9 Well Deserved Movie Villain Deaths
3. Stephen - Django Unchained
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Calvin Candie is a charismatically detestable figure, and possibly the most complex character in Quentin Tarantino’s slavery-revenge-adventure.
But second to Leo’s role, is the underappreciated schemer played by Samuel L. Jackson. His Stephen is the smartest person on the Candie Ranch, and the minute he spots Django and Schultz he's on to them and doesn't trust them for a second.
One might argue that Stephen is the real villain of the film as he’s the one who runs the Candie Ranch from behind the scenes, and he seems to take joyful authority in bossing and bullying the other servants around.
His continuous pandering to Calvin’s musings and posturing words echo the snivelling teacher’s pet or co-workers who suck up to the boss every day.
In the film’s final moments, Django and Stephen square-off and a subtle reveal that Stephen has been feigning weakness all along hints that maybe everything he’s ever done was an act and a means to survive. We’ll never know, because Django blasts away Stephen’s kneecaps, leaving him bloody and wailing as he blows up Candieland and rides away with Broomhilda.