10 Villains Who Were Completely Screwed By Movie Adaptations

Who cares about the source when lying is so much more delightful?

By Simon Gallagher /

Universal Pictures

Even when it's claiming to be showing us films that are €œbased on a true story€ or €œreal events,€ Hollywood basically just steam-rolls over the traditional notion of the truth, without concern for the impact on reality, history or literature. And why wouldn't they?

Advertisement

After all, who cares about the source €“ whether historical or textual €“ when lying is so much more delightful?

Oliver Stone basically made up a whole world of lies for his version of the JFK assassination theory, Zulu turned teetotal, honourable hero Henry Hook into a drunken malingerer and Rudy turned Dan Dein €“ the man behind Rudy's selection €“ into a pantomime villain who was overruled by his squad.

Advertisement

But these crimes in the name of fiction are far from the only examples: across many genres and multiple stories, characters who were basically either heroes or misunderstood in their original form have been royally screwed by Hollywood's quest for a €œbetter story.€

Stories have been retold, and for most of the characters on this list, myths have been wrongly built on those lies, meaning the €œtruth€ we all now wholly accept is invariably based on great big fibs. Every single one of these victims has been pushed through a malevolent mangle and come out the other side in a totally different, far more nasty form.

Advertisement

And some of them are basically good guys.

Honourable Mention

Mark Zuckerberg €“ The Social Network

Advertisement
Columbia Pictures

Facebook is great: it allows users to find old friends and look at their holiday photos, or reconnect with old flames, and look at their holiday photos, or even discover new friends, and look at their holiday photos. But The Social Network told the story of a socially awkward, downright nasty nerd who invented the site, propelled by romantic rejection, and basically just a bad egg.

However you feel about Mark Zuckerberg, the reality is probably some way off what The Social Network claimed €“ especially the part about his ex inspiring the entire thing.

Advertisement

But, let's be honest, Zuckerberg might just deserve some of the heat, imagined or otherwise, because he invented Facebook, and then has the temerity to reinvent it every couple of months just as his self-righteous users are getting used to the last round of changes.

And that's to say nothing of the spurious privacy practices that see your inane and useless conversations and Likes sold to the highest bidder. Allegedly.

Advertisement