Ranking Every DC Movie Villain From Worst To Best
4. The Penguin - Danny DeVito (Batman Begins)
The Penguin was made to be adapted by Tim Burton. While the Arkham games' imagining of him as a teak-tough gangster without the grotesque physical elements was refreshing, Oswald Cobblepot will forever be burned into fans' collective memories in the comical, disturbing shape of Danny Devito in Batman Returns.
Gone is his gangster front and the lounge owner gentleman of crime persona, to be replaced with a more personal story of a "freak" cast aside and determined to break into the normal world. Or at least as normal as Burton's world gets. It turns out that redeveloped backstory (which has appeared in some comics) was a masterstroke, pitching the Penguin as a broken toy seeking love.
He's like a bully, inflated by a need for power but haunted by the spectre of rejection, and so imbalanced that he's quick to anger and violence. And he absolutely looks the part: his formal dress being scruffied is a beautiful contradiction, and the same can be said for DeVito's layered performance, which is as devastating at times as it is disgusting.
Batman - The Motion Picture Anthology is available to buy over at Amazon.