10 Movie Villain Reveals That Were Genuinely Surprising

7. The Phantasm - Mask Of The Phantasm

Batman Mask of the Phantasm Phantasm
Warner Bros.

One of the best Batman movies ever made, 1993's Mask of the Phantasm made the risky decision to introduce an entirely new villain for The Caped Crusader to battle. The titular Phantasm isn't just a regular Joker-style rogue however, but is actually analogous to Batman himself. There is one key difference, though: whereas The Dark Knight beats up mob bosses, the Phantasm kills them.

Outside of tracking down the vigilante, the film features a brilliantly-written plot about Bruce Wayne falling for Andrea Beaumont, a woman he was actually engaged to in his youth. It's a surprise, then, when it turns out that she's actually the Phantasm, spurred on to avenge the deaths of her parents at the hands of hired criminals.

Consequently, not only is the twist itself rather shocking, but it achieves the rare feat of deepening Andrea's characterisation. It's not just a cheap gimmick, but serves to strengthen the relationship between her and Bruce on a much more tragic level.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.