20 Greatest 90s Movie Villains

12. Batman Returns - The Penguin

In the history of the Golden Raspberry Awards, there is no greater injustice than Danny DeVito being nominated for Worst Supporting Actor for Batman Returns. Well, in terms of the acting awards, at least, as they also nominated Stanley Kubrick for Worst Director for The Shining and Ennio Morricone's The Thing theme for Worst Musical Score. But I digress.

DeVito's Penguin is a magnificent creation, and the only other Batman film villain who outranks him is, arguably, Heath Ledger's Joker. Subtly sympathetic and darkly funny yet also grotesque and vile, the Penguin is a layered creation that, like many of the best fictional monsters, inspires both pity and horror. Danny DeVito is sublime and as unworthy of a Razzie nod as it gets, while the make-up and costume design on the character is second-to-none. 

Of course, he's not necessarily the most faithful adaptation of the character from the comic book, but that's fine. Mostly free of corporate oversight, director Tim Burton was really able to make his Batman movies his own, and his Penguin was very much a Burton-esque spin on the material. It's hard to think of a director being able to do that in any of today's superhero flicks, sadly. Some of these villains do make you miss the '90s!

DeVito steals Batman Returns, though Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman and Christopher Walken's Max Schreck also deserve a shout-out.