20 Greatest Movie Villains Of The 2000s

3. Hans Landa - Inglourious Basterds

Now, the first of three entries on this list that would surely have to be considered among the greatest villains of all time, regardless of decade. This particular rogue may also be one of the most hated in the history of cinema.

Almost by default, Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) was going to be a detestable villain because of who he was and what he did. Revelling in his nickname of The Jew Hunter, he treated his job as more akin to catching rats than finding terrified, innocent humans and sending them off to their deaths or worse.

However, a premise by itself doesn't make a bad guy great; it has to be backed up by a great performance, something that Waltz gave to the character, and then some. He scored his first Oscar for the role, and it is no surprise as to why.

Landa's coldness, his intensity, at times played against an indefensible indifference towards those he hunted, made him genuinely terrifying. While it could be argued that Quentin Tarantino has made better films than Inglourious Basterds, his greatest ever scene and one of the most intense movie openings of all time came at the beginning of his 2009 effort, in no small part thanks to the truly vile Hans Landa.