20 Greatest Movie Villains Of The 2000s

8. Magneto - X2

It can often be difficult to get much mileage out of a single cinematic villain, largely because the same characters crossing swords is bound to get stale at some point. If any antagonist had been used as much as Magneto, audiences may have grown tired and bored, but Erik Lehnsherr is special.

Every iteration has been incredible, including the animated X-Men/X-Men '97 version, and of course that of Michael Fassbender, but the greatest without question comes from Sir Ian McKellen in the original X-Men movie trilogy. As an adversary of Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and the X-Men, there was no reason to shift to anybody else.

The initial film came in 1999, and while he was easily the best part of the underwhelming X-Men: The Last Stand, Magneto's greatest moments came during 2004's X2. His proximity to Charles barely scratched the surface of what made him such a great villain.

Largely, it was that audiences could see and relate to his point of standing against the human oppressors of mutants, while doing so in such a brutal and terrifying manner. Similarly to Thanos (Josh Brolin), in a way, his feelings were reasonable, but his actions in response to them were not. Buoyed by McKellen's graceful portrayal, Magneto is up there with Norman Osborn as one of the greatest Marvel villains ever, even after all this time.