4. Can You Make Us Sympathise With The Villain?
The only character that I felt had any true depth in
Man Of Steel was bad guy General Zod, and that's because he seemed to be the only one dealing with any real amount of conflict. Though there's always room in a script for an antagonist who simply antagonises for the sake of it (i.e. the Joker in
The Dark Knight), I've always favoured those villains whose perspective you don't necessarily agree with, but you can - at least - understand where they're coming from. Zod's campaign of evil, after all, arises because he will do anything and everything to secure the future of his people. Which, yes, means that he will wipe out an entire planet to do so, but we can at least
understand his perspective: it makes sense. Writing a villain who an audience can sympathise with (even if it's only for a brief period of time, or on a minor level) makes them far more interesting to watch: Zod doesn't murder Clark's real father Jor-El because he necessarily wants him dead, but because he sees no other option. There's conflict. I mean, Zod even announces that he regretted doing killing Jor-El. And at one point, Zod declares that his "soul" has been ripped from him - he's gone insane, of course, but you can actually feel his pain. The fact that Zod has something to fight for gives him an edge over our hero Superman, who appears bland in comparison: Superman fights because... well, he has to fight, right? But if you can convince your audience to feel both dislike and sympathy for your villain, it's an effective way to create an added layer of drama.