4. Khan Star Trek Into Darkness
Even JJ Abrams has now admitted that hiding the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch was Khan was a stupid play, but the ridiculousness of the context did nothing to blunt the impact of the character. While Star Trek Into Darkness was deeply flawed especially in its lack of acknolwedgement for the original Star Trek legacy, at the same time as pilfering liberally from the most famous Star Trek storyline the strength of Cumberbatch's performance was more than enough to make him a winner. His Khan was visceral, driven by white-hot fury, and the singular, destructive agenda to save his people and balanced between hyper-intelligence and a near-catastrophic physical threat. Every line he uttered was delivered with weight and purpose, and most of his lines could probably make mighty fine T-shirt slogans, because the execution added profundity to everything. He was never pantomimey, nor did he ever trample Ricardo Montalban's iconic performance as the same character, and while his film was far from the best of the year, the performance was cool enough and striking enough to make him one of the greatest characters of the year.