10 Amazing 21st-Century Movie Villains Who Aren’t Spoken About Enough

Sat atop the putrid pile of demons and devils would be that of 12 Years a Slave's Edwin Epps. Though Michael Fassbender’s sinister android David within Ridley Scott’s revitalised Alien franchise deserves mentioning, his portrayal of Edwin Epps epitomises the inhumane reality of the slave trade through the eyes of a man whose lack of humanity is downright disturbing.

Epps truly makes for the human personification of evil, as his behaviour toward Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Solomon Northup and Lupita Nyong’o’s Patsey illustrate his sheer lack of morality and mercy. Dependent on his sobriety level, Edwin’s unpredictability is frightening to watch manifest and eventually escalate. The character thoroughly enjoys tormenting and torturing Northup and Patsey for his sick pleasures as a public display toward the film’s protagonists being viewed as property over people.

The villain takes full advantage of his untouchability. Frequently forcing the slaves under his watch to dance, fight one another and even sexually satisfy himself as their degrading fuels his amusement and indulgence. To enact evil, you must embody said evil, and that’s a testament to Fassbender’s electric performance which saw him garner multiple award recognitions including an illustrious Academy Award nomination. Edwin Epps is bad to the bone, making Michael's portrayal all the more memorable.