially so when we take into account monster-led franchises like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th or Halloween. Genre cinema has given us some truly iconic villains over the years, often leaving audiences begging for more.
But movie villainy has to be a carefully balanced act. Sometimes, a villain can be so frightening, so elemental, so magnetic, so fun that they become an impossible act to follow. How do you top the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park? Or Jason Voorhees? After those guys, a CGI Indominus Rex - or the paramedic of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning - can leave fans ripped off, or wanting. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.
The monsters and madmen who follow are ten movie villains that their respective franchises could never leave behind, no matter how hard they tried... or, sometimes, didn't even try at all.
10. Freddy Krueger - A Nightmare On Elm Street
One of the greatest horror villains of all time, Robert Englund's many performances as Freddy Krueger have proved so definitive that no-one has been able to top it since the character's inception in 1984. Granted, they only tried it once, but 2010's remake was so widely reviled that it sunk the whole franchise for a good ten years.
Platinum Dunes' take on the film had many problems of its own, but chief among them all was the indisputable fact that Jackie Earle Haley just wasn't Robert Englund (no, really, you can check on iMDb and everything).
There are rumors that another remake/reboot/re-imagining is in the works, but without Englund himself wielding the glove, one doesn't fancy their chances.