10 Awesome Movie Moments Where You Think The Villain Might Actually Win

Luc Besson's cult classic action thriller Léon is one of the most entertaining films of the '90s, in large part thanks to Gary Oldman's gloriously scenery-devouring performance as the pill-popping, murderously psychopathic corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield.

And while audiences were certainly rooting for badass assassin Léon (Jean Reno) and his young charge Mathilda (Natalie Portman) to prevail, Stansfield's plentiful resources and ruthlessly violent methods unsurprisingly allowed him to get the better of Léon at the end of the movie.

As Léon is mere seconds away from freedom after surviving a brutal siege at his apartment, he's shot in the back by Stansfield.

As Stansfield smugly presides over his expiring body, it almost feels as though Besson is angling for a sequel in which a safely escaped Mathilda launches a vengeful crusade against him.

But ultimately Stansfield does meet his explosive comeuppance, as seconds later Léon reveals himself to be rigged up to a string of soon-to-detonate grenades, promptly blowing both of them to hell.

As epic as Stansfield's demise was, the brilliance of him and Mathilda as characters would've made a sequel an easy hook. That Besson resisted the urge is, honestly, pretty impressive.