Of course, Spider-Man, Clarice Starling, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and the adorable 101 Dalmatians, are all technically the heroes of the films they appear in. But that doesn't mean they're necessarily the most memorable characters in their respective stories. Oftentimes, audiences are just as intrigued, if not more intrigued, by their villains than they are by the protagonists.
For this reason, it's become increasingly common over the years to give famous villains their own films, where they are the central figures in their own stories. Here are 10 examples in film and television of iconic movie villains getting the star treatment in their own projects.
Cruella
The great Emma Stone stars as the infamous Cruella De Vil in the Cruella is obviously still out, but so far it's succeeded in capturing the attention of the moviegoing public, and inspiring strong reactions on both sides of the debate.
Venom
Rarely have critics and audiences been as Venom, the origin story of one of the Spider-Man universe's most iconic villains. The film was a bust with critics, garnering a mere 30% Rotten Tomatoes score, but was very popular amongst the public, who awarded the film an 81% fresh rating on the same website and boosted it to a massive $856 million global box office haul.
Tom Hardy doesn't disappoint in the title role, and while critics felt his talents were wasted on the material, Venom was a monster hit nonetheless.
Boris And Natasha: The Movie
Dave Thomas and Sally Kellerman star in this TV movie about the two main villains of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Neither Rocky nor Bullwinkle ever appear on screen - they're simply referred to as "agent moose and squirrel." This is because the movie didn't actually secure the rights to use the image and likeness of either of the main characters. The result is a predictably average made-for-TV comedy, though it is among the first attempts at awarding villains their own film.
Leatherface
Rob Zombie's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as it follows its title character's murderous rampage after escaping from a mental institution. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and audiences alike, as have most of the recent Texas Chainsaw remakes.
They're slick and stylishly made, but that seems to be part of the problem: they can't match the gritty, drive-in quality that made the 1974 original so effective.
Hannibal
Sir Anthony Hopkins The Silence of the Lambs, despite having appeared on screen for less than twenty minutes. In 2001's sequel, directed by Ridley Scott, he's the star of the show. This time, Hannibal is being targeted by one of his former victims who survived their encounter. The movie is nowhere near as revered as the original, but for genre fans looking for lots of blood and guts, the film delivers in ways the original didn't, seeing as the iconic cannibal is awarded much more screen time this time around.
Catwoman
After winning an Oscar for Catwoman. The film is widely considered among the worst comic book movies ever, even though Berry's performance earned mostly high marks.
The film's director, Pitof, was mostly a visual effects artist before getting the job to direct this movie after the success of his French film Vidocq in 2001. The critical and box office failure of Catwoman was such that he's never gotten another film directing gig since.
Bates Motel
In Psycho, the "relationship" between Norman Bates and his mother is perhaps the most bizarre parent-child dynamic in cinema history. In 2013, A&E devoted an entire TV series to exploring this relationship further. Freddie Highmore stars as Norman, and Vera Farmiga plays Norma Louise, Norman's mother.
The show ran for five seasons and garnered mostly positive reviews, as critics and audiences appreciated both the cleverness of the concept and the skillfulness of the execution.
Maleficent
Angelina Jolie received rave reviews for her performance in the title role of this 2014 film, which tells the origin story of the main villain of the tragic arc of Maleficent from a valiant defender of her forest kingdom to a vengeful villain gave Jolie a role she could sink her teeth into.
It did enough box office business to warrant a sequel, 2019's Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which was disliked by critics but loved by audiences, earning a 39% critics score but a 95% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith
All of the the "Skywalker Saga," could be considered villain movies, as Anakin Skywalker is of course a main character in all of them.
In Episode III, however, his fall from Jedi to Sith lord becomes complete, as by the film's end, he's Darth Vader, perhaps the most iconic movie villain of all time. Revenge of the Sith was by far the best-reviewed of the three prequels, thanks to its impressive visual effects and moving final act.
Joker
Of course, the wildly successful Joker is perhaps the best villain movie of all time, as Todd Phillips' subversive drama not only tells a compelling origin story for Batman's arch-nemesis, but in doing so, he completely flips the superhero genre on its head, portraying Arthur Fleck as a hapless victim of societal cruelty and the Wayne family as coldhearted aristocrats indifferent to the suffering of the masses.
Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for his brilliant performance, and the film made an incredible $1 billion globally, making Joker the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
