9 Movie Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Become The Villain

With a voice like that, is it really possible for Morgan Freeman to play a convincing bad guy? It's so... reassuring. And on account of films like The Shawshank Redemption and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, we've all been conditioned into thinking: This guy can't be anything other than good.

Which is why his subversive casting as villain Sloan in the movie adaptation of Wanted was such a great move on the part of the filmmakers. You go in expecting Freeman to play the trusting and infinitely wise mentor to James McAvoy's newbie assassin that he is depicted as in the trailers, and you wind up with a total assh*le.

Wanted marked Freeman's first high-profile turn as a big villain, and - watching him - there's a feeling that the voice of God truly relished the chance to play a self-aware baddie and go against his usual type. Once the twist reveals Sloan as a traitor, Freeman proceeds to ham it up to new and comical levels.

It's not quite as memorable a performance as some of the others listed here, but there is a hilarious moment where the respected actor gets to say, "Oh, f*ck," before being shot through the back of the head with a slow-mo bullet. So that makes for a nice change of pace.